Abby’s Saturday // Two Hundred And Sixty

Highlight of the Week

So, Braelynn, Leander, & I spent all week at the Lake House with my Mom, Ruby, Ellen, & Alethea! We had an amazing, beautiful week – and, honestly, I’m not sure how it’s over already! Like, it’s only Wednesday, right? Time always flies by while we’re here at the Lake House – especially when it’s a beautiful week & we’re splitting our time between preparing to go down to the water (bathing suits, sunlotion, ponytails, gathering gear), time down at the water, post-processing having been down at the water (showering everyone, dealing with wet things, & putting all the gear away), and then cooking & cleaning up, & taking care of the babies – the days simply fly by. We also managed to sneak in about 15 games of Sequence, do a round of facemasks, go hiking, sit around the fire, and visit our favorite shops! It was a full & wonderful week!

And – since D’Artagnan was here with Ellen & Alethea all week, I thought it was only fitting that he make a special appearance in today’s Abby’s Saturday photo!

Yes, This Happened

• One of the places we went this week – that was completely new for us – was the Rock Maze Trail that’s part of the Garrett State Forest. We’ve been to Swallow Falls & Herrington Manor about a hundred times, but this year was the first time we’d even heard of the Rock Maze. We saw some photos & instantly knew we had to go check this out. Let me say: it did not disappoint!! You’re just hiking along in the forest when all of a sudden you come to a field of house-size boulders. It’s absolutely incredible & just blows your mind when you stand & stare at these gigantic rocks, that seem to have just been thrown down in the middle of the woods. (Just, don’t think about the possibility of an earthquake while you’re walking around within the boulders – it’s a scary thought!) We’re definitely going to be going back there again – it was utterly awesome.
• Last Sunday, during church, Braelynn leaned over to Derrick & whispered, “Daddy, I want to marry you when I grow up.” He smiled & whispered back, “Sorry baby, I’m already married to Mommy.” But she insisted, “That’s okay – I’m still going to marry you, Daddy.”
• We might have been at the Lake House all week long, but that doesn’t mean my business has been on hold! I’ve gotten a whole slew of wedding inquiries (both for the end of this year & next year) this week!! Let’s just say, 2020 is going to be an incredible year!!
• So, as amazing as Leander sleeps at home, in his room, in his crib – he does not sleep well in the pack-n-play. The first night he sleeps in it, he usually does okay, and then it’s all downhill from there. Each night seems to get progressively worse. Midweek this week, I got super desperate & started to look into solutions – I found that you can get an actual mattress for the pack-n-play (it’s 3″ tall instead of the piece of cardboard that comes with the pack-n-play). I ordered it & Amazon delivered it the next day (huge win for Amazon) and we tried it out!! It seemed to help a little bit, but then last night was one of the worst nights we’ve ever had. He was awake for hours & it was awful. I think he might be getting a new tooth though, so of course that doesn’t help! Let’s just say, I’m really looking forward to going home tonight & everyone sleeping in their own beds! (Yes, we’re leaving a day early for a last-minute mini-trip! Yes, we’re crazy.)

Feeling Blessed

We have been at the Lake House all week, but back home, we have a massive surprise for Braelynn & Leander! And, since they don’t read my blog, I can tell you all about it!

I’ve been on the hunt for a swing set for the kids for the past year. Braelynn loves going to the park & swinging & sliding & I knew that she & Leander would love having a swing set of their own. I always loved having a swing set growing up – so I really wanted one for our kids. Derrick, on the other hand, was not super convinced. He has this thing – he hates large items in our yard – and a swing set would obviously be just a huge item in our backyard for him to look at (and mow around). So, we came to the agreement that we wouldn’t buy a new one (they were a bit out of our price range anyways). If someone wanted to give us theirs, we would gladly (overwhelmingly thankfully) accept it, but that was about it. So, I scoured Facebook Marketplace & had my Dad on the lookout for one, but up until this week, hadn’t had any luck. All of the swing sets people listed on Facebook Marketplace fell into one of two categories: free & literally falling down, or several hundred dollars & still weathered & needing disassembling & reassembling. But I kept hunting.

Last Saturday, I struck literal gold. I just happened to jump on Facebook Marketplace & saw a brand new posting – just 6 minutes old – for a free swing set – in Irwin – and it looked to be in fairly good condition. I instantly asked if it was still available & the lady responded that it was. I nearly fell over. I made arrangements with her for Derrick, my Dad, & my brother to pick it up early in the week & literally jumped up & down for sheer joy.

On Tuesday evening, dodging a few raindrops, the guys went over & broke the “massive” swing set into pieces. I mean, from the photos, I knew it was large, but no one realized just how large it was until the guys arrived to take it apart & deliver it to our backyard. The treehouse section is 4-stories tall. Let that sink in. There is a small picnic table on the first level, a rock climbing wall, a slide, and space for 3 swings. Thankfully, it came apart fairly easily & they were able to transport it over to our backyard, where they reassembled it on Thursday night. Derrick sent me pictures – we have a large backyard, but this thing makes our yard feel small.

Needless to say, I cannot wait to go home this afternoon & see it. And I really cannot wait to see Braelynn’s face when we go home & she discovers it in our backyard!! She has no idea what is waiting for her!! She is going to lose her mind – and I cannot wait!

And then, as if that isn’t enough, we’ll leave in the morning to go somewhere she’s always wanted to go! That is our secret to keep though – so you’ll have to wait until next week’s Abby’s Saturday to find out what that is!