Over the river and through the woods

We didn't go to Grandmother's house, but we did go to my sister Rose and her husband Gary's house in the mountains for Thanksgiving and had a spectacular time!

The first item of note was that we filled the tank for $1.85 per gallon, and gasoline had dropped to $1.79 per gallon by the time we returned home. That's the cheapest trip to the mountains we've made in a long time!

Another "first" on this trip was that we turned Konrad's seat around to face forward for the first time, so I wouldn't have to make another long trip with my legs cramped in the front seat. And finally, this was the first trip where Konrad was not nursing...that made a huge difference in cutting down the time at each stop.

My nephews, Justin and Darren and Darren's girlfriend Kay, came up for Thanksgiving day, and we enjoyed a great meal and a short walk down to the lake afterward. The weather was beautifully cold, but clear after the rain and snow of our drive in, the first night. The only way the trip could have been better would have been if there had been snow to play in, but alas, the snow didn't stick.

Lukas often wanted a picture of himself at the top of a large rock he climbed. Natalie walked as much as she could, but rode in the stroller most of the time, while Konrad rode in the backpack carrier. He's the perfect weight for the backpack carrier...Natalie's a little too heavy to carry comfortably that way. One of the hikes was to the community's sanitation district, and Lukas posed for a picture in front of where the poop goes. Another highlight of the trip for Lukas was riding in Uncle Gary's sports car on the mountain roads. And of course when we tried to take family photos together, he smiled much better for the pictures with Aunt Rose and Uncle Gary than for the pictures with his immediate family. Natalie discovered that the rocking ottoman is a good stand-in for her swing, and Konrad discovered that he likes playing the electric piano with the headphones.

We saw a bald eagle, several deer, several different kinds of squirrels and lots of bear scat (no bears in person, though!) All good things must come to an end, and we did have to eventually come home, but it was great to have four days of great food, fellowship, hikes and mountain air and scenery. We can't wait to see Rose and Gary again when they visit us next month!