June Indoors

...some things I'm grateful for today...

...moments of complete peace and contented children...

...prints on my wall...

...bella's patience...

...my new summer bag...

...daddy coming home early to cuddle...

...time to knit in a yummy shade of green...

...a fun updo and not a stitch of makeup...

...magazines, tape, and construction paper turned new picture book...

...aidyn's enjoyment of new storybook...

Ripples

The lake was...beautiful. The first few days were pleasantly cool, almost borderline cold, but it was so nice to simply sit in the cabin, no interruptions, and knit and read to my heart's content. And then the sun popped out, and our days turned to fishing and long walks and simply laying in the sun with good books. The drive up was only two hours, which is just far enough to make you really feel you're getting away, without being tedious, and was through some of the prettiest country that Washington offers. The kids loved the ferry that one must use to reach the little resort we stay at, and Aidyn stared wide eyed as we were shuttled smoothly across the lake with a few other cars. A few more twists and turns through a dense pack of trees broken with small fields of wildflowers and suddenly, the lake opened up before us.

On the edge sat the small cluster of rustic cabins we're so familiar with; Evan's family vacations for two weeks a year at this spot every June. We drove up to the "Grand" cabin, which apparently is one of the perks of being a long returning member. It's set slightly apart from the others, a little bigger, with a wrap around porch perfect for lounging and a loft just waiting to be filled with giggling cousins who tell secrets after dark. Not exactly roughing it, I know, but still just enough removed from the rest of the world.

The first day we simply settled in, walked along the dock, and enjoyed the peace. Evan took his first trip on the boat to try out his fishing skills and enjoy some quality time with his Gramps. The next day I explored some trails with Teri, his mom, and the kids soaked up Grandma's attention at the cabin, while Ev fished. I started a pair of longies on my size eights in the afternoon, Aidyn learned how to cast his new fishing pole (no hook involved), Ely babied her baby doll with her very own cloth diapers and blankie, and Evan...went fishing. The next day I finished said pair of longies, then took the kids down for some fun on the dock, and Evan, you guessed it, fished. At this point it would seem that our freezer must be overflowing with fish, after all of those outtings, but the truth is the weather, as I've mentioned, was quite dismal the first few days, and the fish simply weren't biting.

The next day, as the weather started to warm, Teri and I continued our routine of a morning walk while the boys headed out once again on the boat and Grandma and Ariel, Evan's little sister, played with the kids. We took a trail we'd never taken before, and caught up in the beauty and the small animals that crossed our path, we soon realized that we'd walked a little too far and were deep in the woods. Not a problem, except that Evan's mom is diabetic, and wasn't carrying anything to revive her flagging blood sugar. We could hear cars, signaling we must be somewhere near the road to the campsite, and so instead of turning back, we trudged onward, knowing that all the trails around eventually led back to the main road. Almost an hour later when we finally hit a road, Teri was a pasty shade of gray and barely moving forward. It wasn't the main road, but we could see it in the distance, and so she trudged on for another quarter mile, which was somewhat near the next camp over, and there, I was forced to leave my pooped out mother in law while I ran the entire way back to our campsite to quickly collect a juice and my van. On the way back I happened to run into the boys just returning, and grabbed Evan with a hurried explanation. Thankfully, Teri had managed to make it the short distance into that campsite, and find a juice there. She was already back to herself when we pulled in. We returned to our cabin and had to make some explanations, as my out of breath ramblings when I rushed in had left everyone a little worried. Once the commotion had calmed down, we decided to drive that trail, to find out how far we had gone. Teri and I had walked just under two and half miles before finding the road, leaving me to run back a little over a mile and half for a total of exactly four miles. We decided that was enough excitement for one trip and stuck to trails we knew after that, although I had to curtail my walking the next day for my sore hips.

The next morning Aidyn decided to help me cast my pole off the dock, and darned if his first little cast didn't catch a fish! His very first one, and he was so proud of himself. We tried to get him to hold it so we could take a picture, but he wouldn't come near it once it was on the stringer, and the picture captures my very ambivelant little boy looking uncertainly at his bass. That same night, Evan took his little sister and I out on the boat. We spent a half hour with no bites and not a whole lot of hope that any fish would even be caught. Evan decided to move the boat, and so we skimmed along into a little cove no one else was at, where we saw tons of perch wallowing on the water, having their fill of bugs. We weren't fishing for perch, but we figured it was as good a spot as any to try, and so out we casted. Two hours later, we roared back towards the dock with self satisfied smiles; our cooler was full to bursting with large green bass, which had been biting left and right all night. The only sore spot on any of our minds, especially Evan's, was the one that got away. Evan had hooked the largest fish of the night, and had a spectacular fight reeling it in. It got stuck in a mess of weeds but Evan reeled and reeled until the boat was right beside it, and then pulled the whole mass up. We could see the big guy right in the middle, still fighting madly and we snapped a picture of the mess, sure no one would believe what a battle this had been when POP! The line snapped, the tangle of weeds and Evan's whopper dropped back into the water, and Evan was left holding a broken line and howling his fury. We made wild grabs for the thrashing ball of weeds, but in vain. Still muttering disbelief, we started casting again. Not even five minutes later, like a monster in a horror movie, Evan's bass surfaced for a moment ten feet away, still covered with strings of weeds and sporting, I'm sure, one of our favorite lures. We trolled the spot over and over, hoping that we be able to grab him back, but he remained submerged; somewhere in that lake a bass swims, a few stringers of weeds still trailing from his fins, a yellow and black spotted lure with two treble hooks hanging from his mouth.

We left the next day, shortly after our breakfast at noon. Evan took one last ride out with Gramps and came back with another cooler of fish, the kids and I explored the dock and snapped a few last pictures, we packed up the Box once more, and then we were back on the ferry skimming toward reality, a little dirtier, sporting a few more tan lines, but replete. What more could one ask for than the chance to get away from it all, the cell phones, the computer, the chores, the errands, the to-dos, and simply enjoy being?

And of course, I'd be remiss to not leave you with photos of our lake adventure. Here's a small sampling of our time there, but you can find the entire set, for your browsing pleasure, here.

Another Notch for The Box

I just wanted to let ya'll know that we are leaving tomorrow night for beautiful Twin Lakes and a small cabin there. We will be gone until Sunday night, and it would be a shame to waste that beautiful scenery with a wireless internet connection, so don't look for a post from me until early next week. I promise a plethora of camping pictures on my return!

It's June, and It's Snowing

I think of flowers and barbeques, shorts and sunshine when I think of June. All I'm thinking of right now is hot tea, a warm blanket, and a cheery fire. I have two of the three, so we're doing pretty good here today.

I signed on today hoping some shred of inspiration would turn this into a thoughtful, well voiced post of some relevance. Instead I just keep thinking that I should be doing the dishes, or folding some laundry, or perhaps even knitting another pair of longies out of the skeins of wool that piled up in my knitting basket. I know at the very least I should pick up the numerous blankets and pillows still scattered in the living room from yesterday's fort building extravaganza.

The truth is, I have niether the inspiration, focus, or drive for any of those things. The rain seems to turn a switch inside of me; I feel a sort of peaceful melancholy that lacks any real truth but simply turns me inward, in thought and action. I ponder the world and its sad state, I think of the small sweet nothings of the past that can never be again, and I mull words and situations over in my head without my usual push toward a solution.

And so, today will be a simple hello from the depths of my mind. Hello, dear friends. I hope that whatever the world looks like outside of your window, you are enjoying the same peace, thinking only of those things that bring you joy, and of course, allowing yourself a moment to breathe.

Caught Up!

Alright. The vacation is over. The catch up that inevitably must happen after every vacation is done. My brain is rested. And so, back to the keyboard!

Our vacation was, well, nice. I forget just how beautiful Montana is this time of year, green and new and fresh. My family enjoyed the time with my kiddos, and my kiddos enjoyed the attention lavished upon them with exquisite detail. Bean had her grandpa James wrapped securely around her little fingers and Mr. Gray spent every available moment with his uncle Jeremiah. Evan and I were able to sleep in a bit, spend time doing nothing more than cuddling and reading a good novel, and even had a night to ourselves that we spent in the company of some old friends. I knitted a beanie and a pair of adorable shorties for Aidyn, and read about 8 romance novels. Evan was happy just to sleep and play some paintball with his male in-laws. Bella had a rousing time with her Montana cousins, my mom's 7 month old golden retriever Tucker, and her timid little spaniel Freedom. She couldn't make up her mind if she wanted to play or be a big tough girl, but in the end they got along well enough. It was a rather wierd feeling to sleep in my old bedroom that still sports a lovely rose pink carpet, I felt like a little girl again. Teehee, teehee.

We returned to our house in good spirits, after a nine hour drive in the dead of night made to avoid the whining tantrums of kids who have been in a car all day. They slept peacefully for the last six or so hours. We passed about 32 dear on the way home, all through Idaho. Go figure. The next day was spent unpacking, putting laundry away, and going through the stack of mail that filled my table. And that about sums up the 11 after May 16.

Since then....

We spent an entire Saturday cleaning up the debris that comes along with a major construstion project in the backyard. When it was done I planted a garden full of peas, carrots, onions, zucchini, cucumbers, beans and cantelope, followed by a few pots of tomatoes and peppers and one of chives. Over fifty more plants made it into my flower beds, a mix of hosta, lilies, walk-on-me, and red sedum. Finally, I dug out the bare spot by the patio where grass apparently cannot grow, though not for our lack of trying, and put down a total of 95 red concrete pavers in a haphazardous pattern. I finished the spot with a few chairs and some pots and voila! An extension of the porch and a perfect sunny place for sitting and admiring my container flowers, and goodbye disgusting bald patch of yard.

This weekend the electric is going into the garage, one more check on the never ending list. It's so nice being able to pull into my own garage and not have to park on the curb where people like Evan's aunt will pull a hit and run on you (long story, but yes, it's true). And the best part is wonder van has a built in button that is programmed to my garage door, so I don't even have to carry a remote, leaving an extra to give to someone in the chance that Evan's is lost or for some reason we lock ourselves out.

Bella is growing at a remarkable pace, filling out in the shoulders and getting that big, bristly bully look. She's a huge sweetheart, albeit a little smelly. Last night she finally learned she was big enough to jump up into mommy and daddy's bed, and she's been doing it all day. Speaking of the mommy daddy bed, Aidyn is going through a phase that has him running into our room sometime in the night and bounding into Evan's side of the bed to sleep for the remainder. I think Evan secretly enjoys having his firstborn cuddling so sweetly beside him. He's also hit a phase of girliness. He's obsessed with my shoes, and keeps telling us he is a pretty princess. This morning he spent 15 minutes before we woke up experimenting with my makeup. Kids, you gotta love them. And Ely is, well, Ely. She has perfected the art of the perfect tantrum, and is now working on a pouty face that does a basset hound proud.

I had a doctor's appointment the day after we returned (I suppose this actually belongs in the 11 days after part). After an entire rundown of bloodwork and a complete (and I mean complete) physical, she concluded I was in perfect health, with all tests within normal range. There was just the little problem of my toes being blue all the time and beginning to become dry little stubs. Dying in other words. After consulting, I was told that since we can't find a cause we better just treat the symptom or else I would risk permanent nerve damage in my feet. More acurately, I already have nerve damage, and we needed to stop the progression. And so she prescribed a heart medication for blood pressure, a calcium channel blocker called Procardia that is supposed to open my veins and put the oxygen back in my toes. I hear oxygen is important to us mortal beings. Anyway, I am two days into that, and while the blue is subsiding, I now have to deal with muscle cramping and pins and needle sensations in my toes. I think they've forgotten what that good 'ol element O feels like. And my legs could do without the cramping and the slight swelling that they're experiencing, but I'm hoping once my body adjusts to the meds, it will return to some semblance of normal. I also started Lamictal, an epilepsy medication that also has uses for bipolar II. It will take a month or two to start noticing any real difference, but I'm holding out hope that someday soon, I will be able to feel a normal range of emotion without the extremes.

Levi and Dani are planning on moving out within the next few weeks, which means I can slowly begin to remodel the basement domain that they've occupied for the last year. I'm turning it into a family room, complete with Evan's weight set, a play area for the kids, a workspace for myself, and a pirate bar. Yes, I said it, pirate. I'll post as I get closer and it will become more understandable. I also plan on rejuvenating my laundry room into an area that will make me want to do my laundry......rriiiiiggghhhhhtttt.

Alright, that's about it. I'm sorry for such a long lapse in my writing, but I trust this finds you all well and happy. Caio.