The Brown Brick Road

Horse Pens 40

April 3, 2020

Last Saturday when Robert could go with us, we took a drive out to Steele, AL to check out Horse Pens 40. It was an interesting place but it had some of the coolest climbing rocks I’ve ever seen. There were a few groups of people out there doing real rock climbing. My kids had plenty of fun doing their own version of rock climbing!

horse pens 40

horse pens

horse pends

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hp 40

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hp 40

hp40

This kid couldn’t get enough and it definitely made me remember how much he loved the rocks in Central Park!

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There was only a small trail out there but it did have a nice view…

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We had lunch on a big rock, enjoyed the pretty weather, and were glad to all be together!

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I sure do love getting to go on adventures with my people!

hp40

Have a great weekend!

Vulcan

April 2, 2020

One day last week when the sun was shining we took advantage of the beautiful day to check out Vulcan! There is a trail at the bottom of it that turned out to be a nice walk of about 2 miles or so. The kids had fun and got to pose like Vulcan and we all enjoyed the fresh air and views!

vulcan

We’re very focused and serious trail hikers!

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Vulcan!

vulcan

The stairs and elevator were closed or else we would have gone to the top. Next time!

vulcan

They loved getting to run out all of their energy!

vulcan

I sure do love adventuring with this trio!

adventure

On to the next adventure!

Ruffner Mountain

April 1, 2020

Last week we headed our for another hiking adventure! We checked out Ruffner Mountain and ended up taking a nice looong hike! 2.5 hours later the kids were tired and I was very proud of them all!

Ready to go!

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We started off strong and headed down the Quarry Trail to do the Crusher Loop.

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I don’t know what this is but it was cool!

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When we got back to the top of Crusher, we could have taken the Quarry Trail back to the car. But, that seemed a little short and so we decided to take the long way back on the Ridge & Valley trail. For the record, Samantha was the one that really wanted to do it! I might have had to bribe the others with a promise of a milkshake after!

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It ended up being a very long hike. They all did great but we did have a few of these moments…

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By the time we were done, we were all worn out! Despite these faces…

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I think everyone had fun and was quite proud of themselves!! And they definitely earned that milkshake!

ps – Happy April Fool’s Day! No jokes this year because, let’s get serious, no prank could match the unbelievable world we’re living in right now! ha!

Quarantine Fun

March 31, 2020

We’re staying busy over here and trying to keep it fun!

We’ve played a lot of tennis! The boys have (had) been taking lessons and are getting pretty good!

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Thanks to GJ, Samantha now has her own racket too so it’s fun for all!

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There’s been bike riding…

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Craft time…

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and Zoom calls with friends!

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Of course, siblings love to interrupt those Zoom calls!

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We’ve taken long walks…with plenty of breaks…

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and only a few scowls.

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Of course there’s been lots of screen time…

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But we’ve also watched a lot of great movies – including introducing the kids to some 80s classics like Funny Farm!

Basically we’re just trying to make the most of all this time together with no schedules, sports practices, or lessons! All things considered, it’s actually been pretty nice!

cheers

Cheers to quarantine!

School’s out!

March 30, 2020

Well, they made the call on Friday and cancelled school for the rest of the year. It’s not totally cancelled – we’re moving to E-learning as of Monday April 6. It’s not ideal but I’m so glad we have that option. We were able to pick up the boys’ chrome books last week which will make it all a lot easier. I’m sad for all that we are going to miss – sports, preschool graduation, dance recital, field day, Kindergarten orientation, and the list goes on. I’m sad that my kids are missing their friends and the social interaction they love and need. But, I’m so glad this is happening in spring instead of at the beginning of the school year. I’m so glad that they are of the age where they will easily catch up on anything they miss. They are of the age where they still think it’s fun to hang with their parents (most of the time!) and love to play with each other. They are of the age where I can still understand their math work! ha! We’re going to make the best of it and hopefully look back on this crazy time as fun and exciting. I keep telling kids they are living through history in the making!!

I wish I had known that Friday 3/13 (Friday the 13th!!) would be the boys last day of school. I would have taken a picture or something?! I do have a few pics from school left…

Samantha celebrated 100 days of school on 3/10. Little did we know she’d only go to school 102 days! They made cool crowns, took 100 of a snack (she took Teddy Grahams), and had a pizza party!

100 days