Easter Holiday....and a lesson

I hope you had a wonderful Easter holiday. Ours culminated in a candy mine field....

just as it should. ;-)

And before the candy...was the road trip. The boys are getting old enough to enjoy our crazy excursions and we decided to head out on Friday...destination unknown. In our pre-children era we would often jump in the car and drive...to where exactly? We didn't know. But we ALWAYS found something neat...on a back highway, down a mud road, up a farm lane...we were adventurers ;-)

Now we have two extra special adventurers-in-training. They are cool, and silly, and say the funniest things that make us laugh all the way down the road.

Our adventure took us west....to the land of covered bridges. AKA Madison County. They are beautiful, if you've never seen one. The craftsmanship, the presence...beautiful.

What good adventure is complete without a castle? We found one. WAY WAY WAY back in a park....we probably hiked a hundred miles to find it.....okay, maybe only ninety nine.

Look at the Iowa countryside behind that adorable adventurer-in-training.

Amazing...even without leaves.

Lastly, we were left with a poignant lesson from George Washington Carver, who unbeknownce to us, had found his way to Winterset, Iowa, before his scientific breakthroughs and fame. He found his way there, dejected and downtrodden, but was lifted up by the fine people of that community and shown the way.

The quote on the monument says the following:

"It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success." --George Washington Carver

Service. It is simply service that measures success. I love that. What a wonderful sentiment...if only everyone believed that, what a wonderful place the world could be. Money does not equate success and success can be had without money.

Have a great week.