Taking time

WOW! 13 days since my last post!

 

Where does the time go?

 

It feels like I just wrote that last post about our anniversary.

 

As a family we have been busy.

 

I know none of these things probably come as a surprise to you-

 

I am not the most regular with my posts and that is something that I am working on changing.

 

I also comment a lot about time flying by and our family being busy-

 

those are both things that are not going to change.

 

We keep moving forward,

 

 doing the best we can

 

and trying to take time

 

 to enjoy life  along the way. 

 

 

Over the past couple of weeks

 

we have done pretty good

 

taking time  to do just that.

 

Almost two weeks ago

 

 we packed up

 

 and headed to

 

Missouri

 

for a long weekend.

 

Relax, Sitback, and Enjoy!

 

My dad and step-mom have a house near Osage Beach,

 

right along the Lake of the Ozarks.

 

 

They are getting ready to remodel

 

and needed help clearing out the house.

 

The trip was part work,

 

but was also part play.

 

Here are some of the highlights of the play...

 

We did some hiking.

 We enjoyed the beautiful fall weather by doing some hiking along the Wonderland Camp trail.

 

My step-mom is the grand-daughter of the founder of the camp.

 

In the future we plan to do some volunteer work at the camp as a family.

 

Enjoying the beautiful fall weather and the opportunity to be outside exploring.

 We hiked to the Wonderland Camp tree house

 

and made a new friend along the way.

 

The boys thought we should

 

"save" him

 

and help him back to the water.

 

Our new friend Twiggy!

 On the way they named

 

our new friend

 

Twiggy!

 

We put him

 

in the water

 

and he was HAPPY...

 

for a minute!

 

Then he started

 

heading back in the direction of the hill.

 

Not sure if we

 

"saved" him

 

or

 

made his life

 

much harder.

 

In the interest of

 

my three boys-

 

we are going with- SAVED!

 

Acorns or weapons?

 During our hike

 

the boys enjoyed collecting acorns.

 

Said acorns,

 

may or may not

 

have been used as

 

weapons on the hike

 

back down the hill.

 

Fishing

 There was time spent fishing.

 

Aidan tried it but didn't have much patience for it.

 

Riley and Isaac love to fish.

 

They are great about doing it all themselves.

 

Paddle-boating and spending time with Uncle Eric

 There was also lots of time spent paddle-boating.

 

We learned the my step-brother

 

is deathly afraid of spiders.

 

How did we learn this you ask-

 

he nearly capsized the boat his first trip out (alone)

 

when he spotted a spider in it with him.

 

Lucky for him,

 

Tim was able to save the day and kill the spider for him.

 

After that the boys went along and were on "spider watch".

 

It was great to see them spending time with him

 

and to see how great he is with them!

 

Boating

 There were a few trips out in the boat.

 

 It was a bit chilly but it was also a great way to see the lake.

 

Love my boys:)

We all love going to the lake,

 

being outside,

 

being active,

 

and exploring in whatever way we can.

 

trying out the canoe for the first time

 Riley and Isaac were the only ones brave enough

 

to try out the canoe.

 

They did a great job!

 

 

We had a great time exploring on the Kubota!

 

I think that was Aidan's favorite activity-

 

especially after seeing a few snakes in the water.

 

While exploring we found a great place

 

to take some pictures.

 

 

Of course we had to go back to get pictures

 

of the other boys too!

 

 

There is something about being at "the lake"-

 

it is so peaceful

 

and relaxing.

 

Life doesn't feel as rushed!

 

When I am there I feel like I appreciate things more.

 

It was so much fun to spend time with the boys

 

and see them so excited-

 

just to be there,

 

to hike,

 

to fish,

 

to go on the paddle-boat,

 

to go on the boat,

 

to ride in the Kubota,

 

to canoe,

 

to explore,

 

just to be together as a family.

 

Simple things!

 

It was also great to see them

 

so willing to help out

 

when it came time to do the work-

 

doing what they could,

 

learning how to do new things,

 

and working together

 

to help their family.



Riley spotted this on a step going down to the dock.

While we were gone there were no workouts

 

and I am ok with that (sort of, I am trying to be).

 

I did something to my back/neck before leaving

 

so it worked out

 

as a chance to rest

 

and maybe for a good reason-

 

telling me to slow down

 

and take time

 

to love my life as it is!