Life outside

Since we've jumped on the fulltime family bandwagon a huge highlight for us is how much time we spend outside. I no longer have to spend several hours a week cleaning my house and taking care of all the extra stuff we owned. Eldon doesn't have a yard and 5 acres to keep up. We have been thrilled to find outside activities to fill that time with. Of course, our house is also a lot smaller so having the whole world as our backyard is sanity saving.

 On a typical day when Eldon works the children and I take at least 2 long walks. One in the morning and then again in late afternoon. We take a trash bag with us and pick up insane amounts of trash. It makes me angry frustrated the way people litter. Just don't. Please? God put us here to be caretakers of this beautiful world so let's do our job! The rangers do an excellent job of keeping the park clean but our children are experts at picking up bottle caps and other tiny pieces of trash.

Last week on one of Eldon's days off we hiked the longest trail here, Nopales Ridge Trail. It was 3 miles and just wound around and around. 

Michael likes to be the leader.

The Yucca cactus

The trail through the woods.

Time for a compass lesson.

We packed a lunch and it's a good thing. It took a little over 2 hours but the children thought it was sooooo far. They did excellent. Emily even walked the whole way!

Ethan took a nap :)

We only have 1 more trail to hike at the park here then we'll have to branch out.

Happiness is being dirty in his eyes!

Doing school work outside. I enjoy this as much as they do!

Like I said, the dirtier he is, the happier he is! He found the puddle from the air conditioner water.

He was chasing me and laughing because I kept running away.

Ethan is 11 months old and has been walking for almost month. He finally got the hang of it well and practically runs everywhere. He tries so hard to keep up with his siblings! It definitely makes it harder to keep up with him but I'm glad he's not crawling in the dirt anymore. He stays MUCH cleaner now.

Blueberry crepes. My husband made these. Without a recipe. They were fabulous.

Monday morning at 1 a.m. Makayla started throwing up. She continued that several times an hour until about 6 when she finally settled down again. It took her 2 days to completely bounce back. I held my breath and prayed and prayed and prayed that no one else would get. Ethan threw up twice last night and clearly doesn't feel well but  he is not NEARLY as sick as Makayla was. He actually slept until after 8 this morning but the other 3 were all up soon after 6. I have no idea why but we got a jump start on our day! It's looking like it will be rainy anyhow so I'm thinking happy thoughts about naps :) .