So last weekend we went to Derby...but due to circumstances we were asked to come back and bring Papsy his truck. He really didn't have to twist anyone's arm too much on that. So on Friday night we packed up our things and headed back to the crooked red cabin that overlooks the Ohio River.

Mamoo and Papsy live in Bridgeton so when the Covered Bridge Festival takes place they get out of town.

On Saturday I took the kids on an adventure so everyone could pack up ten days worth of stuff. When I came back I guess they had had an adventure of their own. With bikers and everything :)

I took my kids and nieces to lunch and Buzzards Roost. The trail overlooked the Ohio, and it was a long way down. We had fun running and throwing leaves!


Sid and Kate
















Gavin came to a fork in the road...(he found a fork on the trail).

Getting Ready for Halloween?

What are you going to be?

Things that gross me out in my house....

or truthfully things that make me sigh out loud, curse under my breath, or say the guilty parties name when I find them....

toothpaste globs on the sink, floor, or my favorite hairbrush!


Gavin's open bug jars...in the house! This one has been moved outside! I don't even want to imagine what has crawled out of it! Actually I think part of it is left in the lid.


Bird poo or bug guts on my car windshield..and in this case sunroof. Just glad the sunroof was closed when this happened!


The smell of these shoes!!! I think I would rather visit a port-o-potty before I got too close to these babies!


food left in the garbage disposal and left to sit...come on people turn on the switch!


How about face, nose and tongue prints on your glass doors. Fingers prints have not nothing on this print! Check out the food on his face!

Derby

Just got back from our yearly Derby getaway in the crooked cabin. This years' theme of the weekend seemed to be "SICK". Many of us has our own ailments and spent most of the time resting. I spent most of my weekend in bed or in the bathroom. Not the best getaway...but at least the view was great, and the warm sunshine sure felt good.







Don't you just want to sit here and watch the barges go by?



Gavin spent as much time as he could...in the river! His shoes are still drenching in river water...there goes pair of shoes number??? I wonder how many pairs of shoes that boy has had?







On the Rocks...the name of our cabin.

A Special Place to Belong

Use to be my special place was 1,800 plus miles away from my door step. I spent my summers on the sandy beaches of Maine, surrounded by my grandparents and aunts and uncles. That place holds so much romance for me. I have learned over time that it really wasn’t the place so much as it was the people that I spent time with in this extraordinary home away from home.

Now my special place is only a few hours away in a bright red crooked cabin that overlooks the Ohio River. I have been going with Paul and his family to the river since the first year we started going out (seven years ago). There is nothing to do there, but that is part of the charm of this sleepy town called Derby.

Just like Maine, Derby has a magic all its own, but it’s more about the memories that we share with each other that make it special. Derby has become a tradition, the place we travel to each October. No sooner do we say good bye, we are planning the next years visit.

A list of some of my favorite memories…
Conserving water, running into deer, hangovers, beer can pick up duty, full moon,

dead end sign at the cemetery, the trip to see where a plan had crashed, watching barges,

wisdom teeth recovery, Paul’s fall, fishing from the docks, the Lookout restaurant,

Capers, Cannelton’s happening fall festival (NOT!) , making Christmas list, a shower so small that if you don't stand just right the shower curtain will stick to your leg,

boat rides, Papsy cooking bacon every morning, carving pumpkins, a stray dog I wanted to keep,

Jack’s first swim, King of the Rock, camp fires, puzzles,

getting up before everyone else to capture the sight of the sun rise, and the sound of the banging back door.

The cabin is worn,and so familiar that you feel as if it actually is the place you grew up in...just like a home that truly belongs to you! I can't wait to see what this years visit has in store for all of us!

What a Day

A list of things that I did today....


I went to walk for the cure and ran the entire gamut of human emotion. Some were there to celebrate life, while others were there to honors those who have gone. Some went to win a race. Some ran the race and finished without stress, while others fought not to throw up. I decided today that running was not for me. But race for the cure was touching. Touching to see a community unite, and to see survivors cross the line with their grandchildren.


I went to a birthday party at the children's museum that was totally crowded. Macey thought she has lost me or that I had left and it was a sad drama. We ate cupcakes and sang happy birthday to two great kids!


Then we came home to wait for Gavin's friends to arrive. We drove them out the farm and had a giant nerf gun fight that resulted in a serious boy fight. Wow! I think my blood and heart might have been pumping just as much as the boys in the fight. Kind of freaked me out. And I don't know who I felt the worst for.


I froze my butt off all day! It rained when I was out. And I miss summer, but I think that I have already addressed that in many other blogs! I took pics at the farm to distract my mind from how darn cold I was.


Now three little boys keep trying to sneak up behind me as I type my blog to try and win the title of scaring mom!


I have tried to take a picture of Gavin all day. I climbed up into a tree house to rescue two five year olds that decided that the slide was too dark to go down, and coming back down needed help too!



Now I am listening to a handful of 11 year olds scream, laugh and play animal control with poor Jack. It was a good day...but I look forward to getting through the night. I feel as if I am attempting a rite of passage having a slumber party.

"So, how was your day?"

Doesn't everyone just take their porch chairs and sit out in the middle of the field and talk about their day? Last night when I was taking Taylor's photos Macey wanted her photo taken so bad. After I threw the chairs in the field and told them to take a seat I asked them to not look at me...just talk. Macey could not stop laughing...she thought this was the funniest and strangest things. She said to Taylor, "So, how was your day?" and we all laughed then.

Actually, after the busy week, and the crazy day I have ahead of me tomorrow that will start before 6 am....I wish I were in that field right now! Just throw my chair out there...look up at the stars and drink my glass of wine. And then have someone else drive me home of course!