Blast from the Past

 

Okay, so it's not really that far in the past, but I apologize. I thought I'd already posted these! We found a park close to our new house that we just love. Naturally, our kids being our kids, they found a zipline. Even though it was a super wet, drippy, overcast day, they had a total ball hiking in the rain, testing out the zipline, checking out the seesaw, looking for deer (we saw two, and if you've ever heard how loud our boys are everywhere you'll see how amazing that is), and just exploring a new place. I think we'll end up regulars.

 

 

"The trees have eyes!" - Legolas

 

These were taken almost a month ago. We'll have to go see how things are greening up!

 

Grandmama was here a few days to help out with our crazy schedule while Dada's on a business trip to Brazil. She's home safe and PaPa is here now. This morning we had a 2 hour delay due to fog. You can never count on getting anything done in the morning around here, hehe.

 

This weekend brings Carrie's 12th birthday and Damon's yellow belt karate party... never a dull moment!

 

Mother-Daughter Retreat

Carrie and I were invited to a mother-daughter retreat at Miracle Camp in Michigan by some mom friends of ours who attend church where I go for moms' group. Carrie said she'd like that, so we all carpooled north and spent a weekend boy-free.

There was a scavenger hunt to get us acquainted with the layout of the camp:

 

 

 

The retreat was the second weekend of October, so fall was just beginning. I got a kick out of the early colors and sizes of leaves.
 

 

We found these interesting, prickly seed pods. I have no idea what they're called, but they look like spiky little balls that burst open into a butterfly shape and contain a few long seeds each. The leaves on the trees they come from are very long and serrated, not that leaf that's shown.
 

 

 

I love this picture of Martha and her mom. It makes me smile every time I see it.

Here's Carrie, finding scavenger hunt letters and the Pricklies.
 

 

 

There's the leaves I was telling you about, hehe.
 

An early yellow tree for Liam, and earrings for Carrie!
 

 

We LOVED this sign that was at the hot drinks station just around the corner from our room. We drank probably half our body weights in coffee and tea and hot cocoa. They had a bookshelf full of flavored creamers in the glass jars you find penny candy in - heaven!

It was so relaxing to get away with girl friends, and it was really cool to go to a new camp and check it out. We enjoyed the hotel-like rooms of the lodge, the zipline (see later post), the craft cabin, the lake and waterbirds, and the sprawling layout of the camp itself. I'd like to go back sometime to try out their initiatives course (team building low ropes course activites, for those of you who don't speak fluent camp) and hopefully the zipline itself. Perhaps the kids will even camp there for a week sometime. They have a lot of options ranging from ice camp to summer camp, parent/child weekends, and family camps. You can check it out yourself by clicking here.


 

Zipline

Miss Carrie had declared herself not doing the zipline, so I didn't sign her up for it. She did say she wanted to watch Martha do it, though, so we told the girls to go ahead and we'd be right there. Martha had done it many times before. By the time we got there, BOTH girls were harnessed up with their helmets on and Carrie announced, "I'm doing it."

Me: But I didn't sign you.... go for it. Have a great time!

And they did. There they go, up the steps in the foreground. I think we were told the platform is 30 feet tall, plus the rise of that hill.

 

 

 

 

 

And just look at that triumph. It's safe to say an addict as been born. ;)  Incoming adventure junkie!