We had the best week ever!!! I feel so blessed to have come here to Pine Grove.
It was just what I needed to take a break from my busy life in the city.
Last Sunday: The 8 children I had with me on Mother's Day.
I liked Tilly's face in this picture.
Me with my kids.
Mama with her grandchildren on Mother's Day.
Monday: I got to go to book group with my mom and her friends. I had a lovely time and the food was delicous. I took pictures to show my kids where I was for so long. :)
When we were leaving the hostess showed us the bird's nest in her wreath above her door.
The baby birds were chirping so loudly for their food.
All afternoon we pulled weeds.
The boys hauled off the weeds.
Lexi's selfies.
Tuesday: I went to a garden party RS activity at a gorgeous Victorian home. I took pictures to send to Kylie because she loves Victorian stuff and also to show the other kids where I was all evening.
The servingware was in a cute little carriage and even the paper plates were Victorian.
The couches matched the wallpaper.
Cool drawer where you could drop the utensils in.
The front of the house as we were leaving.
Lexi's selfies after getting a haircut my mom bought at the YW auction.
Wednesday: We drove 6+hours to the coastal redwoods and Pacific Ocean to celebrate my 40th birthday. It rained the entire 2 days so we didn't get to do as much as we would have liked, but we still had a great time. When we first got there Madalyn swam with the kids while Mom and I went on this "riverwalk." That's what it was called even though it was an old dirt path by what looked like a scummy pond.
I went to take a picture of the river when my mom told me she'd take a picture with me in it, which really touched me. I'm always going places with my kids and nobody says anything about wanting me in the picture.
The kids swimming in the hotel pool.
We grabbed some food at the grocery store and ate dinner in our hotel room.
Thursday: We drove over to the beach and snapped a few pictures but it was raining too hard to want to spend any time there so we came back later.
The view from a cliff.
The kids jumped out and ran through the rain over these dunes to see the ocean on the other side. First time to see the Pacific Ocean!!
Some cool, really thick flowers.
The view on the other side of the dunes side where there was a little bay.
We drove through Ferndale, a cute Victorian city.
Then we drove through "The Avenue of the Giants" my new favorite road on Earth. Someday I'll go back and camp there for a week. Or maybe buy a house there. :)
Thomas climbing a big tree.
Kaitlyn wanting her picture taken.
It rained on us the whole time but it was still beautiful.
Looking up at the rain coming down. Didn't really turn out in the picture though.
A big tree that fell down years ago and the kids climbed up its roots that were now covered in ferns.
That's the tree roots and the whole it made when it fell all covered with ferns.
Standing inside a hollowed out tree.
Me with Tilly, Andy, and Kait inside the tree.
Selfie!
Looking up at how tall the tree was.
Madalyn looking up at the rain coming down.
Alexis tried taking some panos.
The Founder's Tree.
The lowest branch was 200' up. Total height 346' and almost 13' wide.
Playing in another cool hollowed out tree.
The grove was amazing. You have to go there to appreciate it.
Standing by a fallen down tree that's taller than any of us!
Trying to get a selfie with all of us in it. Andy has his head back laughing.
Another humongous tree that fell a long time ago.
Afterward my mom treated us to a Mexican restaurant for my birthday.
Then we went back to the ocean and were happy that it wasn't raining and we could actually get out and see it. I stayed in the van while Tilly napped and Alexis came running with Andy who had gotten knocked over by a wave. He was covered with sand from head to toe. We had to strip his wet clothes off and wrap him in a coat because it was too cold to wear wet clothes back to the hotel.
Alexis and Madalyn talking by the beach.
(Alexis gave Andy her coat so I gave Lexi mine and I wore a shirt of my mom's. It's hard to identify who's who because we're all wearing someone else's clothes.)
Looking down the beach both ways.
We parked on the other side of the big dunes.
Friday: We stopped at Confusion Hill where the gravity is really weird.
The cutest little chipmunk that I wanted to take home.
My mom paid for the 3 oldest to go inside and these are the pictures they took there. There were two level slabs of concrete, but you look taller on one side than the other, especially when standing next to each other.
A metal bar on the ceiling-when you hang from it, your feet are pulled forward.
The floor is really tilted, but level to the floor, this is what you look like
Watching a ball roll uphill, and another one of the things that
makes you look taller on one side.
After that we drove the rest of the way back to my mom's house.
Saturday: We burned branches out in my mom's field all morning and then quit at 2:30 when it started to rain.
The little boys ran around with their arms in their sleeves and had a great time.
Getting them to stand still for a picture.
Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.
Offering me a piece of her chocolate.
These 4 tried sawing this log for a long time. :)
Pulling weeds around the new peach tree. My mom is so great with the kids. I just loved watching her read to them, pull weeds with them, fix food, and talk with them. She is a big blessing in our lives.
