Mount Moosilauke & More Isabelle Funnyisms

What a fabulous weekend we had! Lots of friends, good food & fun! We were even able to take our first family hike since Caleb busted up his leg over Memorial Day weekend.
We're no experts for sure, but I think it's safe to say that we are a hiking family. Yesterday we tackled Mt Moosilauke...well, we attempted to tackle, but I have to admit it - it beat us. We were nearly three hours and 3,000 feet in, schlepping our way through squishy, slippery mud, scaling rocks and boulders (lots and LOTS of rocks), and it just got to be too much for poor Isabelle's little legs. I felt bad because I knew she couldn't really go any farther, and I knew how much the boys wanted to press on, so that kind of stunk. I thought about carrying her- or rather having Daddy carry her- but it just wouldn't have been safe, and frankly, we need another broken bone like we need a second mortgage.
Summit or not, we had a great day and marveled at all God has created for us to enjoy.
{We're still praying for all those in Colorado right now.}

This last shot was in the car, through the window, with me wrenching backwards and basically pointing the camera over my shoulder without looking. Not bad, right?  :)
Bill and I were SO impressed with Caleb on the mountain, so proud of him! Very thankful too, that he is regaining full use of his leg and ankle. We have another x-ray scheduled later this week to re-evaluate, which will determine whether or not he'll need surgery, but I don't really want to think about that possibility right now so I'll simply focus on what fun we had yesterday.
Did you notice the hair? I've washed it, oh, 7 times since Friday night. 21 more shampoos to go. I think it's not quite as Ronald McDonald, phew!
 Oh that girl of mine. She was so funny yesterday. Nothing but quotes will do for these!

When I expressed concern for Daddy carrying the heavy pack, Isabelle whips around and tilts her head, hand on hip, and advises me not to "worry myself about it because Daddy is strong and can handle it." Well then. HA

Later on, when she was beginning to struggle maneuvering the mud and rocks, I tried to distract her by announcing that I saw those little mini-trees, which means only one thing: fairies are nearby! Her response wasn't what I'd thought it would be- "Mom (in a somewhat stern, authoritative voice), I think you know that the Tooth Fairy is the only real fairy, and she is not here." Oh boy, did I giggle over that one!

The last cute thing was on the way back down, when she was really struggling with mud and rocks. I suggested she walk in a zig-zag fashion to help her keep her balance. That somehow perked her right up. So imagine my laughter when I hear this little cheerful chirp of a voice behind me, singing out but only to herself, "Ziiiiiig, ziiiiiig, ziiiiiiiiiiig, no, that's not a zag. Ziiiiiiiig, ziiiiiiiiiiiiig, um, no, still not ready for a zag. Ziiiig, ziiiiiig, ziiiiiiig, oh yes, that's a zag all right. Zaaaaaag."
Cutest.Thing.Ever.  =)

When You Break Your Leg, There Will Be Cake!

I suppose I'll cut right to the chase. The boys went rock-climbing at some new place around town. Needless to say, it didn't end well.

Bill called me and told me that Caleb had taken a bad fall and busted up his ankle. Then, in the panicked moments, our communication got a little wonky (which may or may not be code for I was beyond mad, slightly irrational, and filled with dread at the prospect of what yet another broken bone is going to do to our family over the next month or more...) and I ended up going to the gym with Isabelle only to discover that they weren't there. They'd already gone to the ER, so we headed there, which obviously did not help with the aforementioned fit I was already having. Poor little guy. That ankle looked so big and so bruised and misshapen! We live fairly close by, so I brought Ethan and Jonah home; Isabelle wanted to stay and comfort Caleb. I felt a little like June Cleaver packing up our little ER snack/activity bag. Um, almost.

It was a really long afternoon spent waiting waiting waiting. X-rays, more X-rays, poking and prodding, and yes, more X-rays, all determining that his leg is broken in 3 places right above the ankle. My heart broke watching Caleb absorb the news and then realize that his season with Majors is now over. We couldn't even fill the Rx because all the pharmacies were closed by the time we finally got back home, so as you can imagine, it was a really l-o-n-g night too.

After church, we grabbed a few things at the CRAZY-BUSY store, including this giant Taco cake for Caleb- awesome, right?

And then my parents came over after church with... a ginormous cake for Caleb, ha! It was much more appropriately themed than mine and said "Get Well Soon," and Mimi even had the girl pipe a leg with a blue cast on it! While I took the other kiddos to church, Bill had gone to Target with Caleb, and they let him drive one of the scooters! I wish I'd seen that! When your babies don't feel well, you take the smiles wherever/however you can get 'em. After lunch, Caleb went to bed while the rest of us watched Rango...not sure if I really liked it, though I hear I missed more than half of it (zzzzzzzzz), so...whatev.

On an unrelated note, Ethan finally got my Instagram account to work! I posted some pictures from the weekend there -- I'm at bethanysloves if you want to take a look or follow along.

So yesterday. We went to one of our favorite lakes and tried to make the most of it for everyone, which is hard to do when someone can't really do anything. Bill picked up kites at the dollar store, which always ends up as $3 down the drain, but oh well. For the nearly four seconds they worked, it was great!

I smile at this-- always gathered together working on something.

Every few minutes I'd see Caleb with this expression on his face. He doesn't complain, but when asked, he'll tell me his leg hurts a lot. Breaks my heart.

That face.
My baby.

My boy-turning-man. Still in awe of this, and how it happens so lightning fast.

This one. Often stormy, but I know God has amazing things in store for him.

This is "sad face because kite is not working..."

She recovered.

These Mama and Baby birds kept calling out to one another in the tall grass. So cute! You'd see the grass wiggle but sometimes not even see the baby bird as it raced to find Mama.

 Eek! So cute!

Jonah is like a mini Jeff Corwin. Couldn't believe what he found!

Hmm, don't see it? How about now?

 

Yikes! It was impossible to get a good shot because of all the sticks and grass, oh, and the fact that I didn't want to get charged by this slick fella at any given moment! He looked MEAN! And he was HUGE! We poked him with sticks a little--- because that's always safe-- but he slithered off and we didn't see him again. We don't normally see large snakes like that around here. I would have walked right by, but Jonah said he heard it, and then he saw it hiding!

Speaking of animals, look what has been stopping by our backyard each morning and evening...

Aw, doesn't Ryder look like he wants to be friends? HaHa

I am on a mission to gather some recipes for easy, yummy summer recipes -- all those no bake pies and things. I tried this lime one, and it was okay but not great. I think I say this every May, but this year I'm determined! If you have a favorite, I'd love it if you left a link in the comments or popped me an email. Thanks!

Caleb and I were originally scheduled to go on a class field trip together, but instead we'll be visiting the orthopedic doctor. That's just as much fun, right? I keep forgetting it's already Tuesday, so, have a Great Tuesday!