Sunday Afternoon

Last Thursday I lost my last grandparent.  Grandma Hutchens was almost 90, still lived by herself, and kept very busy.  She made it out to visit us earlier this year, which was a treat for the kids.  Mason especially had a good time chatting with her. 

Since we're missing the funeral, we spent some time in the woods doing a little memorial.  My sister did a project for a college class that involved doing a life sketch of my grandma.  We used it to help our kids (and even me) get to know more about her and her life.  I wish we could have made it to her funeral, but I'm glad we were able to do something.  I like to imagine the happy reunions she is having with so many people she loves who were waiting for her on the other side.

Mason and Grandma Hutchens 

After our memorial service, we did a little hike and played hide-and-go-seek in a meadow with the kids--but not Megan.  It turns out my niece is not fond of open meadows.  Because they might contain "free-range cows" (is there a word for that phobia?). Or snakes.  Or bugs. She has a fantastic imagination, which comes in very handy when telling stories.  Not so much when going for a hike or playing in tall grass.  We didn't know this the last time we went on a hike, and I was very confused when she kept subtly and not-so-sublty suggesting that perhaps we had gone too far and should turn around.  Especially if we ever veered from the path (which is NOT ALLOWED).  I also mistook her phobia for enthusiasm when we were playing hide-and-go-seek on Monday.  She kept sprinting across the meadow (wow! she really likes this game!).  Turns out she sprints because it lowers her chance of  any bugs getting her along the way since she's a moving target.  Which she likens to being chased by someone with a gun.  I see quite a big difference between the two, but her--not so much.  For the record, we are laughing about this together as I write, so we've come along way in a week.

And I attempted to squeeze in a couple of family photos, since I haven't managed to get a good shot with all four kids looking at camera.  I was trying to get them all to smile at the camera, but when I ask them the smile on command, this is what I get:

You know those families where all the kids smile perfectly at the camera?  Perhaps you are one of those.  We, on the other had, are not.

This shows Andrew's favorite pose: the eye roll.  Which kind of makes him look like a zombie.  Or like he's possessed.  

So we gave up on the photos, and headed up to play.  They're much better than that.

Racing off for hide and go seek.  Just watch out for the stinging nettle (see below).

The woods around our house continue to be enchanting.  One thing I had noticed was the sound of cowbells coming from somewhere.  We heard them when we were on a hike, and decided to go investigate.  We got up to a little village where the sound started getting clearer.  Megan and I went around a house to get a better view, and Ryan veered straight up the ("that's where the sound was coming from").

By the time Megan and I had found the cows, taken this picture, and gone back to find Ryan, he had made some new friends at the house by the cows.  I think they don't get a lot of random people walking up their driveway, so Ryan was a little bit of a surprise.  They told him all about how cows in Switzerland wear bells so that they are easier to find, and invited us in to visit.  Before going in search of cowbells, we had sent Andrew and Chloe back to the house on their own--so making sure they made it home in one piece took precedence over chatting with our new Swiss friends. But I'm sure we'll be back up there soon.  Because you can never have too much cowbell.