Kilmarnock

As a child, I spent a fair bit of time with my Grandmother and Uncle in the summers.  For me, it was a completely different life.  I grew up in the country, on 17 acres, a good ways from neighbors and stores.  It was a great place to grow up, but the grass is always greener, right?  So I'd go to Richmond for a few weeks each summer and get a taste of the suburbs.  Paved bike trails, pools you could walk to, restaurants and stores close by.  Kids in every direction.  It was so amazing to me - so very different from my small town life.  Uncle Harold also owned a house on the water, so sometimes we'd go there too.  We'd catch crabs and take boat rides to the "beach."  We'd wake up to a peaceful view of the water and sea gulls making lovely music.  Most of the "rules" of day to day life went out the window.  And oh the nights spent staying up so very late in bed with Grandma.  They were the very best.  She'd make up stories to tell me and we'd just gab and gab.  It was heaven.

My kids probably won't really understand small town life.  They won't get to milk cows or wander through corn fields looking for a creek to play in.  They won't run around outside unaccompanied until it gets dark.  They also won't ever live that suburban life (...or at least that's not part of the plan, though we reserve the right to change the plans, of course) really.  But I really, really hope they will get to spend a lot of time in Kilmarnock, catching crabs, forgoing baths, taking boat rides, and soaking up all that is so very different about life there.  Fortunately for us, Uncle Harold still owns that house and invited us to come spend some time there a few weeks ago.  It was wonderful and surreal.  Watching my kids fall in love with it, just like I did, really was amazing for me.

We went for a boat ride...which I thought might be too scary for Jack, but he loved it!

Max could barely keep his eyes open.  He was so very tired and the motion of the boat almost rocked him to sleep.

We caught lots of crabs and ate a plenty too!  There is nothing quite like eating a crab that has only been out of the water a few minutes.  So very sweet and just amazing.  I ate and ate and ate...

And Jack thought catching them was the greatest thing ever! When we picked him up from school on Friday to head out of town, he came running across the playground screaming "We're going to catch crabs, we're going to catch crabs!!"  He was a little excited...

This is where Max's "naked" phase began.  He just loved wandering around without his clothes on...and being tied up like a present!  Pretty much anything makes him happy in Gramps' lap.

We also celebrated Granny's birthday!  

I know I say it every time, but isn't she beautiful?  I'd tell you how old she is but you'd never believe me...and she might never forgive me!  Love you Granny!

We sat on the screened in porch and ate and drank and watched the rain for a long time.  Even in the rain, it's a glorious place to be.

On Sunday morning, before we headed out, we checked the crab pots one last time.  

And Jack even got brave enough to touch one!  And he talked about this for days...

Thanks to Uncle Harold and Judy for a wonderful weekend.  We look forward to many more...