41-Year-Old Mother of Four Climbs Tree

Not Too Old to Climb a Tree

While most other adults at the company picnic were sitting in the shade under a pavilion, I thought I’d join a little one climbing trees. I used to climb a neighbor’s trees when I was young. I loved to climb!

The Vacation Continues

I just finished writing my review from the bear’s perspective. I’ll let y’all know when it’s on the listing site. I’m in a bit of a pickle when it comes to the bear picture, though. I have five possibilities, and I can’t decide which one to submit!

What do you think? (I’m not sure why it also inserted the same B&W lake photo from above. Sorry!)

Family Vacation: Day Two

Slow day in paradise! After lunch, I didn’t feel very well, so I took a nap. I felt better after the nap, except for my back. A long, hot shower didn’t relieve it much either.

Some of the kids had wanted to go to the candy shop, so we all went into town for that and to walk the main street. Since very little communication had taken place before we left, I think most were under the impression the candy shop was our main stop. So of course, I felt guilty walking into a handful of shops. Half of the group stood outside each shop, which I LET make me feel uncomfortable. Why do I do that? I don’t want it to be my fault that others are bored. I know how much they roll their eyes at others for doing the same thing, so it’s impossible for me to believe when they say they’re fine. I didn’t buy anything! I just wanted to look, which I did very quickly.

So I told them I was done (even though I didn’t want to be done), and Greg suggested maybe driving up Guanella Pass. It was already after 4:30, and the plan for dinner was to make spaghetti. I told him that if we drove up at that time, we wouldn’t be back much before 8:00.

So for activity, this hasn’t been much of a vacation in that regard. Then again, we can do any of these things on a weekend as a day trip. I don’t mind just hanging out and relaxing. I would like to possibly drive out to Dillon Lake tomorrow, though.

I did sleep better last night!

Family Dynamics

It would be far easier to start from square one when it comes to “training” children to be effectively neat and organized. When you’re already at square 2,841, however, that task is far more difficult.

I am definitely not without faults of my own, but I know how much I can let go before it becomes overwhelming. I’ve certainly crossed that line in many areas, too! When it comes to general day-to-day tasks, I know that it’s better in the long run to clean as I go. Why is it so hard to get the kids to see that as well? Moreover, why does it bother me so much more when they do it than when I do it myself?

The world is becoming increasingly faster paced. How are they going to keep up when they are adults if they don’t learn prevention now?

When I see something someone has left lying around or strewn about, I have them immediately stop whatever it is they have gone on to do and come clean up the mess. Of course, this makes me the unceasing nag, but short of never having a moment to myself for constantly picking up after everyone else, I see no alternative.

First Night

All I can say is that I hope I sleep better tonight than I did last night. I can see the highway from the house (about 3 blocks away), and since we’re basically in a canyon, the sound bounces back and forth from the traffic. I’m also used to sleeping with a fan on, which blocks the sound of Greg’s breathing machine. That thing sounds like someone running a vacuum back and forth in the next room and is especially annoying when he is facing me.

The cross breeze, when the wind is strong enough, is enough to blow the double doors to our bedroom open. THAT freaked me out. I’m thinking – Oh great! This house is haunted!

Once I did finally fall asleep – and I have no idea when that was because there’s no clock in there and my phone was charging in the kitchen – I slept until 8:00. I’m going to guess I may have slept about 5-6 hours. It could have been worse, and I don’t feel too sleepy at the moment. I AM on vacation… I CAN try to take a nap later! Preferably on a different bed because I think this one must be the oldest (and firmest) in the house. My hip and shoulder were sore this morning, and now my lower back hurts. I’m not sure how much of the back issue is from playing pool, though. I did do some behind-the-back shots, which required a bit of twisting. Hmmm. Funny, that strategy only worked once! Perhaps I should forgo that one today!

Saxon Mountain Retreat

Here I am in Georgetown staying at a VRBO listing #101327, and it’s very cool! Pictures never quite do a place like this justice. While it is big, it still has a cozy feel to it the way it is decorated.

The first thing we all did was play pool! I even set up a photo with the VRBO Bear “playing pool” that I might use for my review. The pool table seems to be the highlight so far. After some play time and getting settled in, we went to the Red Ram for dinner. Since it’s Sunday, all the shops closed early, so we stopped by the market for a few things and came back to the house for more play time. All the kids spent a little time in the hot tub, and then Greg, Ali, Miranda, and I came up to the family room to watch Grease. Miranda was the first to fall asleep and just went up to bed.

Who knows what tomorrow has in store. We have no plans really. Whenever we all get moving, we’ll go into town. I’ll probably work on my review of the house & area tomorrow, too. Since I work for VRBO and am writing this review to go on the owner’s ad, they have waived the rental fee of $475/night. All we had to pay was the cleaning fee. We’re staying for four nights, so that’s a savings (VRBO perk) of $1900! This is amazing!

Oh! The road up to this house is gravel and one lane only! If someone is coming the other direction, one of the cars has to back up into a pull-off area (about three available). That’s a little freaky. And then… the driveway! It’s a very steep grade straight down! At least there’s room to maneuver around so we can drive forward out of it.

It was warm when we got here, but I have goose bumps from the chilly breeze coming in the windows right now. This is great! If only we couldn’t hear the traffic on the highway…

Bible Study

I found a place to download Bible Studies that I can listen to on my MP3 player. They’re through Calvary Chapel Aurora, which I’ve attended a few times and really enjoyed listening to the Pastor there. I’m working on downloading the whole series on Romans right now. Just thought I’d pop over and share in case anyone was interested in checking it out. You don’t have to download anything. You can listen to it right on your computer.

I also download podcasts from Pastor Joe over at the fshbwl. Pastor Joe is the guy who did his Vicarship at our church. Seriously, I don’t think the man ever sleeps. I don’t see how he possibly could!

Home Improvement

My goal yesterday was to steam clean the high traffic area and some old spill stains in the family room. Once I had an end table and the love seat moved to the center of the room, I thought it would be a good time to paint. So I said that out loud, and before I knew it, we were at Lowe’s picking out a color. By the end of the day, the family room and hallway were painted and the furniture was rearranged a bit to open up the room. Now it still has a cozy feeling because of the warm color, but it also has an airy feeling. I really like it! It still needs a couple finishing touches, including something for the wall above the couch, which is what I’m going out to look for today. There are three recent photos to the right, and you can click to see more below those three.