Together--Part 1

 In July, Jeremy and I had our 20th anniversary and last weekend we got to spend four nights in Cold Spring, New York to celebrate. We stayed in this adorable vacation rental that a long time client of Jeremy's owns. I did not know anything about Cold Spring before we went. I learned that it has a lot of history dating back to colonial times. Jeremy found the hike we did on the first day. It was the Bull Hill Short Loop. It was 4.3 miles with amazing views, a brook and an elevation increase of 1100 ft in the first 1.3 miles. Here we had gained a few hundred feet of elevation and had no idea how high 1100 ft would feel climbing!

A little higher...

This was a pretty neat view. The Hudson River. On the near side of the river is Cold Spring. On the far side of the river was West Point.

I needed a break. Actually we both had to catch our breath a few times.

And we made it to the top. I do love mountains.

Going down the mountain started with some rocky trails. We walked through some easy forest trails which led to a stream.

We followed the stream to what we ultimately wanted to see on this trail--the Cornish estate ruins. Copied from this website  "In 1917, Edward J. Cornish and his wife Selina acquired the 650 acre estate from a Chicago diamond merchant, Sigmund Stern. Stern built the estate the decade before, but to this day no one knows who the architect was. In 1938, the couple died within two weeks of each other, with Edward dying at his desk in NYC. The estate remained under the care of Cornish’s nephew Joel until a fire destroyed the majority of the mansion in 1956."

The grounds were so neat to explore, to imagine what a grand property this once was. We had already passed the cistern, greenhouse and stables. Below the house was a pool.

This front window was huge!

The trail followed what would have been the driveway to this estate. Rocks lined the path. We decided ice cream was in order. Black raspberry hit the spot.

 We ate our ice cream at an inlet on the river where we took a picture because we had gone from the mountain back to river level.

The Most Surprising Part of the Summer

It was mid July when we went to the ocean for the first time this summer. For the first time in several years, everyone had fun. Josiah wasn't ready to go home and stayed longer and came home with his cousins.

 

All I heard was "When can we go to the beach?" And so we kept going and everyone kept on having fun. It was like a small miracle in this house. We bought boogie boards and even went one weekend with my cousin when it was threatening to rain. It was actually a very rainy weekend, but while we were on the beach it didn't rain. 

Another first for us was going to the beach in the evening with friends. I've always wanted to have another family that we could do things with but that never seemed to happen. In the past year we have connected with two families that seem to enjoy being around us. The evening was perfect.

In other news, there is no significant update on our house. AND the last few weeks have been so busy I could hardly catch my breath. I *think* the next couple weeks are going to settle down and put us in a fall routine.

 

Little Things

There is a break in the progress on our house. I'm thankful that the lull is happening now while I still have a kitchen. I'm hoping beyond hope that all the logistics work out smoothly once the kitchen is gone. 

I planted a few flower seeds this year. The zinnias are blooming. I love bringing in flowers to brighten the house.

We have had BUSY weekends. Jeremy's parents stayed at the beach for their anniversary the other weekend and we spend a rainy Saturday afternoon with them. Some swam in the (very cold) indoor swimming pool and we had Island Creamery ice cream.

The next weekend we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Pennsylvania. This is a weekend we all look forward to every summer.

Isaiah woke up Friday morning not able to walk on this right leg. His knee was swollen and I had no idea how he injured it. It was swollen all weekend, but that didn't stop him from keeping up with all the activities even with a limp. He never complained or even said his leg hurt. I kept Ibuprofen in him and I think the cold stream water helped too. I was pretty worried about him on Friday!

All afternoon on Saturday we were at the stream--kayaking, swimming and exploring. The smaller blue kayak was just the right size for Isaiah.

The evening was just the right temperature for smores and biscuit bowls over the fire. The favorite biscuit bowl filling this time was chocolate, strawberry jelly and whip. 

That night the temperature dipped into the 50s. It was just a lovely little foretaste of fall. 

Last week we had our first days of school. This week are doing full days of school when the schedule allows. We still have cousin days, beach days and full weekends planned!

Joy Dare::July

 8243. A day with the boys
8244. Anna had a lot of fun with a friend
8245. Summer rain
8246. All of Aliza's stories
8247. Perfectly beautiful cool day
8248. Porch supper and s'mores
8249. Youth group sharing about camp
8250. Josiah joining in
8251. We got ot see fireworks without planning to
8252. Feeling just happy this morning
8253. My siblings making me feel so special in their own ways
8254. Laying on the subflour

8255. Isaiah is cast free!
8256. Safety on the road this morning
8257. Anna served dessert tonight
8258. The grocery store was quiet
8259. Exterior walls framed
8260. Grandad getting to watch them build
8261. Tillamook ice cream
8262. Happy cleaning helpers
8263. So grateful sweeping up sawdust--that I'm teary
8264. Listening to the children interact with each other
8265. Surprise visit from Jeremy's aunts and uncles
8266. A day with Joel and Amanda
8267. Late night taking and silliness
8268. Family Pokemon adventure
8269. Aliza and Josiah took a long walk
8270. A really good weekend
8271. Girls trip
8272. Frozen yogurt

8273. Anna utterly excited about the hotel room
8274. Aliza doing grown up things
8275. Sisters
8276. The boys had a good brother day
8277. 20 years married
8278. Compliments on the childrens' behavior at the dentist
8279. A few hours along at home
8280. The children had a day with firiends and they weren't ready for it to end
8281. The best beach day we've had in a few years
8282. Aliza making her own decisions
8283. Josiah doing something new and being excited about it
8284. Unexpected offer
8285. A day to just be with Grandma and Grandpa
8286. Following the nudge to step away
8287. Aliza taking a big step outside her comfort zone
8288. Watching her settle in
8289. Friends

8290. A good laugh
8291. Talking to Aliza
8292. Being able to offer homeschool advice from my experience
8293. Friendship
8294. Evening with Maria
8295. Isaiah recovering quickly
8296. Spontaneous trip to Rita's
8297. Staying way too late because we kept talking
8298. Junk food supper
8299. Boardwalk walking
8300. Catching up with friends we haven't seen in years
8301. All of my siblings together

8302. Our back porch
8303. Catching up on podcasts
8304. Beach time with my cousin
8305. Arriving at the minute I wanted to was God
8306. Hugging Aliza
8307. She thrived in a new situation
8308. Josiah ended up enjoying his first youth group activity
8309. Olympic watching begins
8310. Lots of horses to watch at the beach
8311. Taking the evening off
8312. Watching Josiah grow
8313. Enjoyable beach time
8314. Olympic watching morning
8315. All the animals at the fair
8316. Isaiah with his arm covering in tattoos and all the talking while we did them
8317. Aliza and Anna praying for their friends
8318. Delivering lunch
8319. 3 girls having so much fun together
8320. Ideas I needed
8321. A day with my mom and sisters
8322. Tea time
8324. Slept in
 

This Week's Buidling Recap (July 26-30)

 This week ended what I'm calling Phase 1 of the project. 

There are shingles on the roof and the house is wrapped because it is going to be *awhile* until the windows come in. 

 Now we may be in a bit of a holding pattern while we wait for electricians to be available and whatever other logistics need to fall in to place before they move in to renovating the current house.

This Week's Building Recap (July 19-23)

 I was sitting on the couch and didn't hear the truck drive in and out. When I did look out the window to see that a porta-potty had been delivered, I just started laughing. Who would think that the middle(ish) of a driveway would be a good place to drop a porta-potty?!

In that same minute, Meghan called me and I was just laughing trying to tell here that there was a porta-potty crooked and in my driveway. She said that driver was having a bad day because he was about to deliver it to her address (the billing address). She directed him to take it to the delivery address. 

I went out to see if any of the guys working had seen it be delivered. They had. When they suggested he put it on the other side of our property (where it would make sense to be), the driver didn't think he could get in that driveway. The guys straightened it and pushed it back about 2 feet before they left. 

Brian found out that the regular delivery driver had a massive heart attack and the new guy was struggling. I suspect that it will be living in this awkward place for quite a few months.

The roof is covered.

And there is paper on the roof.

The back porch is framed.

 

Two Weekends with Family

 After a late Friday night hanging out with Joel and Amanda, we were having a very slow Saturday morning. I was downstairs with the younger children and everyone else was still in some stage of sleeping when there was a very loud knock on the door. Granted it was mid morning... Aliza peeked out and said, "Mom, you have to see who's out there." It was 2 of Jeremy and Joel's aunts and uncles. They had no idea that Joel was here. They were out driving and decided to stop by to see our addition. Seeing Joel and meeting Amanda was an added bonus. I woke up Jeremy, apologized to Amanda, threw on some clothes and went out to visit while the others got themselves together. It was nice to see the aunts and uncles though. 

Then a friend dropped by to see Joel. We stood out in the yard and talked for a long time. It was also good to see them. My legs were tired of standing and talking by that point. Somehow I failed in the hospitality department and did invite any of our visitors inside. (I'll have to work on that for next time. lol)

It was good that we had already kind of planned for a later trip to the cove. We packed sandwiches and got ice cream on the way home.

After one late night I was thinking the children would go to bed earlier. But then all got snuggled together on the couch in an aunt and uncle heap and I couldn't disrupt it. So we had another very late night. Camp videos, silly banter and silly videos were involved.

I'm not even sure how it all came about, but Aliza, Josiah and Anna ended up with Pokemon accounts over the course of Saturday and Sunday. That led to needing to go on a Pokemon adventure, of course. I decided to be the driver and after a week of Pokemon driving, I'm getting very good at knowing the downtown, SU and Allen routes!

 

I actually did enjoy it. Everyone was together, talking and enjoying the experience together.

Amanda let Isaiah play on her account. He was thrilled and I don't think Amanda minded having a little
buddy beside her all the time. This time Isaiah had the chance to really be himself with Amanda.

 

The next weekend Grandma and Grandpa came! Grandma took the kids on a Pokemon drive. 

They were excited to see our addition progress. Mama Karen was teary...she is happy for us. Jeremy and Van were looking at the plans so that Van could visualize everything.

 They had already had a big week so we had a low key weekend. 

I never get tired of pictures of these brothers.