All aboard for Motherhood...

After a crazy-crazy-CRAZY 10 days, we were all ready to get back in to a routine on Saturday night. So, we started the Momma's Day festivities early with a big 'ol sleepover in the floor of our room. Ryan made us a giant pallet, got us some tasty snacks and I got to pick the movie all by myself. I try to go a little old school from time to time so the movie of choice was The Flinstones -ha.

At one point, Radley said, "Mom, I thought this was supposed to be funny..." 

Me, too, buddy. All 3 kids watched the whole thing and I fell asleep sometime after Barney and Fred got in a giant fight. Ryan was asleep by scene 2. 

We slept in late (can I get an AMEN!) and I was treated to my favorite kind of gifts - the ones that come from the heart. The top card is drawn by Landry and all those people at the top are me and my Aggies. "Cause you take care of your Aggies, Mommy." (One of my sweet students was in an accident last week, and I had been back and forth from the hospital all week - she is exactly right). 

Radley turned artwork into a magney and Emersyn gave me a book of stories she had written in Spanish. They seemed to be about a rabbit, his momma and some plants. 

The weather called for clouds, lots of breezed and a chance of rain, so we ditched our annual trip to Lake Bryan and instead headed east (?) to Hunstville for  day at Huntsville State Park. 

Best. Decision. Ever. 

As soon as we got there, we rented a canoe and pedal boat (because we are "too big" to only rent one). Ryan and the girls headed out on the canoe while me and Rad pedaled next to them. 

I really can't get over how beautiful it was. So peaceful and just so much to see and watch. 

Before long, all 3 ended up hanging with me... 

When it was just me and Rad, steering that ship was pretty easy. Then Emmy joined in and finally Landry hopped aboard.... and just like that, I had three tiny humans under my watch. It was heavier and harder to steer, but I kept moving.... just like we do, Mommas, we keep moving even when the load is large and the current is against us. 

I got a little scared because I couldn't see behind me and didn't know what the girls were up to, but we don't always see, either. 

We trust in Him and keep moving. 

So I pedaled and Radley pedaled and we kept moving. That ride got louder. I got a little sweaty and I couldn't have possibly answered all 1,728 questions at once. But that ride was full of so much more joy and laughter with each baby that hopped aboard. It's crazy how much room your heart makes - I wouldn't believe it unless I had experienced it myself. But your heart just keeps growing and we all just keep moving. 

Meanwhile, Dads...

;)

We got to stay out there for an hour which was actually plenty of time. The area isn't too large and we hadn't eaten lunch, so the kids were ready to get to the next activity. 

We raced in and Ryan was just so sure he was going to beat us, but he got stuck behind another family trying to dock their canoe and we totally won. 

Paused for proof we were all there together and off to our picnic. 

We got back in the car and drove to a more secluded area to eat, and if you are ever here, I'd suggest you do the same. You just get lost in the sounds and sights of nature and it was fun to have just us 5 asking questions, watching birds, being silly and eating food with no nutritional value whatsoever. 

After lunch, we threw some long sleeves on the kiddos to go for a hike. I downloaded a geocaching app so we went for a little treasure hunt. 

The app is free and this was actually so much fun. We had to look around a bit when we got to the area of the hide and I made Ryan go poke around to make sure there weren't any snakes nearby. The kids were THRILLED to have found this... 

And couldn't wait to see what treasure was inside.

We didn't take any of the items inside home because we really didn't need a Strawberry Shortcake wind-up toy, but we did let each kiddo bring a snack sized ziplock with them on the hike - I have learned over the years that they want to keep ALL the nature things. So, they got to keep whatever fit in their bag. 

We placed the box back in it's home and headed for the car... on the way out of the park, we stopped at the dock to see if we could spot any alligators we had been warned about and y'all... we saw a BABY gator. I wonder how close his momma was... 

Seriously such a fun afternoon with my favorite people around. 

Motherhood is the scariest and most sacred job I'll ever have... I am so so glad that He chose me for them.