Nathan's birthday weekend

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to Steve that Nathan's 9th birthday was going to be on a Saturday this year. We haven't gone on many family outings lately, so Steve and I put our heads together to figure out what we could do. It was supposed to rain most of the day, so our choices were limited. We finally decided to head to the Army Resort in August, GA that is on Strom Thurmond Lake. It is actually the exact same place we went camping in October. But this time we decided to rent a two story cottage for two nights. I remember when I was growing up, our family would go to Mammoth, CA for vacation and stay in a time share I think. That was so exciting to me to go there, and spend the week in that little town. I was hoping for the same excitement for the boys when we got to this cottage. And they did not disappoint. They were so excited and thought it was the most wonderful place.

I had mentioned to Steve that since we wouldn't have internet and we would be inside a lot why don't we have kind of a 70's vacation. Back before all the games on the computer and handheld electronics and stuff that make people all be in the same room, but not pay any attention to each other. So, we brought along a lot of games and hoped for the best.

(On our way)

We got there Friday night about 8pm and quickly got Alexander settled. The boys watched Puss and Boots, while Steve and I read books.

The next morning, was Nathan's birthday! We had eggs in a frame for breakfast,

and then headed to the playground to play. It had rained all night, but there was a break in the clouds, and the boys didn't seem to mind that the toys were wet.

Later we came home to put Alex down for a nap and we broke out the UNO cards. I played a couple of hands with the boys while Steve laid down with Alex, and then we switched. Steve had also borrowed an Xbox360 from a friend for the boys for the weekend (I know, those weren't around in the 70's) so, Steve and the boys played some games on that for a while.

After the baby's nap there was another break in the clouds, so we headed out on a hike. It was a typical hike in the GA woods, but the trail hadn't been cleaned of fallen trees and stuff probably since the fall. In GA there is stuff falling on the trail constantly. Steve and I didn't want to carry Alex, so we brought the stroller along on this trail, and then the boys got to be manly men while they cleared a path for the stroller, or had to help pick it up when we came to a fallen tree on the trail. Whenever I needed help, I just said, "I need help from my men" and they all wanted to come and help. It was great. We had a wonderful time, and didn't even get caught in the rain!

(This video shows basically what we were hiking in. The boys were enjoying knocking the dead trees over. It made them feel so strong. :-)

For dinner we made, steak, mashed potatoes, asparagus, strawberries, and cream soda. And then we had cake and opened presents.

 

After Alex was in bed for the night we got out the monopoly game and played a super fun game of monopoly where Jacob smoked us all! He put hotels on everything just as soon as he could and knocked us out of the game one after the other. I was very impressed with his game playing skills.

The next morning we had an easy clean up and headed back home. We made it back in time to drop me off at the church for a YW lesson I wanted to go to while Steve and the boys went home and cleaned out the car. It was perfect. I think Nathan will remember this birthday celebration!