A Family Vacation

We were away for a week, that's why it's been quiet around the blog.  My parents treated my siblings and me and our families to an amazing weekend in the mountains in a house that fit all of us ... with an indoor pool across the driveway, miles of hiking trails, a garage full of John Deere ride-on toys for the kids, a fire pit, a huge porch overlooking the mountains, all over a weekend with a full moon and perfect weather.  For some reason they thought taking us with them to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary was a great idea; it certainly was for us!

I will say that a huge open-plan house with great acoustics (read: no sound absorption)  and 7 kids 7 and under had this pregnant lady a little overwhelmed at times ... more times than I'd like to admit.  But wait, I just admitted it.  I guess the cat's outta the bag that I get cranky sometimes ... even when I'm not pregnant.  But I digress.  Despite the noise and excitement, it was a really relaxing time and I'd happily go back for another week.  Thanks, Mommy and Papa ~ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Here's a little summary of the week in photos.

Tractors and trikes were ridden every day.

 Fishing, resting, picking corn, eating meals, roasting marshmallows,

and lots of cousin fun!

 There's a little village on the grounds that includes a chapel and banquet hall;

I think I've decided where E should get married!

The pool house: we spent time here every afternoon after nap time.

 

Hiking:

sadly we did not see any bears or their prints.

Living Treasures Animal Park

Gramma's new iPad was quite popular during down times.

Fort Ligonier

being soldiers

E picked up a souvenir.

One of the few pics I have of me.

And one of the few I have of Iris.

 Fireworks on our last night together

Now we settle in for the last weeks of summer, looking ahead to school and fall routines.

I imagine we'll try to go to the pool most afternoons and try to get organized around the house.

I'm not feeling very on top of things.

How will you be spending the final weeks of summer?

Visiting Boston & Cambridge

Colin and I had the great treat of a couple of days away from kids AND a visit to friends in Boston and Cambridge.  Colin spent most of his time at a conference, but his talk was successful and he did get to enjoy some catching up with old friends.  There were so many to see in so few hours, but I think I managed to see a good chunk.  Sorry to those that I missed; I hope it's not too long before another visit.  Jenny, you up for it?!

We stayed with my dear friend Jenny who's one of the most hospitable people I know; I'm blessed to call her a friend!  Her daughter helped me to choose the winners of my first ever blog giveaway.

Later Tuesday morning we visited the Windsor House, a senior day-program with which our Tuesday morning Bible study has a now 5+ year relationship.  It was a treat to see those sweet people again - though I think I confused some of them by being there after so long and without my children!  We church ladies and children (those who were free) had lunch at the fine Wendy's in Central Square.

After a brief visit at Liz's house (she's above on the left) I shot over to Westgate for the afternoon.  Westgate is the married and family student housing complex on the west side of  MIT's campus, where we lived for 5 years.

Eun Kyung's baby girl, Megan, who was born just before we moved and I met her for the first time!

It felt just like old times!

Elizabeth's friends, who were sad she wasn't there.

Can you find pictures of Elizabeth in this poster?

Tuesday night we had dinner at John Harvards, arguably our favorite restaurant in Boston.  Their Colonial Gold is one of the best beers ever (for my taste buds) and they had it on tap!  The Downs' joined us and we enjoyed wonderful food and conversation.  I'd only emailed them the day before and they were free to join us!  I forgot to take a photo.

Wednesday was much less full.  Colin went conferencing and I enjoyed a leisurely morning with Jenny and her kids.  They live in this lovely neighborhood so after some time indoors we took a brief stroll before Colin called to say he was through for the day.  Parting is such sweet sorrow.  I'm so thankful we had those couple of days to catch up in person!

Dexter and Frances (Frankie), the little hosts of our stay.

We had to squeeze in one photo just before I left.

We still had some bank accounts that we needed to officially close.  So Colin and I took care of that, and then had lunch at Royal East, a cheap and quick (but not nasty) Chinese restaurant we used to go to a lot after my prenatal appointments when Elizabeth was on the way.  This yumminess was followed by coffee and dessert at Luna Cafe - some of the tastiest coffee in Cambridge.

our fortunes, Colin's then mine

Our final stop was with our friends who just became US citizens a couple of weeks ago!  We met them at Westgate several years back and attended church together.  At their house I tried Pomegranate for the first time; cool fruit!  We enjoyed conversation and laughs just as if we'd never left town.  (Though it was quieter without our two kids there to wind up theirs!)

We came home to this!

None of these cars are ours.
I'm too cool for a sedan; I'm a minivan driver!

 I'm now REALLY in the Christmas spirit with Advent, snow on the ground, crisp winds biting my cheeks outside.  Yes, it's December.

Many, many, many thanks to our parents who cared so well for our kids while we were away.  It was good to see those little kiddos this morning and hear about their adventures while we were away.

Reunion and Following

There's too much going on here to get to quality blogging. Colin left us at the end of the reunion to head to TX for a conference. He returns tomorrow evening and I leave the following morning for CO. During the reunion I don't feel like I saw him all that much. I'm excited about the up-coming conference, but also really looking forward to getting back to life-as-usual next week.

I've been crazy emotional and antsy these last couple of days. Tonight I am finally feeling back to normal. I was about to go nuts this afternoon, when Elizabeth suggested I tickle Brian and her for a while. Nothing like cackling kids to snap you back to focus on the beautiful things in life. The day really looked up from there. Dear child. I hope she can always be such a good influence on me!

It has occurred to me that perhaps the enemy is trying to steal my joy and pull be down as I prepare to attend a training conference this weekend. Sneaky little devil. Hm....is that where that phrase came from?!

And now, more highlights from the reunion! (In no particular order, because I'm too tired.)

Hotel Pool

Cake Decorating:

Any more sugar anyone?!

My boy in "focused" mode.

My little fish

The hot cousins in the boat!

The husband preparing to take our reunion photo.

Petting zoo

We spent a lot of hours in the car.

The kids did so well!

I'll post more photos later. I have several from the day we spent in Kohler, WI, where Colin grew up. Sweet little place, perhaps where your toilet was made! Yep, that Kohler.

Good night, friends. This is all I can do for now.