Conference Weekend at the Cabin

I'm speaking for everyone in this Party of 5 when I say we needed a little vacation. 

School has been a huge adjustment for both Mack and Carmen- and me. 

Work is still taking most of The Man's hours in a day. 

And I- well, I have to remind myself to "just keep swimming" most days. 

We are more than ready for fall. We LOVE fall. 

The kids had Thursday and Friday out of school, so we took the opportunity for a long weekend and headed to Island Park to stay at the cabin. Thursday was absolutely crazy for me- I had to get everything packed, groceries bought, a family portrait session to take, and furniture deliveries to make. I also had to use a lot of help from neighbors when it came to getting my kids to dance and babysitters and where ever they needed to be. Thank heavens for great neighbors! But we made it, although we didn't get there until 11:30 Thursday night- it was worth all the work and sweat. 

 Friday morning the kids got up early and headed outside to play. They love just being outside in the trees and making up adventures. I love watching them. We did however have one thing planned for the weekend- we were excited to go to the local Library for story time. (I was excited to meet up with one of my best friends growing up there and her kids!)

I was actually surprised at how great the little library was and how many kids where there! The lady in charge went above and beyond for these kids, she had snacks, they made play dough, and even did some taste testing game! It was great.  (Every Friday at 11 they do this!) 

But it was even better that I was able to sit and chat with this pretty lady Jenna, and her kids for a hour. We haven't seen each other for 5 years! Her husband is in medical school so she is living in Island park with her parents right now- crazy! I can't imagine living there full time, it would be a dream. It was great to catch up and just be with her for a while. 

 Afterwards we went back to the cabin so we could go on a four wheeler ride. We spent the rest of our day riding around the trails in the woods and snacking at the cabin. Friday we were able to go for a hike and walk around the Dam a little, it was beautiful weather and we basically stayed outside the entire day. The kids loved running around on the trails and throwing rocks into the river. 

This stair case has 124 steps- Randall and I raced up them, and then I wanted to die! 

 I love taking the kids on trails in the mountains. We talk, make up stories, and discover cool animal tracks. This day was by far the best day I've had in a long time. 

Of course we listened to Conference in-between our adventures. I look forward to these few hours of talks every 6 months, and it did not disappoint. It always makes me feel so refreshed and energized. 

 After the sun went down each night I spent my time reading while the kids watched movies. I checked out Eleanor &  Park from the Island Park library- it was awful. After only reading about 5 pages I shut it and returned it. (Terrible language).

Thank heavens I brought Insurgent! I couldn't hardly put it down and am SO excited for the movie! 

I am obsessed with this series right now! 

 This little lady was glued to her daddy's side all weekend, she asks a million questions and isn't afraid to try anything. She especially loved going on rides on the four wheeler- as long as daddy was driving her! 

 These two monkeys are inseparable- I'm so thankful they have each other. They ran the entire time and are always thinking up new stories or games to play. They also love going on long rides.

 These pictures make me laugh, we went on one last ride on Saturday night just before dark, it was COLD! Leighton turned around and buried her face in Randalls coat and fell asleep like that! We had a long way to go before we got to the cabin and she missed the whole thing! Randall had some serious balancing skills to hold her up the whole time while driving. 

After four days at the cabin it is really hard to come back to reality, 

but it does feel good to be home.