And a Good Time Was Had by Both... {+ Edit}

Got away with my true love this past weekend...

It was a treat to be alone, to be in the quiet of the woods where everything was lush and green. The birds and the frogs sang our favorite and much-missed songs...the ones we knew from Back Home.

I heart my husband. 

It was so refreshing to look at and listen to nature, to slow down. We captured this little guy's photo while on a walk.

There was a huge, long meadow full of flowers - mostly these Indian Blanket wildflowers. Yum!

 Scary-looking black bee. I could see him very well while he puttered around on that flower. It was crazy to see how the pollen was all over him, even on his face!

 The sun came out on the morning we left. Beautiful!

Look! Two suns!

And two arching trees.

 Spanish moss everywhere. Not something we see in our neck of Texas. Pretty, curly gray hair of the trees...

 Cactus is everywhere around us, but I've never seen "baby cacti," the little bright green shoots there. They were very soft and fleshy, not prickly at all. Just never have seen them in that stage of growth.

 Lilypads: also something we never see nearby

 This fabulous old oak arched way out over the water. BB is drawn to a good climbin' tree!

 We both love trees and shade and the green-ness of it all.

Okay, lemme 'splain: Texans love Texas, and we never cease to get a chuckle from all the things you can acquire here that have Texas or the state flag or the lone star or what-have-you on them. The grill at our cabin was one of these many things, with a nice big iron Texas cutout right on top. I was just feeling the love, and BB insisted we document this moment. Ha!

We are so, so grateful for the sweet, loving friends who cared for the kids over the weekend. Four kids were at home with one friend and three had a weekend-sleepover with other friends. What a huge blessing to have such kind, supportive people in our lives! Thanks be to God.

And also, I'm thankful that, given the sort of chaotic pre-trip week(s) we had, we got there with nearly all the things we needed and just had a really simple, peaceful time together. Sweet memories for sure.
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Added later:

One other huge praise to Jesus is this: a few months ago, our leaving on a just-the-two-of-us outing would've been impossible. There was so much anxiety, hurt, and imbalance going on in our family. We praise Him for His healing and help and blessing, and for the continued Good Work we see the Lord doing in our own hearts and in our family as a whole!