The Candy Corn dilemna

Candy Corn is an American thing my friends. I enjoy myself some candy corn, but when the base gets the one shipment sometime in September/October is is gone before one can blink an eye. I'm pretty sure there is one person who buys them out completely, they should have a ration card for seasonal items like they do for alcohol. This year I planned ahead for my Oreo turkeys I like to make for the kiddos and had my parents send them in a box with a few other things. When my parents send something, they don't let the moment go wasted! Mason is a big fan of those lovely priority mail boxes that come through the door, and I'm pretty sure he knows my dad's writing now.

He would not let me say, "there is nothing in there for you." Generally I can get away with this tactic and he s fine. I even pulled out just the paper and told him that was all, but he was not fooled! He knows a Grandpa and Grandma box!! He sat and asked nicely in every way he could think of to get some Candy Corn. He was such a sweet guy we had to crack one bag open.

Cameron popped into the lounge and discovered very quickly that he was missing out on something. He didn't waste anytime in trying to eat them.

Thanks Gma and Gpa! One set of Oreo turkey's already done for a Cub Scout presentation on Thanksgiving.

The bowl is broken...

 Cameron was very upset when he dropped his bowl of oatmeal and the bowl broke right in half. he just kept saying, "broken, oh no?!" It took him about 15 minutes to get over it. We took the kids to school, and when we got back to the house he immediately went back to the spot it had been and started asking for the bowl again. I love the little things that children stress over.

Final stop on our Wales adventure

This castle was literally about a quarter mile from the slate museum, and it was also free(can you sense a theme), we again had to stop. It was the perfect end to our trip. We were the only ones on the hill for most of the time and the kids ran, played, and tried to get rid of energy. Dolbadarn Castle is a tiny castle in comparison to some others we had seen this trip, but the view was spectacular!

We are big fans of our self portrait for our family. We were going to get some photos done this Autumn, but we might just stick with this one because it is perfect.

There was a forest area near the castle, and we had to explore some more before leaving. The kids found lovely trees for hiding. They also ended up with sticks and were sword fighting, I told you..sword fighting is a must in this family. Mike wasn't going to bring Mason up the hill because it was quite steep and we thought his legs might be getting tired. Mason had a different mind that day, found a trail that none of us had seen and started his way up. On the way up Mike found him a sword and told him to go save Taylor who had been captured by bad guys. Well, if you know Taylor she did not like this idea. She fought Carter and Brennan herself and ran away from the game that sweet daddy was trying to make up for Mason's benefit. So I stepped in as the damsel in distress and Mason saved the day. He was very proud of himself, but he still wouldn't give me a hug as his final act of rescue.

Mike then tripped on this random stone and went down completely. Mason laughed while running the opposite direction when Mike asked for help up.

Then he tried to push him back down when Mike did get up. All the while he thought it was a great game.

What a great family trip! One of my favourites in terms of exploring and relaxing all rolled into one. Cameron about sums up the feeling of us all, done and done. He was fast asleep before we got back down to the car.

The National Slate Museum

So throughout this time is Wales we were in love with the mountains, and scenery. Snowdonia is a gorgeous area. Mount Snowdon is one of these peaks along this ridge. I know I am very precise in my direction. ;) However, Mount Snowdon is the highest peak in Wales, and will one day feature in this blog as the place where Hollie finished the three peaks challenge. So stay tuned for that, it could be years. :)

These two could snack ALL day long!! They have so much energy and need to be sustained throughout it all. Good thing they like almonds, pistachios, and dried apples. I don't think I am ever going to be able to get a stock of dried apples for the winter with these two around.

The slate museum was actually a lot cooler than I expected it to be. However, it was recommended and it was free, so we decided to take advantage. It was not a busy day at the museum and we were first sat down to the slate demonstration, where they show you how they split and also design slate objects. We have the youngest children in the small group that was there and so when Carter answered the gentleman's question he was selected to have a go at slate splitting. You'd think it was Christmas! Carter was nervous, but excited. He was shown how to score the slate with the wedge and then he say in the really 'uncomfortable chair' that is over 100 years old. At that point he got to hammer the chisel in and split the slate.

Then the moment of true joy came for Carter. The demonstrator said, "Well, you split it, so you keep it." Carter told us later that his heart stopped and his breathe was taken away because he just couldn't believe how lucky he was. I just love this kid!

We were then shown how they design different objects. Taylor was given a heart shaped piece of slate, and Cameron was handed a small square to 'keep this little one quiet'. He wasn't being naughty, the man just said that he had young grandchildren and they always need something to hold. :)

There is a massive watermill on the grounds. The kids really wanted to see it after we had had lunch. We knew Mason was more interested in taking 30 minutes to eat a bowl of chili then we was seeing the watermill. This particular wheel was built in 1870 and is 50 feet high. It was actually kind of impressive. I then switched with Mike so that he could see it as well. Mason really enjoyed that warm chili. :)

This was a neat place that we could have spent all day at, but we still had a four hour drive home. So we hit the road after lunch, but we did have to stop at one last castle....

The rain gave way...

I love these two buddies. Not many people get the privilege of having two amazing sons, I mean I have four, just sayin. I am just going to take a moment for these two, the ones we refer to as our two oldest children. Sometimes it feels like we had a first child twice. Mason came at a time when we least expected, and then we found out we were pregnant with Carter two months before Mason's diagnosis of Angelman Syndrome. I still remember the moment on Mason's first birthday when we saw him army crawling around and thought to ourselves, "he is so big, it is time for another baby." The feeling was very strong, and we knew it was right. I think it was Heavenly Father's plan to already have me pregnant before a diagnosis for Mason. I can't say that I would have hesitated to have more children if it was the other way around, but it might have made us pause longer than needed. Carter is Mason's big brother as much as Mason is Carter's. They do take care of each other and have a special bond with each other. This picture might be blurry, but it is one of my favourites. So grateful that the Lord's plan was the way it was, because I wouldn't have it any other way.

Carter went flower hunting and came back with an amazingly unique flower. At least it was unique to us, because we still don't know what kind it is. My boys are always delivering me flowers and telling me how much they love me, it makes a mom feel fantastic.

After Beaumaris Castle we had got back to the chalet and it was cold, but not raining! We took this opportunity to explore the woods around the site. The kids always love the words, "lets go on an adventure." That is all we had to say to get them excited about going for a family walk.

Sword fighting is a must if you are a Christiansen, there is no stopping it. Cameron is smiling at himself for finding a stick and making it into a sword. Yes, we start them young. Carter and Brennan were making me slightly nervous around the river. It was moving swiftly at this time of year, and you could tell that it was deep in quite a few places. I'm glad that they are sure on their feet, because that would have been a really cold swim for Mike.

The next morning was our day to pack up and leave. We told the kids that if we got an early start we would be able to see one last place before really hitting the road. Carter is definitely maturing because he was packing, gathering, cleaning, and just about anything else to help because he wanted to see another castle.

Just a few pictures of the area where we were staying. The little Chalet looks so small from the outside, however it was just the right size for us and made a perfect little home away from home.

Day 3--starting out WET!

Beaumaris Castle is our most favourite castle thus far in all our journey's. Once again the rain was coming, this time is had no mercy! We had delayed our start of the day because we weren't sure we'd get to the car without becoming soaked to the bone. We left a little before lunch time and got to the car before the rain started again. You know the kind of rain you drive through where you can't see anything regardless of how fast your wipers are going? That is exactly what we were doing, and it was pretty fun. Mike mentioned to the children that they might want to say a prayer that the rain will stop when we get to the castle. Taylor immediately started to pray. About 2 minutes before we got there the clouds separated and the sun came out! The children were excited that their prayers had been answered, and so were Mike and I. However, we maybe should have told them to pray that the rain would stay away, oops. We were able to get this amazing family picture in front and get into the castle before the rain really started to come down again.

Just a few small puddles to avoid here and there. I'm not talking about the moat, that was there before the rain.

What's a stair case if not to climb it, it was rude of them not to create a hand rail, but Mike made due with what he had.

I wish we would have thrown Cameron up on Mike's shoulders for this boys picture. I guess we have to go back and recreate it sometime.

Taylor got a notebook from one of the shops in the other castles and had fun taking notes throughout our other adventures.

There were so many hall ways to explore and we had plenty of time to do it because the rain started again, with the wind, thunder, and lightening. We decided to stay in the castle hallways and really explore--we may or may not have explored a few places that we shouldn't have. It was a little spooky.

We found a handsome gargoyle.

A bit on the wet side--Cameron was not happy anymore.

Such a weird day. The sun came out with a brightness that was blinding, maybe that was because we hadn't seen it in a few days.

This was one of the churches by our chalet.