Raindrops & The Pinery

On Sunday morning Ian and I packed and hit the road for a week away from Papa. Here they are spending a few last minutes together singing songs.

Our first stop was in Paris, so we could drive up with Uncle Willem. Here is Uncle Wihwih, in one of his natural habitats: the blueberry patch.

 The next day we moved on to The Pinery! Here Ian shows how he just fits between the stairs. It will be interesting to see a comparison next year. Oh, how quickly they grow...

 It's been raining a lot since we arrived, but that won't dampen our spirits. We've gone on walks and bike rides. And we've loved sleeping while listening to the rain!

When the sun came up today, Ian, Mom & I went for a bike ride! He was happy to ride along.

 So happy to be here with my family and Ian. Missing Jim, Phoebe, & James, but excited for time with them at The Pinery in August!

More pics to come. New visitors arrive tonight :)

Biking Buddy

The highlight of my day today was biking with this sweet dude. 

How better to spend this beautiful, sunny, 55 degree F day?

There's a lot of biking in our future! What a happy chap and therefore a happy mama.

Thanks, Äma & Grumps for the wonderful gift of the bike chair for Ian!

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Biking must have worn him out because tonight I tried to put him to sleep at the normal time and he kept begging for more milk, even though I was already nursing him. We came back into the kitchen and he ate have of an avocado, a banana, and more of the beef stew we had for dinner. Growth spurt? I think so.

Huckleberry Trail

Let me start by saying that I love the name of this trail. It's enticing enough without actually knowing what you're getting into. I always think of my grandma when I hear about huckleberries because she used to go and pick these berries and make them into jam. She would find the bushes along the Clarion River, where my parents have their summer cabin. But now there's a trail with its namesake, as well!

We've been on many walks on this trail and I took Leif on one, short bike trip earlier this year. But yesterday I hopped on my bike and went all by myself.

The trail, in full, lived up to my expectations. I rode from Blacksburg to Christiansburg and it is a beautiful trail, with perhaps even some locks (canal lock), and train tunnels and it follows a brook for parts of it. It's just beautiful and it's local.

And it's named the Huckleberry Trail. Who wouldn't love it with a name like that?