The hike

I am not a good blogger recently:( I kind of fell out of the rhythm.
The daily rhythm of living.

The children went back to school, but I am still stuck somewhere. I do not know exactly where. I can blame it on my health issues; the claws of anxiety, that seem to be present everywhere... After months of struggling with it, I know that only I can help myself. Sometimes it is better, and I feel like there is  light in this narrow tunnel, and sometimes I feel hopeless. At least I can recognize it, but it is hard to deal on daily basis. I guess that makes for new " My daily bread", doesn't it?

But I promised myself, I will get out of there eventually, and I know it is not going to change in a day or a week. It might take months or years.
So here is my excuse for not really enjoying the simple pleasures of my daily life.

However there come moments, when I can really separate myself from reality; and it happened this past gorgeous weekend.

Remember the cabin that we were not happy with? That one:)
Interestingly enough, we ended up visiting that place last weekend.

The owner felt bad that we ended up being unsatisfied costumers, so he invited us for free weekend gateway and offered different cabin. It was much nicer place. First of all the were no mice, second it was closer to the lake, third it had a nice porch, fourth it had a real mattress on the sleeping sofa. We felt comfortable.

The weather was amazing, the colors of the Fall were showing up, the fish were biting again, the fire was warming us up on the crispy evening, and the sunset was breathtaking!
After leaving the lake on midmorning of Sunday, and after the Mass, we ended up taking the kids to the Mt Major. It offers the best of the bestest !!! ( sorry, I had to make that word up ), views of the Winnipesaukee Lake.

The first part of the hike wasn't very enjoyable. We have one very reluctant hiker; and it took her the climb, the view and a sip of coke to finally relax and let go of the grumpiness.
The rest of the hike was simply perfect!

I hope to feel this accomplished and happy as I did hiking. I told Andrzej that my perfect therapy would be hiking the Appalachian Trail. Six months and I would feel great! I guess it has to wait until retirement. That is one on my bucket list; together with Andrzej.

But for now the Mt. Major has to be enough, and as long as I feel great, that is fine with me:)

 

 

 

Kinga:)

 



The tale of two stuffed animals; {phfr} edition

My husband just got back from his business trip to Europe. Usually he enjoys them.
This time he had had enough. Enough of dealing with airlines and flights, that is.
On the way there, not only his whole flight itinerary was changed, but in meantime the luggage was lost.
It took three days for Lufthansa to find it.

The thing is that after two days, he was not sure how can he give a presentation at the conference that he was attending in Austria.

The first part of the trip he spent in Germany, and he was OK over there, but if the airlines did not deliver after three days, it would be a somewhat a waste of time.

This is what he and I were concerned about; but not the girls.

Here is the thing...

They like to pack their two favorite stuffed animals in his suitcase, and then they want "tata" to take those toys to different places and take pictures of them. One of them has already traveled to Japan. Well, I am not counting the initial trip form China to America, but to be honest, one of them was actually made in Germany! Yes, I am shocked too:) So the puppy traveled to the country of its origin.

Anyway...

As I was saying...I opposed that idea, mostly because, I think it would look really strange for a middle aged man to walk around the cities and place the toys in strange places and then photograph them. It sounded silly. But Andrzej agreed to this silliness, I guess he couldn't say no, since he knew they are going to miss him a lot, so at least this is what he could do for them.
Everything has changed when I reported to girls that the luggage and all of its insides were missing. There were cries, regrets and so on. I tried to comfort them, but I couldn't resist saying, "if you listen to your wise mother..." I know I wasn't dealing with the issue properly.

The moods have changed when Andrzej announced that the suitcase was found, and as a proof he showed the two stuffed animals through this wonderful thing called Skype!

Honestly, I would, myself, be very sad if those creatures were lost. The "Puppy" belonged to Kiki since she was two weeks old. She has received it from Andrzej's friend from Germany. Zuzia's "Ollie" was dear to her since the visit to Santa's village four years ago. They both sleep with their stuffed friends, unless the latter ones travel:)

Here is to the little tourists, as I join Like Mother, Like Daughter, for the weekly edition of {phfr} while capturing context of contentment in this case not really, every day life:)

{pretty, happy}

 

 

 

{funny, real}

 

 

 

Kinga:)



On toads and lost things

Another day, another free entertainment in the backyard, another plea for taking pictures and posting them on the blog.

There is something about the toads in our area this year. It makes my neighbor almost scream, Zuzia and Kubus very excited and me... I could not care less, except when it actually makes me happy for a little bit. Zuzia stops asking for a pet.

The toads are running or, I should rather say, hopping free in the garden.
I took a couple of pictures after being begged by Zuzia. Quality is not the best.

My Nikon is traveling. I think somewhere between North America and Europe now. Or maybe over the Pacific? Nobody really knows; and definitely not airlines. I do wonder how my husband is going to look like when he attends the conference. I think the first thing he will have to say, is: " Sorry for my appearance, but my luggage got lost!"

Well, my camera as well...
Here; to the hopping frogs and lost possessions:)

 

 

Kinga:)



Sunday afternoon {phfr}

Every Sunday afternoon, or sometimes for a whole day, we try to get away and spent family time outside.
It was unwritten plan and routine of ours.
Starting this September, we decided to do it officially. Still not written and signed, yet it was announced that we reconnect as a family while enjoying the outdoors.

Today we visited the Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge.
So far it seemed to us that we hiked and walked through every possible nature path in Rhode Island. But it looks like we still have plenty to discover. It is definitely a good news, since we like those trips so much. Well, most of us.
As I recall this peaceful and serene walk on the beautiful Sunday afternoon, I join Like Mother, Like Daughter in capturing context of contentment in everyday life.

{pretty}

 

 

This walk was full of nature simple pleasures. As soon as we started the walk, we found ourselves in meadow, full of light green, and golden colors, surrounded by a swarm of buzzing dragonflies.The birds were tweeting around, a deer crossed our  a path, chipmunk showed up between the tree trunks,

  fish swam in the water and osprey soared above our heads. We  enjoyed the view of pond and the ocean beyond.

A pretty place indeed.

 

{happy}

 

 

 

As we got to the goal of our hike; the Osprey Point, I couldn't help to stop for few happy pictures. Then on the way back we stopped at a small beach, where Zuzia was happy to enjoy a pond walk and chase fish, and Kubus had a chance to play with his dump truck which he packed himself as soon as we put the swimsuit on him. This boy knows what he wants:)

 

{funny}

 

 

When we came upon this tree, the kids couldn't say no to its inviting branches. Honestly, I wanted to climb it too. I loved it as a child:)

 

{real}

 

 

The real thing is, that not every member of this family is happy with the weekly trips or getaways. Kiki is a person that would prefer to stay home and do her own things. Unfortunately it made us and her upset. But fresh air and open spaces make everything better. She calmed down and actually enjoyed the walk, as well as climbing trees. As long as she had a book to read while taking breaks, she was happy:)

 

Kinga:)