Fall Adventures & Making Memories

I don't know what it is, but each time Fall comes around, I love to go hiking. Maybe it's because I grew up in the country and it reminds me of the hours I spent in the woods with my sister and our dog.

I miss it.

The simplicity. The smells. The hours of pure joy!

So when Fall comes around, I am itching to get out into the woods and explore. We love going to State Parks, so on Sunday we did just that.


We hiked, talked, snuggled in the Ergo, ran, enjoyed the scenery, pretended we were big deer, ate supper over the fire, and also snuck in a treat of Twizzlers!

At the end of the day, just as we were preparing to go, the girls' Papa (my dad) showed up in his airplane. The girls have never taken an airplane ride before and I've never pushed it. We chatted for a bit, and then I asked Zoelle if she wanted to ride home with Papa (and me too) and at first she was all excited saying she wanted to do it. But as she was getting ready to climb in she says,


"Meridian do you want to go? I think I should let you have the first turn." :) What a nice, generous big sister she is! ;)

If you know anything about Meridian she is fearless and so she automatically said "yes" and in we went. She got to wear the special headphones and sit on my lap. She got to see a big fire, and the start of the moon. She saw multiple lakes, and many beautiful Fall trees. But through it all, I never heard a word out of her mouth. Instead, she sat there with the biggest eyes I've ever seen. The first words out of her mouth when we landed and shut off the plane were,

"Where is daddy? Where is Zoelle?"

I'm pretty sure she was confused as to why they weren't at Papa's house when we got back. In the days since, she has only been able to talk non-stop about her airplane ride in Papa's yellow plane.

It puts a smile on my face because I have many fond memories of flying with my dad as a kid and I look forward to my girls making those same memories!

Have you ever flown in a small engine airplane before? What are some memories you like to make with your family?

Vacation in Paradise

Last week we snuck away for three days to go camping in paradise. Literally. This is our third time camping there. The first time we went was before we had kids and we camped with some friends of ours. The entire weekend was spent in the water on a floaty visiting. It was glorious.

The girls "helping" dad get set up!

Thus a few years later with Zoelle just over a year old, we decided to go back. Of course, camping with a child was a bit different than we figured, but it was fun nonetheless. The last two years we have been unable to go back as we had a newborn each summer. Thus when the opportunity arose to go this year, we jumped at it.

Hanging out in the camper.

If you remember correctly, we sold our camper last year and I have been praying that God would provide us with another one. Well one day while my dad and husband were hanging out, they decided to go look at campers and found one almost identical to the one we sold. Thus with 13 kids (11 still at home), my dad decided to buy it and gave us permission to use it when we want. This daughter was pretty happy about that! :)

Pure joy!

But back to paradise. It was by far one of the best trips we have taken as a family of 5. It included: taking walks, playing at the park, campfires late at night with my husband, watching movies, reading books, swimming in sugar sand beaches, taking naps, trips to "town" for supplies we forgot, visiting a local ice cream/candy shop, singing "Knee Deep" by the Zac Brown Band, hearing Zoelle exclaim, "I love this, I love this SO much!", and much more.

Sliding down the big slide!

I came back refreshed, renewed, and ready to go back to Paradise. ;) But that will have to wait until next year....

I love everything about this picture! :)

Do you go on vacation every year? If so, do you go to the same spot or a new one?

Confession: I didn't want to write this post.

In case you think my life is all about "farting rainbows and unicorns", it isn't. Often people will comment or say things to me in reference to my life being perfect, or how I'm always happy. Let me tell you right now: I'm not perfect and I'm not always positive.

This winter has been an extremely trying winter for me and I'm only a little over a month into it. The possibility of more snow makes me feel sick. Like crawl in a hole, or under the covers and hide sick. I don't do well with little to no sun, and I don't do well being stuck inside a small house with three little girls all day everyday. Typically, my husband can be home more in the winter. For the second winter in a row though, he has decided to help a friend with snow removal to make some money on the side. Which is all he has been doing since the end of November it seems. However, since Thursday night I have hardly seen him as we had two back to back blizzards that brought us two feet of snow.

Needless to say, the last few days I've felt pretty crabby. I had snow up to my back door yesterday and it was to the point that even if I wanted to go somewhere (which I didn't), I couldn't. I didn't like that feeling of being locked in my own home with my husband away for over 12 hours moving snow on a holiday in which I thought he would be here.

And then at 8 p.m., just hours after I posted about life being so short, I got a call from my dad. At first I thought he accidently called me with his cell phone as all I could hear in the background were voices. But as he began talking, I remember thinking, "Either he has a cold or something is majorly wrong". I should have known then. My Grandpa Ellard had died. And I didn't get to say goodbye.

Grandpa and Grandma Meeting Zoelle for the first time.

I'm the type of person that asks questions when I know someone died. It's hard for me to think about the fact that yesterday at this time, Grandpa was still alive. "Did he know he was going to die?", "Did it hurt for him?" "After 70+ years of living, it's over just like that?" "Why didn't I call them today when I thought of them?" "Why did I have to run my 5K and not participate in my family's family Christmas with them?" I'm extremely analytical and think through everything. It seems that is all I could do last night is think, cry, and ask questions. I wanted to blog, but I just couldn't. Blogging would make it real that he was gone. A thought I still can't comprehend. What will life be like without Grandpa? I can't even imagine life without him and Grandma together!

 Grandpa meeting Xiomara. This would be the last time I would see him.

My sister blogged so much more beautifully then I ever could about him, but I did want to share a few thoughts about Grandpa that I so loved.

My sister and I were the oldest grandchildren for many years. In fact, the next youngest grandchild was six years younger than myself. Growing up, we were very spoiled by them. However, I don't think it was any secret that my sister, being the first grandchild, was favored by my Grandma. I think Grandpa knew that and when no one was looking, Grandpa would often give me a special treat or make a funny little joke that he knew would instantly wipe my tears off my face.

Grandpa was also a heavy smoker. He always kept his cigarettes in one area of their kitchen. I remember one day going over to those cigarettes and Grandma saying to me, "Vanessa don't you touch those cigarettes, those are your Grandpa's favorites.". All I knew about cigarettes at that time was that they were bad for me and anyone else who smoked, so I responded, "Aren't they all the same? Gross?" Grandpa with a twinkle in his eye started laughing winked at me and said, "I suppose you are right".

Grandpa also snored very loud. I remember once as a kid pretending to snore like Grandpa did and Grandpa just laughing about it. He was a good sport about his loud snore! :)

My last memory of my grandpa I have is the one I think all of us have, him driving away doing his finger pointer wave to us with a big smile on his face. It's a memory I'll never forget.

I love you Grandpa! I'll miss you. I can't imagine life without you.

I will probably be taking a break from blogging this week as I prepare and go to my Grandpa's funeral. I do have one post I have to put up for a company tomorrow, but outside of that, I probably will not blog (unless I remember to do my Wordless Wednesday).

*I can't find any pictures of Meridian with Grandpa. :( If any of my family has one, I'd really appreciate it.