September 26/27 Aidan's overnight

Friday/Saturday:  It was Aidan's turn to come and spend the night this weekend. Aidan is eight and a half already and as smart as smart can be. I love him entirely. I think, however, he would be happier if he was less intelligent--it just seems like brilliant minds have so much to think about that it's difficult for them to cope sometimes with everyday ho-hum life. He tolerates me as much as he can, for which I am glad; but I can't pretend to be a match for his intellect. I can't! Thankfully, he still has a lot of "little boy" left in him and so he does enjoy a certain amount of "play." 

Aidan brought a bunch of stuff along with him for his overnight, and as he was throwing it in the back of my car, I snapped a quick picture so that I wouldn't forget to bring it all back to his house the next day. 

Inside the box (below the Chess game and movie) was 3 stuffed animals and a bunch of other things he thought he might need.

I offered to take him jumping over at Altitude Friday night, but Aidan decided he didn't want to do that tonight; so instead, we just came over to my place right away and played some games and ate dinner ...

This game (below) is called "Battle Box" and it's a favorite with all of the kiddos.

Pictured below is the Pahman's very fancy Harry Potter chess board, fashioned after the Harry Potter books (duh). The figures are made out of a soft kind of plastic and they are very "cool" in their design, and exact replicas of the chess set in the first "Harry Potter" movie. I have a difficult time keeping track of which figurine is the bishop versus the knight; but I'm getting better at remembering the more I play this set with them. Aidan is a good chess player! We are quite evenly matched and enjoy playing together.

Aidan! You look too grown up in this picture (below) ... please stay young for a little while more.

After dinner, we played a few more games and then settled in to watch the first "Harry Potter" movie, which Aidan grabbed from his movie bin at home. I'm not crazy about the "Harry Potter" books or movies--not because I don't think they are amazingly written and performed--not at all. They are really fantastically written and dramatized. They are just too "dark" for me. I am really hesitant about all of the wizardry and witchcraft and spells that are everywhere in the story--which is what makes the story so compelling and interesting ... but it's just too "dark" for my brain. Honestly, I am afraid of it because of the warnings God gives about it in Scripture. I just don't want to mess around with the "spirit world" because I believe it to be very REAL. 

Anyway, we did watch the movie until the end. I popped some buttery popcorn for us and since the movie was over two hours long, we weren't finished watching it until nearly 10pm. Aidan got himself ready for bed and soon after, we were all tucked in.

Saturday morning, we played a few more games. Aidan taught me how to play "UNO FLIP!" which I didn't even realize I owned (!!). Somehow the box was all intact, but the game instructions were not there. So we played it a bit haphazardly with Aidan trying to remember the rules. The one game we played of it was quite long because we kept having to "flip" our cards to the other color AND there is a +5 card and a +1 card with other very strange cards too. I'll try to look up the instructions online and see if I can print them out.

By about 10am, we drove over to Schwallier's Country Market and hung out over there for awhile. We rode the wagon out to the "Back 40" and had a lot of fun.

Here is Aidan climbing to the top of the hay mounds ...

Aidan was pretty determined to pedal these go-karts ...

I would give him an initial push, and then he would be off and on his way ...

Aidan did the giant slide 3x and even brought the tube back to where it belonged when he was finished. Good job, Aidan.

We also did the corn MAZE. I will say, after we were walking around what seemed like an endless amount of time, I began to wonder if we would ever find our way out ... and it was quite warm outside too, so that made it a little difficult ...

Aidan was very confident, however, so he was good with it.

We finally found our way out, through the same way we entered ... but we were fine with that. We were thirsty afterwards and got some cider to drink.

Aidan chose a cinnamon donut to eat, freshly baked and yummy.

It sure was a nice time having you overnight, Aidan! Thank you for spending time with your grandma. Love you so much.

September 24 Lake Michigan at Fennville

Wednesday:  This post is just MORE lake pictures. I can't get enough it seems.

South of here, several miles, is South Haven. I have been to South Haven a half dozen times in the past--but a very VERY long time ago. There is a lighthouse there, but it isn't one of my favorites at all.

Weirdly, I was located at a place on the beach (Karen's beach front) at a time where if I shot SOUTH, it was cloudy and misty, but I just had to turn my body (and camera) to the NORTH and it was sunny! So the picture below is looking north towards Holland. Actually, Karen said you can walk to Oval Beach (which is in Saugatuck) right from this location. I'd like to do that some time!

I did walk as far as I could go without having to go INTO the water to progress north--these are some of the properties I saw along the way. Look at that cool boardwalk/stairway!

And then I just tried to get a few good wave pictures ...

Aren't the colors amazing?

Well ... that's all the pictures I am going to post from Fennville. I have too many!

How refreshed I was, way deep inside, driving back to my little "Beach House" tonight, renewed in my heart from conversation with Karen. Trust me, there was not a single lull in our time talking together. We got almost caught up on each other's lives! So much to share that we were completely unaware of that had happened over the last three years with our families.

Karen is a true, kindred spirit. I love her so much. The Lord has given me quite a few exceptional people who have entered my life, become close friends, and have left a very definite impact on my life. How kind of Him to SEE me and meet my needs so specifically and completely. Thank You, Lord. Thank You so much.

September 24 Across the street

Wednesday:  I was completely unaware that Karen and Scott also owned a massive piece of property across the street from their farm house. Wait until I show you these pictures!

Look! A barn and an old water tower! Are you even kidding? I LOVE barns! I LOVE water towers! Evidently, they had this property for many years before they decided if they were going to keep it versus selling it. But once they decided against selling, Scott renovated the barn and this whole acreage into an absolutely delightful place.

Once again, the pictures loaded weirdly ... so it's going to seem a bit haphazard. But here is Karen (isn't she beautiful?) inside the renovated barn. There is a little kitchen area, a very nice lounging area, a work space for Scott ... all inside this beautiful barn.

Look at this beautiful window!

Outside the barn is an outdoor eating area complete with everything you would possibly want or need to cook and eat outside ...

The building on the very far right of the picture below evidently used to house chickens back in the day. Scott renovated this space into four separate rooms that function just like a small hotel/cabin room with beds and lights, etc. They are super cool. See the golf cart? Karen drove us over in it from the main house.

Way back further on the property, Scott has made a very cool space. Also, out of fallen branches and twigs, he wove together this cool wall ... amazing!

Inside this area is a hot tub as well as a sauna ...

And there is a small pond that Scott loads with fish so that the kids can go fishing. He also strung a zip-line for everyone to enjoy. This little pond has clean water, so Karen says it's not unusual for some of the children to swim here--although to keep it exciting, there IS a snapping turtle (rather large) that inhabits this little pond.

Karen says this space is ideal to have bonfires and evening cookouts.

Below is the entryway from the road directly across the street from the main house ...

And this is the very cool, quite old, water tower.

After nearly five hours of nonstop talking, Karen had an appointment back in Grand Rapids. I stayed about 20 minutes longer and walked back onto this property to get better pictures of the barn and water tower.

I think a very fitting word here would be IDYLLIC (which Webster defines as: "pleasing or picturesque in natural simplicity"). I am happy just knowing there IS such a place; but even better yet, that it was renovated with such expertise and love, and is maintained with JOY, and SHARED with so many to enjoy. What a blessing.