Horseshoes and hexes

 The end of 2023 slipped through our fingers in a haze of sunshine, socializing, and sickness. La Herradura, horseshoe bay, seemed a lucky place to finish up an amazing year. 2023 brought us close as a family and close to the mysteries of the world. 2023 brought us Levana and all of the fun and antics of her babyness. 2023 brought us so much adventure and learning. It took all of us about three minutes to fall for the picturesque beach town and its locals that would usher us into 2024. Too bad we ended the year with more of a bang than we expected as each of us in turn succumbed to the flu. This flu was exhausting, especially as we each fell victim in turn rather than all at once (a month long affair for a family of seven!). We still all had a grand time in La Herradura- it was just a different journey than expected. So now we are entering 2024 full of warm memories of Spanish sunshine and pebbly beaches, kindled friendships that may yet grow into flames, and stronger immune systems that will carry us through our next sets of adventures. We have learned so much from the people and places we were privileged to visit in 2023 and can't wait for another year of chasing the wind. 

Jakob and a few of the girls wrote out New Year's resolutions. I sort of love these resolutions in that each truly embodies its creator. Tova managed to set the goals of eating hazelnuts and survive alongside each other. Sophia sets such high standards and aurora is very pragmatic. I was in bed with a sick baby so didn't make any resolutions but am hoping to finish up the novel I began three years ago. A lofty goal given the baby's main concern in life is remaining in my arms (her official resolution). But, here goes trying! 

Finally, I am ending this year with admiration for Aurora. Last year she set the goal to read 100 novels in 2023. Although a daunting task at times she has managed to achieve her goal. Even if she had been a few books short I was impressed by her level of organization (each book was recorded into excel), dedication (she sought other's book recommendations), and endless calculations of timing and percentages to ensure she kept herself on track. It was a great goal and an impressive one to achieve. Bit of a long list but here is the final list (you may be able to notice which were assigned by her parents!): 

1)  To kill a mockingbird, Jan 1. 2)  How lucky, Jan 2. 3)  Superfudge, Jan 8

4)  Tales of a fourth grade nothing, Jan 9 5)  Esperanza rising, Jan 10. 6)  3 Adventures on Deckawoo drive, Jan 11 7)  Lily and the Octopus, Jan 17  8)  Percy Jackson and the Titan's curse, Jan 20 9)  The Pearl, Jan 26

10) The joy luck club, Feb 4 11)  Of mice and men, Feb 6. 12)  PJ and the battle of the labyrinth, Feb 14.

13)  L'étranger, Feb 14 14)  PJ and the last olympian, Feb 17 15)  The clockwork three, Mar 5

16)  Récits express: 5 histoires, Mar 5 17)  Cheaper by the dozen, Mar 6 18)  Belles on their toes, Mar 12

19)  Raymie Nightingale, Mar 14 20)  The way of the warrior, Mar 17 21)  Les sorcières dans la forêt, Mar 17

22)  Tsunami girl, Mar 21 23)  The house on the cerulean sea, Mar 31 24)  Beverly, right here, Mar 31

25)  Because of Winn-Dixie, Mar 31 26)  Wonder, Apr 3 27)  Shadow and bone, Apr 5

28)  Ranger's apprentice: the ruins of Gorlan, Apr 7. 29)  PercyJackson and the lightning thief, Apr 9 30)  Not your all-american girl, Apr 12

31)  Septimus Heap: Magyk, Apr 15. 32)  L'escarboucle bleue, Apr 20 33)  Septimus heap: Flyte, Apr 20

34)  Geisha: A life, Apr 24 35)  Alex Rider: Stormbreaker, May 8 36)  Fahrenheit 451, May 22

37)  The family Fletcher takes rock island, May 23 38)  Old Yeller, May 26 39)  Mr Penguin- catastrophic cruise, May 28

40)  The misadventures of the family Fletcher, May 29. 41)  Awful Auntie, June 1 42)  A scandal in Bohemia and more June 2

43)  Percy Jackson and the sea of monsters, June 2. 44)  The summer I robbed a bank, June 3 45)  The girl who saved Christmas, June 8

46)  Septimus Heap: Physik, June 10. 47)  Devine qui vient tuer, June 14. 48)  Wizard's guide to defensive baking, Jun 16

49)  My funny family down under, June 16 50)  Remarkably bright creatures, June 21  51) The tragedy of Hamlet, June 29

52)  Windows of the mind, June 30 53)  Septimus Heap: Queste, June 30. 54)  PercyJackson and the Titan's curse, July 1

55)  Septimus Heap: Syren, July 7 56)  The lost hero (Heroes of Olympus), July 9. 57)  39 clues: the maze of bones, July 11

58)  The wishing game, July 12 59)  The fault in our stars, July 18 60)  Auggie and me, July 18

61)  Orphan island, July 20 62)  The girl savage, July 25 63)  Tomboy, July 26

64)  Here's to you, Rachel Robinson, Aug 1 65)  PJ and the battle of the labyrinth, Aug 8. 66)  Six of crows, Aug 23

67)  Crooked kingdom, Aug 27. 68)  School for unusual girls, Sep 4 69)  PJ and the last Olympian, Sep 10

70)  Exile for dreamers, Sep 14 71)  Macbeth, Sep 19 72)  Ranger’s appren: burning bridge, Sep 25

73)  The mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus), Oct 6 74)  Magnus Chase: Sword of Summer, Oct 22 75)  House of Hades:Heroes of Olymp, Oct 25

76)  blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Oct 29. 77)  Dracula, Nov 1 78)  The day I fell into a fairytale, Nov 4

79)  The sun and the star, Nov 6 80)  PJ and the chalice of the Gods, Nov 8 81)  Animal farm, Nov 8

82) Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere, Nov 13 83)  The view from saturday, Nov 15 84)  The bridge of San Luis Rey, Nov 16

85)  Finding Cassie crazy, Nov 17 86)  The Martian, Nov 19 87)  Flowers for Algernon, Nov 24

88)  Magnus Chase: hammer of Thor, Nov 26. 89)  A corner of white, Nov 28  90)  The cracks in the Kingdom, Dec 1 

91)  A tangle of gold, Dec 5 92)  Begin, end, begin, Dec 15 93)  The baron in the trees, Dec 16

94)  The man who died twice, Dec 16 95)  Ranger’s appren: icebound land, Dec 21 96)  The boxcar children, Dec 21

97)  Magnus Chase: the ship of the dead, Dec 23. 98)  Ranger’s appren: oakleaf bearers, Dec 26. 99)  The hunger games, Dec 27

100)  A Christmas carol, Dec 30

JAKOB

TOVA

SOPHIA

AURORA

A happening town - three kings parade

Look at that resolve

Not a bad view

First fever of her life

Coastal walk

Fun times for those not stuck in bed