I love summer! Summer has always been my favorite season. I don’t even really mind the heat. However, I definitely don’t like the bugs. Around here, mosquitoes can really eat a person. Summer has a way of making me feel a bit like a kid again. Catching lightning bugs (fireflies), long days swimming, fishing, picking blackberries and playing my share of video games are all memories that come to me when I think of summertime. I also loved not having to go to school! I know summer gets a bad rap from many, but I still love it. I hope you are enjoying yours wherever you are.
It’s been awhile since an update, so I’m here to update you. Back in April and the first part of May there wasn’t too much going on around here, mostly due to an illness that struck our home. Soon after that, I posted about a bird’s nest I had been watching in my bathroom window, if you missed that blog post, you can read it HERE. I rather liked it myself.
Sometime in May, I started leaving the house once again. It was beyond nice to finally have all family members healthy and together on trips again. Everyone got well in time to prepare for a trip down to beautiful Alabama. We decided to take another trip to the 100 acre farmhouse. Our daughter would be visiting some of her friends and we would be getting some much needed family time away. It so happens it would again be our baby girl’s birthday during our stay there, just like her first. Will we keep it a tradition? I’m not sure.
On the Road Again
Our intention was to relax a bit, but I also knew I wanted to do a lot more exploring. Well, I think we really wore ouselves out a little more than we had planned, but we had fun. During this last trip we hiked between 14-16 miles total, including both Northwest, AL and Southern IL. Much of that is with 22-35 extra pounds of toddler on my husband and I at any given time. It’s a really good work out! Our two oldest sons also enjoyed the challenge of carrying our 3 year old a bit in the hiking backpack. This is the first time we used hiking sticks and they really came in handy
After many trips around the Bankhead National Forest, we finally visited the Sipsey Wilderness, also called the “Land of 1,000 Waterfalls.” Though we barely put a dent in the beautiful 25,000 acre landscape, we sure tried. Below is a picture taken at “Kinlock Falls.” One could definitely stay here awhile, and we did. Though it proved fairly difficult to find, as the trail head was not marked, it was worth the search. Once we found it, it was a relatively easy and short hike to the waterfalls. All Trails GPS came in handy during our time in the wilderness since there was no cell/internet connection.
Here is a short video I just put together on our new channel, “Happily Outnumbered”. Just a FYI for those of you that are understandably concerned about poisonous snakes, the water here is always moving and too cold for them, at least that’s what my husband said. The logic makes sense and we didn’t see any, so I chose to believe him.
At the Farmhouse
We had a lovely time at the farmhouse as usual (there were no E.R. visits this time). We had a wonderful time celebrating our baby girl’s birthday the day after we arrived. I think our only snag on the trip was the washing machine broke. We made due and after trying several times to make it work, Joshua found a laundry mat in a nearby town. It’s hard for people to imagine the amount of work that’s involved doing laundry for 10 humans. Some of you get it. I find things always seem easier on the road though, which is a crazy thought, because there are so many challenges. I think my love for traveling has skewed my view a bit.
One day during our stay I was really convinced that there was a dog barking near the porch at the farmhouse. We did not find a dog, but after close observation we realized the sound was coming from a little frog in a flower bush. Turns out it is appropriately called a Barking Frog. I read that they are common in Southern Alabama and other parts of the Southeastern U.S. After all these years traveling south, it was a first encounter for us.
On our last day we went into beautiful Huntsville and visited Monte Sano State Park. It was a well maintaned and beautiful park, just as some had described. We combined two trails so not to miss “Stone Cuts,” which was the definite highlight of our hike. It had just rained heavily before arriving at the park. We didn’t mind the mud, but it did make for a bit more challenging trek up and down the mountains, especially while carrying toddlers. It was a great workout though and a great way to end our time in “Sweet Home Alabama.”
After leaving “Bama”, we headed for Kentucky. We got in a bit late, but enjoyed a good night’s sleep near an Alpaca farm before getting on the road again. Though we missed getting to meet the Alapacas, we did meet Superman as we headed north across the Illinois border into Metropolis. They’re kind of the same thing, no not really, not at all.
That day was a bit warm for hiking, the weatherman was off. It was supposed to be much cooler. However, we decided to head to Giant City State Park in beautiful Southern IL. My thinking was it would probably feel much cooler around all the rocks and caves. Thankfully, I was right, and it worked out great. We had a great time playing on the many rock formations and exploring many of the caves and crevices. This place never disappoints.
Back at Home
Currently (as of the writing of this post) we’re back at home. We’ve been busy training another teen how to drive and working hard on the garden again. I’ve had great help with the gardening this year from some of my sons, some of whom love growing things themselves. Anything I accomplish on top of the everyday tasks of caring for the children seems a bit of a victory to me. I’ve never had a toddler that didn’t love spending time in the garden. I may do a short garden tour video soon.
Gardening is a lot of work, this year I knew it would be more work than usual since I was going to be doing some redesigning. On top of that we had a run in with Japanese Beetles and gnats. A new post coming soon on how we’ve handled and are handling these highly destructive pests.
I truly hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer. Don’t let it pass you by without appreciating the positives that the season brings. By the way Joshua says; “I’m sorry I haven’t posted much, but I will have some stuff out soon.” So now we can hold him to that.
Til’ next time……
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