Our Trip

On any "normal" day at Sunbeam, the boys are woken up at 5am and some still have trouble making it out the door by 7:30. Well, in 35 minutes Thursday, they were up, duties (chores) done, showered, and dressed!

While we were waiting to leave, we spent some time reflecting on the school year and the ways we have been blessed. An 11 year old student said he's thankful to God "for the opportunity to learn." A common response from other students was "learning to read" and "being able to do 3 minute math". School is completely different when because they haven't been able to attend or learn. I'm am so blessed to be a part of this.

It took about 3 hours to make it to our first destination, Lover's Leap.

The legend of Lovers Leap is based around the romance of two slaves who to prevent separation from each other jumped from a 1700' cliff.

While it's history is tragic, the view was amazing! Feel free to check out pictures by clicking on the flickr badge on the sidebar.

From there, we headed to Apple Valley Park and Farm located in Maggotty, St. Elizabeth. There were a few animals, walking paths, pools, a pond with paddle boats and more. The smiles and laughter were incredible! The boys were so excited to show off... "Miss Michelle, watch me." "Look at what I can do."

Around supper time we headed up the hill to the house we were staying at. When we first arrived there wasn't any electricity, stove, or drinkable water, but the staff was very accommodating and had things set up before dark. The boys spent time on the balcony coloring and reading. For supper, we ate family style which I loved. There was time for card games, looking at the stars (they asked a million questions, good thing we're going to study them next year), and stories before their eyes couldn't stay open any more. They went bed and were out in minutes.

After a pancake breakfast the next morning, we changed, cleaned the house, packed up, and were off to the park. About an hour after we arrived it started to pour and we sprinted for shelter under a pavilion. The rain showed no signs of letting up so we had a picnic lunch there and then left.

We planned on touring at the Black River Safari, but much to our disappointment, the downpour prevented this as well. Instead, we stopped for patties (kind of like a hot pocket) and ice cream on the way home. The boys were enthralled with the 3 large aquariums and spent lots of time watching while ice cream ran down their arms. We decided it would be nice to bring patties back for everyone at Sunbeam who wasn't able to join our trip.

The boys were really cute the night after we got home. They would come to my door, just smile at me, and then walk away.