14 posts tagged “adventures”

Last weekend my dad took Strider camping, along with 80% of the Dreschers.  Then, on Saturday, my mom brought Rayna up for the day, too.  Needless to say, both kids LOVED it.  I've been hearing stories about it all week.   And just like I used to, Strider gets most excited about the food when camping.  (When dads are in charge, we all know what kind of "meals" are made)  My favorite quote from Strider, though, was "Then for breakfast, Uncle J. made pancakes, and then he drownded mine with 2% maple syrup"

"2% maple syrup?  What's that?"  I asked.

He said, "That's what it said on the bottle!  The other 98% is all chemicals."

So there you go.

Here are a few pictures of them loving the outdoors this past weekend...

 

 

(This picture was shamefully stolen from my cousin's Facebook page...  HE got to have a real Spring Break, apparently!)

Remember when the words "Spring Break" used to be followed up with "Woo-Hoo!"?  I have distant recollections of that. 

These days our Spring Breaks are slightly different, or really, dramatically different.  No beaches, no sleeping in, no staying up all night for fun...  Although I did get to clean up sand after my kids dragged it in from the backyard, we did get to be up all hours of the night, thanks to our small children, and we did get to enjoy some beautiful weather...  Still, not quite the same as it used to be.

There were some fun highlights this past week, though!  Each of the kids got to have special times with just Daddy.... Rayna went to the park to do some hiking,  Strider went to the mountains to ski for a day, and Colsen went to Story Time at the library.   Colsen has also been displaying a love for all things that involve tools and "fixin' stuff" so he got to do some of that as well.   Miles stayed home and worked on his first big trick:  smiling.  (Unfortunately, we don't have any good pictures of that yet, but he's been making us all squeal with delight.) 

And I got to have some "outings" as well...  I found great joy in taking a trip to Wal-Mart all by myself, walking to the Town Center to have my eyebrows waxed, and spending a couple hours with some friends at Panera.  It was nice to get out a few times!  Oh -- and we also spent a day at my parents' house -- which was a treat, especially the food!

So, all in all, a good Spring Break -- and we didn't even need to deal with sticky suntan lotion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of our adventures while Bud and Jane were here was our trip up to Lazy 5 Ranch -- one of our favorite places in this area.  The main feature of this ranch is a 3.5 mile drive through a park in which there are over 700 animals of all different types (from 6 different continents!).  It's amazing to see them all just roaming around together.  And not only do they come right up to your car, but many of them are so aggressive (because they know you probably have food for them) that they will come right IN your car if you let them!  So it's quite the safari adventure.  Bud and Jane kept comparing it to the real African safari they have been on in Kenya -- and they said this one has better roads and you can get much closer to the zebras here.  :)  

The kids, of course, loved it once again.  This was Colsen's first experience there and, after getting licked by a huge creature who put his head in our window right as we started, he quickly recovered and decided he loved all the animals.  He kept leaning out the window (when there wasn't an ostrich right there trying to get in) and yelling, "Hey animals!  Whatcha doin' guys?  Hey dude!" etc.  

Here are some pictures from the adventure:

Afterwards, we went around the walking part of it and saw some of the other animals -- they even have lemurs, camels, and what I think were kangaroos now.

Later that day we went to Mom and Dad's house for some more wild adventures.... including a fantastic dinner featuring Dad's new "signature dish."  We all came home that night exhausted, but unanimous in our opinions that it was a very fun day.

This past week has been a good "sports" week for Strider.  He played his last 2 baseball games of the season -- and one of them was in the evening under the lights, which made him feel very grown up.

And then he was very excited to meet a real-live NFL player on Saturday....  At Wingate's homecoming game, one of the Pete's former students, David Jones, who now plays for the Cincinnati Bengals came over to talk to them -- and Strider has been rattling off his stats ever since. 

Saturday afternoon, Pete took Strider and Rayna to the Warriors and Warbirds Air Show at the little Monroe airport near here -- it turned out to be quite exciting!  The pilots/planes re-enacted quite a battle which was apparently quite loud and dramatic -- Pete said they could even feel a big wall of heat when a bunch of the "bombs" went off.

 

 

Then Strider and Rayna both took turns "flying" in our friend JD's helicopter.... It was a good start to our Veteran's Day celebration!

 

No time to write -- too busy packing -- but here are a few pictures from our field trip this week anyway...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hadn't been back to the museum for a few years...  we've all changed a bit since the last time we were there:

 

We met up with 3 other families at a park for a picnic and some games, etc., on Friday... as the title infers.  Here's to having men who don't have to work (too much) on Fridays!  It was a perfect day... and the rain held off until the exact moment we were ready to leave anyway.

This group is a lot of fun because we all have people to connect with -- from the adults:

.... to the littlest ones:

 

In fact, as you can see here, there is pretty much a friend to be had at any age:

 

We did a team scavenger hunt:

 

and then had some nature lessons...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among the various treasures found that afternoon was even an arrowhead!

 

Another day to be very thankful for!

We arrived home last night from our 10-day trip to Upstate New York, thankful for a very good trip, and thankful to be home.  Of the 10 days we were gone, 5 of them were spent traveling to multiple locations, giving us many opportunities to reflect on the "joy of the journey" -- and to try to convince the kids that this was possible.  We drove over 1800 miles, and according to Pete's new GPS toy, with all of our stops along the way, we averaged 46 miles per hour, so you can do the math to calculate how many hours that meant in the car.  I'll just say it was a LOT.

It was also a lot of snacks -- I think I need to schedule a special chiropractor appointment this week to get the crick out of my neck from swiveling to the left 4,654 times to hand someone some food or drink in the car.  It was also WAY too many stops at nasty restrooms to take kids to the bathroom.  The trip also afforded time for multiple games of Car Bingo and the Alphabet game, as well plenty of time to listen to some books on CD (interrupted about every 20 seconds by someone), as well as several rounds of singing songs.

There were many moments of aggravation -- such as when Colsen would get mad at us for not letting him do something (such as wiggle his way out of the car seat), and to punish us, he would throw his pacifier to a spot in the car no one could reach.  Then we would all get to hear him cry in anger as if we did it.  There were also moments of frustration, such as when we were trying to help Rayna achieve one of her "summer goals" which is to memorize the books of the New Testament.  I wanted to pull my hair out on several occasions.... like when she kept insisting "July" comes after "Jude."   And there were some moments of amusement, like when Strider announced to us, after a conversation with one of his cousins, "Did you know that Barry Bonds takes Asteroids???"   And for the last 20 minutes of yesterday's 8 hour trip, we all ended up having a major laughing fest -- mostly to ward off a crying fest.

One of our favorite stops to break up long days of driving has become the New River Gorge in West Virginia.  We stop to see a huge bridge that is something like the world's largest single arch steel bridge or something.  It's 847 feet above the river -- a fact I try to forget when we have to drive over it -- and it looks like really cool from the little park that we stop at.  Some of us ventured down 181 steps to an overlook with a beautiful view of the river and bridge...  This place definitely beats stopping at a yucky rest area or McDonalds!

I'll write later about our adventures at our actual destinations, but for now will just say we're thankful the journeying went well, and it was good to stop and see family, friends and attractions, and attractive friends and family, along the way.  Now that we are home again, though, I have to agree, "East, West, home's best."   And I'll be happy to not get into car again with squirmy kids, juice boxes and trail mix, for at least a few weeks.  :)

(Strider just read this and says he disagrees.  He's been walking around chanting, "Vacation's best!  Vacation's best!"  But he made me laugh last night when we came home and he was trying to find something and, after spending over a week in very small quarters, said, "Man, this house seems so big now!")

 

(At the New River Gorge) 

This past weekend Pete's parents came for a visit.  The original intention of their trip was to help watch our kids while Pete and I went to California.... but since our plans changed, we all got to spend some quality time together.

The adventure for one of the days was going to the Charlotte Museum of History and playing with the visiting Toy Time exhibit.  All 3 kids had a blast playing with the big toys.... Colsen's favorite was a push-toy that he kept using as a "vacuum."  Afterwards there was a tour of the Hezekiah Alexander House, which everyone found interesting.

Other adventures included a trip to the par 3 golf course, a trip to the $2 movie theater, several neighborhood walks, an attempt to go to the Lowes Motor Speedway tour (sold-out  :(  ), a couple lunches out, and a visit to my parents' house.  We enjoyed having the grandparents here -- and especially appreciated their help with the kids, and fixing the ceiling fan in our bonus room!   Thanks, Bud and Jane, for making the trip!!

 

 

 

Our bi-annual gathering of the 22-member Frank family for Thanksgiving (for some reason, no one else will join me in calling it Franksgiving!) was once again held in the Pennsylvania highlands, at Ligonier Camp.  On the way home, I, being my mother's daughter, asked everyone what their favorite parts of the trip were, so here is the compiled list:

Top 10 Things We Liked About Thanksgiving in Ligonier

1. (Strider and Pete): "Playing football -- and watching football."

The weather was nice enough on the first couple days to play some good games outside...

 

.... and then when the weather was colder and the BIG games were on, somehow Pete configured a little tiny TV with a paperclip and a coat hanger so they could all watch it!

2.  (Rayna):  "Playing with cousins -- and Aunt Sue" 

She loved all the attention she got... playing games, reading books, going for walks.  There was always someone to play with! 

3.  (Amy):  Being in Ligonier

Driving into this town conjures up many fun memories for me (especially from when I was counselor there), but it's also been fun to see how it's changed -- and become more and more beautiful --each time we go.  Here are some pictures I took from the car as we drove into town, and then onto the driveway of the camp:

4.  (Colsen):  Playing outside

The first day we were there, especially, was beautiful.  We spent a few hours exploring and playing out in the fields and hills.

 

 

 

5.  (Strider): Throwing snowballs!

The warm weather didn't last.... By Thursday evening it was snowing, and Friday morning we woke up to a blanket of snow on the ground!  The kids had fun playing in it.... Alas, I didn't get any pictures!  (what was I thinking??)

6.  (Pete): "Conversations with my nieces and nephews"

The older kids are getting so.... well, old now!  They're a lot of fun to talk to and hang out with.... and this is related to one of my favorite things from the weekend...

7. (Amy):  Seeing how well the older cousins play with the younger cousins.

We sent all the kids (except the 2 babies) on a big Scavenger Hunt around the camp, and they were in teams of 2: one older kid and one younger.  It was fun to see them work together and enjoy each other.  I kept thinking about how blessed I am to be a part of a family where the teenagers (even the guys!) actually play with the little kids.   Here were the teams:

 

 

8. (Strider):  "Doing the Yankee Swap present game"

We had fun doing some Christmas activities as well, since we won't all see each other then.

 

9. (Pete):  "Thanksgiving dinner -- and sweet potato casserole!"

Everyone helped make their "signature dishes" and the food really was delicious.  

 

 

... and then, of course, there were the pies!

 

10.  (Amy):  Hearing all the many, many random conversations --- all going on at once!

The greater Frank family has yet to produce a shy or reserverd individual, so the times we spend together are full of loud conversations.  At any particular moment, it's fun to just sit back and try to listen to how many people are talking at once.  I would estimate that of the 22 people present, there are always at least 17 saying something.   And oftentimes it's awfully random stuff....  Like 3-year-old Grace repeating "Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble" incessantly (which I guess was my fault because we played a Turkey Hunt game in which I told them they had to "gobble gobble" when they found a turkey), or Grandma Jane singing "Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition" over and over.... with no clear context as to why she was singing it.  But, hey, that's what makes family fun, right?

 

 

And, since we hadn't had quite enough of this loud family conversation time, on our way home from Ligonier, we stopped at my parents', where we had dinner with 17 members of the extended Wray family (including Uncle Pete and Aunt Lisa).  And once again, dinner was full of lots of simultaneous talking.... getting louder and louder and louder.  It's enough to wear out one's ears!

Now, we're home, though... and it's slightly quieter.  Colsen appears to be coming down with the bi-annual Franksgiving cold, so maybe some quiet downtime will be good for awhile...

 

Last week we went for a family hike with some friends of ours... so fun!  The kids all played an observation game (that's the cards they're holding in the picture), and afterwards the dad of the other family shared some thoughts with us about Ephesians 5:1 -- and then we all memorized it by going around in a circle with each person saying one word.  We had 11 people and 12 words in the verse, so it worked out great.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, last weekend Pete, James and Dan went up to Virginia for Graham's bachelor party weekend.... leaving us women and children to fend for ourselves.  We actually had a fun Saturday as Mom, Karin, Ellie, Ava, Amy, and Katie all came over to hang out.  First, though, we went to watch Strider's soccer game -- he had quite the feminine cheering section!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, our goofy little one keeps us all entertained with ALL his moods...

 

TOMORROW our new COUNTERTOPS will be installed (D.V.)!!!  We're very excited to get this last element of the home improvement projects in.... well, the last one besides the new window treatments.... oh, and the new ottoman.... and the new accessories.... Well, I'm sure it will just go on and on.  As I told Pete last night, I feel like with our house we take 2 steps forward and 1 step back constantly -- or maybe it's 1 step forward and 2 steps back.  Hard to tell.  Ah Entropy!!  I was sharing my discouragement with this constant law of entropy with my friend last night and she said she could completely relate... and then said that she often thinks about how Heaven is going to be so strange to us because entropy will no longer play a part in ANYTHING!  Quite an amazing thought when you think about it.

Anyway, I hope to have some "before" and "after" pictures of our house to post soon!