The simple life

I am here.  Still here.  I just haven't had time to blog about life because I have been too busy living it.  I have decided that the end of summer vacation is like the end of a pregnancy for me.  LONG.  I have 5 busy boys and 2 girls who are getting louder by the day...and school is my welcome relief.

 I could never be a homeschooling momma.  That being said, I think there are some great things about it.  You have so much control.  I also kind of wish that I could do the no TV lifestyle.  Sometimes I dream of a world where my kids haven't been exposed to Disney Channel (and the accompanying sassiness) or to ideas such as Barbie is no longer cool when you are a 9 year old girl (most toys are off-limits by the fourth grade).  But alas...I know my limits.  And the truth is that a summer is about all I can handle of my children home 24/7.

I did make it a month and a half before I started longing for school to start.  And I am very proud of that fact.

We tried to be adventurous for our family vacation this year.  We took all the kids to a cabin in Ashley National Forest outside of Vernal.  We had some adventure getting there.  We had directions, but the signs  were not clear so we decided to try (for the first time) putting GPS coordinates in our Garmin.  Hhmmm...BAD IDEA.  It sent us down an "unpaved road" (actual words on the top of the GPS screen) that turned into a four-wheeling road.  In our bottomed out mini-van.  The ruts were about a foot deep.  Trent is a smart driver and did very well considering.  Why, you might ask yourself, didn't we turn around?  Well,  when we came to the point of foot high rocks in the road next to the foot deep ruts, we decided we'd better.  Which meant backing out.  The sides of our van have pretty new designs made by the tree branches.  We winced each and every time the bottom of the van slammed into the ground.  All the while...kids in the backseat having panic attacks.

Fun times.

We finally made our way back to the paved road (at this point I am trying not to do mental estimates of the cost of repairs to the van)

It was getting dark and we were in the middle of nowhere.  We went back to the spot Trent had thought we should turn at.  Lesson learned...even if written directions are not exactly clear, they work better than driving down an "UPAVED ROAD."

We found our way and everyone was thrilled to have a safe place to sleep.  The cabin is owned by the Forest Service and only cost $40 a night.  (it had a shower, toilet, fridge, oven and stove, and a sink)  It was built in the 30's and smelled old.  It helped a lot when we opened all the windows and lit scented candles.

We played games, cooked good food, did pedicures, read and talked. The best part was that the kids could run around and make all the noise they wanted because no one was around us. (freedom for the adults and kids)

Everything was fine until we realized the the van wouldn't start.  We had the left the GPS plugged in all night and there is an added possibility that one of the kids left a light on or a door open.  Trent had packed flip flops and one pair of shoes.  When he pulled them out to put them on he noticed that he had two left-footed shoes.  So good man that he is, he put his two left-footed shoes on and hiked 10 miles.  He called our insurance for auto assistance.  The man got lost, lol.  (All the while...I am in the cabin and Preston (who struggles with major anxiety) has a full blown panic attack.  I had to medicate him with a sleeping pill.  He wanted to know what my plans were for my life without a husband.)  Trent finally found a guy in a truck who was hunting bear.  "Oh yeah, they have been seen all over this year," the nice guy informs Trent.  "They gave us special permits."  Um...great.

Nice guy gives Trent a ride back to the cabin and jump starts the van.  Trent then left us to make the 30 min. drive to town to go to Wal-mart to buy a car battery.  The best part...Trent's parents gave us a car charger for Christmas one year.  We needed a drill and thought we would never need the charger since we have the auto assistance.  Well, the auto assistance only works for you if they can find you.  So Trent bought back the car charger.

We got to enjoy one trouble free night.  Which leads my into my Words to Live By for the week:

The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn't simple. ~Doris Janzen Longacre

Trust me on this one...taking 9 people on vacation on a tight budget is anything but simple :)
We also visited the Utah Field House Musuem and took all the kids to a fun Mexican restaurant.  More pictures in the next post.

Source: http://aubreyssugarandspice.blogspot.com/2010/08/anticipation.html