Rejuvenated?!

We arrived home today from three really delightful days at Lost River State Park! It was a birthday present from my parents to me that the whole family got to enjoy! All the lovely memories of times shared will very soon rise to the surface, as soon as the kids get over their post-vacation let down and the parents get unpacked, caught up on laundry and make it through these clingy crabby times!

We hadn't even left the cabin before Alida was noting that we need to come back again. And Terah, when we got home, did not want to unpack and was getting really agitated and sad as she patted the suitcases. When we inquired it was very clear that she wanted to return to the cabin. I understand the feeling and am quite certain we will return. In the meantime, I'm feeling more or less strung out and am only typing now since Kali has gotten Terah entertained playing with stickers/markers and Alida is sacked out. I'm so glad Alida is sleeping as she so desperately needed rest. I also finally learned why every time she saw me since we got home she gave me a sad puppy face and clung to me. She wouldn't tell me why she was sad and I was clueless. Finally through tears as I was brushing her teeth she reminded me that when Terah was using the kid rocking chair on the porch before we left I had promised her a turn. Well, by the time I got myself out of the cabin she was already out at the car with Grandma and Grandpa and I feel quite certain I would never have remembered in my whole life that she hadn't sat on the chair one last time. Sigh! She clearly felt rather heartbroken by the whole thing, made 10x worse due to her exhaustion. We'll hope that as my dad used to remind me, "she'll feel better in the morning!"

Terah gained a bit of independence in our three days away. While the older girls and Jason were at soccer we slipped outside for a few moments of fresh air and to see how the gardens were growing - this was between major rain showers! So much growth! I grabbed a bunch of garlic scapes, asparagus and kale and then with my hands full was trying to coax Terah back to the house. She had found the sand and fire ring and was quite content. I was trying to convince her to come back for a bowl to pick tea. I got pretty insistent about my need to head to the house. She just looked up at me, waved her little hand and said, "bye." Well, there you have it! So I took myself to the house, dropped off my load, and came back to find her where I left her. :) She then joined me for tea picking and returned without too much fuss. The fuss came soon after that when she wanted to brush her teeth, right before being invited upstairs for some fresh strawberry shortcake. And what a fuss it was! Her screams are still ringing in my ears and I'm feeling that very distinct rattled feeling I only feel after such an episode. Once again feeling grateful to Kali for the brief reprieve I'm experiencing now!

But I'm not thinking I'll be able to write much so I'll go the quick route - some photos with captions that will hopefully give a tiny taste of our time prior to leaving and the lovely time away!

We didn't have to miss any soccer with our Sun-Wed getaway. Here's my side kick at soccer practices! She seems to enjoy having mom all to herself on the sidelines and even makes friends with some of the other spectators at times!

I continue to enjoy watching Kali improve and enjoy the sport! She even had a shot on goal recently. Jason has taken over coaching Alida's team for the remainder of the season since they had to replace all the JMU coaches when school ended. 

Last incubator hatch of the year. Jason's marking them and getting ready to take them out to put under a mama hen who hatched some at the same time. There are chicks all over the place this spring. The broody hens keep cropping up and Jason can't seem to keep himself from putting eggs under them!

Here are Kali's ducklings before we went away for three days! They are so much bigger already and job #1 after we got home was for Kali and Jason to get them situated outside in their new pen. They are having a rainy first evening out there without their "mom" (the brooder they have gotten warm under/around since their arrival). 

I love this picture because it captures one of Terah's "looks." She has several! Here Alida had told her something not to do to the ducklings that she did not approve of. This, I believe, was taken the morning we were getting ready to head out.

Now at Lost River! We thought it would be appropriate to try my first hard cheese on our little getaway. It was a SUCCESS! Farm house cheddar - somewhere between a medium and sharp cheddar. Yes, I'm pretty excited about it!

The beeswax outer shell peeled off easily! Thinking I might get the next batch started tomorrow. We'll see if the stars align or not... Until I have a cheese press we'll have to be creative but now that we know it is delicious, it's worth it!

Here's the girls outside our little cabin. It was a sweet little home away from home - well built and plenty of room for the 7 of us, especially since we were outside as much as possible!

We cooked all our evening meals outside. Jason and I were SO thankful for Kali, Mom and Dad to help with Terah. And we are so thankful for the design of our fire ring at home. It was a very wise move for Jason to build it high up off the ground. It was nerve-wracking to have Terah running around the fire here, so we all rotated being "on Terah duty." 

There is nothing like eating outside, food cooked over a fire. We got to enjoy all sorts of pizza pocket combinations since we had three meals to play around with different combos. I will have to say that the toasted cheese with homemade ricotta, mozzarella AND cheddar was over the top!

Hiking was a big hit - see Terah's little swinging arms. She always wanted to walk and did really well considering the uneven terrain and her little legs being a good bit shorter than ours! I was so grateful to Mom for keeping the two younger girls for a few hours the one day so that Kali, Dad, Jason and I could go for a long hike to an amazing lookout spot. 

There were lots of playgrounds with slides. A big, big hit! The only bad part about the playgrounds was leaving them. 

The place was ideal for our girls - I have no doubt they could be happy there for a full week and still not explore everything they want to check out!

I was especially taken by the blooming mountain laurel!

Terah got her fill of "fouwas."

A moment before I took this Mom was in the middle and I was noting how tall Kali was! They make a pretty sweet trio!

There was a stream right outside our cabin and in many other places around the park. Terah would call out "wa wa" whenever she saw the stream. AND she wanted to get in! There were some tears also associated with that desire not aligning with the weather or our plans...

This gal could have been happy damming the stream for hours and hours.

This gal thought she could be but my the water got chilly after awhile. I rescued her right after this photo with a towel and some cuddles!

Speaking of cuddles, it's just about time for that. I'm starting to hear an occasional "ma ma" from the next room so my presence is being inquired about. So far, just replying that I'm right here has been enough to get her back into playing but that will only last for a matter of minutes most likely. So might as well wrap this up for now, as life here continues on and I doubt I'll get back to write more about our time away.

In closing, here's my short list of highlights: two full days off email for the first time in years, playing games, eating over the fire, trying our first hard cheese, snuggling up to read stories with Terah, hiking in the woods, TWO hikes with just Jason, getting to have a unique hour plus "Tangly Woods check in" with Mom and Dad (maybe also for the first time in years?! or at least many months!), watching our girls delight in time in the woods and by the stream, seeing a little chipmunk outside our bedroom window that didn't know I was watching it, seeing many beautiful flowers, hearing many birds singing, breathing in the woods' air, looking out over the mountains and taking in gorgeous views, feeling that good tired in my legs at night, taking a nap, sliding down the curvy sliding board with Terah, swinging, and I'm sure the list could go on and one (but I'm outta steam and time!). Thanks Mom and Dad for a great birthday present!