summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Sunday, June 2, 2013

more pictures from a lovely weekend...

Sitting in the shade enjoying the breeze...93 degrees out, and humid. I was waiting for Paul....he walked the almost two miles uphill to get the truck...I had walked down to the winefest, but was feeling awful. No, not too much wine, although I did taste some:) I think it was the cinnamon bun, and the heat, maybe not enough water, but I felt awful. So I waited in the shade...

I waited for a good half hour, but since I never get bored, I didn't get bored. I built a little stick sculpture.

Took random pictures...like this lovely one of my lovely tired feet, and the wine glasses.

took some "selfies", mostly to see what my hair looked like..I had started out with it down, and looking all nice, then it got so hot that I clipped it up...the dumpy bathroom at the park had nary a mirror in it, so I felt like it was sticking up everywhere. I asked Paul how my hair looked and he just said, "fine".

I sat under this nice maple tree. I was so very thankful that Paul was going up to our campsite and driving back for me...it was too hot for walking down highways and up hills. He is too nice.

And just like that, half hour or 35 minutes was over, and he was there with in the truck...

We got back to camp, and Paul suggested a walk up the falls. Now, this requires steps. Hundreds of steps. I already complained about these steps last year, but I will re-hash the pain. Stairs and steps and more steps.











Anyway...we hiked the falls twice. On Saturday, then again Sunday morning. I have lots of mental baggage about doing things like this. I may be 60+ pounds lighter than I was a few years ago, but my mind hasn't caught up with that yet sometimes. I had already walked too far on Saturday, I told myself. A hike? But it was so hot out, and being near the falls is cool, and refreshing. And hot and sweaty. When we were done, I felt like I had run a marathon, whatever that feels like, I was totally drenched. I realized on the way down that I can do more than I think I can. Hundreds of steps, I tell you. Hundreds.

We went to town for ice cream, and walked down Main street.

I slept like a baby last night. A good baby, one like I never really had, the kind that just settles in and sleeps. In a tent, on an airmattress.

So this morning, Paul says, "Let's hike the other half of the falls." Oh. Um. Sure. I would love to. But that niggling voice in the back of my mind started screaming how I could never do that! No, too much, it said. We went. First we had our relaxing breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage and coffee....then packed up and said goodbye to our campsite...



After our hike, we headed for day number two at the wine and food festival. It was slightly cooler today, 86 degrees. More breezy on the lake, so it felt better. There were less people there, too. We still had plenty of food tickets to use, so I had some homemade ice cream. Rum Raisin and Peppermint Patti, which was a chocolate-mint ice cream with Junior Mints in it. Oh heavenly yumminess. I had some wine samples, really liked the Rieslings, but some of the sweeter wines were good too, like the Niagra - so grape-y! Anyway, we sat in the shade for a bit, and I told Paul I felt like I had died and went to heaven. Homemade ice cream, wine, being with him. He couldn't taste any today because he had to drive, but we managed to pick out six bottles to buy and bring home. One kind is a rasberry-ish, and has to be had with chocolate, preferably dark chocolate. The winery rep actually handed out chocolate with the samples, and I knew I had to have that wine. Emily came over tonight after work, so we had some...she thought it was quite yummy too.

So....home to find out the kids had invited some boys from church over for dinner. All I wanted to do was put my feets up and unpack my bags and talk to the kids...but I grilled some steaks, Mirielle had ordered pizza, Aaron made a salad. It ended up being a really nice time.

I missed my kids this weekend, but totally enjoyed the down-time, the time spent with Paul. Oh, how I love to just sit and think thoughts without being interrupted. I love to talk with Paul without being interrupted. I love to walk along holding his hand, and just enjoy being with him. It is still strange to fix just two plates of food (he fixed mine this morning).

But now we are back to reality. Back to Evelyn demanding a trip to the library. Suzanne needs undershirts. The little girls needed showers and stories and Sonja needed a lunch packed for her field trip tomorrow. And I need to get back on track with eating right. We packed our own food for the weekend, ate chicken and veggies for dinners, and eggs and sausage and fruit for brekkies, but...oh the ice cream, and did I mention the cinnamon roll I had yesterday? Or the fudge samples? Today I got a brownie sample, shared it with Paul, but still. Oh, and the lady from the bakery that makes cannoli? She handed me a spoon of the filling that goes in them. Just handed it to me and asked me if I wanted to taste it. Um, yes. Of course I do! I can't turn that down on a normal day, but give me a little wine, and dang, I can't say no. I loved her so much I bought a dozen almond pizelles to take home to share with the kids. Yeah, I ate one before we even started driving...

So. Back to eating right. No more wine, no more treats. I did get my exercise this weekend, but I think I negated it with all the yummies. But one only lives once, and I truly enjoyed it all. Tomorrow is another day, and tomorrow I will behave. And the sooner I get to bed, the happier I will be when it is time to get out of that bed in the morning.















































1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As a reader, it is just delightful to see how much you enjoy the simple things and your ability to get excited about spoonfuls of goodies and a rare icecream! It is a gift you have, yes, another one!