Friendly faces

We had the opportunity to spend some time with our friends and their kids.

They all played so well together. We ate pizza and strawberry ice cream.

It was welcomed chaos. I absolutely loved the sounds of their little feet running around and all the giggling.

The two 4-year-olds hit it off quite well.
And apparently, our daughter has never seen kids making funny faces before.
They were a hoot and a pleasure to be around.

Fun at the beach

We had a fabulous trip to the beach. Fernandina Beach. Just me and the kiddos and another mommy friend with her two little ones. The daddies had to stay back and work, it's a hard life I tell ya.

No, but really. Planning, packing loading, driving, entertaining, referring, feeding, bathing, dressing, wiping and watching over two little ones in a new environment, with stairs, by myself, was hard. Yes, we had some beautiful rewards, but it was hard work.

We were invited to this beach house from a friend's brother's friend. However many degrees of separation really didn't matter, the kind gesture was very much appreciated. And this house was beautiful.
It didn't take Nathan very long to find and enjoy something he could only find at a beach house. Vertical blind cords. Ha, ha, ha, they're everywhere. Could you sense the sarcasm? It felt like an eternity trying to pry him away from this cord in particular. The up and down mechanics were way more exciting than anything I could have suggested.

We did bring the little inflatable pool and set it up in the back yard. Thankfully, because I think our kids are still a little young to enjoy the waves, and even the sandy beach wasn't always their idea of a grand time.
I think they did enjoy digging the large holes in the sand and playing in the water puddled in the bottom. They all did a great job of filling in all those crevices that make going to the beach so scratchy and uncomfortable.
We saw some dolphins...
fishing boats....
and collected lots of shells.
Katherine smiled ever so nicely when I bribed her with popsicles...
and other times, even popsicles didn't work.
Nathan stayed true to his nature and found some type of stick/tool to carry around everywhere we went.

Taking a picture of all the kiddos was a challenge. Even popsicles weren't keeping the little munchkins still and smiling pretty.

All in all, it was a fabulous 4 days. They eventually became familiar with the house and the new routine and had a good time. Mommy included.

Faithful Field of Dreams

Amy, my middle school/high school/college roommate took a huge leap of faith. I keep thinking of the 1989 Academy Award winning movie "Field of Dreams" with Kevin Costner when I think of her and her family. Costner's character is a novice Iowa corn farmer who becomes convinced by a mysterious voice that he's supposed to construct a baseball diamond in his corn field, while hearing the voice whisper, "If you build it, they will come." The film's underlying theme is the fulfillment of dreams and my friend Amy and her family have certainly fulfilled a dream of theirs. Similar to the movie, she lives on a beautiful piece of land in rural America, in a farm house, surrounded by farmland and has been convinced for years to follow her "inner voice".

Amy and her family were the ones who orchestrated the Coon Hollo Corn Maze we visited a couple weekends ago. With close to 10,000 people attending in 5 weekends, the plot of land sitting at the bottom of the hill in front of her barn-red farm-style home has become her Field of Dreams.

I admit, when she first told me about this plan of hers, I was extremely skeptical. Skepticism has become rampant in my world since becoming a wife and mother. All the whos, whats, wheres, whys and hows flooded my thoughts and I couldn't get past the details to see the overall dream for what it could be.

Don't get me wrong, it was a risk, it was a pain in the rear, it was stressful. It took a lot of hard work with at least 8-10 family members pitching in serious hours for this to be successful; but in the end it paid off. Their exhaustion and worn corn maze are there as battle wounds they can proudly show off. I know of a hand full of little ones who were disappointed when told they'd have to wait until next year to go again. A little icing on the cake the last hour they were open was a special visit from an "official" Hollywood movie star.

I am so happy for her and hope to learn from her faith. She has been a true inspiration to me. Thank-you, Amy.

Jesus replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20