The mornings in Pinetop are some of my favorite times. We get to wake up to the sound of Aspen leaves swaying, watch the sunrise peek through the forest and smell fresh coffee brewing in the kitchen.
We spent last weekend in Pinetop, Arizona to celebrate America’s birthday. Together with my niece and nephews, we woke up early each morning and searched for four-leaf clovers, picked wildflower bouquets, made flower crowns, wore boots with pajamas (Colton!) and swung on a swing held up between two trees.
Even though getting up at the crack of dawn while on vacation doesn’t sound like a treat (and sometimes it’s not), you really get to sit back and enjoy every moment from sun up to sun down. In this photo, Colton picked up the flower and said, “Mom, this one smells like chocolate!” Perhaps it did. Who knows.
After an amazing breakfast of pancakes piled up to the sky, we put our flowers in “vases” and headed to the lake to skip rocks. You can tell by the amount of flowers in each cup that the girls were a bit more excited about picking flowers than the boys.
We arrived to the lake at 9:30am and didn’t leave until 11! The kids had such a great time and I really enjoyed the silence. The kids were so focused on their upcoming throw that they weren’t fighting, screaming, yelling or pushing one another. Ahhh …
They started with a few small rocks and then the kids had to find bigger and bigger ones. At one point, I turned around and Kelsey was in someone’s yard trying to roll a boulder to the edge of the lake. Sheesh!
Did I mention we brought Elton John with us? Those glasses. I saw them at Gap and I just couldn’t resist. She loved them because it “made the world yellow.” And then about 10 minutes later, I was the one in charge of holding them and carrying them around for her.
Mister too-cool-for-pictures these days and way too cool for kisses from mom when he’s trying to throw his 75th rock into this lake.
Colton and his fascination with dogs! Every time we saw one he would do this:
Colton: Can I pet your dog?
Stranger: Sure
C: What’s his name?
S: Scarlet
C: Oh, Scarlet. That’s beautiful
S: Thank you
C: (pets some more. walks away)
I have to try to capture this on video. He does it the same way every time he sees an animal and this weekend was no exception. I hope he remains as sweet as he is today for the rest of his life. These kids are truly made from heaven and I’m so blessed I get mornings like this one to treasure, always.