The Weekend Roundup

Good Monday morning friends. I hope you had a nice weekend. Ours was bursting at the seams, in a good way of course. Linking this post with Holly and Sarah for their Hello Monday recap party. 

Thursday. Yes it's the weekend. Especially when your daughter and her hubs pull out of the driveway at 7 AM and you're left in charge of their three littles for four nights and five days. One of my friends says anyone can do an overnight or two with their grands, but more than two nights feels like a month lol. She's not wrong.

My daughter was a bridesmaid in a college friends' Annapolis wedding this past weekend so she and her hubs got on the road Thursday morning in order to be in town for the festivities. Our day here Thursday started with breakfast out at one of our favorite spots. The boys ate every bite, and I'm nervous about their grocery bill in a few years. 

Next stop was Pet Smart because what better place is there to while away an hour than a store with fish, birds, reptiles and kittens? The kids asked if they could adopt one, but I thought I should check with mom first. I mean we grandparents love to indulge but a live animal felt like maybe a bridge too far. 

We moved on to our next venue which was Lowes, an exciting stop for everyone as we all joined in the hunt for a particular lightbulb. 

Side bar here...lightbulbs in 2025 are one of my pet peeves. Carry on. 

We found one that is not quite right but will work, and then it was back in the car for yet another stop-Publix. In case you've lost count  that's four times getting three kids into and out of car seats in a three hour span of time, and it was only day one. 

Grandparenting is not for sissies. 

Hubs took the kids to the bakery for a cookie while I grabbed a few things, and then it was home for playtime, lunchtime, and a nap for Little Miss. The boys watched a movie and Nana made tacos for dinner because that sounded easy and easy is good. 

My daughter left a little gift for the kids for each day she was away and they looked forward every morning to seeing what was in their bags. I bought a few things for Valentine's Day as well, and having new things to play with when your parents are away helps. 

I bought Little miss a pair of sunglasses that came with a unicorn case with sparkly handles, and she carried her 'purse' everywhere we went all weekend long, including the middle of the forest. 

The weather was lovely on Friday, a little cool but we bundled up for a hike to a nearby waterfall. 

It warmed up as we walked and I had packed a picnic lunch, which we ate beside the rushing water. Such a fun day. 

I carried a backpack loaded with water bottles, snacks, diaper, wipes, dry clothes to counter the inevitable mud, and a jacket or two. Hubs wore daughter1's carrier with Little Miss in it most of the day. Let me just say there is no need for a weighted vest when you hike with toddlers. 

The trail was muddy thanks to all the rain the day before, but we embraced it and everyone loved the sunshine...

the fresh air...

the natural beauty...

And digging in the sand...

The little brown dog came too, because what's one more? While navigating small children and a dog on a narrow trail won't be everyone's cup of tea, it is ours. 

We came home in time for Little Miss to have a nap then went back out that evening for a Valentines' Day dinner. Pizza followed by a stop at the ice cream shop right next door for dessert. 

So glad we got out on Friday because Saturday it rained literal buckets. Hubs was manning an open house for work most of the day so it was me and the three kiddos at home, in the house, all the ding dong day. I made sausage biscuits for breakfast, we worked a 300 piece puzzle in record time, watched a movie, played games, played with toys, colored, Little miss napped, we read books, read more books, and we watched the rain pour down around us. 

When hubs got home we took everyone to grandson #2's favorite restaurant -Firehouse Subs. I hadn't been in one of these in a while, but their sandwiches were so good and the guy making them took extra care with our order. Everyone in the place was so nice and it wasn't busy so we took our time. The boys ate their sandwiches, then I ordered them each a second and they ate those too. Let's hope the price of groceries goes down before they enter their teen years. 

Sunday Nana made french toast and bacon because apparently Nana cooks breakfast every morning now-ha. Afterwards we went to the nearby Botanical Gardens to visit the geology museum there.

It's free and full of bones and fossils and rocks. There's even a little room you go in where you turn off the lights and all the phosphorescent rocks glow, which thrills everyone. 

We bought souvenirs because we're the grandparents. 

After leaving the museum we took our little crew to Longhorn Steakhouse for lunch.  I didn't have it in me to make lunch and dinner both, so lunch out was a win. 

Little Miss went right down for a nap once we were home, but the boys played outside, rode their bikes, ran around and got muddy as little boys are wont to do and then I was back in the kitchen making dinner. You forget how much you cook with little ones in the house. 

The parents will be back home today and we're all excited lol. I'm so glad my girl was able to have a fun weekend away with her Valentine. It's important to recharge, to reconnect as husband and wife instead of mom and dad, and it feels good to wear fancy clothes and sleep in a hotel bed. 

I remember lots of trips I was able to take with hubs when our kids were young and needing so much of me. My parents and in-laws both, were always willing to come and stay and cook and entertain and do the endless tasks that need doing, and I am probably even more grateful for that gift now than I was then. 

Oh I definitely appreciated it at the time but now that I'm getting a refresher course in the particular kind of exhaustion that comes with the daily parenting of small humans I'm feeling very tender towards my own mom and dad and hubs parents too. 

Forty four February 14ths with this guy by my side. We still make a good team. 

Days Gone By

It was sixty degrees here yesterday so hubs and I (and the little brown dog of course) took advantage of the warm weather and hiked out to a nearby waterfall. We hadn't been on this particular path since Hurricane Helene hit, but she definitely left her mark. 

The rangers and crew have done a good job clearing the trail of most of the enormous fallen trees and they've made work arounds where needed.  

I do some of my best thinking while on a walk in the woods. I don't know if it's the quiet or the beauty or the freedom from distraction but I feel God especially near when I'm out in nature.  

As we walked yesterday I found myself thinking about this next new year getting ready to roll in...what I'm hoping for...what I need to do-untangle-notice-cherish. 

What will this new year bring? 

No clue, right? I mean we all hope for lots of goodness, but know most years are a mixture of both sorrow and joy. Every year is filled with the comfort of familiar, yet the unexpected will be woven in there too. 

There will likely be some muck along the way.

So much beauty too. 

There will be things to work out and things to enjoy. 

Time to play. 

And time to pray. 

A walk in the woods reminds me I don't have to think too deeply about the year I'm leaving behind. That it's okay to just let it quietly roll away and instead turn my gaze forward. 

To let my heart fill with gratitude for the way God goes before me into each new year. Each new day in fact. 

To rest in His unfailing love, knowing He'll show me the path I should walk. 

Creation reminds me to keep looking up. 

'The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." Psalm 28:7

In the words of my grandson, 'Happy new you!'

Friday Faves-Episode 2

Who blogs late afternoon on a Friday? Just me? Who reads blogs late afternoon on a Friday? I guess we'll find out.

I love Friday afternoons. My hubs may be adding sand to the firepit patio as we speak, is washing down the chairs there, and in general making everything in that area of the yard squeaky clean for friends to enjoy tomorrow night, but I've declared it quittin' time and am sitting with a cup of tea, my laptop, and a gentle breeze on the deck thinking about blogging. 

We're retired. We can call it a day at 3 PM on a sunny Friday in May. 

Well hubs can't because he's a machine when it comes to yard work and chores, which I have to say, is not a bad quality in a husband.

I'm linking a little bit of this and that from the week that was today with Erika and Andrea on Friday Favorites. 

First things first...I'm still walking with the Better Me app and invited hubs to go with me one day this week. Normally I like to do these walks alone, listen to my book, and not think about my achilles and these hills. Hubs likes to say things like, 'These hills are so good for you!' and 'We should do this twice a day' while in my head I'm wondering why it is he bounces up the hills like it ain't no thing and I huff and puff like it is? 

Our neighborhood has walking trails through the woods that connect the various sections. I like hubs with me when I take any of the wooded routes, on the off chance we see a bear. We've never encountered one on a walk, but they are in the neighborhood from time to time. 

If hubs walks with me his number one fan gets to come too. 

Second fave-I had lunch with a friend on Wednesday, which was long overdo. And since it's graduation week at the local university we opted for a drive in the country and lunch with a view. Crazy storms came in later and the mountains were already feeling it, but still gorgeous. 

Another fave...On Thursday nights in tinytown they close the main street to cars, invite food trucks in and have a stage with live music. We hadn't been in ages but made it there last night, and it was so much fun. 

We got there early and had margaritas and shared some nachos before the main band played. We ran into lots of friends, which is one of the best things about small town living, and the weather was perfection. 

My favorite fave-I did some grocery shopping this morning while hubs was at a meeting and then sometime after he walked in the door with these-

Fresh flowers are one of my love languages and this arrangement is over the top. 

Lastly, I'm wishing all the mamas out there a weekend filled with the things and people you love. I'm so grateful to still have my mother in my life. She taught me how to mother and has loved me with her whole heart from the very beginning-

I'm so very grateful too for my own sweet daughters...

...who mother their littles with patience, humor, and intention in a way that makes my heart go to absolute mush. 

It Might Be My Birthday

There are two kinds of people when it comes to birthdays. Those who try their best to keep theirs a secret, who don't want anyone to make a fuss of any kind, and who definitely do not want anyone to know their actual age. 

And then there are those who make sure everyone knows it's their birthday. 

I think you know which camp I land in, although it's possibly been a little over the top this year, even for me. For some reason my hubs has been hosting a weeklong Facebook celebration to mark the day, which has me feeling like I need to lay low for a while. Too much me on social media lol. 

Except here I am blogging so whatever. 

This year isn't a particularly 'big' birthday but he has posted a lot of pictures (a lot!!) anyway, and he's written words and it's been sweet and only a teensy bit embarrassing. Hubs can rally people around some fun y'all, which is why I've been wished happy birthday more times than I can count in the past seven days. 

I usually place some imaginary pressure on myself to write something profound when this day rolls around, but right now I'm not feeling it. Maybe this is the year I'll just quietly become a year older.  

Quietly being a relative term, ahem. 

I am going to do a bit of a phone dump because catching up here makes me happy, and hey, it's my birthday! 

In viewing hubs online photography extravaganza I realized I never posted any pics from the beginning of the month when my whole family was here. We were celebrating the life of my brother-in-law, and it felt so good to have everyone together. 

The two youngest grands had not met many of my extended family and it was so nice to be able to introduce them to everyone in person. The two oldest grands spent one whole entire complete day in the lake with my nephew, who happens to be a teenager with boundless energy. Even he had to admit the little ones have him beat. 

Solidarity nephew. I get it.

In other September happenings we went to a fun float party in a quiet cove one afternoon. Summer is still in full swing on the lake mid-September, and we take advantage of that as much as we can. 

I'm a cloud groupie and the sky showed off big early one Wednesday morning.  

Two Wednesday mornings actually. 

Really every morning.

Hubs and I have taken a couple of hikes this month and yes, the little brown dog came too. He is not one to miss a walk in the woods. 

One hike was to a nearby waterfall we hadn't seen before.

In the middle of a thick forest water rains down from 70 feet above, as it runs over huge slabs of rock and fallen trees.  

The hike is described as relatively easy, and in terms of elevation it was. 

It was also a narrow 'rooty' trail and you had to duck under downed limbs and clamber over rocks and across a 'balance beam' to find your footing on the small strip of sand. 

We ate  lunch perched on a big ol' rock as we soaked up the quiet of the forest and the beauty of creation. 

Shifting gears, or venues if you will, Saturday night we saw a Bee Gees cover band in a neighboring small town. Hitting those high notes like Barry Gibb ain't no small thing, but these guys did it, and we loved the show. 

I've been so spoiled this past week with cards and gifts, phone calls, chocolate cake, a fun little getaway too. I think for now I'll just share my usual profound thought about birthdays...

...it's so good to have them.