Spring Break 2013 (Palo Duro Canyon)

This year for spring break we headed to Palo Duro Canyon.  Did you know that the second largest canyon in America is located right here in Texas!?  Who knew!  This place was absolutely perfect for what we wanted to accomplish.

We got there on Thursday and did some exploring before setting up camp.

 After researching this place online (thank you youtube), we decided it would be a perfect trip to try some mountain biking.  Tyler recently got a new bike with gears and some front suspension, so we thought we'd give it a try!  John and I only own road bikes, so we stopped in Amarillo and rented mountain bikes for the two of us, and we brought Robby's tag-along attachment.  It was PERFECT!

Our first full day there, we set out for the lighthouse.  If you look just to the right of Tyler's helmet in the picture below, you can see the lighthouse feature to which we were biking.

Everyone did fantastic!  Tyler really handled it all so well.  He followed right behind John, and I rode behind him giving him little tips and directions along the way.  He surprised me several times when he would gear down and motor up a really steep hill, or when he would tackle a very technical, rocky portion.  He rocked it!  And Robby held on and pedaled like a champ!  I loved it when he would stand on the pedals for a bum break.  He looked so little perched on his bike with his skinny legs and slender bum.  

The last 1/4 of a mile of the trail isn't accessible by bike so we locked them up and started our hike.  The boys loved climbing over these big rocks.

 Here we are, we made it!

 And of course, John had to scare me to death by climbing to the VERY top (yes, that's him on top of the lighthouse).

I could tell that they boys felt proud of what they had accomplished, and Robby loved hearing the other hikers talk about how cool his bike was as he rode past.  I was grateful that we were able to cover so much ground in a reasonable amount of time.  If we would have hiked that trail, we probably wouldn't have made it all the way to the lighthouse...or maybe not without lots of complaining and a few piggy back rides.

The next day, we did some more exploring and a few smaller hikes.  One hike took us to a really cool, small cave.

 Climbing up all those boulders was the perfect adventure for these boys.

 And when we got to the top, we were rewarded with cool (almost chilly temperatures) in that cave.  Tyler and I wondered how many Indians over the centuries had sought refuge from the brutal Texas heat in the summer here.

 We climbed around the back side and then down into the top shelf of the cave too.  It is so weird to feel all this cool air coming from inside the cave.

We spent a little time checking out the visitor's center and some of the popular viewpoints.  Pretty cool!  We enjoyed being able to leave our campsite by bike to see some of the various attractions.  It made getting around super easy...and fun! 

 The temperatures were quite honestly perfect.  We have had an unseasonably cool spring here and just two weeks before spring break, this place got over a foot of snow, so we were actually worried it would be a bit cold.  The day time temps were perfect.  Mid to upper 70's and at night it got into the upper 30's brrrrrr! But that was perfect for cuddling.  On the first morning there, John and Tyler woke up early and headed out to start breakfast.  When John returned later to see if Robby and I were awake, this is how he found us...both snuggled together in one mummy bag.  Neither of us was brave enough to get out.  It was a bit cold.

Another exciting part of our camping experience happened on our last night.  At about 3 in the morning, John and I were awoken by a pack of coyotes  VERY near by.  We could hear them barking and howling like crazy.  We looked at each other and hoped that we weren't what they were getting so excited about!

 Our last day there, we wanted to do one last longer biking excursion.  We knew the trail we had picked out might prove to be a bit too technical for our group, but we wanted to give it a go anyway. 

 It was AMAZING.  The trail was so dynamic and interesting, but it did prove to be a bit too difficult.  We biked some parts and walked our bikes through others.  There was one point where the trail got very narrow with a steep drop off one side and very poky cacti on the other.  It made my mamma bear heart very nervous to watch all my boys bike through some very difficult terrain.  I would see Robby holding on for dear life as the bike would tip and tilt when John maneuvered it around tight corners or over large boulders.

 We finally decided it would be best to enjoy this trail by foot, so we locked up the bikes and headed out.  It was definitely worth seeing, and I'm glad we continued; although, John and I secretly wished we could ditch our kiddos and attempt this cool trail on the bikes :0

It was very neat, and I was again very proud of everyone for attempting something that was difficult and challenging.  I could tell that Tyler really felt a sense of accomplishment, and Robby just felt cool cruising along on the back of Dad's bike.

I wish I would have taken more videos of them pedaling and grinning from ear to ear, but this and one other sketchy video is about all I got.  Bummer.

It was absolutely one of our favorite memories as a family.  I love getting my kids away from the hustle and bustle of life and escaping to be together.  I loved watching them scamper and run, climb and play, explore and experience.  I loved quiet moments in the tent discussing our epic adventures of the day.  I loved being together in nature and experiencing the grandness of God's creations.  

This is what memories are made of.

What's been making me happy...

Cuddles.  Oh, goodness, I love a good cuddle.  I am not afraid to bribe my boys for a good cuddle session, but on this particular occasion, they required no bribing.  Lucky for me, we did a lot of this over the Christmas break while watching Christmas movies.  I can't think of anything better in the world.

 Tyler.  Some of the things this boy does just makes me happy.  One morning during Christmas break, he put his shoes on and went out for a run.  When he came back I noticed he was carrying something in his hand.  I couldn't quite figure out what it was until he came inside.  It was a kitchen timer.  When I asked him about it, he told me that he wanted to keep track of how long he ran.  Who needs a GPS watch when you can have a kitchen timer?!  So funny!

 My calling.  After being released from Young Women's, I was bummed, but I knew it was time for me to serve in scouts.  It was so great!

 I mean what could be so bad about a calling where this is totally acceptable.  Love those boys, and miss them as now I have a new calling.  I didn't get to serve in there for nearly long enough, and seeing as my new calling is waaaaay over my head, I wish I could go back to scouts.  It was much more manageable   

 Family fun night.  Lately we've been watching episodes of Cake Boss on Netflix.  John had seen enough fondant creations that he was pretty sure he could do it himself.  So, instead of making a cake to decorate, we just used rice krispy treats, because it was quicker...plus the Cake Boss does it all the time!  It was pretty fun.

John.  John just makes me happy.  He doesn't get enough recognition on this blog because I mostly post about our kids, but this guy makes me happy.  Marrying him was the best decision I ever made.  He is so good to me and loves me perfectly, and he is the BEST dad.  He plans fun activities and games and genuinely enjoys interacting with our boys.  He tries to think of ways to teach them life lessons while they are young and he is fully involved in their lives.  

Here he is making treats with the boys.  John has become quite the baker.  John works in nursery at our church (watching him interact so sweetly and genuinely with those little ones makes me fall in love with him all over.  I mean, how many guys do you know will say to you after church, "I need to think of a way to transition from snack time to lesson time better.  Can you help me think of something?" or "I finally got Cade to stop climbing on the piano!")  Anyway, one of the other nursery leaders is a master baker.  All of her kids are grown and gone so she is attending culinary school, and the woman can BAKE.  She was always bringing treats for the kids and even bigger and better treats for the adults in nurser.  It was a great symbiotic relationship.  She loves to bake, John loves to eat!  He learned little tips and tricks from her and now he can bake the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever had...and don't even get me started on his mint chocolate chip cookies...to die for!

 Here he is teaching Tyler how to play Monopoly.  I told him that I did not have that kind of patience, but he told me he thought it would be good for Tyler to see how money works.  He even threw in some lessons on loans and interest.  John also instituted Tyler's weekly allowance and each week Tyler has to bring his ledger and they go over tithing, allowance, and savings.  Again, I'm so impressed with John's patience, and I love how he thinks of principles that he wants to teach his kids and then finds ways to teach them.

 Basketball season.  It's over now, but I loved going to Tyler's games and practices.  There's just something so fun about watching your child develop their skills and talents.  

 Brothers.  These two can wrestle and fight until someone cries and they can play together so sweetly that it melts my heart.  A few days ago, they came downstairs and were collecting supplies- backpacks, crayons, pencils, books, paper.  When I asked what they were up to, they told me they were playing school.  I couldn't help by lurk at the door and eavesdrop.  They were so dang cute.  Tyler was the teacher and Robby was was the student.  Tyler was so encouraging and helpful and Robby was loving every minute of it.  You could see him try to contain his eager excitement.  I loved watching Tyler help Robby write the alphabet and a few numbers and I reacted with genuine excitement when they would both come and show me Robby's graded papers.  

 So there you have it, just a few things that are making me happy these days.

Halloween

Halloween (yes, that was like 5 weeks ago, but better late than never).  We started with our traditional mummy dogs for dinner.

And then headed out for some trick-or-treating.

 This year we cheated and used our electric scooters, which was pretty much awesome.  John got me two of these for my birthday (that means he got me one for me and he got me one for him).  I suppose the scooters need a blog post of their own sometime because we love 'em that much!

Anyway, we headed out on the scooters because we wanted to visit some friends in our ward who don't have any small children living at home anymore and we simply adore them.  They live a little too far away to walk so we thought we'd swing by on our scooters.  It was a blast cruising through the neighborhood and seeing all of our friends and neighbors out and about.  The boys loved waving to everyone and we enjoyed checking out every one's costumes along the way.  We met up with some friends from church and finished the evening trick-or-treating with them. 

The next day we did our candy science experiment where we sorted the candy in a muffin tin and then watched what happened when we heated them up in the oven.  Tyler thought this was pretty cool, since they were learning about matter in school at that time.  He watched how the candy went from solid to liquid and back to solid when it cooled.  I was just happy with the fact that he wasn't eating all that stuff ;)  And don't worry, we did keep some of the good stuff, but it was nice to get rid of a bulk of the candy.   

Robby did great.  Halloween doesn't scare me like it used to- I mean that in the "I have a type 1 diabetic kid kind of way."  It's a bit of work, but we've certainly learned how to make it a little easier.

summer fun- random acts of kindness day

This summer, as I browsed through Pinterest for fun summer activity ideas, it really struck me how much effort and energy we sometimes put into creating happy, fun memories for our children- many of which have little or no value to them.  I tried to choose carefully activities that I knew my kids would actually value (most of these activities aren't the "Pinterest" kind of activities), but I also wanted to do things that were in line with my core values.  As I thought about this, I realized that I want my kids to understand the value of service and that many times we are most happy when we are serving others.  So we decided to do a "random acts of kindness day."  We also started a sticker chart and made a goal to do 100 acts of kindness this summer.  It was fantastic and I'm so grateful we did this.

On our random acts of kindness day we made cards for our local fire department and took them a plate of goodies.

 They were very grateful and were kind enough to let the boys climb into the fire truck (you'd have thought Gus had hit the jackpot).

 We also made cards and took flowers to one of our local nursing homes.  We asked the attendant to make sure to give them to someone at the home who maybe didn't get many visitors or who just needed a cheering up.

We also made a plate of goodies for our mail carrier along with an ice cold bottle of water.  The boys were so bummed when we missed her that afternoon.  I was so proud of Tyler when he kept an eye out for her the next day and made sure her ran out to give her our token of thanks all by himself (he's usually a bit shy with stuff like this).  I loved watching the whole thing from my front window.  

We continued our acts of kindness and each night at dinner we'd report on what we had done that day for others.  At first, I had to really remind the boys to look for opportunities, but by the end,they became very good at spotting ways they could help others.  My proudest moment came on the second or third day of school.  I had just dropped Tyler in the carpool lane and as he walked into the building, he noticed a man who had dropped a few pieces of paper.  Tyler quickly stopped and picked up the papers for the man and then casually headed into the school.  As I sat in my car and observed the whole incident, I was so pleased that our acts of kindness had sunk in and it had even become a habit to notice others in need.  Tyler is usually quite shy with people (until he gets to know you) and it is usually not in his comfort level to go outside of himself like that unless I'm there to prompt him.  I was so proud of him in that moment.  It has been fun ever since, even though our 100 acts of kindness chart has been filled, to hear the boys report on acts of kindness that they perform for others.

It's the small things that mean so much.

summer fun- this & that

Here are a few of the other activities we did this summer when we weren't at the pool:

Basketball at courts (okay, we only did this like twice and I told the boys we weren't going if we didn't leave before 8:30, otherwise it's too hot).

 Finger painting with chocolate pudding.  Oh dear, these two boys couldn't be more different.  Tyler LOVED this.  He loved the gooey, mushy, tasty pudding and couldn't get enough of it.

 His brother, on the other hand, cried when I made him put his fingers in it and wouldn't stop crying until I cleaned his hands.

 Sometimes things got a little boring, but we seemed to manage.

 We were lucky enough to get to go with the cousins to the children's museum a few times.

 Robby took his job as an ambulance driver and a store clerk very seriously.

 And some days, we had the opportunity to simply unwind and relax.  

 This boy, bless him, loves to read and he's very good at it.  He loves learning and uses his reading skills to learn about things that he is interested in- animals, dinosaurs, volcanoes, and other fun facts.  I love taking him to the library just to see what fun things he will discover and then I love even more when I catch him quietly reading a book to himself.