Pine Valley Vacation (Catch Up Post)

I don't know if I've mention this before, but it's hot in the summers here in Las Vegas. So, we decided to pack up all of our kids and a few laundry baskets full of games and head to the mountains for the weekend.

It was delightful and relaxing.

There was a a perfect little stream tucked away at the corner of the lot we were staying on. But it took a bit of a hike to get there. Carson navigated it slowly and surely and needed an occasional piggy back ride, but he was awesome!

Admittedly, he had to work a little harder for his fun, and sometimes he felt a little left out, but he was such a great sport about it all and seemed genuinely happy.

And he was a master at taking care of his baby sister.

There was a brand new croquet set sitting on the porch and we took no time at all to open it up and break it play it. 

Timothy caught the vision,

but couldn't seem to get the hold right on the mallet.

Carson ditched his crutches halfway through the game and started hopping on one leg through the rest of the game and then for the rest of the weekend.

At sunset we decided to take a walk around the lake.

And at one point all three of the boys needed to go the the bathroom at the same time, which left my beautiful girls and me together to enjoy the gorgeous scenery. 

I wonder if every mother has conversations with her children about the appropriate way to use a hammock.

And I also wonder if every child ignores that council and treats the hammock like the offspring of a swing and a trampoline.

And, also, let's talk about this little lady in the tree:

She is a climber, this one. She loves a good climbing tree and the higher the challenge, the better. But she hates bugs. She got so far up in this tree that I started to fear that she'd come across a bug on a branch and let go. So I mentioned casually that she might see a bug up there and to be smart about her reaction, which killed her momentum and caused her to shimmy her way back down.

Much of the weekend was spent cuddling up on the couches inside the cabin. It rained hard on our one real day up there, but we were so happy to be out of the heat and holed up together that it didn't even matter. 

On Sunday we went to the historic Pine Valley chapel for church. There were so many people visiting on this particular Sunday that the chapel was full, and the extra building they have on the side of the building for such scenarios was also full. So they started bringing out lawn chairs and they opened the windows on the side of the building so we could hear what was happening inside while one of the ward members rushed home to gather his television and a few speakers which he set up to broadcast the meeting for us. It was beautiful.

And after church, perhaps my favorite sight of the whole weekend, I walked up the stairs and saw this handsome boy donning his hat and getting dressed down for the drive back home.

A happy weekend, indeed.