Seven Quick Takes vol. 146 - Holiday edition

Check out Kelly and the cool kids for better takes!

{one}

I'm alive! We're all alive! It's still summer! We went on holiday! 

And that could basically be my quick takes, but let's go into some detail shall we? 

I feel like I've lost almost two weeks with the packing for the holiday, the actual 5 days away, and then the subsequent laundry. I miraculously found 5x5 pairs of underwear plus at least 10 extras, then there were multiple shoe choices, because mountains, and then different layers of jackets for rain, for cold, because mountains, and then five days worth of food because we had a cabin with a kitchen. But we made it with only a few things forgotten and miraculously survived without two different kinds of child carriers. We're basically survivalists. 

{two}

The mountains were beautiful and it was a really lovely time! This is the third year we've gone back to the same cabin (and only partly because finding hotel/cabin accommodations for 5 kids is so easy!), and the kids are really sweet because they each have something they remember from previous years that they want to see and do. Or we'll have memories of what funny thing what funny kid did here or there. It's turning into a sweet tradition.

{three}

I JUST SPILLED MY BOILING HOT FRENCH PRESS FULL OF COFFEE ON THE FLOOR!! 

Timeout while I now wash my kitchen from top to bottom.

{four}

Andddddd, we're back. 

To my husband's eternal delight we all went on a rafting trip down the Athabasca river. I think it shaved off a good 5 years of my life worrying one of my precious babies would fall into the river, but other than that it was a lot of fun! I can definitely picture having a lot of fun myself rafting if all my offspring weren't in the inflatable raft with me at the same time. 

Dom sat at the front and laughed out loud whenever someone else got splashed by water while barely ever holding on to the rope himself, Gemma chatted up the shirtless rafting guide giving my husband a pleasant glimpse into the not-so-distant future, and Luke, Max, and Nora took turns loving it and then being a bit freaked out if things got rough and we got wet. 

{five}

We also went on several short hikes with all the kids and they did great! We visited different glacial lakes, kayaked on the lake our cabin is on, ate ice cream everyday, got very little sleep, saw elk and one bear, and basically had an all around great time. We're so lucky to be able to go and I'm sure when I look back on the pictures in a few years I'll know that these were some of the sweetest times.

{six}

While I was a way and out of touch for the most part, I wrote a post on marriage, creativity, and how that plays out in some famous marriages over at Haley's. 

My Facebook page also reached over 1000 likes and I can hardly even believe it! Thank you so much if you follow me on Facebook, I'm a pretty sporadic poster so I promise when I do post something and it by chance ends up in your feed it's good stuff!

Also; if you've been living under an online rock (which is a very legit choice these days) or aren't Catholic then let me tell you it's been NFP Awareness Week! Party time, excellent...

All my NFP posts have been published elsewhere, which probably says a lot about me, but I've written about the Billings method of NFP, and what to do when NFP doesn't go your way over at Haley's. And if you're in an even tougher spot with NFP I wrote a piece last year for Jenny on all the sex we're not having. Enjoy ;)

{seven}

And it's another long weekend for us up here so we're planning on hitting our small town parade and rodeo and hopefully hanging out with some friends. My sister will be home and I think it's high time for a croquet tournament. And it's finally gotten hot this week so I'm putting on my non-lazy-mom pants and taking everyone to our nearby lake this afternoon. Try not to let my overachieving intimidate you! 

I hope your weekend is beautiful and relaxing! I said it - relaxing. That's the goal.

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