Quick trip south

My dear hubby has been researching and watching for a good used elliptical for me.  Finally, we found one.  A Sole e95  It is definitely a large machine.  Which is causing a bit of  a ruckus in the guest room...but we will prevail!  We had to drive south to Redding to negotiate and purchase (thanks to Craigslist, we purchased for less than 1/2 the retail price!)  The previous owners had had it for almost two years and only put about an hour of time on it....a blessing for us indeed!

A cool part of our travels was the fact that the kids brought books instead of video games and read almost the whole way there and back! (except for the hour spent listening to the disco CD Ady chose from the library this week...She is learning artists and names that I never knew. Good thing her daddy is a decade ahead of me, and full of knowledge!) Ady has been voraciously reading the Boxcar children series...in the one day of travel, she read 2 1/2 books.  Caiden is trying a new genre. A Brian Jacques novel, Redwall. I adore the book, am not totally sure he's ready for it, but am so pleased that he's giving it a "go".  After we made our purchase, we wanted to get out and do something to enjoy the lovely 80 degree weather.

We drove to the hill above Turtle Bay and the sundial bridge. The Sacramento Trail is here and we were able to walk all the way down and into the McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Garden.  
We had done this same hike a few years ago about the time that butterflies were going through metamorphosis and the chrysalis were ALL over the place. We didn't get that same experience, but we definitely enjoyed our walk through the beautiful garden, loved reading the labels and visiting with one another.

The last time we went: part 1, part 2, part 3. (The kids look so little! course it was 4 years ago.)

Then we headed back over the mountain via hwy 299, stopped in Burney at one of our favorite pizza parlors, then on toward home.  Once home, we got the elliptical set up and all headed to bed much relaxed and ready to sleep!  I do so love the flexibility of this homeschooling life.  The kids got to witness us make a smart purchase that we took time to research and find a good quality used item. They got to get some much loved physical exercise, and see lots of flora in the garden setting, and read A LOT!   Plus...the biggest blessing of all...we got to spend the day together!  Thank you Lord for your many many blessings!