Birthday Weekend Getaway to Wales {September back post}

For my birthday this year I wanted to do something really adventurous. I guess you could say I was feeling a bit of a mid-life crisis coming on. I remember as a kid thinking 35 was OLD! I don't necessarily feel old, but the thought of being 35 is something I am still slowly trying to process. The choice of what to do was pretty easy actually. I wanted to go ziplining!And why not add in jumping on a trampoline suspended in a cave while we're at it!?! All of this in WALES!

The weather wasn't exactly cooperative that weekend. In fact, the day we planned our Bounce Below cave adventure and ziplining.......in was pouring down rain. We figured we'd still at least be able to do the bouncing because it was in a cave after all. Boy were we wrong! We walk in and there is loads of people, lots of whispering between the people working and looks of confusion all around. Apparently the cave was flooding due to the heavy amounts of rain....and they had me step out with the kids while they told Derek that someone had died in there. There are other adventures in the cave -- she didn't go into detail if it happened while bouncing or if it was due to the flooding or heart attack or whatever it might have been......but either way it scared the crap out of me! I was sure we weren't going to do it now.

The next day was misty......and Derek convinced me it would be okay. The kids had their hearts set on bouncing too. So......we did it! Blake wasn't old enough (though he totally could have done it) to go on the big part of the bouncing so Derek went with the girls and I went with Blake to the smaller area.

Don't mind the crotch holding. Of course, I tried to get him to go to the bathroom before we went in......but "no, I don't need to go" and what do you know, as soon as we get in he's about to pee his pants.

Then, I was off for my adventure!! I was able to convince Allie to go with me. I was soooo nervous. I really didn't want to do it by myself.

suiting up

There were 3 different ziplines averaging between 70-85 mph! Allie and I were lucky enough to be able to ride tandem on the first one! Helped ease both of our nerves!!

We also went to Caerneferon Castle

 

And a beautiful hike to Aber Falls.

We had split up, Derek, Allie, and Blake --racing against Avery and I. Admittedly,Avery and I had the easier route, but we won!! ;) You can see Derek, Allie and Blake in the top left corner. They had to make their way down through the sheep.

They finally made it down to the waterfall with us and you know how they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree......we are a competitive family for sure! Blake was deffo not happy to lose!

Phew! He's all better now!

But he WILL win going back!

We also went to a fun little park for Blake's birthday getaway celebration. He chose Greenwood Forest Park.

The place we stayed at was awesome! Our favorite stay in Wales. Always a bonus to have some extra activities and toys around.......and we told them we were celebrating birthdays so they left us a huge basket full of goodies! (Welsh bisquits a celebration cake, bread, box of candy, bottle of wine)

 

 

Cows right outside our windows!

A fun loft for the kids to sleep in!

Happy Birthday Blake {5} (August back post)

First we started out with the annual birthday photo shoot. He nailed it, as always!! Stud!

He wanted a soccer birthday party. We kept it small and just invited his best buddy and his family. Played soccer, had cake, super simple!

more trick candles!!

Back to School

(copying this from my FB post)

We had our yearly Back to School dinner, we officially unveiled our theme/family mantra for the year, and talked about what we'd like to accomplish over these next 10 months. Our theme is based off of the book, 'Way to Be! 9 Rules for Living the Good Life' by Gordon B. Hinckley.

"Be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful, be still, be involved, and be positive." Whew!! That's a load! But so worth our while to keep a focus on in all aspects of our life!

Our kids also really wanted to add in one more 'Be'! As if 9 weren't enough!?! "Be a pineapple - Stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet on the inside." I was hesitant about this at first because I thought, "Wear a crown? That sounds awfully high and mighty -- quite the opposite of Be Humble!" But the more we thought and talked about it, wearing a crown isn't a bad thing at all. Wearing a crown is how you represent yourself. Your crown sets you apart from others. It should be something that people experience, hopefully appreciate, and remember about you. It means that you are YOU. And while we are wearing our crown we can continue to grow and work on being better. So over these next 10 months, we will hold our heads up high and wear our crowns with pride "for [we] are fearfully and wonderfully made." Here's to a good school year...and I am positive that it will be!

In preparation (and for our own personal art as decoration) the kids and I painted pineapples for our "Be a Pineapple" part of the theme.

Allie and Avery started a week before Blake. Kindergarten starts a week later so that things are quite as hectic once the little ones get there and the Kinder teachers use that time to visit their students and parents in their homes. All of our kids were thrilled to start school. Allie and Avery were especially excited and not really even nervous because they both had teachers that they had in previous years! Allie started 5th grade and has her teacher from 4th grade. Avery started 3rd grade and has her teacher from 1st grade. Blake was sooo ready to start school and very excited. A little nervous, but he loves it. And as this is a back post and already know how his year is going, I can say it was a great choice to send him! He is such a little sponge! Eager to learn and we are super impressed with his teacher!

He was very excited to finally get to ride the bus.