beautiful bow

On Friday, Kyle the kids and I traveled north to Bow-Edison, Washington.  Our friends, the Barons, were requesting our help with laying new flooring in their home.  The plan was that we arrive to Geoff's parents' new home in Bow, Washington, on Friday night, have dinner together and enjoy a sleep over, wake up Saturday morning and send the Dads off to lay flooring while Amy and I wrangled the six kids and enjoyed the surrounding five acres... it was so beautiful.

The Baron's home sits on the Southwest corner of their property, atop a small hill that offers sweeping views of the flats, and on a clear day, a view of the Puget Sound in the distance.  The property grounds and structures are Martha's Vineyard meets Pacific Northwest farmland - the home is open and breathtaking when you walk in; the living room is grand but small with its high ceilings and cozy couches, pellet fireplace and multiple sitting areas; the kitchen is open and accessible to all parties involved... those sitting at the dining table are but 3 feet away while those drinking around the fireplace need not more than whisper and you're hearing all parts of their conversation - and you feel like you can breathe!  The room is full of windows - and as Amy and I mentioned to each other, it feels like you're outside... I could cook in there all day.  It was a wonderful room to put our feet up and converse in after putting the kids to bed.

On Saturday, we all arose to the squeaks and sounds of small children needing attention... not to mention, Ellie, the puppy.  We heated the water for the french press and began laying food on the counter for the children to consume.  The guys (Kyle and Geoff) took off no later than 8:30am and Amy and I began our day with the kids... we walked the 5 acres, inspected the adorable chicken coop, looked at the pond and as the kids began creating their own commune within the tree house, Amy and I walked back inside, kicked off our shoes...

 

and began preparing lunch.

The kids played outside in the tree house for a bit longer while lunch was being prepped...

After lunch it was time for quiet times and naps... the moms kids were needing some down time.  After the big kids woke, I curled up on the couch in the great room while Katie and Emily engineered how to fix the holes in Emily's rain boots -- they wanted to go play in the tree house again... but Emily needed to be warmer this time!  A sheet of paper, some sketching pencils and a little scotch tape seemed to be just what they needed...

Amy and I spent the rest of the afternoon maintaining children and our own sanity whist Geoff, Kyle and a handful of men from Geoff and Amy's church laid flooring...

After putting the kids to bed and enjoying a steak dinner with yams, beet salad and wine, Amy and I retired to our respective rooms... Amy took a bubble bath (or so I believe - I forgot to ask her this morning) and I crawled under the sheets in the guestroom upstairs - my head pounding with pain.  I rarely get headaches and lord knows I'm a baby when it comes to them... was I getting sick?!

We woke the next morning... my headache still there and the kids feeling less than adequate to traverse the day ahead.  We planned on church, more flooring being laid at Geoff and Amy's house in Bellingham and another day of Amy and I maintaining children.

Although, at about 8:00am, William stood in the kitchen and began vomiting... Katie was complaining about stomach pain as well... we put the two of them in the bath and began packing up to get home as quickly as possible.  Ben was seemingly fine but I believed we only had a matter of time...

On the way home, Katie lost all her stomach contents into her baby blanket and trailed off quickly into slumber land while Kyle and I pleaded to get home supernaturally fast.  Although it ended on a quick and unsuspecting note, the weekend was wonderful.

Thank you for having us Geoff and Amy... we love you guys so much.  Kyle's asleep as I write this and I'm trying to keep my eyes peeled as I finish this blog... we will be having an afternoon of movies, shows and the like, eating Quaker granola bars and tortilla chips while you guys enjoy time eating healthy foods and reading books.  I love that we get along so well...  even in our differences.

Cheers to your 'new home' and to the fine men (and women) that made it all happen!!