Cousin Vanal arrived over the weekend, along with his Mom and Grandma Betty. Vanal and Stillman got along famously. Vanal was eager to interact with the Boy, and pitched right in with holding him, feeding him, and even changing diapers! Because Vanal and TLS have always been extremely close, we wondered how things would go. But Vanal was fantastic. The closest thing to any rivalry came when Stillman got an unusual amount of attention for having produced a rather spectacular bowel movement, upon which Vanal assured me that when he was a baby, he had done one that went not just up his lower back, as Stillman's had, but darned near up to his neck.
My other favorite Vanal quote this weekend came at a quiet moment when we were sitting together on the couch feeding the Boy. Vanal says, "He isn't very brown, is he?" Then he was quiet for a moment and looked over at me and said, as if thinking of it for the first time, "Are you brown?" So I guess it's true that kids really are blind to race, since Vanal is incredibly bright and never misses anything.
Blessed with beautiful weather, the whole gang took a stroll down into the village.
Then we dropped off Stillman and TLS so they could nap, and the rest of us continued up to Lehigh Gorge State Park and the beautiful Glen Onoko hike, which rises steeply up along a cascading stream. Grandma Betty impressed everyone by hoofing it up through some pretty tough terrain. We all had a blast, especially Vanal -- although you wouldn't know it by the photo below.
We descended down to the river, and Vanal and I spent nearly an hour working on our rock-skipping. 
The gang left yesterday but will be back tomorrow. Mom and Grandma Betty will return to South Carolina and leave Vanal with us for two weeks. We've got lots of plans. Back to the gorge so we can make it all the way to the top next time. There's a tunnel where the train used to pass through a mountain, which we need to explore. There's a train store down in the village. Some excellent biking to be done down by the river. And, of course, the woods behind our house, to see if we can find any bear sign.
3 comments:
What a great weekend! I know I keep saying it, but we really are anxious to come and visit you three. We just have to get all the stars aligned correctly (and the garden planted) and we'll be on our way.
I love hearing about Vanal's innocence about color. Molly Bryn continues to live as if the world were one big Ursula LeGuin novel - with the universe populated by an infinite variety of peoples in every imaginable color of skin where everyone appreciates how Beautiful everyone else is.
You guys are beautiful. Thank you for sharing your photos with us.
Looks like you all had a wonderful weekend!!! And Vanal, hmm sounds like he's one very observant and smart kid!
Please tell him that train tunnel is definitely worth a visit!
Two things.
1st, the line "not just up his lower back, as Stillman's had, but darned near up to his neck," is overly specific. A seasoned writer such as yourself should know when to gloss some things for the public.
2nd, you mispelled "beer" in the last sentence, making someone think you were seeking a man-killing mammal with ferocious teeth and claws rather than a cool, frothy beverage.
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