Craft Classes, Swimming, and Hiking---It's VACATION!

In life we try very hard to keep balance, and vacation is no different. We're in a beautiful part of the country, so I don't want to spend all of our time sitting in the condo doing nothing, but I also never want to be the type of parent that runs the kids (and myself) ragged going from activity-to-activity, all day, each and every day (and yes, we've practiced this even at Disney :-P) Also, we keep meals quite simple. We've mostly eaten inside the condo (I brought my faithful crockpot from home) or on picnics. Eating out is fun, but doing it often isn't practical for the budget, and I really don't mind planning meals and preparing them myself--even on vacation ;-)

On Monday, Emily and Mommy took part in one craft class offered by the resort (basket-making) while the others explored the recreation center and checked out a couple of free board games. The basket came with salt & pepper shakers :-)

Emily was concentrating SO hard!

What a BEAUTIFUL finished project!! :-D

 I LOVE it! The colors match perfectly in my home :-)
Thank you, Emily!!

We returned later that afternoon for some pool-time. It's not vacation without at least a little swimming...Right? ;-)

Tuesday, we went back to Shenandoah National Park.

This time, we had to pull over and take the proper pic ;-)

The views were even more gorgeous than the first day we visited !



The kids are continuing to work on their Junior Ranger booklets. These generally take quite a while to complete, and Christopher, Emily, and Lydia have been faithful to work on them each day. I have a feeling they'll present them to the Park Rangers on Wednesday to get their patches :-D So, Tuesday was mainly about fulfilling requirements for the Junior Ranger program.

We stopped at an overlook, so they could draw what they saw and learn about what causes the haze in the air during the summer.

Many of these activities could be completed with a hike in the Park, so what better place to hike than the Appalachian Trail?! Of course, we only hiked a little more than a mile of the 2178.3 miles of the AT, but it's a start ;-)



We stopped quite often to look, listen, feel, and study the nature all around us, but it was great!

 Notice the white blaze on the tree to the left of the pic? White blazes distinguish the Appalachian Trail from others in the area. It's the trail's version of a street sign to make sure you're still going the right way ;-)

During Botany Class #2 of this week, we studied interesting things such as turkey tails (the fungus growing on the tree below), rock tripe (the lettuce-looking lichen on the large boulders), ferns, and green tree moss. I truly believe the kids were paying attention to the beauty of God's creation all around them :-)

 

On the trail we met many hikers, some of which were true AT hikers, making the trek from Georgia to Maine! This further enhanced the ideas to a few of us that someday we might actually plan and attempt the hike of a lifetime. It sounds amazing!!

Of course, right before our planned turnaround, we saw the skies darken and heard loud thunder, so we cut our hike "short", prayed for the safety of the hikers on the AT, and headed back to the comforts of home! Overall, vacation has been quite enjoyable!

We are all having a GREAT time! :-D