Cows, Clams, and Camping

I have a little catching up to do with this one.  Last weekend, the kids had a few days off and with Mark's temporary academy schedule he has weekends off.  Sooo, we went to the cabin!  October is a great time to go because it is cold but not freezing, you might see a little splash of fall colors and sometimes you may even catch a few snow flurries.  We got up on Friday afternoon (we missed the snow flurries that day - bummer) and had yummy albondigas soup and made a fire.  The next day we went on a walk to see Joe and Michele and Jeff and Sandy's new place.

It is so exciting to have another set of family members with a place up there.  They are just a short stroll away.  I won't go on and on again about how much I love taking the kids up there and how good it is for them to run around and be kids.  I will just show some pictures of why I think so.

Yes, that is a homemade bow and arrow.  Love it.

Diego is not quite as fond of the camera as he used to be.  This is what I look down to dozens of times a day.

Hold me mommy - pleeease.  How can you say no to that face?  We came back to the cabin and had grilled cheese and tomato soup and Paolo says, "How can you beat that?" 

Enter in the cows.  We have seen cows roaming the hood before, but I have never seen eight cows munching away in the front yard.

It really is impressive how large they are. 

The girls played games by the fire.  They did not even know I was taking the picture - real smiles.

Sunday rolled around and it was time for the clambake.  It was different having it on a cold day up north but I am thankful that my Mom was so determined to make it happen.  J & M and Sandy came over and Leslie drove up with Brit. Oh yes, the Jay Bowers clan came too. Small group of us but just as delicious as ever.

                                  





And of course, good times with cousins.

The whole next week was spent preparing for our girl scout camping trip.  It was a stressful week.  I do not like having huge commitments that take time away from everything I have to do to keep the house running smoothly.  Gradually, the house goes downhill, I feel like a mess too.  I do not like waking up and feeling like I am in a marathon with every second occupied and my brain spinning.  But sometimes it just has to happen and I have to ride it out knowing that eventually order will return, laundry will get caught up and I can step back into a (somewhat) peaceful rhythym of life.  My sweet little buddy gets worn out too.

When it was all said and done - camp was wonderful.  We had 20 girls and 5 awesome moms.  The camp was BEAUTIFUL and it gives me solace knowing that if it weren't for Mary and I making the sacrifices and putting forth the effort we do, these girls might not be having these experiences.





Elise went with her troop and got to spend the night with us.  Wish I had a better picture but here we are.

On to the next marathon!