Father's Day Weekend

Father's Day is all about the most important man in our lives!  As one of my daughter's stated quite clearly when she found him outside mowing the lawn "It's Father's Day weekend.  You should not be doing anything!"  We always make a weekend of it and we aim to please with gifts, his favorite foods and whatever he would like to do for fun.

Friday night we celebrated the end of a busy work week with our once a week movie night.  In our home that means homemade pizza

and freshly popped popcorn which somehow found its way downstairs to the basement in the split second I turned my back!

We had the most gorgeous weather this weekend!  Perfect for barbecued, al fresco meals; ice cold beers and the number one request hubby had all weekend..........

to go out on our boat, swim, float around the cool waters, eat more treats,

 Homemade Brownies

drink a few more beers and to build sand castles with our girls until the long afternoon shadows overtook the island of choice;  signaling an awesome weekend drawing to a close.

Everyday Life

I prefer to focus on the beautiful and the positive things;  things I'm grateful for and appreciate about every day. Some will even claim I'm looking at life through rose-colored glasses. But sometimes it takes a lot of imagination and strength to find these nuggets of beauty hidden in between episodes of craziness making up our day to day life.

Take for example last week Wednesday.  It was one of those days where I looked back on the morning in a bit of disbelieve.

My girls kicked the day off cutting 100 pages of colorful construction paper into one inch size squares and then strewing them like rose petals as far as the eye could see.  Even though they had to pick up every shred of paper, I in my heart knew they meant well and wanted to "surprise" me, so no biggy right?

But it was not one hour later I heard a commotion upstairs and went to investigate.  I opened the bathroom door and there they were at the sink;  one holding down our cat Knight while the other one was busy giving it a bath.  The bathroom was a mess.  Water and cat hair were everywhere;  wet towels draped over every surface and when I looked over at the tub my heart sank..............

Staring at me from inside the tub were the pretend horses they got as Christmas gifts.  I think I heard one scream out loud "Help me, please!"  Or maybe it was my subconscious mind grabbing for the last straw of hope;  or maybe it was the straw that broke the camel's back, because when I looked inside the tub they crayoned the tub's bottom a "lovely", bright meadow green.  Yes I know horses need grass to eat, but I had no sense of humor left at that point in time.  

They lost several privileges on the spot including our once a week movie night.

It took what felt like an hour to clean.  Lets hope this was the worst week ever dealing with my little girls at home.

Summer

Summer is the time of year everything happens a little slower.

Homemade Lemonade

We walk a little slower;  we laze a little longer on sandy beaches dotting the lake

and we savor the flavors making this season our favorite.

Homemade Ice Cream

And every now and again we take a refreshing dip to breathe new life into our sun baked limbs.

First Week On Summer Break

Our first week on summer break has been a blast.  I've witnessed some disagreements between the girls and now and again they develop a bit of amnesia when I ask them to pick up after themselves, but overall we've done so many fun things already I thought I need to revisit my summer bucket list to ensure I have a solid backup; just in case.

Fortunately for me;  I love it.  I love coming up with an itinerary of ideas.  It does not matter if it is travel, food, work, parties or figuring out what I would like to do with our girls every day of the week!  And fortunately for me too;  the girls have been blessed with the same genes.

UPS Boxes Make Great Impromptu "Puppet" Shows

I finally sat them down this week and talked about our school at home.  We picked out a name for our school, which might still change ten times before we pick a winner.  We had a competition to see who can whiz around the fastest on their swivel chairs;  but all joking aside we talked about learning at home and what it means and all the activities we will be involved in.  They are so excited!  I had to tell them more than once this week to put their math and science books away, but they want to start "school" right away!!!

Magnetic Mosaics

We have been playing, swimming, hiking in the woods, creating masterpieces in the driveway, marveling at fuzzy tailed insects and woodpeckers drilling away and most importantly just laughing!!  Wait a minute...........I guess school is already in session!!

Swingball

Glamping

I have to admit, I felt a little bit uncomfortable leaving our car at the bottom of a 1 mile incline where the owner's nine year old boy picked us up in an RTV to  get to our tent which had no internet, cell phone or radio reception.... or air conditioning. Unless you count a stand fan as air conditioning!  (My kids thought it the coolest thing ever that a nine year old can drive anything, by the way.) 

Growing up in Africa camping is a national pastime.  Extreme camping that is.  I also know myself.  If my dad wanted to go anywhere I had my little checklist to review "Is there a flush toilet?  Scorpions or poisonous snakes?  Is there a bath house?  And no, a shower contained in a black plastic bag hanging from a tree limb does not count."  But we loved this getaway!  From the cool breezes blowing through the canvas netting all night while tiki torches flicker softly in the distance,

to the hour long endeavor to prepare a cup of coffee first thing in the morning while the kids chase daddy long legs around the fireplace,

to the late nights around a communal bonfire where we reflected on our lives munching on s'mores while the kids catch lizards in the creek.

Our hosts pulled together meals with such seamless effort every night while we were allowed to sip on our second glass of something. 

The air was filled with the sweet smell of grass and the scenery were so beautiful in the most natural of ways.  Here in the mountains people stop to say hi and extend a helping hand; inquisitively ask where you are from and dote on your kids like long lost family members.

I had a moment watching my girls strip their shoes; wading into a shallow, ice cold stream navigating slippery rocks at the bottom of a fast flowing waterfall.  It was so perfect.  Even if we only had this one moment to enjoy it would've been enough , because it was cherry picked right off my summer bucket list.  Right next to running barefoot and catching critters in the wild.

But there was so much more to do.  We spent one afternoon at the community center pool where we met John the volunteer fire fighter who is the local life guard and the occasional school bus driver.  He laughed so hard watching our girls, fearless and loud, not standing back one inch for the boys who joined us in the pool.  They had water fights that escalated into full out war without the nasty meltdowns and slid down the rocket fast slide like this is something they did every weekend.  Swallowing water every now and again was a given;  but lets face it that has never stopped them before!

We frequented the local creamery not once, but twice during our stay.  It had some of the best ice cream I've ever eaten.   It was also where all the locals hung out right next to the BBQ smokehouse, which made for a lot of interesting people watching.  We biked along the Yadkin river until we were hot and sweaty and then we headed back to the creamery.

This weekend I realized that you do not have to go a million miles to find a million dollar getaway.  And this getaway was a wonderful way for us to spend our Memorial Day weekend!

End of School Year Thoughts

Friday was the last day my girls spent in kindergarten.  We had a grande graduation ceremony to attend and once I sat down in the sanctuary I felt so many emotions swirling around in my heart.  I felt sadness, relief and joy all mixed together in a hotchpotch of end of year jitters.

Once I saw Fudge's teacher breakdown in tears reading little messages written by our girls and boys to tell her just how much she meant to them, I had to walk away;  biting my lip until I got it together.  I had to squelch the great flood of emotions that welled up when she cried openly and honestly; shaking with raw emotion, while my daughter stood next to her with a big smile looking up at her teacher with love and a strength that I could not muster when she read her little note "What I liked best about Ms X's class was learning about God's creation."

I wish I could calmly have placed my arm around her and tell her everything will be OK, but I knew I would've sobbed alongside her; sensing the intensity of what she felt alongside mine.  I felt torn and wanted to understand and feel the gravity of it all.  I wanted to feel the pain.  It felt appropriate to question myself, to allow myself to feel lost and wondering, but I also expected myself to get up, take a breath and move forward.

So I hugged her and told her how much she meant to our girl Fudge, because she did.   It was the conclusion to a chapter in our girls' education and we are moving forward towards another.  If we decide to make changes I will allow for it to happen without judgement or regret.   We are not perfect, but I expect myself to do my best and to have faith in God while squarely focused on raising our girls the best we can.