Green Ridge Fire Watch Tower

 Greg surprised us with a night in a "tree house."

 It's a very tough place to get into since it's typically booked before you even think about trying:)  Greg some how managed to get the one and only night available and we made it work. 

 Most of our adventures are pretty amazing.  I love to prepare for them, I love the details, I love watching my boys explore and I love the memories we create. 

 I wish I could say this was a great experience.   It's one of those rare adventures we may not have the chance to do again but I can say that it didn't turn out to be that amazing (for me).

 I'm saying this from a selfish standpoint.  I didn't like the "surprise" aspect of it.  I'm a planner, organizer, and control detail person:)  When we got here I had a list of "I wish I hads." But the truth is they don't care one bit.  All they know is they are sleeping in a tree house and getting to dig and search for bugs.  Boy paradise!

 The views were amazing in terms of the landscape and the storms surrounding us.  We did miss out on seeing all of the snow capped mountain peaks but I'm itching to climb Black Butte and see them there on a clear day. 

  I loved watching the boys discover super cool ant villages under tree bark.

 I was also consumed by the thought of picking off wood ticks later.  I hate wood ticks. 

 I found peace searching for beautiful letters to spell what I was feeling.  I chose to change my attitude (which sucked by the way) because sometimes our expectations can hinder us from finding the joy in a situations when they are not met.

 I chose to focus on my healthy boys and remind myself that we are blessed.  Crazy blessed.  And this place?  It's pretty darn special even if I was having a grumpy moment. 

 We are here playing, exploring, discovering, and creating memories together. 

 And this view...even without the snow capped mountain peaks...it's stunning.

 And this cramped cozy, dirty rare, fire watch tree house, was a place we made more memories. 

 This guy didn't take his normal 3 hour nap which we would pay for the entire night.

 The night came quickly and we enjoyed snacks, treats, dinner together.  We played games and got ready for bed camp style. 

 August and I shared the futon.  Not the most comfortable set up since I'm pretty sure 10,763 people have slept on it and it had a nice angle to it which made it even more amazing (insert sarcasm). (Thank goodness I brought a sheet to lay on!!) 

 August was way over tired by this point so the only thing he could do was scream cry or decide he should be in a circus doing acts all night.  He wanted to sleep by dad then mom then dad then mom and so on.  We got to the point where we had to force him to sleep in one spot.  Force meaning more screaming and tantrums.  This went on until 3am until his body couldn't take anymore.  I'm pretty sure this had something to do with my not-so-fond memories of this place:)

 

 This was the calm before the storm.  The boys slept on the floor with daddy and enjoyed their story time.  It is a constant in their life.  Dad never misses a night of reading stories to the boys.

 August is 100% daddy's boy. 

It's funny how we can be in a moment where we "think" or "perceive" things to be "tough" but then we are so quickly reminded that LOVE is what truly matters.  We have a foundation that is strong and when the wind blows we can easily become lost but LOVE always brings us back. 

This will not go down in my book of favorite adventures but we will definitely laugh about it someday when we look at this blog.  I'm grateful I'm keeping record and when I look at these pics my heart is full and I seem to have already forgotten the night from hell:)