Happy Monday! Hope your weekend was blessed, relaxing and fun-filled! Ours was a little hectic, but in a good way. Jim was away for several days on a “manly dream weekend.” He and 9 other guys hiked the Shenandoah Valley portion of the Appalachian Trail. Although I was shaking in my flip-flops with the prospect of managing all five kiddos solo, I am SO happy that he had this opportunity. The men he went with are all Scout dads, Godly guys and equally in need of some wilderness comradery. Jim came back with some exciting stories… and in need of a major shower. It was awesome. Here are a few pics from the journey:
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
We are working through our summer reading with some fun finds. Grant is reading: “What You Never Knew About Fingers, Forks, and Chopsticks,” it was a silly selection we quite enjoyed. I’m also informally doing the “Reading and Roadtrips” but without the organization of past years. We have some sporadic things planned but with so much going on right now I’m just happy if they get their regular reading in. Gabe and I had a special excursion at the Cleveland Museum of Art which was heavenly! It’s extremely rare that I get one-on-one time with him (or any of the kids for that matter) and we got there right when it opened. We had the entire place to ourselves and it was on the heels of having read about famous artists that week (Monet, Caravaggio, etc). The museum is always FREE and I highly recommend it.
Aside from that, we’ve just been savoring the lazy days and moments like this:
Precious.
Finally, prayers of thanksgiving to my friend Jennifer who has recovered from a painful back injury. I got a chuckle out of her response after I asked if she was feeling better:
It reminded me that even though I wasn’t looking forward to all the chores ahead today, at least I’m healthy and strong and able to git r’ done, physically. Glad Jennifer is too!:) God bless you and have a beautiful summer day!
Lovely post, Brooke! I've always dreamt of trekking the Appalachian Trail…
God bless!