Monday, August 28, 2017

The Pinery 2017

A few weeks ago now the boys and I made the trek to The Pinery. It's only an 8.5/9 hour drive, according to GoogleMaps, but it was a 11 or 12 hour drive for us each time, even with very few stops. Fortunately, the boys are actually fairly good travelers, although we all had our moments. Ian wanted to listen to "The Newsies" on repeat and Owen was content to be handed a couple of stick pretzels at a time for most of the journey.

We arrived after the moon had crested the pines and soon after Mom & Phoebe had returned from their own road trip from Sante Fe, via a few National Parks.
 We hit the ground running, as the boys always do, and tried to soak up as much Pinery activity as we could. One added bonus was the paving on river road. In this photo, the boys were fascinated to observe the sparks flying as the guard rail came down.
 Both of my parents were there, Phoebe & her boyfriend Will, and the Willem and his girlfriend arrived a couple of days later. It was nice to have the whole gang together for a few days. Ian, especially, loves being with everyone and having someone participate in every activity with him. Fortunately, there are many willing participants.


 The photo credit for this one goes to my dad. I just LOVE this photo of those brothers.
 The river was just right, not too high and not too low. Ian made us all laugh when he ran into the water for the first time and exclaimed, "The water is warm!" Quite different from the water at our local beaches in New England.
 Grumps lugged sand up from the river and filled the turtle sand box. This was a favorite activity of both boys, but especially Owen.
 We enjoyed lots of river time on the warmer days.

 Mom and I went for an evening paddle.
 And one day Aunt Beth came over and we had pizza from the earth oven. YUM!
 This wagon was another HUGE hit for the boys! Ian and Owen moved it all over the yard loading their homes into the wagon and unloading when they reached their new home. You'd think they had just moved to a new home or something ;) Amazing to see children work out what's going on in their lives through play.

 Will obliged Ian and played soccer. We now have a soccer ball at home, too. He LOVES playing.
 I got lost in an amazing book and couldn't put it down. Fortunately, Owen didn't seem to mind.
 Dad had to leave early for a camp he was leading, but we were grateful for the time we had together.


 For the first time ever the boys slept in the same room together! Here they had joined me for some book reading in the morning, but it was amazing to have my own space on that screened in porch for a week.
 Lost reading again...
 Uncle Willem read Ian "The Fox and the Hound" and used a unique, dynamic voice for each character. It had him completely mesmerized.
 Did anyone say watermelon?

 Bob and Mom found a bird that had just flown from the nest. Baby bird met Baby Owen.
 We went over to Tippery Pines and the Kosker home for dinner one night and Ian LOVED playing in the pool and on the slip-n-slide with Hazel and Heidi.


 And soon it was our last day at the river. We filled it with watching the pavers in front of the cabin, hiking a bit in Cook Forest, and eating ice cream at The Pale Whale.
 Ian LOVES The Pinery. It was so neat to hear him talk about it this year. He would say, "It's exciting that we are going to The Pinery, huh?" And, "I can't wait to go to The Pinery tomorrow." I'm glad he's forming fond memories of this wonderful place.




I went on one solo paddle and it did my soul such good. It's amazing how deeply connected I feel to this place. Every spot on that road brings back memories, every scent, the feel. It's incredible. So grateful to share it with my children and for them to love it as much as I do. 

My dad had the atlas out one day and I took some time to pour through it. It was strange to steer the car north, away from Virginia and the drive I could do so easily from memory. Instead, we drove up and away from all things familiar. The world has a way of being so small, and yet so big.
Thank you, Mom & Dad, for hosting us! We loved our time with you.