OK I know this vacation recap is dragging on and it has clearly been months since we returned. However I did take contemporaneous notes and I do want to recall our epic Western trip, so I’m gonna finish this thing if it kills me. But in the meantime – a short check in on other things.
FIRST
We spent last weekend at the beach, as is our usual custom. The last weekend in September or first weekend in October is our traditional beach weekend – it’s a good time for weather and crowds and cost, and we never regret it. This year we went to Fort Walton beach, staying in a basic hotel directly on the beach. There was less wildlife than last year, though I was accosted ’round the ankles by schools of blue fish with bright yellow tails. They nibbled at me – nibbled! Everywhere I went they followed me like a cloud of mosquitoes. It was delightful and unnerving all at once.
We spent the morning at the beach. The boys played a lot of beach football, and I walked for miles along the shore by myself – it was glorious. We went back to the room mid-afternoon for a break, and headed back out just after sunset for a night beach walk, searching for crabs. We found one ghost crab – just one – but the moon was so bright, it felt almost like daylight.
The boys were a titch bickery on this trip – and we all slept in one room and that might be the last time. Nobody slept super well, and that made everyone a bit grumpy. Also, Jack sits up in his sleep and, like, fights people? Or something? It’s very intense, there’s a lot of punching and urgent yelling nonsense words (or actual English words in nonsense configurations), and that woke me up into an absolute panic every time, taking a bleary-eyed minute to figure out he was just sleep-fighting and we were not actually being murdered in our beds. Maybe next time Jack gets his own stupid room.
Well it was a lovely trip. And upon our return on Sunday evening, we added a new member to the family.
Jasper is an absolute angel and I will hear nothing different. Except sometimes when he chews my shoes. We were told he is one year old, but he does not seem to be quite one year old. But he is an absolute sweetheart. My entire photo album looks like this these days:
He is very snuggly. It is extremely cute.
I have taken three days off work during the younger boys’ fall break. I am helping Liam catch up on some missing assignments, and also catching up on some household needs, including batch/freezer cooking. So below are links to some recipes of what I plan to cook and freeze for the upcoming weeks!
Creamy white bean soup with kale
Grilled chicken breasts
Muffins – including double chocolate banana, lemon chia, and cranberry.