Alida's 10! And a memorable WV weekend!!

Alida now needs all her fingers to show her age. She is a double digit kid now! And she had a memorable crossing from 9 to 10. We actually started celebrating a few days early this year, spreading out the fun and proactively slipping in a Tangly Woods party before 3 of us got our second Covid shots. Not knowing how we would feel, it seemed wise to celebrate on the eve of our vaccines just in case. It was a good choice! She chose lasagna and blueberry pies. A very special present was opened that night - a book called Alida and Her Chickens which was a team effort by my dad (photographer), Kali (text) and my mom (layout design and project coordinator). It was a hit!!

As we went to bed on Wednesday night, Alida was in awe that her birthday hadn't even happened yet, as she had already had so much fun! Her actual birthday dawned with those of us who had had vaccines 24 hours prior feeling varied levels of soreness/sickness. We managed a ponhoss, eggs and fruit salad brunch, more present opening and then getting packed up and ready to head to WV! In the midst of the celebrating and trip preparations, Terah's head hurt which led me to find an attached tick at the spot of discomfort. This happened literally within minutes of me getting my blood test result: positive for Lyme. So, as it turns out, Jason started his round of antibiotics (also for Lyme) the day after our first Covid shot, and here I was following suit by starting my round the day after our second Covid shot. Not a cause for celebration! 

But back to the birthday girl and the more enjoyable news! One of the birthday coupons we gave Alida was for a bike - she is outgrowing a lot of things these days! Thankfully a refurbished one from Wyse Cycles was a perfect fit and we headed over the mountains with bike in tow and a kid chomping at the bit to get back on it as soon as possible! And that she did! My parents' place in WV has a great spot for riding bike back and forth in front of the house. I would say the bike has been sufficiently broken in and made for a wonderful part of a memorable birthday!

The other thing that will make this birthday stand out was that, following a 2 week quarantine, our dear friends Jonathan and Christen joined us at the Mountain House for the weekend. This was the first time we have all hugged them without masks and shared indoor meals/games/conversations in over a year. It was not just a birthday gift for Alida - it was a gift shared by us all! We kicked off the weekend full of good eating with Alida's birthday meal of sausage gravy, sweet potatoes, homemade cheddar, ricotta, dilly beans, corn, and cranberry sauce, followed (once our tummy's settled a bit) by ice cream and birthday cupcakes (made with Grandma Myers before we left). It was truly delightful to be around a dinner table together again!

The other place with the most activity was definitely the living room. A lot of books were read out loud, games played, and lots of gabbing and general silliness. Oh, and some spontaneous napping...

We drove home in rain today but we were welcomed with beautiful weather Friday, followed by a warm Saturday, so pleasant we ate brunch on the deck! Below is a smattering of other moments from our outdoor times together. There was a lot of hugging sprinkled throughout! We enjoyed a walk down to the labyrinth and playing by the stream. Then a walk up to my uncle's cabin (we encountered him partway up, then later he shared some freshly dug ramps...thanks!). There was lots of frisbee throwing - sometimes accompanied by the fling sock and balls flying through the air too. No one was hurt, but there were a few close calls! 

We feel so grateful for these dear friends and the gift of this time together. When we got home and Tala asked Terah what was the most fun, she thought for awhile before concluding that it was being able to hug Jonathan and Christen without masks. For me, there were many highlights, but I think if I had to choose one, I would choose the porch time the four adults had this morning where we shared both laughter and tears. Life is messy, sometimes hard, and made so much more bearable and beautiful with kindred spirits and deep committed relationships!

p.s. There's a new chicken coop at Tangly Woods! And this one was built with Terah in mind and she is very excited about it! As many projects go when building an original design using repurposed materials, it took a lot of time. But the look on this gal's face when it was ready to put to use was a large reward. Once in the yard and stocked with chickens for her to care for, she would run from house to coop to house to coop, giving us the blow by blow report! When they tipped their water and food, she took off for the shed all by herself to get what she needed to restock them. While in WV, she even wanted to come home a day early because she missed her chickens! We'll see how long the intense passion for her poultry lasts...