Homies

No roadtrip would be complete without touching base with those Invisible Friends who just can't remain invisible for long. This last trip was no exception. Going through Texas put us in line to see Meredith and her amazing clan of wee ones again. (Some of whom are not so wee anymore, and just about blew my mind with how big and tall and ginormous they've gotten! I know *mine* aren't growing like that... they can't be. *gasp*) But it's all good because she's had another one since the last time we all got together, so Zorak and I alternately hyperventilated over the growing young men and then oohh'd and ahhh'd over the gorgeous, impish little one.

Look at those feet! And those cheeks! Oh, and he is just as sweet as her older ones are. (I have a good one of Meredith and me, too, but that baby is so much cuter than I am. *gush*) And Meredith is really that lovely in person. Inside and out.

We also got to meet with another dear friend who has since moved into the same area. (*squeee!*) She bravely, er... graciously (well, both) hosted the big get-together at her place. And then -- AND THEN (as if I weren't already just wallowing in the total awesomeness of it all) -- another friend trekked down to spend the day, as well.
That's Jami, the hostess of the year, in the red, and Deb - the O'mazing! gypsy traveler (who drives four hours and still looks that good?) in the fantastic swirly grey.

So there we were, the four of us, kibitzing in the kitchen, trying vaguely not to lose anybody in the greenbelt (the children just intermingled, split up, and took off, as kids are wont to do - thankfully, all four families live by the Buddy System, so nobody got lost alone), noshing on some spectacularly delicious food. Just... just... It was just... I don't have words. I just. don't. have. words. It was awesome. The kids are awesome - ALL OF THEM - I could not do them justice in less than 1,000 pages each. Great kids. And these women are awesome. The whole stop was just full of warmth and wit and humor and wisdom. And Zorak totally owned the occasion -- he remembered to get pictures of all the children before they dispersed too randomly!

There were 18 children between the four families, from 13 years old, down to one. Oh, it was beautiful! And not nearly as loud as one might think. But twice as much fun as you could ever hope.

Deb allowed us to follow her home Monday night. We hoped she'd let us stay forever, but those pesky job requirements and mortgage payments called us back. We left bits of our hearts in Texas, though. And a t-shirt, and a pair of boxers...

I guess we'll have to go back!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Something New

One of the things the kids wanted to do this year is take more family outings. They like the intentional living concept, and they love time together, so a combination of the two makes sense. Zorak heard about a little place not far from here, where we could go skiing and be home for dinner. He loves to ski, but we haven't gone since about a week before we learned of James' pending arrival. In the 13 years since, we've had neither the time nor the energy to pull it off. I'm not saying we have more energy, now, but we've realized this is probably as good as it's likely to ever be again and we'd better run/amble/hobble with it. So, that's what we did!

We took burritos and warmed them on a camp stove - that was awesome. We didn't take hot chocolate - that was not so awesome. The staff at this place is amazing, and the slope is a lot of fun. The weather was gorgeous - calm all day, then turned to snow as we pulled in the driveway at home.

James, once he figured out the math behind it, was fearless and amazing. He did all the jumps and wiped out much. Twice, I fully expected to see blood and have to call the dentist for an emergency surgery. Nope. Turns out the kid's not much of a bleeder.
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John muscled his way to competence by sheer will power. He was in heaven, and had a fantastic, wonderful, laid-back time of it. At one point, he just ran out of steam, but he was still 2/3 of the way up the hill. So he laid back on his skis, spread his arms out and rode the hill down that way. Got a burrito and a coke, and hit the slopes again. I may be able to stop worrying about him. (No, I won't. But it's fun to say.)


Jacob fell and fell and fell and fell, and got up smiling every time. (He's either incredibly optimistic, or batsnot crazy. Still unclear. I suspect this kid's glass is not only half-full, but that he's brought other glasses in a variety of sizes so he'll have his bases covered.) He finally mastered the skiing part, and got the hang of the rope tow. Happy, happy, happy child. He was one of the last off the slope at the end of the day.


Emily could not get the hang of the rope tow, but she so enjoyed the skiing that she side-stepped up that hill all. day. long. just so she could ski back down. All. Day. Long. She just took the run of the place. There are pictures where you can see her in the background, skiing back toward the office to get a drink or another burrito, all by her big old self. When did she get so big and self-confident?

Jase was an angry, angry elf. Poor kid. Didn't like his snow boots b/c they were "too slippery". He finally came to terms w/ them, and then we got there and he had to put on ski boots. He stood up and slipped on the concrete floor. "Too slippery!" So what did we do? We put him on skis and set him on an icy surface. Yeah. I can totally see how, from his perspective, the day just went from bad to worse. Thankfully, he'll not have any concrete images upon which to hang his vague, nebulous fears in the future. So we can blame some total stranger, right? (We took his skis off, and he had a wonderful time climbing the snow residue at the edge, and eating Cheetos by the fire inside the office. He's fine. Really.)

Zorak had a blast. He loves to ski. Today, he got to ski with his children. He was so happy.

I... hurt like you would not believe. Dear heaven above, it's like someone woke me from a coma and made me run a marathon. But, it was a magnificent day! I'm so glad we went. :-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy