Happy Birthday, America!

-

We had a staycation at Monte Sano State Park on the 4th of July weekend.  It's a beautiful park with a really nice RV campground, cabins and many trails to hike.  We try to come here a few times a year.  The campground is very wooded and well kept.  All of the staff are extremely nice and helpful also.  A lot of campers had elaborate red, white and blue decorations.  We forgot all of ours so we felt like scrooge.  But the campground looked great and very patriotic!




Our 4th of July family camping trip has become a tradition with our boys and my daughter in law.  I love having my kids home.  Camping is a great way for us to be together and just enjoy each other and not worry about chores or anything else at home.  I look horrible in all of these pictures because, well, we're camping and I don't worry about hair or makeup.



I enjoy getting up early in the mornings and taking a long walk/jog. I logged about 4 miles every morning.  There were usually several deer hanging around in the campground area. They were not frightened at all.  Marc and I enjoyed a hike together down one of the paths that people used to be able to drive up to the Overlook.  But they closed it off and now it's a hiking/biking trail only. 




One of our good friends brought their girls up and camped with us as well. They have three little (well, not so little anymore) girls that I absolutely adore.  I'm their adopted aunt and I try to spoil them every chance I get.  We prayed very hard for these rugrats and I'm so blessed to have them in my life.




Nana also came up to hang out with us one day.  She enjoys the kids' company.  They played cards and just enjoyed the lazy day together.  If you will notice in the pictures, there was a lot of time spent inside the RV because it was so hot outside.  For anyone who has never been to Alabama in the summer, the humidity will kill you before the heat will!  We grilled hamburgers and had a nice dinner.  The nice thing about having Marc home is he is willing to cook for me!  He and I enjoy cooking together every time he comes home.  The screened in tent area was a real treat because all of the bugs really like to snack on me!  My husband says it's because I'm too sweet!  








I should close this post by saying thank you to all of the military, past, present, retired and otherwise.  As an Air Force brat and military mom, I'm so thankful to live in this country of ours.  Being adopted from the Philippines, I remember what it's like to live without the basics that we take for granted...water, indoor plumbing, electricity, food, ice (that used to be a real treat!).  I hope everyone will stop and pledge their allegiance to our great country where we are blessed abundantly and enjoy many freedoms that we should all protect!  God Bless the USA and happy birthday, America!!











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 13: Vow renewal and adventure photography

-
Image
The reason for this vacation is to celebrate our 20 years together.  I hired an adventure photographer before we left to take some pictures of us because we haven't had professional pictures made since our wedding.  I just wanted to have fun and I didn't want it to be a traditional vow renewal.  So Curtis and I made a list of promises on the things that we might improve upon in our relationship.  For example, Curtis promised to finish home improvement projects in a year.  I promised to try to clean up my computer files and not leave my hair bands all over the house. We probably should have thought about our promises more because Curtis has already asked John for a few addendums. Our friends, Trish and John, came to help us with our vow renewal.  We really appreciated them flying all the way to Glacier to help us celebrate.  Those are the kind of friends you keep for life. Trish made John read a wonderful verse from Proverbs at the end...to make it official. John was our o
Read more

The Badlands of South Dakota

-
Image
We drove to Badlands National Park today. I wasn't sure what to expect.  I heard of them and saw pictures online, but what I found was really surprising. We stopped at the first boardwalk to go exploring. One of the first things I noticed was how straight the sedimentary layers are and all of the beautiful colors!  And the wind! It was so windy that it wears you out! We went into the canyon and started exploring. We had so much fun wandering through the rocks to see how the water has carved them into their shapes. It seemed to go on forever!  I texted my boys that it was an awesome place to play hide and seek!   Curtis and I really enjoyed each other's company. This is our first real vacation by ourselves. ..no kids to worry about...just each other. He kept shaking his head at me (every now and then I'd hear him mutter "Woman!") because I kept wandering off and climbing around. I had a blast!  A part of me wished my boys were there. 
Read more

Day 15: Remington Carriage Museum & Many Glacier

-
Image
We enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant before we set off for the day.  A nice older couple sat down at a table next to us and we found out they were from Dothan, Alabama!  They told us about all of the changes the hotel had made since they visited last.  Poor Curtis was the only Alabama fan in the mix.  The rest of us were Auburn fans, so we gave them a nice War Eagle before we said good-bye. We headed to the Remington Carriage Museum in Cardston, Alberta first.  The museum was started by Donald Remington with an agreement with the Alberta government that he would donate his collection of carriages if they promised to open a museum.  The government agreed and expanded the museum, gathering more carriages and restoring them.  The museum currently has over 300 restored carriages from all of the different time periods.  Curtis and I stopped by the restoration workshop and spoke to some of the volunteers.  They told us that they try to use modern equipment whil
Read more