How to Relax Like a Vonderhizzle 101

So, Morgen turns six, sprouts fairy wings and has some of her little pixie friends over for tea. Then later that day, we high-tail it outta town for a much-needed over-nighter in the woods. A great community dinner with friends, s'mores, guitar and wine by the campfire late into the night and we were right where we needed to be. Breathing deep...

Except that I feel like I should clarify what I mean by "guitar" and you'll understand (especially if you knew us as Californians) what I mean by "relaxed". See, I told Dave to bring his guitar, and he mumbled something about not wanting to play in front of everyone... yeah, whatever. So much to my disappointment he left his trusty Taylor behind. Well, someone brought a guitar, and inevitably it found its way into Dave's hands, which led to the inevitable medly of TV theme songs. Which, of course, for us late-Gen Xers, led to the inevitable fireside sing-along. It was awesome!

And this, of course, led to two things:
1. "Big Red" was stuck in everyone's head for at least a week, and...
2. A new band was formed.

So we'll see what comes of that! Nevertheless it was a riot. SO GOOD for the Vonderhizzles to get away and laugh and not think about laundry or work or a decrepit Vonderhaus. This is how to relax like a Vonderhizzle:

Let us pause for a moment to appreciate the rock that David found (see all the gray rocks in the background?) that is Carhartt Brown! Very cool!

This is how I know I am relaxed: when this is all I bring with me.

It was C-C-C-COLD in the night (and in the morning) and Micah was wearing all the clothes he'd brought. He finally stripped off a layer and kicked back in his 'jams. Relaxin', Micah-style.

Morgen has a made a great friend in the little sister of one of Korah's classmates...so perfect!

They are a cute couple of girls, but... let's just say I keep my eye on them. They are just full of spunk and "good ideas"....

This is how Morgen relaxes... they made a little "bed" of the rocks, pillows and all, and settled in for a little "nap". I'm really glad these two have each other :)

Taylor has lots of open space to explore and discover, without anyone breathing down his neck. This is good for him. And he was finding all kinds of neat stuff.

He even brought home some Minnows, which he was pretty excited about (how he got them home, I'm not sure). He watched them for a few days before they became a can of stink on the front porch. Then he fertilized the garden. I love that kid!

This kid's got like twelve layers on. He's feelin' pretty chill.

So tiny! So cute! Amazingly, he slept great in the pack-n-play in the tent, all bundled up in those layers.

Noble L-O-V-E-S all these rocks. He would pick them up and throw them until he'd cleared a spot and then he'd crawl to a new spot and throw rocks until he'd cleared that one, and so on, tasting a few along the way. One thing about this kid: there is no terrain that is intimidating to him. Grass, gravel, concrete, carpet, water... he'll eagerly explore them all!

(What's this kid thinkin'?)

Mmmm...all cozy in the sun, snugglin' with my boy.
Good times. Good, good times.