From Rainbows to Rummikub

We woke up this morning to Rosalie's delighted declaration that there were rainbows in the bathtub - so we had to investigate. The beveled edge of the mirrored light switch created a prism and it was so pretty!  We tossed the kids in the bathtub.  They didn't get a bath the night before, since it was nearly 1:30 a.m. before we got them settled enough to go to sleep.

Jane, Rosalie and Joseph headed downstairs for an early morning walk with Will, Heather & Zach and came home with wildflowers and pinecones for everyone.  Grace snored on. Finally, she roused and by that time they were home so we had a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, fruit, and cereal. 

And the most amazing toast ever.  I mean - it was good. Take a picture of it good. Char knows a place in town that makes their own bread for sandwiches and then sells the ends at a discount. Oh my goodness, I will be dreaming about this bread. Heather and I carbed it up. Will kept slathering slices with butter and toasting them in the oven and so we had no choice but to keep eating.

Only a few injuries at breakfast. Joseph hit his head on the counter three times and Charlotte got stuck in the folding chair twice.  But, we extricated and/or patched them up and sent them on their way. Joseph hurt himself pretty bad, but once we got to help Mommy wash dishes, he felt immensely better.  Rosalie and I got a little Joshua holding time in while Uncle Will showed Jane and Grace the snowmobiles in the garage. And then it was time for our walk.

It was past 11 a.m. before we cleaned up the breakfast dishes and set out.  Usually, we're up much earlier, but the kids - and parents - were exhausted from the previous day's journey.  Will took us up to the road and along the perimeter of their land.  It was so beautiful and so great to watch the kids explore.  They stopped to look at bugs and pick up sticks and smell the clean, fresh air.  There was no rush.  No place we had to be.  We just meandered.

Rosalie found a bright orange golf ball which Arthur told her came from the nest of the Titleist bird.

Will was showing them a big tree off in the distance.  I was behind with Joseph and came trundling up only to find out that I was stomping all over a squirrel tree and probably crushing their whole underground ecosystem.  When we walked on, they all came flying from their hiding place and scolded me loudly.  Heather warned me that they would all be staring at me through my bedroom window later, waiting to take revenge.

Will often clears away the dead trees and brush and has secreted away lawn chairs in the funniest places.  We kept finding them on our walk and taking a little break. The little ones did really well, but they needed to finish the trek on their daddies' shoulders. 

We came home, had a little snack, and then Will made them a couch fort, which was a lot of fun until Grace jumped on the top. Tears. Screams. A big fight. And then naps for Charlotte and Joseph and quiet time for the rest.

Quiet time included a game of Pokémon Monopoly.  It started out fun and devolved into utter boredom as Monopoly is wont to do. Rosalie won by quite a bit, but was upset because she didn't get to buy everything. 

Arthur, Joseph and I took another short walk down to the neighboring cabin.  Wildflowers and quaking aspens were everywhere.  Joseph collected rocks. Big rocks. And carried them back home all by himself.

Then, it was time for the highlight of the day - Uncle Will was going to fell a dead tree.  We kept the little ones inside, just in case.  A few of us watched from the porch.  Arthur went and held the rope so he could pull it when it was time.  Will strapped on his chain mail chaps and grabbed the chain saw and in under five minutes it was "TIMMMMBERRRR!!!"  Mom later told us that Grace was too worried about Uncle Will to watch and ran and hid. 

There was a beehive in the tree and this was part of it!  Jane asked to keep the wedge that Uncle Will cut out of the tree as a souvenir.  She plans to sand and varnish it back at home. They were all so surprised at how hot the stump was from the friction. 

After this excitement, Uncle Will had one more surprise in store.  Both Jane and Grace had already been busted for tossing a pillow and shoes over the side of the loft.  Understanding what a temptation that was, Will thought of a game for them.  They had brought some old bills to burn in a campfire this week, so he had the kids wad them up and toss them over the railings into boxes on the ground floor.  It was a huge mess - utter chaos - at least one timeout.  But, a good time was had by all.

They cleaned up the mess while we got the table set for dinner.  Then, as we were all standing around the dinner table holding hands to say grace, our Grace cocks her head to one side, makes a funny face, and then spits out a tooth!  She lost her first molar!  We gave her a round of applause.

Dinner was delicious - BBQ chicken sandwiches, cole slaw, cauliflower cheese casserole (we told the kids it was mac and cheese), corn on the cob, and homemade chocolate cake for dessert, with ice cream!  So delicious.  And so many meltdowns.  We whisked everyone off for baths and bed right after dinner. 

Jane got to go with the guys to check out the lake they will be fishing in later this week.  She also got to stay up late and play Rummikub and Boggle with the grownups.  She felt very special.

Quite an impressive Boggle word list!

It was a good day.