Snow Day! | Mom Life Journal

 Yesterday we had a lot of fun in the snow we got from winter storm Orlena. 

                                                          

We did school in the morning, then went outside to sled during our lunch break. Then back inside to do school and chores, then a coupe kids went back outside again. 

I finally got around to making a video for the YouTube channel. A few of us have been feeling under the weather, hence the sniffly noses in the video. I'm considering taking up making more videos again. I know for a fact that life is going to be one crazy roller coaster ride this year, and I'd like to have video evidence of it in later years. :) 

Yesterday was one of those days that you really remember later on in the year. The type of day that you dream of having when you think about winter coming to town. Sledding, snowball fights, attempts to make a snowman, hot chocolate, and if you are Alex you body slam snowdrifts. Ha, teenagers!

My legs are sore from climbing hills with the kids yesterday! shew!

 Today the snow is still out there, but slowly starting to melt. It is pretty darn cold out there, but it is sunny and that is nice. I love the sun, too bad it barely feels like the sun this time of year. 

It's all down hill until the time changes now! We are gaining 2 minutes of daylight a day right now. It has been light all the way up until 6pm the last few nights. That brings me serious joy. :)

I'm including some pictures of all of the snow we got, some sun in the snow and the you tube video that I made.

Happy Wednesday!

~Lyndsay

Alex found a new sledding hill. It's fast and you have too bail out of the sled before you slide into the creek!

A woodpecker has been hanging out on the front tree.

A couple inches of ice plus 8+ inches of snow!

Alex did a lot of shoveling!

Poor Pool...the steps almost disappeared.

First Day of Homeschool Co-op 2021 | Homeschool Life

Co-op started last Friday. It was nice to get back to seeing friends and learning together. This is not our normal co-op, but it has some of the same friends. 

I know we live in a totally different world now, and I sometimes wonder if things will ever be the same again. However, a first day of co-op picture felt necessary this year. Even more so than on other years. 

We all had a great first day, and Anna even cried when it was time to leave. That's a major change from our last co-op experience when she cried the entire time we were there. 

I really enjoyed teaching my literature class and can't wait to go back next week. I've never taught middle school grades before, and I'm pleasantly surprised. 

We are all looking forward to a fun semester! 

January Vacation 2021 | Day 3-7

 Once we reached Tennessee and our cabin, it was a much more laid back vacation. 

There was a lot of games of pool, board games, hot tub lounging, naps, and yummy food. Dustin got a Door Dash pass and we had a lot of fun trying the local restaurants. We also went out to eat a few times. We spent the morning of our last day in Tennessee at the Titanic Museum in Sevierville. 

Loved this cross!

They called for an unexpected major snow storm to hit the area while we were there. While sitting in the hot tub watching the snow fall is something I have always wanted to experience, being snowed in in Tennessee is not a person dream of mine. We made an extra trip to the grocery store to make sure we had provisions incase we truly got snowed in like they were predicting. Thankfully the storm shifted more to the south and we only got a dusting of snow with a couple days of flurries. We did get to sit in the hot tub and watch the snow fall around us. A winter mountain vacation is something we have always talked about experiencing and we are so thankful we were able to make it happen this year. 

Proof of our crazy couple of days. 

Our cabin was crazy high off the ground. It was over two stories down from the deck.

Teenarger in their natural habitat

We had Joe's Crab Shack for lunch one day. It was Anna's first time eating it in the restaurant. It was so delicious. 

One night the guys had BBQ delivered and the gals had a sushi feast. 

Emma and Alex are becoming pool sharks like their Dad. 

The only pic from the Titanic Museum. Pictures were forbidden.

Anna loved napping in this recliner.

Girls only hot tub hang out. 

We were supposed to stay another, but we had had enough of our cabin by the time we left a day early. We actually almost left two nights early. Here's why...we have dubbed this cabin the 'Half Broken Cabin', haha. While this was a nice cabin, and it was comfortable and beautiful, it had some issues. There wasn't enough blankets and sheets, one of the toilets was broken, the plumbing gurgled, and lots of things were nice, but half broken. Such as, we tried to move the pool table slightly to be able to open a pull out couch, and one of the legs fell off! All of this probably explains why this particular cabin was $20-30 cheaper per night than all of the others we found available in the area.  But...the main reason we left early is because of the permanent residents who were not happy to have visitors.  There were some raccoons who lived in the area who were not happy about us visiting. They showed up the second night we were there there, they woke Alex up by tapping and scratching to try to get in the window by his head. Then the next night they were on the roof above the hot tub while we were in it, and they were not happy we were there. We got out fairly quickly before they got anymore upset. The third night we were there we started hearing scratching and chewing inside the cabin walls late at night. 

The final evening we were there we were all in the hot tub relaxing and having a lively conversation. We thought all of the noise would keep them away.  We heard a couple noises, but nothing alarming. Then, all of a sudden we heard a high pitched growl/hissing right next to the hot tub on the outside near the railing. I have never in my life seen people bail out of a hot tub so fast! 

By the time we had that run in with the racoons we were more than ready to head back to the comfort and safety of our own home. 

All of that craziness aside, which I feel happens with every vacation no matter who you are, we had a wonderful vacation. We really needed to get away and have some family time, and to have a minute to think and reflex on life. Dustin and I find that we are better able to think about the big life choices we need to make when we are away from home and work for a little while. It was a good vacation. :)

We ran into some beautiful snow on the drive through the mountains on the way home!

All in all we had a great winter adventure vacation, and we ready to come home and prepare for life to resume again. We took an entire month off from school and our business was closed for over three weeks. It was a wonderful break and so worth the loss of income and little bit of time from school. With some life events coming up we are not sure when we will be able to go on vacation again. We were able to experience a lot of firsts and we made so many wonderful family memories to carry with us forever. 

We don't know what the next few days, month and even years may hold but we know that a few things will always be true. God is in control, family should always come first and the snow always comes up in the morning. 

Blessings!

~Lyndsay

Now that I have finished updating everyone on our January adventures, it will be back to normal posts from me starting tomorrow. I have been thinking and realized I have been semi consistent with posting for a little over a month now. How exciting is that? Hopefully I will continue to be consistent. I have some post ideas for recommendations and tips for life and homeschooling to make in the near future. I will work to try to make those happen in a timely manner. 

January Vacation 2021 | Day 2

 Day 2 of vacation we had a delicious buffet breakfast at Great Wolf Lodge, loaded up into the car and headed back over the river to Kentucky. It was a little over an hours drive to the Ark Encounter.

Our family had never been to the Ark, but we have all always wanted to go. It was so worth the wait! It was so amazing. Half way through the exhibits I was hit with the urge to consume the Bible at a more rapid pace. We all learned so much while we were there. Dustin is very interested in wood working and he stood for a very long time at Noah's wood shop, just taking it all in. I think I enjoyed the exhibit with the families living quarter the most. I love learning history about how other people went about their daily lives.

 

Everyone enjoyed the Ark, Addison did well with reading all of the signage and even Anna was a real trooper. There is a lot of reading and things to see, but a younger childs' patience can grow thin at this type of a museum, that being said Anna did wonderfully. Although we did stop for a snack and she accidentally dumped more than half of a bottle of water all over my lap and the floor. Oops!

At the end of the Ark tour we visited the gift shop and headed back to our car to head towards Tennessee!

We rented a cabin near Gatlinburg, so we spent another four hours in the car after leaving the Ark. It was a pleasant drive and we enjoyed the scenery. We stopped once along the way for lunch at Skyline. 

Once we arrived at our cabin we unloaded and then headed out for diner at Cracker Barrel. I can not ever remember eating at a Cracker Barrel and had been wanting to try it. Turns out, it's not my new favorite place. Go figure. 

 Also, real life moment, at the end of our meal I certain five year old who had been struggling with constipation informed me she 'had to go'. We were in that bathroom forever, she literally said she figured we would just have to stay there until she found a way to go. Seriously people, this is my first child to struggle with this and it certainly has been a learning curve. I was finally able to convince her to get up and leave the bathroom after about half an hour of not being able to go. 

 We went to the grocery store next to get some snacks and drinks to keep at the cabin. 

After getting back to the cabin we settled in and tried out the cabin...

January Vacation 2021 | Day 1

We left Ohio around 9am, and headed to Kentucky to visit the Newport Aquarium. We haven't been there since Anna turned one, and she is five now. Everyone was old enough to remember it, yay! 

Everyone crossed the shark bridge, it was a big deal! It's really nice having kids who aren't tiny anymore. No more strollers, no more naps, no more diaper bags, etc. We are enjoying it. 

After the aquarium, we walked by the waterfront, it was snowing slightly and very chilly. Then we meandered into a candy store for some fudge to snack on as a bedtime snack. 

    

Crossing the shark bridge.

We got back into the car, crossed back over the river to Ohio, had a late lunch at Outback and had an early check in to Great Wolfe Lodge. 

This was our first time staying at Great Wolfe, and we loved it! It has something for all the age groups, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that Anna could ride some of the bigger tube slides. That means we don't have to split up most of the time to accommodate all of the ages. It helps that the younger two are thrill seekers, who are always up for a crazy rude, slide or adventure. Teenagers are a blast to hang out with, it's even better when the whole family can participate. 

After we swam, we changed clothes and went to the arcade. I'm impressed with the arcade. Actually I'm impressed with most of Great Wolf. After the arcade we ordered in some pizza and wings (Salad for me), took showers, ate fudge and got ready for day two of our adventure vacation. We are hitting a lot of different places, and most of them are new for us. 

Onto the next adventure.....

Time for an Adventure! | January Vacation 2021

We decided at 3pm on Monday(1/4/2021) to load up the car for a spontaneous family road trip/vacation. It's the first time we have ever just up and decided to take off. We've always talked about it, but never just jumped all in. 

It's a little nerve wracking, but also kind of exciting! We only told a few people we were going and only one person has our itinerary. 

It's now Tuesday and we are in the car on our way to Kentucky!

We will be state hopping for a few days and will eventually settle in somewhere for about a week. 

I'll be sure to update as we go, but you won't be reading this until we are already safely back at home. :)

Here's to an adventure! 

~Lyndsay