Aurora Colony - Summer Adventures

The Aurora Colony was one of my most favorite destinations during my one week of summer vacation, because I was able to see actual pieces of history. I get this unexplainable feeling when I'm inside historical buildings, as I imagine the people that lived and walked within the buildings so long ago. History class was never my strong point, but I do enjoy the elements of history that don't involve memorizing hundreds of dates and reciting historical documents. I like to be able to feel history, to be able to see history with my own eyes.
Unfortunately, we were unable to actually touch anything (which I completely understand), because everything was so old and fragile. However, I was able to get some pictures with my cellphone (sorry for the poor quality) of what we saw!

For anyone who is interested in visiting the Aurora Colony, I totally recommend it (It's currently $6 for adults and free for children 5 and under)! Not everything fragile is behind glass, but it's still a great place for those who have children interested in things like this.
My mom and I took a self-guided tour, and no one else happened to be taking a tour that day, so we had the whole place to ourselves!
When you first enter the Old Aurora Colony Museum, you can watch a movie about the colony and will be given a map of the buildings. It's a five building complex, but the map will show other buildings that were originally part of the colony, but are now being used for businesses and other things (such as the post office that is now an antique shop). We visited most of the buildings, but had a difficult time understanding the map. It was also very hot outside, which made walking to each building and around the area somewhat tiring.
For lunch, we walked to the Colony Pub & Grille and sat outside. It was a bit odd at first, because though we knew it was family friendly, I felt as if I was walking into a bar full of old men (My pop was even served in a beer glass). Still, it added to our visit with its historical atmosphere.

Again, I definitely think that the Aurora Colony is a fantastic place to visit if you enjoy exploring and learning about some interesting pieces of history! 

Here is a link to the website:

http://www.auroracolony.org/

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is definitely one of my most favorite days of the year. It brings such a feeling of joy and gladness, because it's a time when we celebrate Christ's resurrection. Easter isn't all about the egg hunts and outdoor games, just like Christmas isn't all about the presents. It's about what Christ did for us, when He took every possible burden upon Himself and died in our place.
Because I really enjoy decorating for special events, I wanted to decorate for Easter last year. My Mom and I came up with some fun ideas, and I wanted pieces of the decor to be special and symbolic. We decided that it would be nice to create two crowns of thorns (one for each table), and put them under glass cake domes. So, my mom bravely went out in the dark to cut pieces of blackberry vines for the crowns. She wound them into circular shapes, which we placed on the cake dome pedestals. These represented the crown of thorns that was placed on Jesus' head. I wanted to symbolize what the crown of thorns and Christ's death means for us, so I placed a small, white bird (to represent us, after the cleansing of sins) in the center of each crown. 

Two other special parts of the decor were the napkin bands and the song banners. For the napkin bands, I used pieces of lyrics from various Easter songs, and placed a picture of a crown of thorns near the lyrics.

For the song banners, I used the lyrics from "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher, because it has such a wonderful meaning and has been my most favorite song. I typed pieces of the lyrics on separate pages, and hung them in three different spots around the house.

Overall, the decor was quite special to me, and I enjoyed the process of putting it all together! I hope that I get the chance to decorate similarly this year! Here are more pictures.

Seaside and Long Beach - Summer Adventures

Are you prepared for an adventure? I hope so, because I want to share pictures from our trip to Seaside and Long Beach with you!
My mom and I stayed the night at Seaside, and went to Long Beach the next day as a part of my one week summer vacation. Though it was raining part of the time, we had a lot of fun! Sometimes I almost enjoy going to the beach more when it's stormy or raining, because it makes everything feel so cozy. The low clouds also made everything look awesome!

We also had some great weather while we were there!

I really enjoyed visiting the various shops at Seaside, and walking out on the beach near the seagulls. (Candy from the shops definitely made the experience even better;)

I probably took nearly fifty pictures of the seagulls, because they were constantly in the perfect spot for a picture!

We walked along the beach for quite a while during the first day of our stay, which was nice because I haven't often just walked along the beach.

 I had a great time taking pictures of the various things we saw as we walked!

Since we planned to stay the night at Seaside, we booked a room at a hotel near the beach. We actually switched rooms, because the people in the room next to us were quite loud and obnoxious. I have to admit that I didn't like the idea of being on the first floor of the hotel when we switched rooms, because it seemed so much less private. But, it ended up being a very nice room, and we enjoyed staying there!

After we stayed the night at Seaside, we went back to the shops and beach one more time before we drove to Long Beach.

On the way back from Long Beach, my mom wanted to show me this cool covered bridge, so we drove around there for a while as well!

Everything was so fresh and beautiful.

And, of course we had to stop to use restrooms on the way back home, so we pulled off at some strange area. By this time it was raining and quite stormy, and the bathrooms there were pretty disgusting... but it did make for an interesting experience!

I hope you enjoyed seeing pictures from our trip!

Don't go anywhere... even more blogs about my week of summer vacation are soon to come!

Grist Mill and Randle, WA - Summer Adventures

During the summer, my mom and I went to the Cedar Creek Grist Mill in Woodland and to Randle, Washington. Though it was extremely hot outside, I always enjoy exploring areas that are new to me. It was truly fun seeing the inside of the Grist Mill, along with the beautiful areas that surround it.
My mom and I originally planned this trip because I had decided to take a one week break from school, after my summer courses were complete. I really wanted to take the opportunity and visit as many interesting places as possible, and my mom suggested the Cedar Creek Grist Mill as one of them. I am glad that she thought of going to this area, because it was the perfect trip!
Here are some pictures from the whole trip!

The trip was incredible! And the air was so refreshing. The sun beamed through the branches of the trees, and made everything look so breathtaking. I enjoyed being up so high, because it allowed us to look down at some wonderful pieces of God's creation.
However, one thing I didn't enjoy as much was this gross bug that flew into my hair and wouldn't leave.

We also found this helicopter in the middle of everything, as we continued to drive toward Randle. It was the last thing I expected to see there!

My dog, Tia, seemed to enjoy the trip as well!

Unfortunately, I didn't actually get any pictures of Randle, or of the cute restaurant we ate supper at! But, I still have it in my memory and will always remember the great time that my Mom and I had!

Don't go anywhere... more blogs about my week of summer vacation are soon to come!