Family Hikes

Last fall, we started a new family tradition of going on family hikes on Friday mornings.  Most of the time, our schedule is flexible enough that we can work this in.  Cam and I try to exercise through the week and this weekly arrangement had several benefits: it was an outing to look forward to, it met our need for physical activity, was quality family time, and hopefully instilled in the girls a love of the outdoors and the importance of physical activity.  Each of us wears one of the girls in an Ergo- which we freaking love.  It can still hold Lila pretty comfortably.  If you have children, I highly recommend one.  Or two.  We only had one for awhile.  Our sweet friends would let us borrow theirs every week until my Super-Awesome friend Rhonda actually gave us hers on permanent loan.  Squee!  I digress.  Anyway, we had let this tradition slip during the winter months, but have gotten back into the habit.  Here are some pictures I took on a recent hike to our 

Northern boundary at Old Glory. 

Lila is happy to be outside!

This is Bluebird, who also thoroughly enjoyed the hike.

A budding Artist

 

I just wanted to share this drawing of a peacock Lila made in January.  I was so impressed.  This was my first real inclination that she had a talent.  Since then, she has been drawing, coloring, and painting up a storm.  I'm not claiming we have a prodigy or anything, but I love to see her creating.  She gets creativity from both sides of the family, so I'm not surprised she would have an artsy flair. The down side to her prolific work is that it all has to *go* somewhere.  She is constantly drawing or coloring pictures for Cam or me.  This particular peacock I scanned to make sure it would be around.  But, Cam says we need to *have* them to hold them.  Ugh.  So, the ones I'm impressed with go into a file in the basement, while the coloring book pages have a lesser fate in "File 13".  Shhhh......

It was "bloomin'" gorgeous!

 I just had to share a few of the pics I took of the girls yesterday.  It was a gorgeous morning, with temps already in the 60's when we got out to the yard.  The girls were in heaven.  Hope your spring is going this happily!

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

My little monkey turned 2 yesterday! We had a fun party for her on Saturday at our house.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and unseasonably warm which meant we could move the party outside after the cake and gifts.  Maggie requested monkeys on her cake and of course Nana was up for the challenge.  She used the fabric from the girls' dresses to create a cute and, more importantly, delicious cake.  

Monkey cake!

I printed monkey masks on card stock and glued them to popsicle sticks as part of the goody bags.  I baked banana bread, served banana chips, and a tropical selection of fruit and dip.  

Is it a Maggie or a monkey?

After Lila got her pup for her birthday last month, Cam and I both felt like Maggie was feeling a little left out of the "big girl" feeling of having a living thing all her own.  So, we decided to get her some ducklings.  She got to pick them out at the feed store and has proudly claimed them "my duck-lings!" since then.


She also got quite a few outdoor toys and games which were really fun to try out in the beautiful weather.  We replaced the "baby" swing with a cool "Tire" swing that's really molded plastic.  But, I liked that both girls could ride together.  It was a big hit.

Don't know if you can tell or not, but the girls have matching dresses.  I scoured local stores for a cute monkey outfit for Mags and didn't find any I liked.  So, I made some.  I bought a plain t-shirt at Old Navy and cut it off for the bodice.  I had a pattern for the skirt part and followed that.  The length on both dresses was a little too short.  I put Mags in leggings and added a red tier to Lila's under the monkey fabric.  They looked cute and were both quite pleased with their matchy dresses. 

It doesn't seem like two years ago that we called our doula, midwife, grandparents and sister to say that Mags was on her way.  I look back on that day with very fond memories.  The two years since then has been full of challenges (who knew two kids could feel like twelve?), and joys ("I luv oo, Lila!").  But, we love our Maggie Moo and wouldn't trade her for the world. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

*On a side note... all photos were taken by my awesome sister (in-law), Renata.

Old Glory

Since I mentioned it in my last post, I thought maybe I should explain just what Old Glory is.  Before Cam and I got married, we purchased 24 acres near Patoka Lake.  Our original intention was to build a log cabin from scratch and live out there.  However, we realized that my interpreting work would be in the Louisville area and an hour commute each way was not what either of us wanted to do.  We kept it as a getaway spot and spent lots of weekends there camping, going to the lake, and improving on the land.  However, once Lila was born, and especially after we got goats, it became harder and harder to make the 40 minute drive from our home.  We eventually decided to sell it and look for something closer to home.  

It just so happened that at the end of our road, there was a beautiful property that seemed to have been abandoned.  It did, not however, seem to be for sale.  But, Cam had big dreams for this property.  It couldn’t get much closer than the mile down our road.  The property had an oooold… um… house might be too strong a word..shack that had been abandoned since the 1960’s.  Needless to say, it was in quite a state of disrepair.  It had at one time, been a bustling home, but not any time recently.

 

The property is bordered on two sides by Big Indian Creek, a definite plus for us.  It did not have electricity or running water, but it had promise.  It had a large field that had at one time been a crop field.  Cam decided to contact the owner.  At that time, the owner told Cam he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it.  Cam was persistent over the next few months, calling and writing the owner, continuing to express interest.  We later found out that shortly before Cam’s first call, the owner’s son had passed away.  The owner had planned to give the property to the son, and so was trying to decide what to do with it now.  Cam let it rest for a month or two and finally gave it one last shot.  At this point, the owner was ready to sell and accepted the offer that we had made on the property.  The owner had decided to sell the property and give the money to children of his deceased son. 

After the sale, the fun began.  Not one to shy away from hard work, Cam jumped right in and got his hands dirty. Quite literally.  There was trash in the house from the 60’s.  An old sofa had been lived in by mice and other critters. 

But, once we were through with it, it actually is quite a nice little retreat. 

Both Cam and I love to take something worn and ragged that most people have disregarded as junk, and turn it into something really cool. 

Since we painted it red, white, and blue, we started affectionately calling it “Old Glory”.  Since we bought it, we have cleared the overgrown field, put up a fence to try to keep little kiddos out of the creek, built a barn, renewed the house, cleared some trails, enjoyed the creek, and had several camp-outs complete with campfires.  The girls love to go down there.  It’s our little private retreat.