Cabin #1

We spent our first night in our new cabin!

Of course a few things wrong that I totally knew would go wrong and told Tim would go wrong did go wrong, but mostly we had a nice time. Mostly we got a lot of time together that we would not have normally have spent together. I think in the end that will be what this cabin is all about for us.

But wow we did have some moments ... some "Give it back to it's rightful owners" moments and some "I would not trade this for the world" moments.

For starters, we knew a broken toilet pipe needed fixing upon arrival. So I filled up the water bottles and used the bathroom about an hour in to the 2 hour drive so we would not need to turn the water on right away when we got there. A few minutes passed right away turned into 2 or 3 hours, big bladders, and thirsty AND hungry children (didn't bring snacks, just meals to cook with water, like an idiot). An the end we fixed it -- just enough to turn it on and watch it leak while we cleaned some dishes and filled some cups. Yikes. I never want to hear, "I want water," from my 2 year old ever again without being able to do something about it.

That said, since the toilet never returned to fully glory, the porti-potty got to fulfill the measure of its creation. And it turns out, when an outhouse is YOURS (left by previous owner) it really isn't that bad. I got to have the camping feeling for about 30 seconds as I used the flashlight in the night to get to the throne. Just different enough adventure to be fun ... short term. But oddly enough I was almost delighted to find a much older and more nature-looking second actual outhouse on the far edge of the property. Who'd a thought?

The stars were amazing. We let Quinn stay up to see some, and then we pulled out our new, nerdy reclining camping chairs to watch together once it got really dark. I saw one shooter out of the corner of my eye -- which actually kind of made me miss my "real/old/original" life because it reminded me of a moment walking on Rat Beach at night and seeing my very first shooting star in high school. Oh, well, I guess I get dirty now and hike and stuff. New life is nice too.

The girls slept great, but relocating a routine for bedtime and all other life events can be tricky. And I feel like I had to yell at them a lot (nicely) to get them to not walk off cliffs or pick up rat poison. It is all going to take some getting used to for all of us. (Nervous laugh)

I was feeling a little grumpy about the purchase for a few minutes (hours) in a sleepless part of my night. But then I was totally blown away when I opened my eyes in the morning and with my head still on the pillow, the most colorful and beautiful sunrise was staring me right in the face from the loft balcony. And for some reason the energy I got from that moment transformed me into a woman who jumped out of bed and delightedly started frying up eggs and toast (with a skillet she cleaned with a wet wipe) while she thought, "Now when will those sweet children get out of bed and meet the morning?"

I loved our family walk (1/4 mile) at 8 a.m. to the meadow on the back of the property, and I loved losing some of my fear of getting lost on our land by sufficiently learning how to use the map and GPS on my phone. Also loved how much peace I felt when I realized we are TOTALLY going to buy little GPS/ lo-jack ankle bracelets so none of my angels get lost in the land down under. Peace of mind!! Wahoo!!

It was so fun to watch the girls climb on rocks and scale terrain that to a 4 or 2 year old body could only be described as mountains. I also loved that I stopped myself from saying, "Don't put your hands in the dirt," and instead said, "Is it fun to play in the dirt?" Quinn said, "You mean, 'the sand'?" And it all made sense, and we took "Buy a Sand Box" off the to-do list for the cabin because clearly the whole valley was a sand box to them.

We decided on a place to put an awesome swing set, and we made more lists of things to buy to make this whole experience feel more like ours (mine). Now, of course, some items on the list like "install an observatory" are based on the "make millions in the next 10 year" life scenario. However, "buy sticks for roasting marshmallow at Wal-Mart" might actually happen by October. Nice.

So, I have my doubts, and I have my excitements. And if that is not life, than I am not sure what is.

Headed up again on Sunday. You coming?