Crafty Mom: Vacation keepsakes

For a week over the Fourth of July holiday, our family traveled to Bald Mountain Lake, just north of Lake Lure, in the western part of the state.

Our children had a blast there swimming in the lake, playing in the creeks, canoeing, fishing, and playing with their cousins. We created lots of great memories, and I really wanted both of the children to have some sort of memento to help remind them of all the fun they had on their summer vacation.

While playing in a little mountain stream with the kids one afternoon, I was reminded of a camping trip I took in the mountains with friends almost 10 years ago. After what seemed like hours of hiking down a steep trail which was much more difficult than I anticipated, we came to the bottom, where flat land led over to a river.

I would later find out the trail we were on descends more than 2,000 feet in just over a mile. I was never so happy to be on flat ground as I was at that moment! Along the shore, I found a perfectly smooth river stone, and I slipped it into my backpack. Yes, it meant more weight to haul back up the steep mountainside to our campground, but I knew I’d have a great keepsake to remind me of my trip and the fact that I had accomplished something of which I wouldn’t have previously thought myself capable; all I had to do was make it back up the trail! And what amazing views there were along the way!!

When I arrived home from my camping trip -- amazingly unscathed -- I wrote the location of the trip and the date in permanent marker on the bottom of the rock. To this day, it sits on a shelf in our house and is a reminder to me of that trip. Occasionally I’ll pick it up and run my fingers over its smoothness, and the memories of that day come flooding back.

Standing there in the little creek in the North Carolina mountains watching my 2-year-old and 4-year-old arranging river rocks and sticks into little castles along the bank, and decorating them with fallen leaves, I knew this was another moment none of us would want to forget. I told the kids my story and then helped them to find their own perfect keepsake rocks.

Upon our arrival back at home, I wrote the location and date on their rocks, and they are proudly displayed on the kids’ dressers in their rooms. Maybe one day they’ll become part of a larger rock collection, or be used as a paperweight on their desk when they’re a little older. Perhaps the kids are too young to really remember all their rock is meant to remind them of, but it will remind me of our week, and I’ll happily tell them the stories of our fun there.