It’s so funny that my last post was all about low expectations equaling greater stability and happiness because we’re currently on an adventure with HIGH EXPECTATIONS…and it’s totally living up to them!
Six years ago in October, the hubby and I went on a trip together to Mohonk Mountain House in upstate New York.
It was magical, restorative, stunning, earthy and allllllll the beautiful things a real autumn should be (basically, the opposite of South Texas, ha). And ever since then, we’ve been desperate to take the kiddos and let them experience this magical place, as well.
Welp. We finally just pulled the trigger and made it happen. We centered it around a tiny little Fall Break from school, woke ant 3:15 a.m. to board an early, direct flight to Newark before a two hour drive up to our finally destination, and…
What a destination it is. :) This eldest child o’ mine was six years old when we began plotting a way to get us back here, and now, look!
A full circle life moment, for sure!
I am so stinking happy to report that our memories were spot on, and this place is basically heaven. The mountain house itself is 155 years old, so full of character, and surrounded by oodles and gobs of acres of hiking trails, and we intend to spend as much time in nature as humanly possible.
The kiddos are free and happy and smiley and ecstatic to be here—and so are we!
Okay…tons of pictures and very little description, ha. Basically just in chronological order!
Chicklet was not a fan of Daddy’s wobbly rowing, ha:
But back on dry land…smiles for miles. :)
I can’t even. This joy just SLAYS ME.
Can she please stop growing up????
My girl was in love with her pinecones! And a temporary unicorn. ;)
Seriously. Like wind machine hair. I die:
Adventurer pose:
UGH. Stunning!
Chica lost a precious earring and I was able to pinpoint the location of the loss based on the gazillion photos I take in real time, ha. Little Man found the earring and all was well!
Okay…these pics pick up after our yummy dinner. The resort has an award winning Kids’ Club and they were hosting a night hike that a Chicklet was all over. She’s very black and white about the things she gets excited about and she was literally counting down the minutes on my phone for this one!
She was basically leaving me in the dust to get to the drop-off point…
Little Man decided to join the hike, as well, and Chica (being on the top end of the age spectrum for a Kids’ Club) was on the fence—until she met the two lovely counselors and discovered there was only one more 5th grade age kid, and then she was totally gung-ho.
Parents? What parents? ;)
We sent them on their way for the hour of fun while us parents snagged some dessert…
Well, right at that time, I got a text from Godmother Lisa (*waves*) that we had a chance to see The Northern Lights due to a geo-magnetic storm. Squeeee!!
We couldn’t catch anything specific but spent a lot of time trying…until we ran into the kiddos at the tail end of their hike and heard ALL about their viewing of the lights!
Well, right at that time, I got a text from Godmother Lisa (*waves*) that we had a chance to see The Northern Lights due to a geo-magnetic storm. Squeeee!!
We couldn’t catch anything specific but spent a lot of time trying…until we ran into the kiddos at the tail end of their hike and heard ALL about their viewing of the lights!
As it turns out, you can vaguely see a pink or green tint to the sky with the naked eye, but if you take a photo, it flares in the most gorgeous way!! The counselors had taken them on a more difficult hike and up a watch tower that’s restricted for any non-personnel and they had the most amazing views and a lot of darkness.
These pics are gorgeous and bucket-list worthy! All thanks to Chica. :)
This was the watch tower that’s lovely during the day (and we’re going back there tomorrow), but creepy at night! Brave kiddos!
Look in the pic below and you can see the Big Dipper!
And these last few were the pictures I snagged:
This one was even taken from our hotel room balcony just before we showered and collapsed. :)
This was the watch tower that’s lovely during the day (and we’re going back there tomorrow), but creepy at night! Brave kiddos!
Look in the pic below and you can see the Big Dipper!
And these last few were the pictures I snagged:
This one was even taken from our hotel room balcony just before we showered and collapsed. :)
I seriously can’t express the joy of this day. Effervescence, really. And to cap it off with the kiddos feeling so independent and special for hiking in the dark at night and catching the Northern Lights??? EPIC.
I’m so very aware of how fortunate we are to be here, spending this wonderful time together as a family. We go-go-go so hard in our daily lives that it’s incredible to shift things into a lower, more exploratory gear, and to just enjoy each other and the atmosphere.
It’s going to be an amazing weekend and I can’t wait for alllll of it.
More mañana, peeps!
Over and out!
P.S. Can I just say that on four hours of sleep, we SLAYED this day?!
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