The Pines & The Bends: For my Mom and Dad

I'm not sure the best way to start writing again after a month away. I can't very well sum up the last 6+ weeks in this post, so I guess I'll just talk about this last week. It was the last one at the Pines.

Sandy Pines defies description if you haven't tooled around it on a golf cart and seen it for yourself. My parents have had a place out there since I was in high school, but my interest in it then was more for the unsupervised time it allowed me at home. It was, after all, and still is a trailer park in the middle of nowhere. Now, I love it.

Mom and Dad sold their place at Sandy Pines. (You can read about it here if you're so inclined.) Last week Sunday, I took the opportunity to spend the day out there with the kids, enjoy a summery dinner and a trip to the Dairy Dip, and then spend the night on the porch with Selah in the Pack n Play while Derek took the big kids home to "camp out" on the living room floor. It allowed me not only time to finish editing a wedding (which was the official reason for the extended stay,) but also to savor the evening, late night, and early morning hours at the Pines, times I'd missed out on since having kids with bedtimes. The time was sweet and I relished it.


August dinner from local growers and bakers: BLT's, sweet corn, coleslaw, and caprese salads.



Selah got a little one-on-one time with YaYa after the big kids left.



This face gets kissed thousands of times a day. It's true.



The after-dinner Dairy Dip trip is mandatory.



Once again, the kids reap massive benefits from their mother's insatiable ice cream addiction.



Look at that form!




The view from the Dip




Evening breezes on the cart


Early morning










I am excited to see what God has in store for my parents, because I trust that it is grand and perfect. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping we'd come back to the Pines.