MLK Weekend

We have developed a bit of a tradition of going away for a post-Christmas trip on MLK weekends.  On this holiday in the last handful of years we have stayed at Fall Creek Falls State Park, Cedars of Lebanon State Park, we went to Emily's last year this weekend, and this year we went to Standing Stone State Park WITH Emily's family. It was a charmed retreat and so much sweeter for having gone with Emily, Lee, Brooklyn, Natalie, Jack, and Evie.  Thankful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was freezing the whole way there, but the snow held off til just an hour or so after we arrived.  Perfect!  We didn't get out in the snow to play til Saturday when it covered the ground, but we settled in to cousin fun and fires and food and laughs til then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much, much, much card and board gaming, Nerf guns, AG dolls, hide and seek, four corners, sound effects machine goofing off, and hair dos were done and played and played again.  It was a refreshing break from tvs and video games.

 

And smores were had every night!

 

Day three saw blue skies peeking back at us for the first time. 

Lee spotted a hawk sitting on a low stone wall that morning.  It was neat to watch while it waited/hunted so close to the kitchen window.

I relented and let Lasa watch some Dora ... as the littlest of the bunch, she got left behind often.  I felt that warranted a little TV break for her.  Jack snuck in with her and it was adorable to me.

It was the coldest inside the cabin on Night 2/Day 3 ... like, 61-degrees-inside-the-cabin cold.  The heater just could not keep up with the far-below freezing temps outside.  So we relied HEAVILY on the giant, wonderful fireplace.  Josh and Lee had to buy a number of loads of wood from the park office to keep us burning, but they also scoured the grounds for free wood and always turned up with such good stuff. Morning 3, the little men helped in the hunt.  A little. ;)

 

Then, it felt like it was warming up, so one by one more and more kiddos were willing to go back outside for more snow romping and sledding.  Noah, especially, loved this part of the trip.  He was the first one out and the last one to come in each time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn't even trying to go outside to take pics on Day 3.  I snapped from the windows or got Emily's shots. I was supervising the flames. And reading. And stoking the fire as needed. ;)

 

I take that back, I DID go outside to take the kids to the park office to swing a little and to see the sights inside.

 

That last night, I am so glad we took the time to snap a group pic in front of the fire.  Not bad for an iPhone timer shot!  That fire was seriously, seriously the heart of the weekend. We really enjoyed it!

The morning we left, I woke up to this preciousness. Noah, first to rise, had started the fire back all on his own.  I had slept on the couch that night (it's a long freezingcold/stiflinghot story) and literally opened my eyes in the morning to this.  Momma loves!

And Emily and I remembered to snap one solid sister pic to round out the many many many pics we took of everyone else all weekend. 

The bonus charm of the weekend was that we all got back home on clear roads in a warm 40 degrees before temps plummeted again that night bringing more snow and ice with it. Schools have been closed alllllll week so far as a result.  This year, I let us homeschoolers take the snow days off too.  So, more snowy fun at home is coming right up on the blog!