It's Been Awhile...

Yes, it has certainly been awhile since my last post. I never intended to go so long without posting. However, I simply could not find the time for it. Even as I type now, in my mind there is no time to be posting as my laundry room is spilling over with laundry which either needs to be laundered, be dried, be removed from the dryer, or removed from the multiple full baskets which are stacked haphazardly in the small room. That does not even include the laundry on the couch in the family room which I started folding but did not get completed. It's been busy around here to say the least. I have allowed my calendar to become overcrowded and that is not good for me. You see I am one of those people who must have some down time to recharge or I'm all out of sorts. I haven't had that for a few weeks now and I am most certainly out of sorts. I'm trying to get the house organized again and thin out my calendar. Hopefully, after Sunday, I will be able to thin out the calendar a bit. I will probably need to trim back or eliminate some things that I signed on for earlier without fully understanding the time commitment needed and whether I truly had that time available given everyone else in my family's schedule.

Anyhow, over the last couple of weeks we have done some really cool things. The younger girls and I visited the zoo. We also visited the local children's museum. I think I had just about as much fun as my girls did. It was fun to just play for awhile and not be the responsible grown up. Then we traveled to Alabama to visit relatives. It's a 5 hr drive but we stopped a few times and traveled leisurely so it took us about 7. Ava did very well on the drive. I was unsure how she would handle being cooped up in her seat for such a long time but she took it all in stride and hardly complained. She was exhausted by the time we got back home though.  And last weekend we made butter and wrote a story together about a little monkey named Alejandro who travels around the world.  It was great to spend some time together without having to shuttle from one place to the other for  a change. I am so thankful for the true gifts in life.  Below are some pics (all SOOC) from our time together.

rare moment--the koala was awake

Light Tag--this was fun

A. enjoying her time at the museum

My girl and her dad enjoying a game of checkers

Sunrise over pasture

Pasture behind our hotel

I'd never seen a tree shaped this way

Preparing to head home from Alabama