weekend adventures, I

joel and the girls left thursday for Grand Junction, CO. cousin Katie got married on the 5th and tomorrow they will be going to some cabins in the mountains with joel's 2 sisters, their families and parents. part of me really wishes i would have gone or at least planned to go out for the cabins. yet, here i am enjoying my day.

i miss my girls and wonderful husband terribly. they won't be back until friday and the cabins will likely not have any cell phone reception. that is probably a good thing.

anyway, joel and the girls left and my mom arrived that afternoon. we realized that it has not been just the two of us since merkin was born. we had a great time, a terrific time. i'm so grateful that she came out. i thought she was being dramatic and worrisome, wanting to come out since it would only be my 2nd week at the new appointment. i am eternally thankful that she did because i haven 't laughed so much with my mom in far too long.

5 miles from mound city is Squaw Creek National Refuge. i had yet to go, so we ate a hearty breakfast at Josephine's (a small cafe in town ran by one of the most loving women i've ever met) and headed out to the refuge. the weather was perfect--it was actually cool! cool, my mom found it chilly! (i'm beginning to wonder if hell is starting to freeze over!)

you drive through the refuge (which suprised me) and there are stopping points where you can get out and sit, overlooks and the like. i cannot wait to go back with my camera and take some shots. it is amazing! at the first overlook you could see these enormous leaves in the middle of the field and we couldn't figure out what they were--they were water lilies' leaves! huge water lilies, a whole field of them!

i could hear a bullfrog or two but could never spot one. we saw a variety of birds, and some deer. i can't wait until this fall when the eagles roost.

it was serene and wonderful, it filled my heart with peace. Lewis and Clark explored here, it blows my mind trying to imagine what this land would have looked like before people exploded all over it.