A Weekend Adventure!

We were only gone for one night and two days.

But no matter how long it is or isn't 
packing for this lovely family…

is a nightmare!

I am just not good at it BUT I am trying!

I'm thinking I will get better with time and practice!

The children were a bit overly excited.

So I called a meeting!

Usually I have something "kind of" big to say when I call a meeting.

I had 

nothing

this time.

NOTHING

at all…

I just knew I had to restore an ounce of order!

And start getting the job done!

So I got the troops settled down and put them all to work

PACKING!

Everyone, go get-

2 pr underwear and bring it back to Mom!
Check!

2 pair socks
Check!

one pair blue jeans (of course they all grew and we needed to find the next size for many of the kids) 

one pair sweatpants or leggings

one short sleeve shirt

one long sleeve shirt

one sweatshirt

one fleece
and so on!

You can run into problems when you purchase the same items in two very different sizes!

I used to dress my kids really cute.

No really, I did…

But not so much anymore!

We just do the best we can and sometimes-

Well, 

sometimes we just don't match!
and that's okay!

Our weekend away was a short one-

 just to the North Shore of Lake Superior to see

Johnny's soccer game

(They won 2-1, Yay Tommies!)

Then to-

Canal Park

Spilt Rock Lighthouse

and Gooseberry Falls!

The shores of Lake Superior are so beautiful.

It may be hard to see on this cloudy windy day but it really was a great adventure for all of us!

The children loved seeing the lift bridge raise up and the HUGE boat traveling through the canal.

The timing was so perfect!

Don't think I would have the patience to live on the island on the other side of the bridge-

 they must have to wait a lot!

Some of the children love to learn- they just can't get enough of it!
While others love to twirl and play and learning is a bit of a bother ; - )

This is the longest boat I have ever seen!

We partner up most of the time!
There have been a few unfortunate situations where one has ventured off and the rest of us have moved on to the next site.
It causes a bit of a panic amongst all of us.

There is a reason why each child is partnered with another!
It may be that one is a tad bit more responsible and controlled while the other is easily side tracked.
It may be that they share interests and it becomes a bonding experience to be "stuck" together!
Hubby or myself has Joey.
Although he is a smart little guy he still has a ways to go in completely understanding English.

This was the first lighthouse the children got to see!

Oops! Looks like we have a photo bomb!

There we go! That's better!

We like to hold the littles up high
so they are not tempted to jump up on the wall to see the sites.

For some of the children this is is harder than it looks.
They like home- they are secure there and they can let their guard down at home.

It is very hard for some of the children to go somewhere new and take it all in.
They become quiet and have a concerned look on their face.
They begin to act out a little bit- by just doing small things they don't normally do.
They are unable to listen and learn because they are more concerned about surviving in this new place.
For Emma she shut's down and goes in to her staring mode.
She can't keep her eyes off me for fear she will lose me. She may stand super close and if I correct her about anything she gets irritated.
Ellie comes to life in new places. Sometimes learning can be hard for her but she picks out things here and there and remembers them.
Mia shuts down. She becomes distant and lags behind the group. She doesn't speak much and all that she hears becomes white noise- it's too much to take in for her.
She does things out of character- hide food that she doesn't want and tries to trick us here and there even though there is no need to do that.

So even though all went well, hubby and I found ourselves praying frequently throughout the day.

We love that they love doing simple fun things!

Such as discovering different shapes of rocks!

And trying to skip them in the lake!

Some are quite competitive and want to show how quickly they can learn how to do it!

While others are just fine learning it later…
or maybe never if they so choose!

These two had a stash of rocks in that hole in the big rock!
That was their spot and they had no intention of sharing it 
with anyone else!

Queen of the hill!

Peak a boo Anna!
We found you hiding in the rocks!

We emailed pictures to their teacher so she could help them share what they did last weekend!

Now that's a good skipping rock!

The kids are on an old anchor from a ship that sunk in Lake Superior.

After this it was off to dinner where once again they looked at our large family with fear
and then once we ordered 
and they could see how easy it was 
they exhaled!

After dinner we were off to the hotel to relax before bedtime!