Batter Up

We had quite the rainy week...it rained every day and

it was hard to find breaks to make it outside

(and then not to get so muddy!)

But we had a break in the rain this particular evening

and Big J had found a nice long stick to use for batting

the MANY MANY acorns on our driveway.

All the children took a turn seeing how many small

acorns they could hit with the skinny long stick.

And before we were done the rain started again...

We were thankful for the rain, and

now we are so grateful for the beautiful sunshiny

days this week!!

Visitor

My sister from North Carolina was in town for a visit.  

I guess I only got a few pictures, but we were excited to have her visit and stay with us.

News

Before we went on our trip, we made an announcement to the children.

  Excavator Man had a new gift to open from mom and dad....a new shirt....

We had some children who were quite surprised!

After the surprise wore off,

then sheer joy and excitement!

Number SIX on the way!

A few days prior, dad found this this picture in 

a note next to his coffee pot in the morning!

We are so thankful and are praising God our Father 

for another gift and blessing He has given us.

At the date of this post I will be 9 weeks...

so still in the first trimester.  Due date

according to my calculations will be 

April 16th!  

So thankful and all praise and glory to God!

Garden of the God's - Day 4

After going back and eating lunch and resting a little, 

our last stop in Colorado Springs was a walk through the Garden of the God's.

It was warm and the kids were kind of tired

and as they just saw trails they were not sure how

far they wanted to walk.

However, after we came across some places 

they could climb on the rocks...

Their energy came back and they

really enjoyed it.

That ended our trip.  Day 5 we left bright and early

and had an 11 car ride home.

We couldn't have asked for the children do ride better

and we are so thankful for the safe drive home

and the wonderful vacation!  

All thanks to God!

Pike's Peak - Day 4

Day 4 of the trip we head up Pike's Peak.  The kids were not so sure

 about going up to the top of the mountain, but they were excited.  

It was a beautiful sunny morning and we arrived bright and early.

Stopping to check out the scenery 

(and use the restroom) on the way up.

Only part way up and it is starting

to get chilly.

As we were getting near the top 

the clouds were coming in and blowing over.

The picture below has a story behind it.  Excavator Man LOVES excavators.

The entire trip he spotted and pointed out to us every excavator he saw.

And everywhere we went, he had high hopes we would see an excavator.

So as we were heading up Pike's Peak, his goal was the same, "I hope we 

see an excavator at the top of the mountain!"  We all tried

to warn him that he probably would not, but he would not believe us.

We turn the corner at the top of the mountain, and low and behold, not 

just one, but several excavators!  

He is extatic and says to all of us
"I told you there would be an excavator!!!"

  

It was chilly and very windy and when we arrived, 

cloud covered so we couldn't even see the view.

But thankfully after we used the restroom in the gift shop and came

back out the clouds had passed and we got to see the view.

Another picture on the way back down.

Afterwards we stopped at a penny arcade...

Another excavator and this time he got to ride it.

It was a fun morning and we

were thankful no one, including

mom or dad, got altitude sickness as we 

went up the mountain.

Day 3 - Cave of the Winds

Day 3 - we went to the Cave of the Winds.

The first thing we did was tour a cave.  Apparently

I don't have any pictures from that.

Next the kids got to enjoy the Wind Walker Challenge Course 

They put on climbing gear and hooked up to the course

and had a lot of fun.  Farmer J just made the height requirement to go 

up with his dad.  The Littlest and I enjoyed watching.

Fancy E up high

Tiger Lilly below

Dad and Farmer J

Big J (I think Dad and Farmer J are in this pic also)

The course

They also had a climbing wall

And these green cylinders to climb up

Farmer J was determined to make it to the top and he did

They also had a ride called the Bat-A-Pult-

basically like a zip line that takes you out over the

canyon and then back.  You sat in seats.  All the kids

(except Excavator Man) could ride on.

No good view to get a picture of the ride, but the kids LOVED it

and with no line, they rode it over and over and over again.

Excavator Man below kept asking where his ride was?  

Unfortunately he wasn't tall enough for really anything,

so him and I did a lot of walking around, watching,

and even went back to the vehicle and rested (he watched a video)

for part of the afternoon.

The only thing he could was crawl through this make shift bat cave,

which he did several times with his siblings.

We arrived at 9am and stayed until after 4pm.

The kids did not want to leave.  And despite some off

and on rain showers and some sprinkles here and there, 

we had a great day.

It ended up being most of the kids favorite part of the trip.

Day 2 - Seven Falls

On Day two we  headed to Seven Falls. 

We were shuttled over and got to hike

through a canyon on our way to the waterfall.

 It was beautiful scenery!

The kids pretending to climb.

We made it to the waterfall

We had to climb up over 200 steep stairs to get to the top.

Half way up taking a little break below...

Dad climbed up with his 40 lb son on his back.

It was quite the work out.

At the top.

Back down again...maybe you can see all

the stairs below...

It was actually more nerve racking climbing down

with these five children.  If any one of them

mis-stepped it would have been awful.

Another look out...

On our walk back down the kids really

enjoyed stopping by the creek and throwing rocks into the water.

I loved how the little boys just found a spot

to sit and enjoy the view.

And of course throw rocks

And the big kids loved the challenge of crossing the creek

On our walk back down everyone was

getting tired.  Big brother giving little brother a ride.

And when Big Brother got tired, Daddy

helping to keep little boy moving.

Come on Little Man, you can make it!

It was a fun morning and thankfully we

made it out before it started raining that afternoon.