Hiking Galore!!

Derek and I are proud to say that we are a hiking family.  It has been so fun to have our weekends spent hiking and exploring as a family.  We bought a State Park Pass and went to 2 different state parks 4 types in 2 weeks!  It has been a lot of fun to see the kids enjoy it and honestly there is no complaining....well one little guy may complain, but we are trying to build up his stamina. ha ha.

We went to a new State Park called Martin Dies (known to me as the one with a lot of alligators).  So I was a bit nervous, but we didn't see any.

We learned about how alligators are top level predator where we live and they keep the ecosystem great.  

We enjoyed our picnic and began exploring

One happy camper!

It is so mossy and swampy

This guy was out towards the end. 

Bike Ride break

Another hobby we like to do as a family is play tennis.  The kids are really getting great at practicing and improving.  Derek is such a sweet dad to teach them.  He really enjoys it and so do the kids.  They look forward playing in the mornings when dad doesn't have to work.

I love hearing the girls play and make jokes together.

We were fulfilling Derek's dream of hiking and working out all day long.  It was one of the first weekends when it started to get cooling and so we got up early and went to a park in Nac that has fitness stations throughout it.  We stopped at each station and did their tests.  Well this was a sit up station and I totally crushed Derek, then Brinley tried and crushed us all.... she got 100 sit-ups!  It was awesome and man we were sore the next day.

After our fitness round we went to a new hole in the wall sandwich/salad joint to refuel before we headed to the state park for some more hiking.

One of my favorite things about Derek is that he loves to teach!  He is constantly teaching the kids about nature, mindset, business, and life. 

I love when we are in nature, there are times when everyone is in their own little worlds, imagining who knows what (Ashlyn planning up her next business, Brinley thinking about the next object she wants to climb, Claire finding bugs, and Desi thinking she is a princess while Emmett is performing some sword fight with his stick).  This season of life is wonderful!

They enjoy to end the hike with some fun at the park.

Ashlyn and Brinley have beeen planning the FHE and this one is about how we build our foundation.

The girls are loving their homeschooling class on Tuesdays.  They planned a seed in a bag and doing an experiment on how well it sprouts.

I am so proud of Claire. She finished her 1st math book for Kindergarten and she will finish the 2nd one before Christmas.  I can't believe how much she has learned.  It is a neat experience to watch her learn and grow in knowledge when I have been her only teacher!  She is one that you will always find her with a book.  She absolutely loves to read. I am so proud of her!

We tried a new rv park in Sam Rayburn called Howell Park.  It was amazingly beautiful and near the lake!

After we set up, we had all the kids doing homeschooling with the beautiful scenery.

Dinner in the tent.  We love this tent because it keeps the bugs out, but you can still enjoy the view!

Oh this was a big hit!  They have a blow-up pillow that we jumped on.  The kids were in heaven!

For one of the days we met up with Derek's client for TLP and his family.  We have kids similar in ages and it was great to meet up together. 

First campfire of the season!  We were so excited to roast marshmellows and tells stories!

It was a magical moment.  Everyone was having a great time, laughing, and enjoying each other.

It was cooler in the morning so we would do homeschooling then while we put the balcony down.  

Don't yet love the view!

I was inside when I saw the kids pretending to roast marshmellows.  I had to come out to take a picture because it was so cute.

Derek, Claire, and Ashlyn cleaned the RV.

Whistle while you work....

We enjoyed our family bike rides.  Emmett and Desi are so great at riding their bikes.

One of the girls dropped Emmett and he blacked out for a few seconds.  I was a bit scared, but a man across from us helped me out (Derek was gone filling up the truck).  We were glad that he was ok.  Now he looks more like Harry Potter.  

Beautiful!

My first dumping experience

We made it home in time to watch General Conference.  It was a great ending to a great weekend.

The kids got a special surprise from Grandma Martinson.

They love the Halloween shirts and they want to wear them all the time.

Emmett's artwork

He told me in the car when we pulled up, "Mom, I'm not scared."  Then he was so brave while I dropped off the girls at their classes and then I took him to his class.  We walked in and his brave face was gone.  He started to tear up and walked straight to his teacher and gave her a big hug.  

I love how each time he goes to school, he gets braver and braver.

This just touched my heart!

Desi's artwork

I am so proud of Brinley!  She finished level 1 and we started in May (when we decided to homeschool).  She worked so hard to finish, where she would do 2 lessons a day towards the end.  I told her that she could do a special date with Dad or I when she finished, knowing that she would choose me because honestly we both worked hard right?  Well, she choose Dad.  At first I was so disappointed because I felt like I deserved a special date as much as she did, but after a little while I was glad she took Dad.

Brinley choose McDonald's because she really wanted a happy meal.

This little dude is potty training.  I was not ready to potty train and Derek kept saying, "I think he is ready."  Which at first I was in total denial and then I was refusing to start because I wasn't ready.  Then Emmett started taking off his diaper and handing it to me after he would go to the bathroom.  We were going through a lot of diapers and so I knew it was time to start.

Emmett has done pretty well.  He has actually been my easiest kid. I heard that boys are harder to train than girls so I am happily surprised that it is going well.  I also think having older siblings that go on the potty and me being more passive (not as emotionally upset when accidents happen). I think those are huge factors that made Emmett my easiest child to train.

Bring on the Apple juice, crackers, m and m, and mickey mouse clubhouse!

I love watching the kids learn to read and enjoy it!

I felt bad for Emmett that I didn't have anything for him to do during homeschooling so I created this monster bags and he matches the colors of the blocks with the monster on the bag.  I guess it is a big hit!

Painting our Halloween pictures

Another hike

We found this shelter on the hike and then everyone said that it reminded them of Little House on the Prairie (which we love watching).  Then everyone started to pretend that they had to go talk to Nelly and Willie and go to the house.

Derek made these delicious cookies.  They had the perfect consistency of crisp and gooey.

For our history unit we have been studying about Ancient Egypt.  It has been so so much fun for everyone.  This lesson was about hieroglyphics and they had to write their name. 

Claire, Brinley, and Ashlyn's classes for homeschooling group made these gardens.  They planted herbs, carrots, lettuce, and more.

Pictures for Derek's phone

Claire and I got a special date together where we bought her a new bike for her birthday and then she wanted to go to orange leaf.  She is so excited about her new bike!

I love the one on one time!

Morning yoga