29 June 2011

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 - 12 comments

Black and White Wednesday - Family Time




Last weekend we had a total and completely family filled weekend!  From Friday afternoon until late into Sunday night it was all family all the time.   Friday night we spent the evening having a great meal out with our three kidos and a night of teenage shopping.  Saturday we had all the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that live near us over for a BBQ.  And Sunday was full of worship at church and a long and hearty hike in the afternoon...just the five of us, actually six counting our granddog!  It's rare that we all are together for a long period of time with no other interruptions so we took complete advantage of the time while our beautiful Holly was here visiting for the weekend.
Our Sunday hike started out with lots of smiles and a cute pair of glasses!  This girl was FULL of smiles and giggles allllll weekend long!   As we started out on our hike there was lots of "wow's" or "I like the backpack mommy" and "I'm IN the backpack!!"  Too cute for this momma!!
We hiked along a beautiful trail in a local state park, Henry Cowell.  Our path was dog friendly and pretty quiet along the way.  Of course I couldn't help myself and stayed back with Big J and just snapped away at everything!   The backdrop was amazing.  The weather was perfect!  And the subjects were adorable!  I even shared my camera with my hubby who captured lots of perfect moments! 

With a teenage boy you can never go more than a mile without stopping for nourishment...So we found a sweet table nestled into a turnout and made ourselves at home.  There were dragonflies flittering about everywhere and a few horses passed through and said their hellos.  We enjoyed conversation about the church service we'd just been to and our plans for the weeks ahead while sharing a bag of chips and some sandwiches.  It was a perfect space away from all that captures us when we are home...tv, phones, computers and the busy lives we lead.
Once we refueled and loaded the cricket back inside her pack we headed back out to see what was ahead of us and to figure out exactly how far we'd make it.  Again I was more apt to stay behind and absorb it all in and Big J lolly gagged behind with me and it gave us the opportunity to just talk.  For Mike and the girls it was more of a deep conversation of how fast can we get there and making the most of spending the time together.  Little miss soon found a comfy spot to rest her legs and let daddy do all the work!
After a few miles the little cricket fell fast asleep and the path kept going as well as the hills!  After more than an hour of trekking we decided to stop and head back and while our goal (five+ miles in and 5 out) to the Redwood Grove wasn't accomplished we did accomplish something better....great family time!  It was a perfect weekend in every way and one I will treasure so very much.  It is so bittersweet to watch our two oldest mature and begin to lead their own lives and venture off from us.  We work so hard to keep them our babies for as long as we can but eventually they begin to fly away....thankfully they come back!  And when they do come back for an afternoon of family time...it's priceless!
I love all of you my beautiful family!
Happy Wednesday!  Hopefully Summer is full of good things and lots of family time for everyone!  Hope you can make it over to The Long Road to China {and back} to see more fabulous black and whites!


  





12 comments:

What a great get away from gadgets! Cricket's adorable in her little backpack!

Sounds like a perfect day :) Love the photo of Cricket with her legs on daddy's shoulders!

sounds like an awesome weekend!

Jennifer is too cute for words!

Sue

Looks like a super day- I haven't hiked in forever so I'd probably pass out.

Looks like a fun day=)

Great shots. Looks like a wonderful day together.

Hope you have a great day!

Sounds PEFECT!

How fun! Sounds like an absolutely perfect weekend to me!!

I just love your family Kayce... and the photos of your outings just show how very special the bond you all share is.

XOXOXO

It looks like a perfect place to get some quiet time. Peace and quiet is what we look forward to on our vacation finally coming up in about a week.

Erika B

Sounds like tons of fun. Great captures