By His Grace Alone: Spring Break Adventures

We enjoyed several day trips to nearby parks, gardens, etc. for spring break this year.

It was the first year of home schooling that we've actually taken a full week off.

It turned out to be perfect timing in light of our family visiting, although it has been a

little tough to get back into the swing of things this week! So glad it's Friday! :)

Botanical Gardens

Aaron and cousin R

So glad we made it past all the water without any of my boys falling/jumping in!

Aaron, Luke and cousin R in the gorgeous orchid exhibit. (Ethan was not in the mood for photos!)

sweet little poser

This "stick house" sculpture was amazing!

Beautiful sister-in-law and sweet baby girl

Climbing boys!

Day trip to the beach. This was very hard for the boys to understand. The only time we've ever gone to the beach is for a vacation when it's hot. They were wondering where the beach house was and couldn't understand why I didn't want them to go IN the water. (It was upper 60's and windy.) We had a great time, but there were many moments that tested my pitiful patience. :]

Example of tested patience: Ethan decided to jump in the water and then promptly drop to the ground and roll around until he was fully covered with sand. We had no access to showers or bathrooms and you can be sure that within moments he was shivering from the wind. I was prepared to let him experience discomfort from his poor choice, but lucky for him Grammy came to the rescue and shared her towel to dry him off and change him into warmer clothes.

Climbing Wall: This was probably my favorite outing because it made the boys so happy. If you've been reading this blog before you know that Luke and Ethan love climbing. I was thrilled to for them to have this opportunity and even more thrilled that my brother Jonathan and his wife Sarah could be with us. They both have extensive climbing experience. They met long ago at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and have done lots of climbing through the years. They were able to coach the boys and belay them as they climbed to the top. The boys had NO fear and boldly climbed the wall.