Monday, November 30, 2009

Thankful

Why, hello there, little blog. Miss me?

I am just unpacking, laundering, and detoxing from four days spent off the grid with our cousins from the east in Amish Country, Ohio. While having no cell or internet service whatsoever was a wee bit inconvenient at times, this was my view first thing every morning:


We stayed once again in these charming little cottages smack dab in the middle of a working Amish farm. Our kids spent approximately 18 hours outside every single day and got so dirty it made my mama heart warm. They hiked through fields. They shot bows and arrows. They ran hard. They slept hard. We sat with our husbands around a table and laughed until our sides split.

It was a little taste of heaven.

The farm also allowed our kids to indulge their inner pet ownership fantasies, as the two farm dogs kind of adopted them. One of the dogs is missing a leg, and we respectfully dubbed him Tripod (though his real name was Tango). We suspect he lost the leg while trying to win a race with an Amish horse buggy. He tends to be a little reckless, this one.

Tripod's companion on the farm is a small four-legged dog that our kids called Little Dog (creative naming geniuses at work, clearly). Little Dog sometimes lifts that fourth leg up and runs on only three legs. We think he does it so Tripod won't feel left out. You know, with his disability and all.

Everybody needs a friend like that.

Tripod also has no clue that he is a land-dwelling mammal. He was always frantically scrambling to keep up with the kids on the paddle boats. Pretty good swimmer, too, considering he's minus a limb.

The gratuitous turkey dinner was fed to us by the locals at the one and only restaurant in town. Gabi and I thoroughly enjoyed not having to lift a finger to cook it, and took devilish delight in walking away without washing a single dish.

It makes me wonder why I ever spend the holiday cooking for days at a time.

Plus, it was sinfully delicious and sent us all into that magical tryptophan coma.

Mmmm, tryptophan coma.

On our way home, we stopped in to see some very good friends, and felt sad leaving, as there just wasn't enough time spent with them. It was like we had been together yesterday, instead of four years ago. It was so easy to pick up right where we left off. We drooled over their fabulous home, gorgeous boys, and shared a meal like old times. Remind me sometime to tell you my favorite story of our friend, Chris. He's a good man, that one. He and Emily are the best.

A lot of hours on the road later, and we are home safe and sound. There is mud in every crevice of my children's jeans, a pile of mail to go through, and a million calls and emails to return. But I find my heart is full from the love of it all - good friends, family, simplicity, and time.

I feel so blessed.

13 comments:

danandcindy said...

Boring... Why didn't you talk about the barfing on the vacation? Stop painting a rosy-sunshine picture of life. You can't leave out the barf.

Jenny said...

Great looking family photo! I'm all over the letting someone else make the meal. I'm thinking take out for Christmas.

Mrs T said...

Sounds like a lovely get away! Glad you had a nice time.

brooke said...

What a great picture of the bunch. I wish we had eaten Thanksgiving dinner in Amish country and not at Mimi's cafe. Not so good. But I'm with you on not lifting a finger and no dishes! I think we're on to something.

queenieweenie said...

Sounds like the PERFECT Thanksgiving. I went out to eat too and felt absolutely GIDDY walking away from the table.

the wrath of khandrea said...

good stuff! i'll be your three legged friend if you need one.

Tristan said...

Great photos as always!!

I'm glad you had a good trip and Thanksgiving!

Holly said...

It stnks that you lost all of your comments--hope this one shows up!

Sounds like you had a perfect holiday in Amish Land--with outstanding company.

Jake said...

Bummer on the comments. I am getting Chinese spam on old posts too. Time to learn some Chinese swear words...

3leftturns said...

Tryptophan Coma? I can't wait to see what kind of Chinese spam comments you get on this one.

Lauren in GA said...

I loved reading about it. I always enjoy reading your take on life because you word things so beautifully and with such wonderful humor. I like how you called your kids, "creative naming geniuses" because they bestowed the name, "Little Dog" on the dog that was litt...er...small in stature.

Glad you are home safe. Thank you for teaching me the word, "tryptophan". I always experience the coma...now I know the biochemistry behind the coma.

Cindy said...

I was hoping you would post a photo of tripod. Missing a leg doesn't seem to slow him down one bit. Glad you had a fabulous time off the grid.

Travelin'Oma said...

What a fabulous photo of some of my favorite people!