Vacation!!!!!

Wow! 6 days in Pennsylvania! We had a marvelous time. We cooked over a fire a few times, went swimming in a lake, went hiking, watched movies (Star Wars), did jigsaw puzzles, and more.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was the 3 1/2 hour hike we took. We were lost..... Shane used to hike down off the mountain to camp when he was a teen. However, he just can't seem to find the easy way anymore. Last year, he took 4 of the kids and they ended up walking down a full creek for the last 45 minutes or so, trying to find their way back to camp. For that reason, Jessica and Mikayla have said they aren't hiking with Dad ever again!!!!

I bought Shane a handheld GPS for Christmas.....so, I wasn't too afraid to hike with him this year. We had so much fun. The logging road we started out on was still not the right one. We always new where camp was, we just couldn't exactly find a simple was to get there. We hiked through brambles, down steep slopes of brush and pushed our way through dense areas of new saplings. But, I got to have one-on-one time with my son, Hunter.

It was fabulous. As many of you know, Hunter came into this world CRANKY!!! I don't know why he arrived that way, but it taught me that each baby is most definitely born with their own spirit. Hunter needed lots of instruction, I needed lots of prayer. But, he has come so far. He is absolutely delightful. Unfortunately, part of my current mothering challenge is trying to give individual attention to my kids. Hunter is always hungry. He can eat like none of my other children have at the age of 6. So, much of our conversations revolve around Hunter asking for more food. I am so busy with my "work", that I haven't taken time to enjoy Hunter's personality beyond his constant need for nourishment.

On our hike, Hunter and I often ended up at the back of our group. He was so cute. He was using my binoculars and pretending he was a Rescue Hero. When we were "lost", he kept getting on his pretend radio and called for help!!! He kept telling the other Rescue Heroes that he needed an "aerial rescue". But, they never did help us!!! At one point a plane flew over us and I joked that the Rescue Heroes were coming. Hunter "called" to them, but he said they turned their radio off. We started joking that they were the Rescue Heroes that "don't do anything" (similiar to the Pirates who don't do anything on VeggieTales!!)

The reason I enjoyed seeing Hunter's imagination at work is because at this age my kids are usually embarrassed when you "catch" them playing. He didn't care that I was watching and playing along. His smile was so sweet and I loved being his hiking buddy. I hope I can keep those images in my mind for a long time!