In September, we were gifted a wonderful stay at a fellow pastor's vacation home- a lovely little pink house with shells everywhere and two huge rooms just perfect for all of us.  We were just a walk away from the white sands and calm, clear ocean, and we spent more time than my pale and sand-hating husband understood, but it was just lovely.  I have pictures on my phone, but I only pulled out my big camera for these few on the first day.

It had a fenced yard for the dog, a golf cart to drive us the two blocks beachward and lots and lots of shells and quality family time.  This was the trip that we watched Knight Rider together, so that's notable.

Tate Chickens on a Messy Porch

I took these just before Bowden and Lucy flew up to Vermont for the month.  I'd like to say that they were sad to leave everyone, but the only one they were really sad to leave was Charlie.

Sometimes they all like each other a ton, but much of the time, Bowden picks and teases, Lucy bosses and shuts everyone out of her room in exasperation, and the two "little" boys fight and bicker and yell at everyone, all while Charlie demands that his every need is met, NOW, and only by the person of his choosing-usually me, but at the most frustrating times, some other random family member.
I think to not write this would skew my view of these days, and I have good hope that we are growing closer to each other, and learning how to love better.

They all missed each other.  The house was empty without everyone there, and our reunion was marked by days of sweet camaraderie.  Eventually a fight broke out, over boredom more than anything else, but I think we have retained some of the awareness that we are just so awesome all together.

Camping in White Springs, FL

 

Lulu Advent joined with our friend Becky and her mother-son campout and slept "primitive" in the woods this Friday.  This is something you can do in Florida in November, and is actually better than many other times- it's so humid and hot and buggy here that November is about the earliest that it's comfortable to sit around a fire- and the past two years we have had temperatures in the 90s up until January.  So, no toilets or running water, no cookstoves, just open fires and good fun.  I don't love sleeping on the ground, especially because my friendly padding somehow does not pillow the hard, hard bones inside.  We went on a hike along the Suwannee River Trail on Saturday, and came home dirty and exhausted and glad we had done it.

 

Becky and her son Brandt.

 Jamie and Richard

 Alicia and her son- I wish that I knew his name, but I don't remember it.  He was sweet, though, and Alicia has six kids altogether and this was their first time doing anything, "just the two of them."

 Amber and Levi (He's also one of six.)

 Herman, oldest of 8, and his baby sister Hope, youngest of 8

 My biggest and littlest.

 Charlie, ready to hike.

 Josh, just like a bush-whacker, always ready to go.

 Looking at moss.  Moss can be interesting, but only after you've spent the night in the woods.  Otherwise you're only thinking about the last Netflix show you watched and you don't even care.  Not us.  We just watched a fire for hours, slept on a pile of rocks in the cold, and then stared at a fire some more.  We are all about the moss.

 That's not really true.  I stared at the fire and cooked stuff and kept looking up suddenly and saying, "Where is Charlie?!"  And the kids hiked around and climbed trees and played games and snuck bags of chips and hershey's bars, and the night before took a two mile walk in the dark as a big group with flashlights and glowsticks like fairy lights all in a line.  I was working on my bone-padding and chili-cooking skillz.

 Charlie collected a really ridiculous amount of pinecones.  There were pinecones everywhere, and he wanted them all.  Josh made a stinky bag out of his undershirt and we ended up being at the back of the line, far, far behind everyone else.  All for the precious pinecones.

 Is that another pinecone?

 Josh did not want to bring Charlie, but gamely gave him rides for much of the hike.

 Jase by the river

 Jase and Hayden

 Brianna

 The sisters- Hannah and Brittney and Brianna

 Jack and Miles

 Jack has a hard time smiling for the camera.  This is a face that he thinks represents a smile.

 Hornet's Nest!  Don't go that way!

 On a hill overlooking the river

 Colton

 Reese shows her dad Jeremy an interesting rock

 Jeremy and Reese pose with the rock, which is now elevated beyond all imagining by being featured on this blog

 Miles, experienced explorer

 Michael

Jase takes a break from complaining to pose for his mom

 Conversations on the trail

 Charlie decided that he was going to head off on his own and then ran away from me and made the end of the hike as miserable as it could be. Just over this little hill was the end of the trail and the cars to take us back to the campsite, and Charlie had to be carried, after reason and discipline failed, kicking and screaming to the car.  Josh was at the top of the hill when Charlie ran back down the other way, and I grumpily said, while holding a stinky pinecone bag and a screaming, writhing three-year-old, "Why didn't you help?!"
And he said, "You're the one who wanted to bring him."
Which was true, and maybe some other things, but that's how it is.

There are some people that don't take good pictures- but Florida....Florida takes beautiful pictures.  She is a gorgeous woman with a hot temper who looks so good in a photograph and makes a biting comment about it afterward.  She's maybe a nice date for an evening when you want to impress the CEO of your company, but not a wife that makes your home a place of comfort and peace.  That said, Florida, right now, is in a good mood, and this November the days are pleasant.