Keeping Count

So, I haven't blogged for nearly 4 weeks.  Mainly, because I haven't had much to blog about.  We decided last Sunday to take a quick trip to Colorado, and 2 days later we were on the road.  It was Luke's 1st real trip, and was he ever excited!  On Tuesday morning at 6 am, we loaded up the kids (Ginger makes 2) and headed out for Colorado Springs.  Brandon and I being the road trip warriors that we are (Phoenix to KC in 17 & 1/2 hours & 3 stops - personal record), we weren't sure how Luke would do in the car for so long.  With both of our families living fairly close, he's never really had to make a really long trip in the car.  But, 8 & 1/2 hours and only 2 stops later, we made it to Colorado Springs.  He may just be a road warrior too!  Since it was too early to check into our hotel (Google directions said it would take us 10 hours - ha!), we decided to go check out a nearby attraction, 7 Falls.  Luke was in heaven!  He was fascinated with the mountains and loved looking at the waterfalls.  In order to really see the falls, though, you had to walk up a LOT of steps...like 224 really steep steps.

We weren't afraid to take them on, though.  Ginger made it up the first set on her own.  Brandon helped her out and carried her up the second set - that's a lot of steps for a nearly 10 year old doggie.  Luke didn't even bat an eye...

We hiked up through the canyon to check out more of the falls.  My favorite part was when we saw a sign along the trail that said, "Caution - Bears in this Area"  (which honestly kind of freaked me out too) and Luke says, "Is that really true?"  He questions everything...we assured him that we probably wouldn't see any bears, but yes, the sign was true. :)

 We absolutely LOVED Seven Falls.

On Day 2 of our quick trip, we decided to take Luke up Pike's Peak.  Along the way, we stopped to enjoy the beautiful Crystal Reservoir.  Luke thought it was amazing.

Eventually, we conquered the 14,110 foot mountain and here's the proof.  Just a note - this is Ginger's 2nd time achieving this feat.  The first time, though, she was only about 10 months old, so I'm not sure she really remembers much about it.

 This is Luke's "I'm really cold" face.  It was a cool 45 degrees at the summit of Pike's Peak.  Talk about a change from the heatwave we've been experiencing here at home!

Here we all are at the top.  After this picture, we were like, "Let's get out of here!" because we were so cold.

Our last sight-seeing stop was the Garden of the Gods.  I'm not sure if there is a more beautiful place on Earth.  Just. Absolutely. Gorgeous.

 My 3 favorite people (yes, I consider Ginger a person).

On Thursday morning, we packed up and headed back to KC.  The theme of our car trip seemed to be counting, which is why I decided to honor that theme in my blog.  What did we count? 

• 45 bull haulers (you know - cattle trucks - it's a Spaeth family tradition)
• 99 oil pumps
• We wanted to try to count the big windmills, but they're just staggered too weird and you get confused, so we'll just say a whole heck of a lot.
• And we saw 35 out of 50 state license plates (as well as 2 from other countries) - including around 8 from Hawaii.  Yep - Hawaii (they were on a car hauler, but it counts because you NEVER get Hawaii when you play the license plate game).

A little less than 8 & 1/2 hours and again only 2 stops later, we were back home to the 100+ degree heat.  We had a great time & I'm looking forward to what our next family adventure will be. 

What else have I been up to?  Working, working, working...trying to get myself ready for 8th grade reading.  I'm making progress, but have so much to do still.  I've still been reading, reading, reading...some for myself, but more recently, trying to catch up on my young adult literature.  I'm just finishing the 3rd book in the Hunger Games trilogy.  Wow...super good reads, even for adults.  I didn't know if I could get into the kind of fantasy-type story, but it is realistic enough that it totally grabbed my interest and sucked me in.  Other than that...nada...you can see why I haven't wasted your blog-reading time!  I'll post more pictures from our trip on my Facebook page if you want to see them. :)

Need a Good Summer Read?

I've had a few friends ask me to list some good books I've read recently and several come to mind.  I've been plowing through a new book about every 2 or 3 days this summer, which has been amazing!  There is just not enough time in the day to do all the reading I want to do during the school year.  Here are some of my favorites.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith - this novel was actually published in 1943 and is told from the perspective of a 9 year old girl growing up in Brooklyn in 1910.  I was skeptical before reading - I mean it was published in the 40's, right?  It was fabulous - I thought about the characters and the story for days after I read it.  Loved it!

The Thirtheenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield.  A suspenseful story about an obscure biographer who is asked by a reclusive writer to write her story.  The story that unfolds keeps you guessing the whole time you read.  It started a little slow, but once I got into it...wow.  Great read!

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows.  Again - I was skeptical...this story is told completely through letters from one character to another and I thought, what?  How can you really tell a story that way?  It turns out you can!  It's about the German occupation during WWII of an English Channel island.  It's a quick & easy read and at the end, you'll love the characters you meet through their letters.

Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden.  I'd heard of the movie - thought it looked weird (I am clearly SO judgmental!), but as I was looking for audiobooks for Brandon & I to listen to on vacation, this book kept popping up with extremely good ratings from readers, so I thought, what the hey...I'll give it a shot.  Again - wow - totally fascinating (fictional) story of a young Japanese girl who is sold into slavery to be trained as a Geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto.  It takes place during the depression and WWII and totally had me riveted.  I could hardly put it down.  I now have the movie on my shelf to watch, but I can't imagine that it could be anywhere near as good as the book.  This is a must read!

In the Woods,  by Tana French.  In this story a murder detective in Ireland must face the tragedy and crime he experienced in childhood, but does not remember clearly when he gets a similar case that comes out of his old neighborhood.  Very mysterious & suspenseful.  I also really enjoyed this author's next 2 books - The Likeness  & Faithful Place.   I recommend them all!

Lottery, by Patricia Wood.  This last one I did not read - I listened to.  I chose this for one of our audiobooks we listened to on our vacation drive this year.  We LOVED it.  It's the story of an almost mentally retarded man (as he says, the cut-off to be mentally retarded is an IQ of 75 - his is 76) who wins the lottery.  I'm not sure if it would be as good to just read, because listening to the voices of the different characters had Brandon and me rolling in laughter as we traveled across the states toward home.  Brandon was sorely disappointed when he looked to see if this author has written any other novels...unfortunately, she has not. 

So - there are a few favorites.  Hope you can find some good reading time in the near future!