Our Most Adventurous Day

I don't know if we were out of our minds, but day three in Arkansas was full of adventure. We decided to climb a mountain. Zachary had been asking the whole car ride there, if he was going to get to climb a mountain? And if so, then will it be scary? Greg and I didn't know what to expect from the Ozarks, thankfully it had a few rolling hills, but nothing compared to the Rocky's. I know for all my Colorado friends and family this is basically a hill, but it made for some good memories.
Here is a picture of the 600 ft. "mountain" we hiked up.
We had to take a boat ride to the mountain. I think that ride was probably more difficult than climbing the mountain, since it was in direct sunlight, 100 degrees, half hour long or more going and coming and the boat was going a whooping speed of 8 miles an hour. However, I don't think anyone complained. The first thing the driver said to us when getting on the boat was that- little kids do not do very well on this trip. Boy, did I love hearing him say that. Obviously, he didn't know my kids.
Greg and I managed to get one picture of us before we broke a sweat.

Carlee and Zachary were not big fans of wearing their life jackets during the ride, but they managed to keep them around their necks here and there. I was not worried.... remember we were going very slow.

Carlee is doing her pose again. This one is hard to tell. Is she "hanging" or "holding?" (refer back to Eiffel Tower post if you do not understand)

The climb is on. Carlee literally ran up the mountain at some points and guess who followed her... Me. Apparently, the easy path was closed for the day, so we had to take the hard path. It felt like a straight upward climb most of the way. Great exercise on the legs!

We did not get a whole lot of pictures throughout this climb, probably because we were separated from each other. Randle made it up some of the way and needed to rest due to the heat.

The beginning on the climb was probably more difficult for our kids, because they were not sure how long it would take. They had some complaints, but after some prayer and attitude change they were ready to conquer the goal. It was awesome to see God change their hearts and for them to choose thanksgiving. The rest of the climb was great!

Zachary was super proud of himself.

Zachary and daddy made it up first along with PawPaw. The view was beautiful!

Carlee was like a cheerleader when she arrived at the top and she had a pose ready to go.

Family shot.... WE MADE IT!! Carlee and Zachary climbed the mountain all on their own. They never asked to be picked up and were thrilled to do it themselves.

The only way to get down was back the way we came. There were about 100 steps leading to the top. That was the quad killer. On the way back down, I talked to Carlee about how God gives us wide paths and narrow paths in our lives and how He desires for us to make the right choices to follow Him. It was a good teachable moment- I think she will remember. I know I will.

A little cool off in the water before the steamy boat ride back.

Thankfully, our captain got a little nicer during the ride home and allowed the kids to sit in the shade by him. These kids worked up an appetite and snacked the whole ride back.

This picture makes me laugh....

Sweaty boys.... thankfully we had a washer and dryer in our condo. We didn't have to take these stinky clothes home.

Two very tired girls. This is a bit off topic, but I just love how the underneath part of my arm is so white compared to my neck and face. haha

I wanted to take this picture before we left, so we would not be glistening, but here we are.... sweat and all.

The marina

Before we entered the marina, there were a ton of catfish swimming on top of each other. They were pretty cool to watch. Carlee and Nathan are taking it all in.

This days adventure was fun and is probably the best memory from our trip.