Boreal Witch

I see his point, I do. When family knows you're coming to stay for a week, spending time with them suddenly becomes a priority. Everything else you may have done is pushed aside while you entertain (or are entertained by) great-aunt somebody-or-other. 

We did, however, deliberately free up a couple days at the end of our trip to see Robinson's oldest brother, John-Charles; his partner, Hugo; and, of course, Patches.

The boys love their uncles but not as much as their dog. They loved throwing the ball to Patches, laughing uproariously as she brought it back and dropped it at their knees, waiting for them to toss it again. They thought it hilarious when she rolled in the grass and begged for food. They wistfully doted on her. (See the picture of Patches? The boys watched her chewing on a stick and decided she needed more. They brought her the pieces on the left. They love, love, love that dog.) 

A rickety old swing set had been left by some previous tenents long ago. The boys adored this rusting contraption - playing on it every spare moment of our visit. John-Charles and Hugo worried the boys, with their wild, reckless playing, might hurt themselves somehow, but - surprisingly - the thing held up, protesting with its loud, ancient creaking.

They took us to Hueston Woods State Park, where we rented a boat and sped around the lake. Hugo mentioned that he took Patches on the trails in the area quite often and picked up garbage along the paths. Once, they happened to find a picnic table in the water and tried to retrieve it. The boys were quite enamored with the sandy beach and would have stayed there all day if we had let them. After all, we had only spent a few hours at the Indiana Dunes...

The most exciting part of the trip for the boys was the melting of the Summer Snowman. Ours had already been brought out and melted on the fourth of July but John-Charles and Hugo had saved another Summer Snowman for the boys to observe. (And eat. Even Patches helped which the boys found hilarious!)

This trip was certainly epic, a once-in-a-year kind of trip. While it was sad to say good-bye to John-Charles and Hugo it was more than wonderful to be back in our own apartment, in our own bed, surrounded by our own things. The cat was ecstatic to see us again, after meowing her displeasure.

Where did your summer adventures take you?

Blessed be.