Adventure!

The girls and I took a field trip Wednesday. We headed out yonder to see Mr. T's cousin (my cousin-in-law and new friend) and her little ones for the day. They live on a wonderfully remote ("isolated" is not the correct word because they have neighbors, of course, who they probably actually interact with, and, really, in this technology age, are any of us really, truly isolated anymore? Could we be, even if we wanted at this point?) farm, surprisingly not far from where we used to live.

We spent the day playing hard, taking lots of pictures, and just generally having fun. Miss Mouse loved Jess's baby girl, who is only a couple months younger than our Baby Mouse, and I got lots of hugs from her middle boy, who is just a few months older than our Miss Mouse. Her oldest boy graciously tolerated our girls, though he was fairly disappointed (understandably) when Baby Mouse glommed onto his puzzle pieces (with her mouth, of course). I think the disappointment was compounded by the realization that the baby in his own house would soon be trying the same tricks. Anyway, the girls had a wonderful time playing with their, hm, would they be second cousins, and I had a great time visiting with a friend who is also a cousin-in-law! Have I written that a couple times now? Even though Mr. T and I have been married now 7.5 years, I just still can't get over having actual cousins (even though they're in-laws - I've claimed them - all!). It was really fun and special being the only two grandchildren/nieces in our family, but it's fun to have cousins, too.

The peace and stillness out there was extraordinarily good for me - peace and stillness with five kids running around? Yes, really, truly. When I went out to start the car to leave, I heard the quiet and was able to take a deeper breath than I have in a long time (it seems I'm able to breathe differently in the country...I must be odd). I saw the sunset, obstructed by nothing other than a few trees and a clothesline. I heard roosters and a soft "woof" from a shockingly large, friendly dog. I saw an orange cat patroling the perimeter outside. Even inside, I could feel, as Jess described in a post on her blog (I don't know how to link things yet; I wouldn't do it without permission anyway, but she describes this better than I can, I believe), the history of those who lived there before this family, those who planted the trees, built the outbuildings, and dreamed of the farm that could be. It makes me so thankful that I grew up on such a spot of land and a little bit sad that I didn't realize the blessing it was at the time....as a child, I suppose, we assume everyone has what we have and take it for granted. I took another deep breath, thankful for the wonderful day with friends in a beautiful, quiet setting, and then loaded up the girls to head back to the lights and conveniences of the city.