While the boys were away, the girls did play ......

My girl and I had the unique and rare opportunity to enjoy two full weeks alone.

That equated to:

1. Only 5 loads of laundry TOTAL for the entire two weeks.

2. A whopping ONE meal cooked by me.

3. Early morning devotions on the front porch.

4. Late night movie watching.

5. A mile long list of long awaited projects completed.

6. Bike rides.

7. Zoo trip

8. Paddle boats.

9. Rose gardens.

10. Shopping and crafting and time with friends.

11. Lots of time with Grandma.

12. Opportunities galore to serve others.

13. A house that STAYED clean!

14. Peach pie and marionberry pie nearly every night.
15. Lunches out at our favorite little bistro.
16. Daily walks together to go water our pumpkin patch.

 17. Uninterrupted conversations where everyone spoke with kindness 

AND

 18. A million and one chores done all by ourselves :-)

Isabelle had daily swim lessons during our two weeks.  She completed and passed every available stroke or task this year in her Advanced swim level.  She has officially graduated but loves swimming so much she may go for some Red Cross lifeguard training next year.

One evening I slipped a formal invitation under Isabelle's door.  In it, she was invited the following evening to an alfresco dinner under the willow where she was to wear her most beautiful white dress (she only has one).

It was all top secret and I was able to prepare everything, including crystal and china and a simple meal of salad, fruit, bread, homemade cookies, and raspberry lemonade.

We enjoyed the beautiful setting, the meal, and the company.  I even donned fresh flowers in my garden hat!  Afterward we sat on the porch swing and read some favorite children's books -- which we never tire of.

Isabelle enjoyed the privilege of spending an hour to do hair, wardrobe, and even a little makeup which Mommy allowed as a splurge.  I think she did a pretty good job!  Isn't she beautiful?

In between days filled with home, yard, garden, Bible studies, and animal care projects, we did enjoy some fun times including a morning with some of the other moms/daughters of men and boys at Fish Camp also.

They came for a unique craft called flower pounding.  This involves arranging flowers under some muslin cloth and gently hammering them so that the colors and shapes of the flowers come through on the cloth.  With fine tipped markers, you then sketch outlines of your flowers and their stems/leaves to end with a beautiful keepsake to frame or just enjoy.

Each family brought armloads of flowers from their own gardens so we had many flowers to choose from.  There were 14+ of us flower pounding on a gorgeous summer morning!

We finished off our two weeks with a lovely afternoon with friends at Julia Davis park.  After a picnic near the rose gardens, we enjoyed an hour paddling, talking, and fighting geese on the paddle boats together :-)   This is the stuff of happy memories!

These two weeks with just my daughter were absolutely priceless.  They were the highlight of my summer and filled with treasured memories.  In the end, even though we were happy to have our boys home .... we grieved the end of these simple days together.  

Perhaps they could take a hunting trip next? Hmmmmm ....... :-)