A Date.

Behold.
God's Country.
Otherwise known as the place of my birth.
Also known as "The County."
Open fields.  Rolling hills.  Lots of trails.  And potatoes.
Lots of potatoes.

The three Hoolie boys have been up at my Mama's and Daddy-O's for this past week.

It's a summer tradition where they spend a week up there just for fun...and for getting spoiled rotten.  All things involving:  four-wheeling, treats, staying up late, swimming, bonfires, coon catching, fishing expeditions, movies, stories, sleeping in the camp, adventure expeditions, and the like.

It's a week that my parents look forward to all summer and one that my boys do as well.
Aaaaand....one that this Mama does, also.
My, this past week the silence was deafening!!

Finding frogs.

So, Friday after work we traipsed ourselves up to collect our packages.  And to spend the rest of the weekend up there visiting, as well.  On Saturday afternoon whilst my Mama was snuggling with London, and whilst the two smaller Hoolies were taking a nap, Kaden and I went on a two-hour four wheeling date just the two of us.

I love one on one time with my boys.  It is delightful.
And I had missed him.

Lots of rain.  Lots of washouts.  Kaden's making sure it's not too deep.

So, on this particular date, Kaden did the driving and I just sat back and let him take me wherever his little heart desired.  Which involved water and puddles.  Always.  And counting the number of frogs that we found swimming in the puddles.  I believe, by the end of our date we were upwards of forty frogs....along with a dead crow and a partridge.

Very eventful.

 Four wheeling rides also involve digging around in Grampy's saddlbags to see what sorts of treats and snacks we can find.  This time, our options were:  sardines, kippered snacks, or vienna sausages.  Kaden had never had these mechanically separated chicken parts that are all smashed together in the name of a sausage before.

And he found them to be quite delightful.
Right up there with Spam.

 So, we had ourselves a little snack, we did a little wading and a little catching of some froggies...
And then, we headed home.

I love four-wheeling.
It's one of the joys of my life.
Seriously, it is.
I don't know why, but it just makes me really, really happy.

But, before we got home, we found ourselves side-tracked by the gravel pit.
My boys love the gravel pit.
They love to climb it and slide down it.
They pretty much love anything that makes them grubby.

And because we were on a hot date, Kaden convinced me to climb the walls, as well.
This was our view below:

We also drove through all of those puddles as fast as we could.
Well, Kaden did.  I just hung on.  And prayed.

I find that when I go up home for just a few days, I need to pack just as many clothes as I would normally need to for an entire week.  I am perpetually filthy.  Or wet.  Or smelling like fire.

 It was a lovely date and a lovely afternoon with my sweet, biggest boy.

And now a shout out to the shoes in my life:

As a Mama to (mostly) boys, my summer footwear consists solely of keen's and chacos.  Both shoes being quite pricey when purchased brand new, but oh-so-fabulous when purchased at a yard sale or GoodWill.  These babies cost me $7.99, and in the course of that two hour date, they were soaked from mud, soaked from puddles, and filled to the brim with gravel pit dirt.  They were then sufficiently washed off by the puddles on the way home, and set in the sun to dry.  Voila!  They can also be thrown in the washing machine with any load of laundry....which happens to these babies all. summer.  long.

I heart them.