The Fourth

It caught me by surprise. One of my favorite holidays (likely due to it being in the Summer!) is usually spent with friends. But this year, for some reason, it ended up just being us. "Us" turned out to be just fine.

I love summer. I love nature (in case it hasn't been clear in the past!). Both Jason and I love getting up high in the mountains, where you can feel the elevations stretching your lungs and hear the wind in the canyons above and below you. The fourth was just that.

Since our adventures are usually just the children and I (with friends), it's not likely that I get to read. But if you add a spouse to the mix, these outings provide moments of alone time. We were both able to read, nap, and hike individually with the older children.

I still marvel at how environment shapes the view of what reality is to young ones. These babies have been frequenting rivers since they were a few months old. They know no different. That amazes me. How they know to handle scraped feet from sharp rocks, "pokey" hikes from barefoot walks in pine needles and hours upon hours in the sun without toys or entertainment. It's good stuff.

We set out to this spot early in the morning as there is only one easily accesable spot on this side of the river. Since there is only one spot, we had the river to ourselves. All day. Peace.

Later in the afternoon, Jason took the three littles into the car for a nap. As they napped the older kids journaled and I took a snooze along side of them. A rarity.

The other day, when we are at a different river, the older kids headed upstream to go explore. I asked Scarlett where they had gone. She answered so quickly, "Oh, they're river scouting". A term I would never expect one of my children to know, let alone my four year old daughter. Bless. I love summer!

So this family photo...wasn't so easy. This is set up on an ice chest with the self timer. I don't know how to change the settings to make it longer so I had 10 seconds to run across a slippery slab of granite in the water to meet my family. Gussy wasn't happy about that as he had to run with me (and got a little too wet). We made it! I treasure this photo, just as I treasure our fourth!

We did a quick bonfire with smores before we took off for the night. Let my growth be known, please, for a second. These marshmellows were not, in fact, organic. The graham crackers were not gluten free. I bought doughnuts (read: DOUGHNUTS) for everyone to enjoy. As well as nitrate-filled lunch meat. The family was ecstatic. And I woke up with what felt like a ginormous hangover (because yes, there was a time in my life where I experienced a few of those).

It was so so good and beneficial for the family. Often times we get caught up in the social experiences (because we love them!) that we forget to spend some quiet, quality time with our family. Carter and I went on a rather long hike upstream. He told me he loved me about 15 times. I think we needed that. :) Jason took the oldest boys to the summit where they came back with a paint can filled with wildflowers for me. Sissy got a bee sting. The twins did their thing, cautiously playing along shore, bossing everyone around and hoarding their favorite item at the moment. Blessed.

And I had to take this photo as we were all packed up, heading home. It looked like a Toyota commercial, all five kiddos packed in nicely. :)