Weekend in the Woods

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IMAG5041_1I think I’ve mentioned how awesome my neighborhood is and what a great place it was/is to raise kids.  As neighbors we’ve gone on vacations together and generally just enjoyed each other’s company.  For the most part, we all had kids in common and that unifying thread has stuck with us even as our children have grown, gotten married and some of us have become grandparents.  There’s now a whole new crop of younger families that have moved in and the streets are alive with the sound of kids playing, bikes riding and parents calling them.  I love the rejuvenation it’s brought to the neighborhood.

So, I say all of that because we, as a neighborhood, have been invited for the past 5 years to the Farley home in Arizona for “The Weekend in the Woods.”  The Farley’s lived and raised their kids in the neighborhood, moved to Arizona and now their daughter and her family are in their home here.  How cool is that!  I’ve only been able to go to the first weekend back in 2011 because my life has been a little wacky since, but now that things had started to settle down a bit I looked forward to the 5th annual event.

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the whole gang

I’m somewhat of a wuss when it comes to tent camping, so I’m lucky enough to get a beautiful room in the main house.  Almost everyone else camps out under the stars in tents.  We arrived on a Thursday afternoon, just in time to relax and get settled before prepping the dinner.  It’s all very organized with everyone signing up for different chores throughout the weekend….prep, cooking and clean up for each meal, to name a few.  I made the mistake of signing up for cooking a few nights this time, not realizing that it meant cooking over the open fire pit, where I have no experience…sorry Morgan & Jim!  I think I made up for it by signing up for extra prep chores??

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Beautiful morning in the meadow

There are activities planned for every day and it’s up to you whether you want to partake…or just sit somewhere and read a book.  There’s a few nature hikes, treasure hunting and tracking for the kids and a trip to Bearizona Wildlife Park.  I had a couple of great afternoons just reading and napping, but I really enjoyed the wildlife park visit. Here’s a glimpse…

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One of the highlights of the weekend is the team games/activity day.  Our hosts split us up into teams and we compete against each other with prizes at the end of the day.  We did weed pulling, archery and log-splitting and it’s always so much fun.  Although there’s a picture here of me practicing archery, I was not in the competition (which was best for my team.)  My form looks bad-ass but I never hit a bullseye…not sure if I even hit the bale of hay? Here are a few pics….

archery

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First Place Winners!
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Second Place Winners!
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Third Place Winners!

On our last night we made waffle cone smores…filling waffle cones with all kinds of goodies, wrapping them in tin foil and putting them in the fire to get warm…with toppings and whipped cream to top them off.  Sooo yummy!!IMAG5148

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Thanks Farley’s for an amazing, fun weekend with great friends and neighbors!

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You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!

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