I LOVE this place!!!!

It was a magical weekend having guests at the farm again.  My daughter, her husband and their two small children met us at the farm on Friday afternoon.  Nadija, who is a textbook 3 1/2 arrived hugging her 3 "Pretty Ponies" with a big smile.  Kainen, who is JUST starting to walk was a bit less excited because he wasn't being allowed on the ground as much as he would have liked.

The very first things that we discovered upon our own arrival were a nest of baby mice in the bag that originally housed the toilet paper!  And a nest of baby wrens tucked into a roll of fencing in the attic of the shed!  And when Jeff moved one of the stones around the fire pit, he found a slithery inhabitant! A young Fox Snake.  I love this place!

The evenings were the most awesome part of the weekend.  As the sun went down, the entire landscape changed.  First the fireflies woke up and started to twinkle like tiny flash photographers everywhere we looked.  Of course we had to chase them and catch a few to hold in wonder and awe.  Then the stars poked through the dark blue velvet sky.  One by one they flicked on their lights until there were a bazillion over our heads.  After we were blanketed by stars, the bats joined us in the field, silently feeding on bugs in the night.  With a small fire burning, we sat, with big grins, watching the night show.  Much better than TV!!!  I love this place.

The morning brought breakfast by Nick.  Sausage, peppers and eggs over the fire.  A yummy way to start our day!  The guys went and did guy things and Rhyah and I "relaxed" around camp keeping two little ones out of trouble!!  The hammocks were a big hit and made great nesting places for napping children.  (The adults nap there, too!)

While the kids slept, I found a perfect, leftover board under the shed, and some leftover rope from the hammocks.  Four holes drilled in the board and a few simple knots and all we needed was a perfect branch.  Imagine the smile on a little girl's face finding she has her very own swing in a tree!  "More, Grandma!  Higher!"  It's the stuff good memories are made of!  Have I said "I love this place"?

When the guys got back from doing guy things, we all sat in chairs under the "swing tree" and rested in the shade.  That's when I brought out the old wash basin and filled it with water pouring from the field tile.  I can't believe how much fun those two kids had in such a small pool with no toys!  Why do we feel we need to bombard our children with so many colorful toys when the fun is really in the water and the company!

After his swim, baby Kainen got held up for a blessing by the "farm Gods".  Luckily his bladder wasn't full or there would have been a Christening, too!

Later in the evening, tractor rides were in order.  Kainen got his sitting still with Mama.  Amazing how little boys are drawn to machinery.  The minute he saw the tractor he started pointing and making "brrrum brrrrum" sounds.

Nadija got a full tour of the pasture with Grandpa.  "Faster, Grandpa, faster!"

The next morning, after the tent got packed up, kisses blown and they left, the place got very quiet again.  The peace was nice, but I missed them terribly.  So I went to pull weeds around my peppers.  I'll say it again........"I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!!"  It seems to satisfy a hunger in all of us in a different way.