The Toy Box Years: Right In Our Own Backyard!

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

This past Monday turned out to be a beautiful day. So we started our season of "field trips" and packed up the car for a drive to Roxborough State Park which was only about a 45-minute drive for us.

This little jewel of a state park is tucked away in between residential sections and water treatment plants. We discovered this by accident last summer but didn't spend any time there because it started to rain. The rock formations are absolutely breathtaking and the park has some great trails to walk along - ranging from easy to hard. We did the easy trails since we had the girls and MIL, but we'd like to go back some time and try the harder trails.

We had a little picnic lunch at the visitor's center where the girls were totally fascinated with the hummingbird feeder. Those suckers sure do move fast, but we did manage to capture them on film!

From there we drove about another 30 minutes south to Castlewood Canyon which is another beautiful state park. This park has beautiful canyons and gorges right in the middle of all of these farms and fields.

We didn't stay too long because we were all getting worn out from hiking and a full day in the sun!

At the visitor's center, I picked up a park guide book and we're already planning our next field trip!!

4 comments:

One Photo May 21, 2010 at 9:07 AM: It looks lovely - we too are doing a trip once a month this summer, thanks to your earlier tip about this. Great photos of the hummingbirds, I need to get our feeder out and set up again for the summer, we have a few local families and I just love them.
Vanessa May 21, 2010 at 9:43 AM: How fun! I need to start planning trips like this NOW, since today is the last day of school!
Molly May 21, 2010 at 11:03 AM: I love your pics Jen...I think we will try to check out that park on Sun!
Ioana May 21, 2010 at 3:33 PM: your photos are really great. love them
i envy you [just a little:D] that you have so much nature around your area.