A friendly reminder to myself - in my silly, injured state (cut my thumb doing chores and now have five stitches and a non-workable thumb) - and to all the mama friends trying to make Christmas magical for their families.. don't be a Grinch in the process.

Slow down. Take a breath. Maybe five minutes. Turn off the lights and stare at the Christmas tree. Kiss your husband (maybe twice). Remember the last funny thing your child(ren) did. Laugh out loud. Drink some tea. Forget about the commercials and self-induced anxiety of too-high expectations.

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”
― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!      

After our planned vacation-week-in-the-mountains was cancelled in lieu of meetings with Brandon's advisor (not that I'm complaining, we got a graduate assistantship out of it!), we decided to reschedule for a short-n-sweet Labor Day weekend at the cabin.

I am learning to adjust my expectations for vacation to simply rest, read and spend time together.... And that's exactly what we did. Lots and lots of nothing (well, except when my parents came to visit and Brandon & my dad decided to bike all over creation. They do that for fun.).


We introduced Devereaux to walking in nature and my obsession with putting my feet in cold water. It may be something that I just learned to do at my very first job as a "water girl" in a local greenhouse. Through the hottest days of summer, I learned that to keep cool, one must keep one's head and feet cool. And the easiest way to keep one's feet cool --- put them in water.

I adore wading in little creeks. Devereaux was slightly unsure, which was probably related to the water's iciness. But he quickly 'warmed' to the idea.


I have a new favorite place: the local country store that sells ice cream (we visited twice!) and glass bottle soda. So refreshing.

Or just be like Devereaux and drink daddy's water. FULL FACE DRINKING.




Sigh-inducing mountain vistas make me glad that we are here in Pennsylvania.

Though if you pay attention to the signage, you might be alarmed by the mountainous terrain. (I think someone messed up the installation of that sign!)


This is where I start singing that song, "Take me home, country road, to the place I belong."

I feel like I'm trying fervently to get "caught up" on blogging... but I'm sure my various readers (comment if you read!) don't care how long ago these events are from, just as long as I post interesting pictures. AMIRIGHT?

Technically, this fun little afternoon outing happened almost two weeks ago. I consider it our inaugural "welcome back to the little town of Bellefonte!" adventure.

It was a beautiful day. Clouds suspended in blue skies. A slight summer breeze. And the capstone? Devereaux wasn't quite ready for naptime, and he was still happy! Perfect attitude for strolling from our little cottage to the park for some classy family entertainment of Shakespeare in the Park.

First, we watched the attempts at Shakespearean dancing. There were jokes and silliness and even the volunteers did surprisingly well. I spent my time thinking that it is no wonder that Shakespeare people didn't go to the gym, they were too busy running around the dance floor. It was not for the faint-hearted (or out of shape!).

We found an empty spot in the grass (without too many rogue ducks) to enjoy the show.

It was a strange, silly, and sometimes laugh-out-loud humorous take on many of Shakespeare's works. There were pop culture references (Star Wars!) that had even Brandon smirking.

Side note: This is where Brandon tried to take our picture and Devereaux grabbed at the camera, which fell down on my leg and gave me such a nasty bruise (it's a quality camera) that I actually put make-up on it.

While I fake-pouted in pain, Daddy & Devereaux had some fun.

It was the people-watching that was the most entertaining. I kept trying to figure out who was with the theatrical troupe and who just happened to arrive at our local park in costumes they had lying around the house.

There were various children-friendly activities (FREE) going on, but we didn't participate because Devereaux isn't quite old enough to appreciate those things. I was lobbying for a cool balloon hat until Brandon told me horror stories about kids choking on broken bits of balloons. Aaaaaaand no more big ideas of cute pictures of Devereaux encased in hats made of plastic.

A Maypole? What? Is it May? Are there poles about?

It was a delightful afternoon excursion. Favorite part: the surprisingly fantastic flute-playing... I thought it was a recording! And while I still think Shakespeare was a wee bit crazy, those plays are worth a few laughs anyway.

One of the things that I am not taking for granted anymore is proximity to family. Spending a summer in Arkansas, a summer in Texas and then the possibility of living far away has caused me to grab ahold of every moment I can with little nieces and nephews and sisters and brothers and mom and dad and everybody! Now we are happy that we are here for awhile longer and so our last few weeks have been filled with family adventures!

We live in central Pennsylvania and the county fair is a big deal. My sister happens to live just over the county line, so the little nieces enter their projects and animals and collections into a smaller fair (nothing wrong with that! Higher odds of winning, says mathematical Uncle Brandon!).

The nieces get color-coded shirts so their mommy can see them better in big crowds... and Devereaux just so happened to match them perfectly!

Our main event was watching the little parade where the oldest niece would be walking with a group of other 4-Hers... dressed as chickens! Devereaux is highly suspicious of this. Eventually, he warmed to the idea. That may have been about the time his cousin offered him a lick of her lollipop. He also enthusiastically accepted her gift of a water bottle. What can I say? They get along great.


Here comes the parade!

This kid across the way had such a great view!




We had to go see the exhibits!
Uncle Brandon was especially interested in the niece's rock collection! BLUE RIBBON TIME!

And the mini tea set collection thrilled my pseudo-British-tea-drinking self. ANOTHER BLUE RIBBON!

There were no live chickens being shown in fairs around the state of Pennsylvania and this was very sad, but bird flu problems had a positive (creative) result. The oldest niece dreamed up this chicken game: "Trouble: The Chicken Version." SO inventive (YES, THAT'S A BLUE RIBBON! AND YES, I SAVE MY ALL-CAPS FOR PROUD AUNTIE MOMENTS!)

The fair was small, but what a fun atmosphere... and they definitely win on the "space for nursing mamas" front. They had a baby comfort room! With a changing table! And a rocker! And space for babies to play! I was super-duper impressed.

Later, we headed over to the pavilion inhabited by many 4-Hers where a spontaneous bout of bunny-jumping was going on!

This is Cor, the Bunny Prince. (Narnian pet names also exist in their household).

Devereaux met the bunny and was more impressed by his auntie's cowboy hat.

Bunning Jumping!




Our little fair afternoon excursion ended with some delicious ice cream. Because there is no other way to end a day at the fair. Support your local ice cream makers! And 4-Hers! And small-town fairs! Because that's where the fun is.