Braving the cold at Amana Winterfest

We spent the day out and about at the Amana Winterfest. It was just the thing I'd been needing because the recent sub-zero temperatures have had me feeling a little morose about moving back to the midwest in the middle of winter (or, probably more accurately, with more than half of winter left to go). I'm cold when I'm outside, cold when I'm inside, rocking multiple pairs of long underwear like nobody's business, and fighting the family's dogs for the warm spaces next to the heating vent. Mind over matter helped me stay positive about the cold until it started dipping into the negative double digits. At that point, my mind agreed with my body and said, "To hell with it. This is miserable!"

However, in addition to downing lots of hot beverages (Trader Joe's ultra-rich sipping chocolate and my own homemade chai lattes among my favorites) and wearing a hat, even indoors (a tip from my cold-loving and Wisconsin-born husband), I'd have to say that eating a steaming mug (or three) of chili outdoors and attending a charming winter festival would also have to rank high on my list of ways to beat the cold.

No, she's not a cold-despiser like her mother; Eden just woke up from a nap

Matt enjoying his souvenir mug of chili

($8 for an awesome sturdy mug and 3 fill-ups of chili, coffee, cider, or cocoa)

Eden was a big fan of the chili, too

A quick glimpse of the Ice Princess (not sure who she is or how this honor gets bestowed)

Of course, we couldn't resist!

Crosscut saw competition

Matt in the lineup for the Beard Competition--and as you can see, the competition was stiff (sometimes literally)

We didn't win this year, but I'm sure a blue ribbon is in store in the near future

Regardless, we enjoyed the drive through what we think is one of the prettier parts of Iowa, and it was also nice to get out of the house and enjoy some family-friendly activities. Things can start to feel a little cabin-feverish in our situation, even in the nicest of circumstances, and it was great to have a low-cost way to shake things up a little bit.

Reporting in from Beaver Creek...

We're settling into life in our two-room cabin, and it's going surprisingly smoothly. While we did have to pare down our belongings when we got here and send more than we'd anticipated back with my parents to our storage garage in Iowa, we've mostly got what we need here and have been pleasantly surprised at how un-crowded we feel. Our setup does pose a few challenges; for example, the bathroom is off of the bedroom, and so our choices when Eden is napping are to hold it, drive to the nearest gas station, or wake the sleeping baby (we opt for one of the former). The laundry is coin-operated, and that makes for a considerable investment in quarters when one is cloth diapering. However, Matt has solved that dilemma by bravely handwashing and hang-drying ALL of our laundry. Surprisingly, it really doesn't take much longer! The grocery shopping options are also less varied, but that mainly means that there are fewer temptations (Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream and Pound Plus Dark Chocolate come to mind)-- which is a good thing, since we're trying to make it on a $40-50/week grocery budget that includes plenty of fresh produce, grassfed meats and dairy, and pastured eggs. In the past year or so, we've come to welcome limitations as a good thing in most cases, since we aren't very capable of placing them on ourselves.

I've been to two births so far, one Amish and one non-Amish. The midwifery practice I'm precepting with has been everything I'd hoped for. The midwives are all very different from one another, and I'm excited to think of everything I can learn from them in the next several months. I finally feel like I'm going with the flow, rather than the frantic paddling upstream I've always felt when working in a hospital setting. It's amazing how good it feels--it hardly seems like work at all.

Today, the weather is in the 70s (down from the 90s for the first time since we've been here) and we started the day with a long walk past cornfields, grazing cows, Amish farms, and a one-room schoolhouse. We're planning to go to the farmer's market when Eden wakes up, and run a couple of other errands. We're really enjoying the opportunity to sever some of our previous addictions to technology--by necessity these days, we're checking our email every couple of days or so, have no opportunity to watch TV or movies, and even turn off the radio when we're in the car. While we felt a bit stir-crazy the first day or so, we're settling into a slower pace of life where basic chores like washing dishes, cooking meals, doing laundry, and taking care of Eden are our life, rather than something we have to fit in around it, and I also relish the feeling of not having to compulsively rely on something to entertain me. A couple of recent articles I've read have made me committed to slowing down and learning to actually think and read and focus again (all things that frequent exposure to glowing screens tends to disrupt), and this is certainly a great place to learn how to do that!

Packing up

It's officially less than a week until we move to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where I'll spend the next 4+ months catching babies and Matt and Eden will spend long, outdoorsy days getting to know our new home. We're hoping that I'll be done by Christmas, but we've learned not to count on hard and fast plans, since ours have changed so many times--yet somehow always turned out better than we'd expected.

Life is about like this right now, but sub in clinicals, working, babysitting, preparing most of our belongings to go into storage for several months, trying to figure out what to pack to live in a 2-room cabin, and taking care of an insanely active 1-year-old.

It's sad to be leaving Reston and northern Virginia, where we went from a couple to a family and shared so many unforgettable moments. Not only have we walked circles around the trails of Reston with Eden in a sling or a backpack, but she now trots along them herself--obviously a big milestone. She's a native Virginian, and it's the only home she's ever known.

We also made our first "parent friends" here--people who'd only known us as a couple and who came to see us as Eden's mom and dad. They shared the pregnancy, admired our baby, and watched her play with their own babies. Corbin, Poet, Lyon, Max, Grace, Camryn, Asher, Camden and others have been Eden's first buddies too.

It will be especially hard for me to leave my nurse friends at the hospital--but then, it always is. What was supposed to be a temporary job while I figured out what to do next has wound up being a 3-year stint where I've met some exceptionally close friends, including Eden's godmother, who have witnessed my transformation from law school dropout into mother and almost-midwife. They've cheered me on, bared their own souls, and laughed at my filthy jokes. It's been an amazing time.

What's especially hard about moving now is that there's not quite finality to it, since we aren't going from point A to point B (which is Iowa, if I haven't said it out loud yet); we're going to point A-and-a-half first, during which I'll make occasional returns to point A in order to earn a little money, so that I don't really know what will be the last time I see people and so it lacks the epic finality that it did when we pulled down the driveway to leave Iowa the last time. In a way, it's sadder, because we always knew we'd be coming back to Iowa--at least sometimes. Once we leave Virginia, though--probably not.

We're back!

Our trip to Kentucky was absolutely fantastic. While there was more screaming in the car than we'd like to have had (including an especially gut-wrenching hour and a half at the end of the trip home, following 8 hours of angelic behavior, and occurring prior to getting home and realizing we didn't have our keys, a long story I'll not revisit heere)--on the whole, the trip was wonderful and relaxing. I met up with an old (well, 1.5 years, since Frontier Bound) friend and made a great new one, and laughed more and harder than I have in years. Matt and Eden spent many hours together tromping up and down a mountain and through the woods, and we were able to eat three meals a day together (despite bringing much of our own food, we were actually impressed with the Frontier spread most days--seems as though there are a lot of people not eating gluten these days, so protein and fresh fruit and vegetables abounded) and spend most evenings together, too. It was nice to get away and enjoy such a beautiful setting for awhile. And last but not least, in terms of midwifery, Clinical Bound was, like Frontier Bound, incredibly inspiring. I learned a ton, and came back recharged.

Which is good, because I'll need it. The next few months might be somewhat grueling as I attempt to work and do clinicals and Matt leaves his job and we start providing childcare for a friend's baby. It's going to be a number of enormous changes in routine for all of us, and with that will almost certainly come stress. This is compounded by the fact that we STILL don't have a clear idea of where we're ultimately meant to live, or what exactly we're meant to do. We're trying to hang onto our faith, though, that if we just take it one day at a time, we'll eventually figure it out.

Last fall...

Things were different, and certainly quieter. We ate bulgur and bananas for breakfast instead of eggs cooked in lard, which is what we eat now. Instead of getting up early to ride to work, I wake up, roll over, and nurse Eden before kissing Matt goodbye and settling in for the day. We're once again getting ready for Matt to travel to a meeting, but instead of going along, I'll stay behind with Eden. We still enjoy taking walks, reading together, and watching reruns.

Our philosophies on lots of things have changed. But the theme of contentment in that post still rings very true today.

Here's what life is like these days

Since I don't have time to publish the in-depth blow-by-blow accounts I once did, instead I'll give you a thumbnail sketch of the life we've settled into 10 weeks post-Eden.

Matt has been back at work for about six weeks and is headed into his busy season with that. While he still rides his bike or walks to work most days, we also recently purchased a 2000 Volvo station wagon after realizing that the amount of room taken up by Eden's carseat meant that if we kept the Neon as our family car, she would be all the family we would ever be able to have. Initially we'd thought we would then sell or trade in the Neon, but soon realized that when I'm doing midwifery clinicals, it won't do to have me on call for 24 hours at a time with Matt and Eden having no form of transportation.

Our other, possibly-even-more-significant splurge was our recent investment in a LAND LINE. Anybody who's ever tried to call us is familiar with our phone struggles. Matt and I have individually always had terrible luck with cell phones and the like, and getting married seems to have multiplied our bad luck. The Magic Jack turned out to be a total bust; despite corresponding with customer service and frequently reinstalling the software, it not only held Matt's laptop hostage on the desk, but frequently dropped calls, missed calls, refused to allow outgoing calls, and also had rather poor sound quality on the rare occasion that a call was connected. So we finally threw in the towel and got a (digital) landline for $19.95 a month from our cable internet provider. It's still lots more than I'd like to be paying, but it's reliable and we have unlimited long distance and it's lots cheaper than going over our cell phone minutes every month.

Anyway, in other daily news, Eden and I stay home together every day while I try to sneak in some homework. School is going well and at this point I have just two terms left of classes before I begin clinicals in the spring. Amazing! While at times I've questioned my drive/ability to go on, Matt has always been such a rock and an encouragement to me that I'm actually strongly considering tacking on another year to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. Having Eden has made me realize that the need for skilled, sensitive, and supportive practitioners doesn't end at birth--rather, it begins there. The idea of providing continuity of care for babies and children whose births I've attended, and their families, is really exciting--kind of like an old-time country doctor. We'll see how that progresses.

I've also been working about 18 hours a week again--mostly six-hour shifts from 7pm to 1am. It's been going pretty well for everybody, and Matt and Eden are getting a routine down. If things are slow, sometimes he'll bring her in to breastfeed, which is really nice. Otherwise, my Freecycled Pump in Style is going strong!

For the most part, we hang out near home a lot, go for walks, run errands, and just enjoy being a family.
Every so often a friend of ours (and Eden's) gives us a break, as she did recently, so that we could enjoy an afternoon alone together. We went for a long drive out in the country, stopped for pie and coffee at the Hill High Orchard, and interestingly enough ended up driving right by Mount Weather, which we didn't realize one could.




September has always been an interesting time of year for us. A year ago this month:

We became devotees of the natural family planning method, and Eden was just a twinkle in our eyes (for another month)

We were wiping our butts on rags

We were cooking with sour milk

We were camping at Shenandoah, for the second year in a row

I was just starting school, attending Frontier Bound, and we were exchanging tender blog posts throughout our separation

My parents came to visit

and this woman was breastfeeding tiger cubs.

TWO years ago this month:

We went to Philadelphia, Farm Aid, and the Delaware Water Gap

We were burglarized

I was in law school and homesick for Iowa, but overall, life was good.

...And it still is.

On top of the world

Updates

Boy, having a baby really cuts down on your blogging time! I'm just getting around to posting a couple of pictures from last weekend. Matt and I both signed up for the email club at Mimi's Cafe, a sort of French/American-style restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In exchange for doing so, we each got a coupon for a free breakfast, you can imagine how willingly we took advantage of those! I got a crab, corn, and asparagus quiche, while Matt got crepes. The food was good--not amazing, but tasty and filling. My favorite part of the meal was the fresh-squeezed orange juice, which was, happily, included in the meal.

Adding Eden to our family has required a slight adjustment in the camera angle when performing self-photography, but I think we've got it:

Of course, getting her to look at the camera is a different matter.

After that we drove to a couple of local antique stores--mainly just browsing. We happened to drive past the natural foods store below:

and of course we had to stop for a picture. They seemed like a really nice little store, too, and the cashier appropriately made over the store's namesake.

This weekend, I think we're going to hit one of Matt's favorite antique stores about an hour and a half away, in Pennsylvania. We bought some farm-fresh sweet bologna this week and so we'll probably pack sandwiches and fruit for lunch. We've also been attending the Episcopal church just up the street--Matt is even singing in the choir, Eden lends her voice from the pews--so we'll be doing that on Sunday.

I started back to work officially on Tuesday, and unfortunately Eden gave Matt a run for his money with a four-hour screaming jag. Here's hoping that it was a one-time thing and she does better next time...

Week three

Eden's third week has been more of a challenge than the first two. Our reserves have gotten pretty low, plus Eden is moving from that newborn, "whatever you guys want to do is cool with me" vibe to having more of an opinion on what she does and what's done to her. She's still a mellow baby, but she's definitely gotten more vocal about when she needs something. Plus, she's having much more distinct sleep and waking periods, and I'll just say that they don't fall, respectively, exactly when we wish they would.

Yesterday was kind of an all-around low point for us--she (and by extension, we) only slept three hours the night before, and they were not consecutive hours, either. We gave up and got up at 6, then headed out around 8 to go apply for her birth certificate--and boy, were we feeling it. That fuzzy, achy, allover weariness and and discomfort and barely-able-to-keep-our-eyes-open stupor. We gave up again around 11:00, and wound up napping until just around 1. We felt a little better after that, but Eden was somewhat fussy all day, probably because she was tired, and couldn't make up her mind whether she wanted to eat or sleep or be held or not or what. We went out to try to run some errands in the late afternoon, but she fussed whenever we took her in or out of her carseat, but then also fussed when we'd leave her in there. So finally, we gave up (are you noticing a theme here?!) and went home with our errands half finished.

Unable to face another night like that, we dedicated ourselves to trying to figure out ways to help her settle in for the night. We gave her a bath (which she absolutely loves--you can just see her relax and soften as soon as she hits the water) and did a little baby massage with some coconut oil, and decided trying to play soft music in our bedroom throughout the night, since we've noticed she sleeps like a rock whenever it's noisy but seems to have trouble settling herself when it's quiet. We'd received a couple of lullabye CDs as gifts (thanks, Mary and Pam!) and so we cued those up and braced ourselves. Like she usually does, Eden woke up at 11:30, just as we were ready to drift off to sleep...so I fed her, Matt changed her, and to our surprise, she fell back asleep.

The next time I looked at the clock, Eden was starting to stir and it was FOUR AM. As in, we had just had, like, FOUR HOURS OF UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP. Matt was as euphoric about it as I was. Then, I fed her, Matt changed her, and...she went back to sleep. Again!

We've noticed that Eden tends to spit up a lot if she doesn't sit up for awhile after she eats. Sometimes it's related to burping and sometimes it seems like gravity just makes her...overflow. So we were also utilizing that technique, which seemed to help her be more comfortable and fall back asleep better. AND THEN...the next thing we knew it was EIGHT THIRTY. Meaning we had had practically seven hours of sleep, several of them consecutive.

It's the best we've done in a long time. And Matt and I felt like a million bucks as a result.

Eden seemed to feel pretty good about herself too. She was in a great mood and as a result, we decided to walk her down to the farmer's market and to the Lakeside Cafe, where we first (and last) went just about exactly a year ago. We had an awesome breakfast and Eden slept the whole time in the Baby Bjorn.

All in all, it was just an absolutely lovely day. The temperature was probably in the low 70's (cooler than that in the shade, hence Eden's hat), the baby was in a good mood, and we had gotten more sleep than we'd had in weeks.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Doobies!

Last night Matt and I were lucky enough to be able to see the Doobie Brothers in concert at Wolf Trap--very likely our last such outing for a very long time! While it was a hot day, it had cooled down to probably mid-70s by the time the show started at 8, which was very pleasant. The Doobies sounded amazing and played a ton of favorites like Old Black Water, Jesus is Just Alright, Long Train Runnin' (Without Love), China Grove, and Listen to the Music. While there was more bad dancing and slightly off-beat clapping than we like to accompany our live music, we still had an awesome time. Here are a couple of brief videos from the experience:

Delfest report

As you might recall, this weekend we were planning to head out to Delfest to see Sam Bush and Old Crow Medicine Show in Cumberland, MD. We were also going to stay the night at Tari's Inn in West Virginia, but after talking about it we realized that we've been so busy the past few weeks that what really sounded like a restful vacation was just...staying home. So we planned to drive back to Reston after the show.

Saturday morning my work called and offered some tempting overtime, so I ended up going in for four hours to offset the cost of the weekend. Meanwhile, Matt ran around and packed up a cooler for us, a change of clothes for me, and ran a few other errands. He picked me up around 11 and we headed out out to Maryland--about a 3-hour drive, with lovely scenery and nice weather.

Here we are shortly after getting to Delfest, while Sam Bush was onstage:

Some of our fellow concertgoers:
Here's the baby enjoying a little bluegrass:

About 20 minutes after those pictures were taken, big fat raindrops started to fall. At one point rain had been predicted for the day, but last we had checked it was supposed to be sunny. Bummer. But we pulled out our umbrella, huddled in close, and waited for it to stop.

But instead, the next thing we knew, it looked like this:

Not only was it pouring rain and the wind (we later discovered) whipping around at up to 80mph, but nickel-sized hail was pelting us HARD. After sitting there wet for 15-20 minutes and realizing it wasn't going to stop, we made a run for it, but weren't able to make it to the car, so we ended up huddled in one of the concession tent with a bunch of other people, who were literally holding it down as there were other tents being upended and blown around the concert and campsites. (We felt VERY thankful that we'd decided I was too pregnant and it was too hot to camp...)

Finally, there was enough of a break for us to make it to the car. On the way there, though, I had to pee incredibly badly (of course), there wasn't a Port-o-Potty in sight, and even if there had been, it wasn't where I wanted to be in high winds. (For the curious: I did have my jar in the car, and had already used it before we went in, but knew that was going to be considerably trickier wearing soaking wet clothes.) So I weighed my options and decided that with the rate at which I was being doused with fresh rainwater, my best option was probably just to do like the marathoners do and pee my pants while running. So I did.

Having finally made it to the car:

As a side note: on the way out to Maryland, we'd stopped to grab some lunch at one of our new favorite restaurants: Ted's Montana Grill. Everybody there is always very friendly, the atmosphere is classy but not fancy, they're committed to the environment, and they're generous with coupons. We had a $10 off of 2 entrees coupon they'd sent us (which you can get by clicking on their homepage right now) and with each burger running about that much, it was basically a buy one/get one free. We had them pack up half of each of our burgers and fries for dinner, which we'd planned to eat at the festival. Around $15 with a tip--not bad for feeding two meals to each of us!

Here's Matt working on his while we waited out the storm:

The welts Matt sustained in the hail:The aftermath (this picture, and the one of the rain and hail, came from the DelFest Facebook group--we were incredibly worried that in all this we would ruin our camera, but it was safe and sound and dry inside of Matt's old Jansport backpack):

As for my clothes--having urinated in them, I went ahead and, well, took them off. And headed back without them. What else could we do?!

So when all was said and done--it wasn't exactly the $100 worth of music we'd paid for and were hoping to hear. On the other hand, we were mainly grateful to make it out safely, and we certainly had a few laughs and made some memories. Though as my mom suggested--this next weekend, we're going to try to do less peeing in pants and driving around naked.

Bittersweet goodbye

our last dinner on our patio--one of the things we'll miss about this apartment

I know this is completely silly when we're moving less than a block away, when our new apartment will be virtually identical to the old one except for an extra bedroom, and when we're getting such a good deal that we're actually paying less for it than we were for the smaller one.

Then why can't I help feeling choked up (and not just a little bit) whenever it hits me that we're really leaving here--that last night was our last night here?

I think partially it's because of all we've been through here. We were newlyweds in DC and Iowa City, but I feel like we really became who we are as a couple here in this apartment. We've been through so many good times and hard times in just a year and a half, and for the most part, the stage has been set here--so much good cooking, so many formative conversations, so many life decisions. Living here spanned from my law school days to the brink of starting our family, and there's been so much that's taken place in between.

And, as Matt wisely pointed out, I think there's something counter-instinctual about being 8 months pregnant and tearing down and leaving the nest, when all you want to do is hunker down and find a safe space. I know the new apartment will be that safe space, and that in a couple of days I'll probably barely notice we've moved.

But still, it isn't easy.

About last night

Or really, yesterday in general, which was one of the best days we've had since I can remember. And much to my chagrin, I didn't take a single picture. Bummer.

We started the day by getting up early and heading out for acupuncture. We've gotten to know and really like our acupuncturist and enjoy our treatments in her sunny, hippie-feeling plant-filled treatment room. Oddly for a Saturday, there was nobody else there, and so rather than falling asleep like we often do, Matt and I were able to spend the hour chatting with each other, which was really nice.

photo by Marc Smith
We then headed back home, a drive we love, through all kinds of horse and cattle farms and lovely green Maryland/Virginia countryside, and stopped in at the just opened for the season Reston Farmer's Market. We picked up a quart of strawberries (for jam) and enjoyed a number of tasty samples, including fresh tomatoes, strawberries, apples, and pastries. Needing pectin to set the jam and knowing that the Reston Whole Foods weekly "Savory Saturday" sampling event would be in full swing, we headed over there to taste peaches and marscapone, several wines, marinated sea bass, several kinds of hummus, blueberry pancakes, pork sausage, savory beef pie, and probably several other things I'm forgetting.


That taken care of, we hurried home to get cleaned up for our baby shower (a triple shower with two other pregnant nurses!), generously hosted by one of my coworkers, who truly went above and beyond with an amazing spread that included a number of different kinds of tea sandwiches, deviled eggs, a fruit tray, several kinds of scones and cookies, three different kinds of cake, punch, wine, margaritas...the list went on and on. People were incredibly generous and creative in their gift-giving and it made me feel incredibly blessed, as I have before, to have found a community of such wonderful women--not just to work with, but be surrounded and embraced by, especially as we undergo such a major milestone in our lives. I remember wondering whether I would ever find that again after I left such wonderful friends in Iowa, but I'm thankful to say that "the girls at work" here have made me feel so welcome and at home, and we're so grateful for that.

photo by Cocoa Dream

After the shower, there was no time to linger in my sugar-induced coma because Matt caught wind yesterday that one of our all-time favorite artists, Krista Detor, was performing a benefit concert at a church in Maryland Saturday night. So it was off to Maryland to see Krista, who was heartbreakingly wonderful as usual, and who remembered us from the house party where we'd seen her perform last winter. After that concert, we figured we would never get another chance to see Krista sing in such an intimate venue (which is really where she shines), let alone surrounded by delicious food like the event was last time--but we were wrong. St John's Episcopal knows how to put on a spread like no other, and so, while we obviously were not hurting for something to eat after they day we'd had, we listened to the kind parishioners' urgings and went back for plate after plate of homemade breads, dips (spinach, crab, veggie), meatballs, pigs in a blanket, cookies, brownies, bars, cakes, pies, and anything else you could imagine. Wow. The fantastic performance, the amazing food, and the fact that we were helping raise money for medical missions in Jamaica and Kenya made it truly a night to enjoy and remember. We feel fortunate to be able to do a few of these last "out and about" things before our baby joins us in 6-9 weeks, and being as some of the best ways to our hearts are music, food, and charitable causes, this one definitely ranks up there as memorable.

*photo of Krista from In Search of a Song with Jason Wilber

Mom's visit

We had a great time with my mom here this past week. In addition to taking it easy at home for a few days, we also enjoyed hitting Monticello and driving out to Harper's Ferry, which is always one of our favorite sites in the area. Most of all, I just enjoyed seeing my mom, and spending the last moments we'll ever have together before I become a mom. What a crazy thought! I really had a great time just hanging out with her, and found myself more than a little teary putting her on a plane this morning. However--we're looking forward to a visit from ALL the soon-to-be grandparents in just a couple of short months, once the baby is here, and I'm sure that time will be here before we know it!

At long last, something worth blogging about

We just got back from camping overnight in Shenandoah National Park. We've been anxiously watching the weather for weeks, hoping that we could catch that elusive point on the calender when it was warm enough to be out all night but I wasn't yet pregnant enough to preclude such an outing. Here at the end of April (29 weeks gestation and counting), those points finally coincided.

We drove out yesterday afternoon and were told when we got to the park that the closest open campsite was 50 miles away (with a speed limit of 35mph all through the park) and that there may or may not be spots available. Having packed up all our camping goods, not eager to drive back to Reston in a car without air conditioning, and hungry for hot dogs and s'mores, we decided to press on, and after about an hour and a half of driving through the steadily-cooling evening air were rewarded with a one of the last spots available. Surprisingly, it was a great spot, relatively secluded yet close to the bathrooms. We (okay, Matt) drove in, set up camp, and collected firewood, then set to work grilling hot dogs.

I don't even know if I can remember the last time I ate a hot dog. I was a vegetarian between the ages of 13 and 21, and I can't remember having had one since then. I remember as a child I hated hot dogs that had been grilled (I don't think I've ever had one that was actually cooked over an open fire) and anytime we went to a cookout, either peeling off the blackened skin or begging my mom just to boil mine on the stove.

What can I say--my palate must have matured since then, because I wolfed down more organic nitrite-free beef hot dogs than I care to admit. I still prefer them roasted as opposed to blackened, but boy, were they good. The second course, obviously, consisted of s'mores. By this point the light was fading, and so we sat around the fire and read by flashlight, enjoying the lovely warm evening.

We had packed an air mattress to buffer the effects of being seven months' pregnant and sleeping on the ground, but unfortunately we found as we inflated it that it was peppered with tiny holes. (Last summer, we would have found the idea of paying for a drive-up campsite, sleeping on an air mattress, and using fully functioning indoor bathrooms total anathema to the whole idea of camping, but I'm also in very different shape than I was last summer, and we're guessing this isn't the first time parenthood will force us to change our tune about something.) We got out the patch kit and placed several patches, but were feeling less than optimistic as we drifted off to sleep on it. Sure enough, we woke up an hour or two later with our butts touching ground. We let the rest of the air out and went back to sleep--not a hugely restful sleep, as I had to switch sides about every hour because my hip would go numb, but I woke up no more stiff or sore than I am when I get out of bed in the morning, for which I was thankful. My back and pelvic pain actually seem to be aggravated by soft surfaces, and so I'm wondering whether I wouldn't have been in worse shape had we gone the whole night on the air mattress.

We woke up between 5:30 and 6, just in time to catch the sunrise and a ton of deer grazing. We enjoyed the lack of other cars on the way down the mountain, and also managed to catch a glimpse (and a slightly fuzzy picture) of this guy:

A BOBCAT! What fun.

Not ready to call it quits quite yet, we drifted back to the highway via a couple of small towns (Sperryville and Washington), both of which were sleepy and charming and made us want to move out to the country to live in a little town in the shadow of the mountains ourselves. Maybe someday...

Memo to the baby: Don't say we never took you anywhere