Saturday morning Lincoln and Kennedy went fishing.
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They didn't have much luck and returned around 8:30 a little disappointed, but happy they had gone. At 8:45 we had an egg hunt. For those of you who are not aware of our family's tradition, let me fill you in. When my parents joined the church, they learned about keeping the Sabbath holy. (This wasn't news to them, but the importance of it and actual practice was.) They reflected on it and decided that hunting for Easter eggs and doing other fun activities didn't really work with the Sabbath. So they invented their own holiday. Easter was set aside for going to church and reflecting on the death, resurrection and atonement of Jesus Christ. Spring Holiday was set up as a day to celebrate the arrival of spring. Tradition was that we celebrated it the first Saturday that all the snow was off the ground and we knew there wouldn't be anymore that season. Growing up in northern NY, this usually meant it took place in May. Having lived the past 6 years in NC, we were able to do it the Saturday after Easter every year. (The Saturday AFTER so we can purchase clearance Easter candy. ) Easter, as you know, was very early this year so it's been a couple months. My kids are not accustomed to waiting this long, but they survived it. So we had our egg hunt at 8:45, got everyone hopped up on sugar, and then went to the girls' soccer game at 10.
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After the soccer game we loaded everyone up and drove to Governor Dodge State Park for a picnic. We brought along kites, a plastic bat and ball, badminton rackets and birdies and other outdoor toys, including mine and Kennedy's bikes. We had a lovely picnic by the lake, playing in the sunshine and dandelions.
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We stopped at the playground in the park and we walked by the dam and waterfall below the lake.
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We saw a sign posted on one of the trails noting that the trail met with the Military Ridge Trail in 2.2 miles. We determined that Kennedy and I would bike to the trail and then to the trail head and Lincoln and the little ones would pick us up there. The trail from Governor Dodge was paved but VERY hilly. I'm talking long, steep hills. Hard enough for me with a brand new bike with lots of gears, grueling for Kennedy on her freebie bike with inefficient brakes. I was very proud of her. She was close to tears after the first big hill- even walking our bikes up it was tiring- but she sucked it up and persevered. There is a portion of the trail that actually runs on the shoulder of a main road. This was hot and sunny, and steep uphill. We were very happy to see the point where the trail met the Military Ridge. At that point we still had 2.5 miles to go, but this was level and pleasant as I described before. This time we saw a huge bunny on the trail and lots of butterflies. We were so excited and grateful to see Lincoln and the kids beckoning to us from the end of the trail as we approached, everyone talking at once about what had happened while we were apart. Another wonderful parenting moment- seeing my child tackle something difficult and rise to the challenge, without complaint or giving up. I guess that's all I can hope for. That we can teach our kids that life is not always smooth and level. There will be hot sun and steep grueling hills. But they have it in them to conquer the hills- even if they sometimes have to get off the bike and push it-, to overcome the adversity and reap the blessings that come as a result. Blessings of seeing that they can do whatever they set their minds to and blessings of being together as a family forever when we've set our minds toward the Lord.
The perfect end to the day was a Mommy-daughter date with Julia, with this glorious sunset as we drove home.
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3 comments:
I love that policy of Lands' End - do they pay for the unworked hours or not?
SC- Yes, same pay extra family time. I love it.
What a great spring holiday day! We have failed miserably at Spring Holiday. Sadly, we also fail miserably about doing anything special for Easter, too - besides eating Ham at Grandma's. It's hard to get it together when there's just one little kid to please and a whle slew of birthday to tend to in May. Luckily Lauren and Treton were still around when MB was little so she got fairly regular extended family spring holidays, but poor Maxx is being neglected. Guess we'll just have to come to your place next year.
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