Nature's Gym

We got a good workout from that hike I wrote about yesterday, not only because of the hike itself, but also because the trail had workout things placed along it at various points. John loved this because he's really into fitness. He always has been, but he especially is now because he has started competitive boys' gymnastics, and he also dreams about being on American Ninja Warrior someday. 

I can't think of a much more beautiful gym than this one.

It's got fresh air, good atmosphere, peaceful solitude, and of course, great scenery!

  

 

I think that rock-climbing is one of the best workout opportunities that nature offers.

Ever since he was a toddler, John has loved climbing rocks and trees.

Gorgeous!

  

This is a place where I might actually attempt (and probably fail) some chin-ups.

{I have strong legs and okay abs, but I've always had pretty wimpy arms, so I hate chin-ups!}

John, however, is very good at chin-ups. 

He's strong and well-built and I'm amazed that he's already developing a six-pack. This boy is built!

Doesn't it look like nature is smiling down on him? So beautiful!

Sam attempted a ladder climb. 

He and I are pretty much on the same page when it comes to workout equipment.

John ended his workout by letting loose his inner Tarzan with a swing on some long branches. 

Nature really is the best gym!

We Took a Hike, and It Was Beautiful

In October we went on a beautiful Saturday morning hike on a really nice trail not far from our house. I can't believe we've lived here for four years and I'd never been on this trail before! I definitely want to walk there again (and again and again). We were lucky because it turned out to be the last Saturday of the fall in which the weather was still mild and the leaves hadn't all blown off the trees yet. The night before there had been some rain and so that morning everything was sparkling. bright, and beautiful. 

John and Sam were unintentionally dressed alike, which was kind of cute.

I daydream about scenery like this.  

The sunlight caught this shimmering spiderweb perfectly.
Definitely proof of an enchanted forest.
(Especially since there was no spider or dead bugs in it!)

A spot of red...

Glimpses of the lake through the trees...

 

The colors were so vivid that morning! I still can't get over it.

 And the ground was a softly rustling blanket of leaves.  

Away from the lakeshore and back to the forest...

Note the perfect little bridge in the lefthand corner...

I love this!

It was a beautiful morning, and a beautiful hike.
(Did I mention that yet?)


I can't believe before I lived here that I thought there was not much more to Iowa than farmland.
 There's so much more than that! It's a beautiful state.
Now go take a hike! Ha ha.

Murphy's Law

The week before last, I had all these important computer-related plans that involved things for our trip to Florida, Christmas shopping, blogging, etc. I had my blog posts all planned out for that week. But then the computer completely died when I was working on my Monday post, and that was the end of that! My carefully crafted plans went down the drain, along with the computer hard drive. For an organized control person like me it was pretty upsetting, but I knew in my heart of hearts that it wasn't the end of the world, though it kind of felt like it that day. We knew the hard drive was going to die soon, but that really was the worst week it could have happened. Murphy's Law is alive and well, I'm telling you!

We got a new hard drive that week, but I couldn't use the computer for very much because everything had to transfer over from our old hard drive, which took days and days (it was still going when we left for Florida). But now everything's back up and running again, and I only lost a file or two (sob), and I will proceed with my life and my plans as usual. I didn't really want to blog about Halloween in December, but it's a hard knock life and I'll do what I have to do. (Ha ha.) I'm also going to catch up on my monthly review posts because I do NOT want to write about "Sunny September 2014" or whatever in 2015. So I plan on blogging for the next 2-3 weeks even though I usually take December off from blogging. Consider it my gift to you. ;-)

Now that I've given you that extra special glimpse into my life, I will end this blog post here. I've gotta make up for lost time and go do some major Cyber Monday shopping!

Five Things for Friday

1. Peter was in Virginia in the Washington D.C. area this week for a conference (not far from where we stayed when we were stranded there in January). He was looking forward to taking it easy for a few days, but he found out once he got there that it wasn't just a conference--there was also an actuarial exam that he had to take on the final day! Somehow he missed the memo on that! He ended up having to study thousands of pages of material in about three days for the exam that was yesterday morning. I don't know why but I found this situation really funny! He, meanwhile, did not. I don't know why! Ha ha.

2. I got our Christmas cards picked out, designed, and ordered last weekend, which is a record for the earliest in the season that I've ever gotten that done! Usually it takes me a long time to narrow it down to the cards I like the most from a few different websites, then I have to choose which pictures to use and design it, and the whole thing becomes daunting for my inner perfectionist and I tend to put it off. But this year it was a lot easier to do all of that, I think because I knew for sure what pictures I wanted to use and what type of card I wanted. And I got such a good deal for doing it early! 50% off(!!), plus a $10 off coupon, plus free shipping! Thank you Shutterfly!

3. Sam made me the sweetest little baby owl from a mini pinecone at preschool. It's precious! It means so much to me. It's wonderful to see that your children can be thoughtful and kind as they grow up, especially when you are the recipient of that thoughtful kindness every once in awhile. Things like this make me especially thankful to be a mother. 

And bonus owls! The boys went to an activity this week where they made a craft and it happened to be paper plate owls. This was my lucky week when it came to owls, thanks to my children!

4. Remember how I complained about my father's ridiculously high nutritional standards last week? Well there was a very interesting and relevant article in The Wall Street Journal this week about people who are overly preoccupied with eating healthy and who are being treated for it because it can become an obsessive-compulsive disorder or type of anorexia for them. I definitely think this might describe my dad. 

Click here if you want to read the article.

If you're in my family, you MUST read it! And let me know what you think!

5. It snowed for the first time this week. Yay. Boo. I don't like cold temperatures and snow that sticks before December, but I have little say in the matter.

We're supposed to get a few inches of snow tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I'm hoping to get some much-needed downtime at home this weekend. This week I was out of the house several times for 5-6 hour stretches at a time, and that is way too much time away for homebody me. It depletes my energy and makes me feel unbalanced. So here's to a happy weekend spent mostly in the comfort of home!