Minivans and Minivacations

Getting everyone to look at the camera is next to impossible

My wonderful sister-in-law came to visit us for a couple of days this week, and we decided to take advantage of her presence and do a little sight-seeing. We still needed to finish some schoolwork, but we eased up on the workload and took full advantage of the beautiful fall afternoons.

The first day, we visited a local candy shop where they make perfectly lovely toffee, brittle, and chocolates. The store serves ice cream and coffee as well, and the production floor is visible from a counter in the showroom. We ordered the kids ice cream and sent them to watch the day's production while we ordered our hot beverages. I was hoping they would be making toffee since that is fun to watch, but they were finishing up some carmel corn and then took a break. That was somewhat disappointing, but we perused the shelves and found some delicious treasures to purchase.

Little cutie

The following day, we drove up to the top of the Monument for an afternoon of hiking. We chose an easy trail that even S could enjoy. When we completed the hike, the kids turned in their booklets to earn their Junior Ranger Badges. H had not filled all his information out, but the lady was really kind and went through it orally with him.
My sweet SIL left Wednesday morning after being mauled my my kids crying, "Don't go! Don't go!" My heart echoed my kids' cries, but I knew she needed to depart. I hope to see her again before too long, but, for now, the memories will have to do.

Family Retreat

We went on a family retreat last weekend up in the mountains of beautiful Colorado. The drive up there was gorgeous, and it was refreshing to spend some time surrounded by the peace and quiet of nature. We didn't even have cell phone coverage or Internet access.

Driving up

Our mornings were spent in sessions, learning how to grow in our Christian faith and apply it to our lives in marriage, parenting, and reaching out to others. Our afternoons were free, allowing the kids to go out on boats on the lake or to catch minnows and crawdads along the shore. Timo also took the opportunity to practice fly fishing, while I seized the opportunity to nap one afternoon.

K on a paddle boat with a friend

Timo with the boys on a paddle boat

The lake

One of the mornings, we ate breakfast by the river. It was rather chilly, but A slept snugly in my Boba. As for the other kids, it is always nice when you don't have to worry about spilling on the floor.

The smiling picture

The silly picture

H sharing his blueberries with S

H by the river

Our morning view by the river

More of our morning view

The last full afternoon, we packed lunches for a picnic at a destination of our choosing. We opted for lunch by a waterfall about a half hour away. It was a short hike after the drive, but it was easy enough for all but the youngest of our group to manage. In all fairness, she isn't doing any hiking these days.

The waterfall. It was about 70 feet high.

Our attempt at a family photo

Another family photo. A wasn't very happy at this point.

After we left the waterfall, we stopped at a reservoir for another photo op.

The kids

Wait! We have five kids, not four.

Another family photo

The weekend was great. I came away from it with a lot of good information, and I think the kids enjoyed themselves and learned a lot, too. I hope to make it up there again sometime.

Spring Hike

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The weather turned absolutely gorgeous last week, and I was anxiously eyeing the monument for a little exercise with my kiddos. Finally, after a full week of school and some housecleaning, I felt we could head up the hill for a hike. We chose the self-guided nature trail, and the kids learned to identify juniper, pinion pine, sage brush, yucca, and green ephedra. We also saw a rabbit's burrow and some sandstone strata. S got fussy, so we had to cut our walk short, but I promised we would return another day.
I loved that we turned our outing into another learning experience. There is a wealth of information waiting to be discovered and absorbed into eager minds. It's fun when those minds belong to my children.