Sweet Relief

For the first time ever, I left Ian overnight. Actually, it was for three nights. I dropped him off at a friend's house (Thanks, Mary L!!!) and made the drive to Topsail Island, North Carolina. My mom was coming later that night to watch Ian and Jim was in the middle of a super busy rotation, but was able to do bath time with Ian most nights.

I spent the weekend with four other friends at our friend Joi's spectacular beach house. We got in late and pretty much just hit the sack. I woke up to this view in the morning, after waking up in my own time and at my own pace. What a glorious blessing.

 Their house has a 360 degree view of the inter-coastal waterways. A-mazing. This is where I tried paddle-boarding for the first time and went kayaking with a dear friend (Nicky) I haven't seen for over a year.

 We spent time on the beach. Walking, beach-combing (I found my first shark tooth!), chatting, and reading. On the last night, Nicky and I even went swimming as the sun started to set! We were surrounded by the beautiful pinks and purples of the sky reflecting off the water. It was spectacular. Though the weather at home was frigid, the beach was warm and inviting.

 We ate out one night and went to a fabulous local bakery, but otherwise stayed near the cabin. I love the detailing of their ceiling... it's slats from old porches, but it gives the feel of a ship. So neat.

 Nicky and I were a bit too cold after swimming to see the sunset, so we hopped into the hot tub. But, I did still catch this image after getting out of the tub! Oh, and this was before a full-body massage. Life was hard.

 The next morning, it was time for me to again hit the road. Farewell, for now, Topsail!!

 I returned to a happy boy and Äma! Apparently they had an absolutely wonderful time and Ian barely cried. He talked about how I'd be right back but never got too upset. My mom's exact words were: "I had so much fun!" Wooo!! Win-win :)

I felt like a whole new woman, wife, and mama. The trip did wonders.

The next day I had a follow-up ultrasound for our sweet baby. I didn't get the results right away and was a bit frustrated by the whole experience. Fortunately, though I was teary and flustered, Ian reminded me of the simple joys of life by facilitating play time in the leaves!!! It was a blast and he had me laughing.

Ian: "Where Ian go?"
Me: "I don't know. Where did Ian go?"
Ian: Giggle.
Me: "Is he under the trampoline?"
Ian: "Noooo."
Me: "Is he in the garden?"
Ian: "Noooo."
Me: "Is he in the chicken coop?"
Ian: "In da leeeeeaves!!!!"

So much fun, that kid.

Even still, last night was quite difficult and full of tears and scary research. This morning I continued to twiddle my thumbs waiting for answers. This afternoon the phone finally rang saying that all was perfect and that the baby is perfect!!!

Whew!! So, so relieved. I think it's time to play in the leaves again. This time, I won't be nearly as distracted and weepy!

And let's channel the relaxed woman that returned from the beach on Sunday ;)

DSF & Family Reunion

Every Memorial Day Weekend, my family gathers together for the Delaplane Strawberry Festival. This year my dad switched to a different church and became their choir director, but my parents still volunteered for the festival. Most of my childhood I volunteered, too. Now, with a toddler, it's a bit harder.

This year our get-together was more like a reunion!! Our whole family hasn't been together since... well... the festival last year? Correct me if I'm wrong, everyone. Phoebe & James were living in France since September and Willem has been in shows throughout the year. Whenever we've been together it's been just a few of us, but not the whole group. In fact, the last whole-family picture we have of the whole gang was while I was still pregnant with Ian!! It was in the summer before he was born and now he's 20 months old. Crazy.

Anyway, I was bound and determined to get a picture with everyone during this visit. 

Our first morning there, Grumps spotted a deer in the front yard and shared it with Ian.

Grumps also gave Ian a very special gift!! No longer will we have to listen to the painfully out-of-tune and twangy xylophones we have here. No sir. Now we have a beautiful and authentic xylophone to call our own! Ian is mesmerized by it. He plays the notes up high and down low. He plays them fast and slow. He uses both hands or just one. Oh what fun!!

Thank you, Grumps, for such a wonderful gift.

He takes it pretty seriously. I love his expression in the photo below.

Eventually everyone was up and ready to hike over to the festival. My parents live right on the Appalachian Trail which is handy for hiking, and especially handy for hiking over to the festival!!! It's one of our favorite little traditions. The festival appears like Brigadoon, when you head down over the hill. I love it.

Here are the many family pictures we took. Unfortunately, to get the view Dad wanted, we also have some shadows to deal with. That's okay. We were all together!!

Ian was asleep at the time we all agreed to meet, so we gathered around him in the stroller! Left to right: Samanda, Willem, Mom, Ian, Dad, Me, Jim, Phoebe & James.

This one has the added face of Leif ;)

And Phoebe's friend, Bailey, was visiting that weekend, so we got a picture with her.

We're so excited for these two who each recently signed their first contracts for full-time teaching positions!!! Phoebe will be teaching upper school English at Highland School, where she went to high school and where Dad teaches. James will be teaching Spanish and coaching sports, among a few other things, at The Hill School, where we all went to school through eighth grade and where Mom teaches. They'll be living near Mom & Dad in a sweet place where we cannot wait to visit them starting in August!! Congrats, guys!

Our little sleeping beauty...

Unfortunately, the original five's (plus Ian) picture turned out a bit too dark. Oh well!!

Love those siblings of mine.

The tractor made it's grand photo-bombing presence just in time!!

And just when we thought it we were done, someone we knew walked by and took a picture of the entire gang.

Soon we all headed back to the mountain, some in vehicles. 

Well, actually all of us except for Leif & Jim ;)

Most of us passed a frisbee in the yard for a while during dinner preparations.

But then there was one who decided to keep exploring...

It was a great weekend with family. This night finished with a delicious dinner on the deck with everyone and then a bonfire with the middle generation. I'm grateful that Jim was able to come along and for the time we had to enjoy together in the car up and back. A wonderful weekend all around!

Mom & Dad, thank you for hosting the whole bunch of us!! The food, the conversations, the xylophone, the pottery... we are thankful and had a great time with you!!!

CREO

A couple years ago my parents built CREO, which stands for Clarion River Earth Oven. One summer my parents took on this project and it will be serving us amazing pizza and bread for years to come... not even the massive flood could take it down.

Every piece of the oven itself came from the one acre plot on which it stands, except for the bricks which he got for free from my cousin's home (previously my grandpa's bricks) and the glass bottles needed to retain heat within the bricks.

Dad got the clay from the river bank, swimming across by pulling the kayak to where he found the best clay, filling his bucket which sat in the seat of the kayak, and swimming/pulling it back across the river. Each rock was carried over his head and brought up to the house with our little, old red wagon.

So, here's a peek into pizza-making day...

 The fire has to be started early, so that the oven is hot enough to bake pizza.

 The wood has to be dry and fairly small to fit inside.

 Trees and a river pattern are etched in the outside walls...

 Here are the rocks he dragged and carried from the river.

 All of the mud, sand, clay and mortar came from the land or shore.

Once it gets to 700 degrees F, then it's time to start cooking. That is one HOT oven!

The dough's been tossed!

Ingredients are ready...

Let's get goin'!!!

Once the pizzas get going, it's non-stop making, eating, throwing dough, and eating some more. Everyone's always ready to partake... especially this guy...

The best pizza you'll ever have...

Time to eat.

Now we'll just have to dream and drool over these pictures until next year.