Labor Day Weekend at Hartfield

After a full first week of back-to-school, we were ready to head down to Hartfield for a long weekend of relaxing and river fun.  We arrived on Friday evening in time for a late dinner and getting some energy out, but the real fun started on Saturday morning.  Lyla started the day checking for bunnies, birds, fish, etc. around the yard and river.  After a bike ride for Mark and the girls, and some exercise for Mouse and I, we had lunch packed and were on the boat to enjoy the river. 

Nina’s idea of river fun is cranking up the music and dancing on the boat, Lyla likes to drive the boat with Poppy, and Mark likes to sit back and take it all in.  One of the things both girls love doing is riding the tube behind the boat.  We rode down the river to our swimming spot from the last time we were down, and spent some time swimming, jumping off the boat, eating lunch, and taking in the scenery.

 

 

After our boat time on Saturday, Mark and Pops grabbed the kayaks and went fishing in the ponds while Mouse and I helped the girls make little creatures out of pipe cleaners and pompoms.  I wonder who had more fun?   Nina and Lyla definitely had fun making a show with their little creatures, and judging from Mark’s scuffed up thump from catching so many bass, I think the boys had fun too. 

 

 

One of the things the girls look most forward to when down at Hartfield are Mousey’s pancakes.  It started a few years ago with Mousey making “snake cakes” for the kids.  Basically, they were pancakes shaped like little snakes.  Well, snake cakes evolved into all kinds of animal shaped pancakes.  Basically, any animal they ask her to make with a pancake, she makes.  On this particular morning, they had bunnies, dogs, cats, fish, jellyfish, and even a pontoon boat (Nina’s request).  Through the years, the pancake creation requests have become more and more involved, yet Mousey always gives it a try.  It’s one of the girls’ favorite things about Hartfield.

As we were getting things ready to get out on the boat on Sunday, Nina came across this little rock.  She had no idea where it came from, but I off-handedly mentioned that Uncle Bo probably wrote it (teasing).  Nina took it to a whole other level.  She had this whole scenario worked up where Uncle Bo wrote the message on a rock and wanted to give it to a girl he wanted to be his girlfriend, but he’s so secretive about everything (her words but so true) that he didn’t want to say it, and on and on.  She talked about that for quite awhile, so Uncle Bo might have to set the record straight at some point but we’ll leave that up to him.

 

Our fun game in the river on Sunday was trying to balance on the sides of the tube while standing without falling off.  The absolute funniest was when Poppy gave it a try.  It made us all laugh so hard I almost sunk.  Anyway, the Mouse and I did it quite a bit too, but I’m refraining from posting those pictures.  That’s the advantage of being the creator of the blog! 

One of my favorite pictures of Mark and the girls…

The sun and the swimming made for a fun afternoon.  It makes me so happy to see the girls enjoying the fun of the river, laughing and being silly, and enjoying the simple things in life.  We’re very grateful to have the opportunity to make some great memories with family that will last a lifetime.