Sep 27, 2010

Camping and a Peek

Off to the great outdoors we went...rain or shine...you can do anything if you're "babyless." My friend Havala LOVINGLY said she would keep Tristan for us so that we could have some good bonding time with the kids camping. Sometimes I feel like there is too little of me to go around and so many distractions...we just need to get out of our normal day to day rut and break it up a bit....do something different with the two old kids. The outdoors is always perfect.
We found a good family oriented site...got to work setting up the tent and camp. The forecast was calling for rain but we were lucky enough to go the first afternoon without even the smallest drop spattering on our wee heads. Yahoo....good fire and smores time. I was kind of wondering how we would pull it off IF it DID start raining.

The kids loved all the camping "cuisine" - Trin loved just being able to be a mess. Squirrel doesn't disappoint when it comes to new adventures...she generally throws herself into it heart body and soul. Brady is always a little sketchy...not really liking the fact that there were crumbs in his cup or dirt on his hands. He did however enjoy gazing into the fire and playing with his flashlight AND he slept all alone in his tent through the night. Crazy how he might be scared of a cricket but not sleeping alone in the dark woods all by his lonesome.





The evening was wonderful and Zac and I were completely exhausted. I think my whole life I have always taken for granted the amount of work that goes into actually creating really wonderful family times.
The older the kids get and the more and more thought I put into making family times or holidays special I'm slowly starting to see how the tables are turned and those time now are not for me (well...they ARE memories for me) but really the time is about making the kids happy. I really came to understand this maybe this summer and I'm really excited about Christmas this year. I think I'm done with the fantasy that the perfect Christmas dinner will just...poof!!..appear on our table...or the perfect gifts will be wrapped and place around the perfect tinseled tree....or the hot cocoa topped in mini marshmallows will just be waiting for me when I walk into a room. My childhood Christmas are over...they were nice while they lasted. NOW I want to make those special traditions and rituals for our kids - and I'm learning it takes a lot of HARD work and a heap of planning. Back to camping....




We were rained on all night...our tent did not hold up. When we woke up in the morning it was drizzling but we still decided to proceed with our breakfast plans - egg burritos drenched in salsa casera (the ONLY true salsa.) Just as the coffee was beginning to percolate and our burritos were assembled...the heavens opened and the shower poured. We drank our coffee in the car and decided we were definitely done. We packed up (in the rain) and went for a little drive up a mountain and came across a fog covered world....the very best kind. So eery and wonderful...very Last of the Mohican's. :)





The kids loved it up there and we were inspired to go back sometime for a family hike. The loveliest boulders were everywhere and trails of rocks...not just hard packed earth like you normally find in Georgia.






I miss rocks. Growing up in the sierra rocks were one of my best friends. When I would want to think I would go find a big smooth moss covered rock and just sit and think...sometimes my brother and I would picnic on one...sometime we would play "rock tag" (which once resulted in my younger brother's face being mauled to bits....scary time...but I still loved the rock.) I'm sad that my kids don't have gorgeous stones in our yard and can't really enjoy the textures and even the smell of stone.






I really didn't want to leave that mountain. Supposedly from up there you can see three different ranges...all we saw was a big white cloud...I sort of liked thinking about the mystery behind the veil - imagining what the ranges actually looked like. Zac eventually coerced me into leaving with the promise of a cup of coffee and possibly a doughnut...I decided that I could probably let go and get back into the minivan...IF he would just grab me ONE rock. We drove down the mountain with the windows down and that wonderful freshly washed air did wonders for my soul. Zac stopped the car and I asked what in the world he was doing...."getting you your rock" he mumbled. And sure enough - I came away with three. *There were no signs that said not to take the rocks.* They are now in my yard and just yesterday I saw Trinity hopping off of them. *bliss.*








The day after our trip was rainy and pretty much perfect. A good reading day and all of the kids were pretty good at playing quietly and taking good naps. I started the book All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot and have immediately fallen in love with this awe inspiring vet.
Oh...and just to show you all that I finally found those perfect frames for Trin's room for my beloved Ox Cart Man prints. I went ahead a framed the winter picture....









...and then this one reminded me of fall. I love how in this book the kids work beside the mother and father...all of them pulling together for the good of the family - and enjoying it. In the spring I'll probably replace these prints with the pictures of the family getting the fields ready and shearing sheep under a cloud of apple blossoms.









And this pictures gives you just a teeny peek into the dining room make over that I have SO enjoyed delving into....pictures of the make over coming soon. And about my squirrel...she has a new love - puzzles. Over and over and over again, all day long she wants to work on puzzles..and she is GOOD at it. Very good.
*Oh...sidenote. I went to the doctor today and the littlest Corley is doing great...wiggling and squirming at almost ten weeks. I was able to watch the blood flow in the umbilical cord...such a miracle. *










1 comment:

MOM said...

Definitely mybgrand daughter! I'd love to be sitting beside her and watch!

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