Labor Day Part 1

We haven't even reached Labor Day and I am already posting about it?

What?

Well, due to the fact that I have had 4 children, been PTA President for 2 consecutive years, had 8 chemotherapy treatments, anesthesia from multiple surgeries and just life as a wife and mother in general...my brain cells are fried and I forget things easily these days.  So I wanted to post about our first part of the Labor Day weekend before I forget all of the fun things that we did.  Here goes...

We have some awesome friends who invited us to their awesome cabin for the weekend and we took them up on the offer.  It turned out to be quite the adventure.  

Getting to the cabin was a little tricky.  It had been raining most of the day and one of the roads that leads to the cabin is a little on the steep side and not paved.  It was basically a big mud slide.  (Of course, I neglected to get a picture of it, oh well)  Our friends were in front of us in their Suburban pulling a little trailer.  They started going up the hill and got about halfway before they started sliding back down.  I knew that if their Suburban was not going to make it up that hill then our little Sienna van was not going to either.  But they persisted and after a few up and downs, they finally made it up the steep part and around the bend.  We decided that maybe we would just leave our van on the side of the main road and they would come pick us up after they dropped the trailer off at the cabin.  While we were waiting, several more vehicles made it up the hill...including a Dodge Caravan. 

Challenge accepted.

If the Caravan could make it up that hill, then our Sienna could to.  The key was to get a good running start.  So we waited for the traffic to clear, backed up quite a distance from the bottom of the hill and put the petal to the metal.  I am glad that Mark was driving.  I was a nervous wreck.  Before we started I made sure all the kids were buckled and threatened them to not say a word so Dad could concentrate.  :)

Our prayers were answered, our good little van made a valiant effort and we made it up the hill!

We had such a great time.  The kids had a blast using their imaginations and being out in nature.  It was a quick overnight trip for us but it was filled with games, laughter, visiting, lots of yummy food, and a lot more laughing.  Before we left, we went for a little drive to see some of the surrounding area.  A lot of it had been burned by one of the many wildfires we had in our state at the beginning of the summer.  It was so sad to see the devastation that the fire caused, but it was amazing to see all of the new life already forming.  There is a blanket of green on the ground as new trees and plants are beginning to take shape.  It was beautiful.

On the way home, we hit more rain and it was pretty scary for a little bit.  At one point, we could barely see the road in front of us.  More prayers were offered and once again, we were protected and able to make it down the canyon without any accidents or problems.  We made it home just in time to take a quick shower and head out to see The Piano Guys in concert.

It was an incredible concert.  If you haven't heard of The Piano Guys, you need to go to YouTube and check them out.  They are amazing.  We had such a fun time...even though we got drenched.  It rained almost the whole time we were waiting for the concert to begin.  It stopped for most of the concert, but we got one more downpour right as they were finishing.  It was totally worth it though.  We love The Piano Guys!
Here is a link to one of their videos.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts

The beginnings of a really fantastic Labor Day Weekend.  Thank you Ryatt and Kelli for inviting us to your home away from home.  You guys are the best!

Stay tuned for more Labor Day adventures in the next day or two.