The Boat

I'd like to introduce you to a very very special friend of mine.  

Meet...

The Boat:

My parents bought this beauty right after they were married.  I don't think when they towed it home they had any idea that 38 years later they would be taking her out for a ride with their two grandsons!  My dad has done an amazing job at keeping her going.

My parents have had different cars through the years, even different houses.  

But only one trusty boat.  

We love this old bird. 

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of lazy days on the lake...swimming, tubing, waterskiing, falling asleep on the shore...

I remember spending the night on the boat, anchored in the middle of the lake.  I remember earning my very own "cool" life jacket when I finally mastered waterskiing.  I remember taking her camping with us.  I remember spending many of my birthdays with her.

And I remember the dreadful day our boat died in the middle of the lake.  My dad swears he would have pulled the plug and sunk her that day if he hadn't had me and Courtney with him; he had to sit on the front and paddle her all the way back across the lake to the boat launch.  Not so fun for him but Courtney and I thought it was a great adventure.  :)

We have so so SO many fun memories involving the boat.

So this summer, with everyone home in Vermont, Courtney and I were very excited to introduce our boys to the boat.  

They must felt pretty comfortable with her, because as soon as my dad started up the motor they fell right asleep. :)

Knox, 11 months old

Max, 2 weeks old

Knox woke up after a little while, though, and he loved the boat.

Getting sleepy again. :)

I'm so thankful we all got to have another beautiful day together creating more fun memories on the lake with the boat.♥

 And I'm looking forward to many more! :)

My Little Women

Knox and I just had a very special weekend.  

My three closest friends from college flew to Dallas from Boston, Iowa and Wisconsin to visit us.  Katy, Laurie & Bethany.  

And they brought two special little girls with them: Nya and Charity.

In college we called ourselves the "Little Women."  And these will always be my Little Women.  

This would be a great place to insert a photo of the four of us, but all my photos seem to be of our kids.  So you can refer to yesterday's post to see all of us. :)

These women are very precious to me.  We have lived together, fought together, made up together, grown together, served together, and worshiped together.  

They are the kind of friends who inspire you, and encourage you, and pray for you.  The kind of friends with whom you stay up very late having deep conversations, full of laughter and tears, about who God is and what He is doing in each of our lives....even when you know one of the babies is inevitably going to wake us all up at 5:00 the next morning. :)

Katy is Jo.  Back in college a little wild, a little tomboyish...restless, spontaneous, full of energy.  But she's also very inspiring and very deep.  Like Jo in the book she has turned into a wonderful, solid, caring woman who is the sweetest Mommy to Nya and a little boy who arrives later this summer.  She is full of passion.

Laurie is Meg.  She has always been responsible and caring...a natural mother.  But with a little more spunk than Meg in the book, I have to say. :)  Laurie was the first one to meet her prince charming and to begin a family; she is an amazing, mother of 4 kids now and has always been a role model for the rest of us.  Laurie knows how to encourage other women and moms and has an amazing blog that you should really read, here.

And our Bethany.  She is Beth 100%.  She is just very special to us all.  As Laurie used to say, she has a "heart of platinum."  She is gentle and loving and caring and strong and the past few years also became a mother...to 30 beautiful orphans in India who are HIV positive.  But unlike Beth in the book, she is not going to die young :) but is now building an organization of her own that will care for severely traumatized orphans in India and also train existing orphanages to better care for their kids.

Last but not least, I am Amy.  Because...well, if limes are in fashion I just might be tempted to spend my last dime on a lime. :)  I have been known to be a little dramatic at times, a dreamer, and to have a liking for the finer things in life...you know, wine taste and a beer budget, as they say. :)  But like Amy I have grown up to be pretty level headed, too.  And - sorry girls - but I ended up with the best guy in the book. ;)

It's been 9 years since we graduated from college now.  We've gone in separate directions, and don't get to catch up often.  But when we do, it is just very sweet.

I love my Little Women.

And the new little little women, too...

 

Knox was a little outnumbered (we had to kick Josh out for the weekend)...but he didn't seem to mind.

Girls are interesting creatures. :)

And pretty fun!

 

 

We miss them already.

The Two Story, Double Balcony Tree House

It's the end of an era.


On Saturday morning I called my family and my Dad said the words I have been dreading to hear for a long time.

"It's time for the tree house to come down."


When I was little...8 or 9ish years old...my Dad had my sister Courtney and I sit down and design the tree house of our dreams.

We grew up with acres and acres of woods as our playground.  So it was a no brainer.  What are all those trees for if not for a tree house?!

I remember the planning session.  My sister and I put our heads together and dreamed.  We dreamed big.  It was going to be the coolest  tree house known to mankind. 

We wanted it to be TWO stories high and to have stairs inside.  We wanted it to have an outdoor balcony off of each floor.  We wanted it to have real glass windows.  And - most importantly of all - it had to have a swinging ladder as the main means of entrance.

Only the best Dad in the world could make such a dream come true.

Luckily for us, we have that Dad. ♥

I remember him building it, and I remember helping.

(Does Mom know we helped nail shingles on the roof?)

I believe Courtney and I were going to paint the inside black and splatter paint it with hot pink, purple and turquoise.  That was the only part of the dream that didn't come true.  We never got around to it, thankfully. :)

These photos were all taken Saturday, just before the demolition began.  As you can tell, it really was time to bring it down.  The unfortunate thing about trees is that they grow.  And pull tree houses apart.

After 20-something years our beloved tree house was tearing apart and rotting inside.  The glass windows were partially broken.

It wasn't safe any more.

So Dad and Justin pulled it down.

Sadness.

Because this wasn't just a tree house...

It was a beautiful mansion.

A ship in the middle of the sea.

A castle.

That my Dad built for us.

I'm sad that Knox will never get to play in our tree house, but Papa has already promised that when Knox and Baby W. get a little bigger there will be yet another tree house planning session.

I can't wait. :)