Home again...

Time flies!  We've been home for one week tomorrow and in less than 12 hours we'll be on the road again!  It's been a full, wonderful, week here at home in Cleveland, with the best weather of the summer so far, and too few hours in a day to enjoy it.  In the midst of unpacking, cleaning, and coming down off of the Farley's high, we made a few memories here at home..

On the way home-- we made a road trip of our drive this time, with a stop in LeRoy, NY to visit the Jello Museum.  Who knew there was a Jello museum, right??  It was charming and just the right amount of entertainment for a quick stop.

We also toured the LeRoy Land Bank Office historic home.  Doesn't look like much from the outside but the cieling heights inside!  A big grand old house done up to the nines in period dress.  A wonderful surprise!

Continuing the road trip celebration with a stop for Dunkin Donuts in Erie!

Saturday I took a break from unpacking to go to a baby shower for a friend.  Carpooled down to Canton with some lovely mama friends and enjoyed the sunshine while snuggling this dreamy little one.   A good day.

Sunday's celebration of summer at home:  A trip to Horseshoe Lake Park where we ran into some wonderful friends from Jack's Pre-K days.  Our great big independent kids ran and climbed as we caught up with our friend.  What a lovely surprise!  I love our "small town" of a city!

Monday:  Kids and I spent the morning doing a few errands-- got Ivy's new lunchbox for Kindergarten, turned in our Summer reading logs, had lunch at Chipotle.  It's a banner day for our family:  Jack and Ivy are ready to get their own burrito bowl!  They both enjoy a mix of rice and meat, and Jack likes to add guac and chips to his.  They are almost eating like normal people! :)

There is this outdoor bed at Arhaus furniture and we could stay there all day.  All day, I tell you.

Monday afternoon-- one of the treats of the week!  A ride on Becca and Joe's new boat!  Talk about places where I could spend all day...  We went for a swim off the boat and Edgewater, and cruised in to North Coast Harbor by the Rock Hall. It felt great to be out on the lake.

The kids loved tubing, though Ivy enjoys a slower speed than her brother.

We took two exhausted kids out for dinner at Bearden's.  Still can't stop that boy from reading!

Why not go see the sunset from the shore before going home?

Tuesday:  A morning visit to the Art Museum.  I love where I live.

A busy rush of an afternoon-- off to Solon to tutor than a fast drive to Edgewater for a run before joining West Shore Chorale for a Summer Sing.  A wonderful surprise -- three of my favorite former choir members (and Hiram Alums) showed up for the sing, so of course we had to go out after.  So much fun to spend time with old friends...

 Wednesday:  Visiting some chickens!
So, the other thing we've been doing with our time since arriving home:  building a chicken coop.  We are repurposing our old Little Tykes playhouse and Nat is doing an amazing job of using only resources we have on hand to build a nest box, platform, and run.  It looks like, if all goes well with our permit process, we'll become urban farmers with a flock of 4 hens in August. It's rather shocking how fast this has moved since we threw out the idea of joining the chicken club, back in early July...We'll see how this goes! We drove out to Grafton to meet some of the fancy breeds we've been thinking of, and we've got four girls on hold til we're ready.  We did NOT bring home one of these bunnies, though it was sorely tempting.

Two of our future girls hanging out together:  Cochin and Black Copper Maran.  We've also picked out a young Polish and Silkie to bring the "ridiculous feathers" component to our flock...

 We stopped for lunch in Oberlin before heading home.  Such a beautiful day out!

Another mad rush of driving as I had some more tutoring to do, and then some more time to spend at Edgewater.  This time, with our friends.

Will had his grandkids for the day and Jack and Riley picked up their friendship where they left off... He's got her email address now and they're making plans to meet up on a Minecraft server.  He is SO. Stinking. Excited.  When did my little boy become so grown up! Hanging out with a 10 year old...

Ivy made fast friends with Taylor, age 8.  They sang songs, made flower soup, and had some sort of intense drama involving pulling one another up over the edge of the hill.

They also enjoyed having popcorn thrown in their mouths.

 Sunset swim.  Little mermaid girl.  Too beautiful to handle.

Today:  A break from cleaning and packing to take advantage of our Hale Farm membership.  What a wonderfully laid back, picturesque place to spend an  afternoon.  Walking back out of the visitor center towards the parking lot, back in the present day, we could feel a pressure shift, a change in our breathing.  Something about watching broom-making, glassblowing, spinning, candle making-- these lost arts that are so deliberate.  People using their hands to create, processes unfolding at a unhurried pace.  Almost meditative, and a reprieve from screens and fast cars and the rush rush rush that modern convenience has bought us...

Tomorrow, though, I will be happy to avail myself of modern technology like air conditioning and a DVD player as we make our way, 3 adults, 2 kids, and 2 dogs in a van, towards Richmond VA, where we'll stop en route to the Outer Banks.  Wish us luck and relaxation once we arrive!