Weekend in bullets

My weekend was a whirlwind of driving, conversations, visiting with a ton of old friends/family, and staying at a rustic log cabin in the mountains. I cannot seem to organize it all in my head (ask my husband, I keep telling him little snip-its of stuff and it's in no order whatsoever) so I'm putting it down in bullet form.

• The drive up was good. Fuss had no accidents in the car, despite the fact that we were trying to go as long as possible without stopping. We stopped more often for quick potty breaks for both her and us, but it worked and if we hadn't been trying to waste time by trying to find a food place at the very end of the trip, we would have made it in a very reasonable amount of time.
• We stayed with friends of the family that we had never met before and I had been told we were staying "in a log cabin in the woods," but had no idea what to expect. (I would say that about C's sister, to a point - at least the "in the woods" part) But this place was... amazing. It was truly an old log cabin in the woods. We had to drive MILES off a paved road and they live on a small farm, cooked on a wood burning stove and heated their home primarily with their fireplace.
  
• But this house was HUGE. It was bigger than my home in "the city." There was only one bathroom (thank goodness. With a potty training toddler, I don't think I could have handled an outhouse), but they had at least 3 or 4 bedrooms, a living room, an upstairs... it was just beautiful and awesome.
• And they were SO nice. And so much fun. We spent a lot of time just hanging out with them and listening to their stories about their family (current and ancestors) and history and their life. Fuss got to go around with them (so did we, but it was mostly about her) and do their farm chores with them on Saturday morning and she got to see horses, pet a calf and see a cow up close. They also had chickens and a rooster.
  
• Little Man woke up with or before the rooster every day. He seemed to like living the farmer's life.
  
• There were also puppies, recently born, whose mother had hid them under the house to keep warm. They woke us up regularly.
  
• But when we finally got to see them, they were so cute it, we got over whatever inconvenience that was.
  
• Our hosts, the Dovers, drank their own milk (their cow's milk) and shared it with their friends and family) and ate their own eggs and corn (which they grew and milled themselves), and made their own butter (mostly - we did have store bought butter this weekend because she was out and she kept apologizing for that) and cheese. It was amazing.
  
• We ate fresh, organic sausage for breakfast. (They don't raise hogs, but it was their own slaughter and curing, etc.) And grits. Even Little Man sampled grits. (he loved them)
  
• Speaking of which, it was a weekend of firsts for him, as "Uncle Lane" fed him beef jerky and I gave him regular, natural apple sauce (instead of baby food).
  
• One of the cutest things Fuss did was fall in love with the Dovers. On our way to their house for the first time, we were following them up a dark, muddy mountain and she called out "Follow those Dovers!" and on our way back to the house for the last time, she kept talking about them and upon our arrival, we came back in and she ran up to them proclaiming "I missed you!" They were great with her and Little Man.
• Dad F introduced me to people as his "5th kid". That really made me feel good. I know I'm not the only one with that title, but I love that he thinks it/feels it, too.
  
• I've never seen him cry until this weekend. He's a retired Marine, a big, tough guy who is ALWAYS strong. This weekend I saw him walking around with a cane and I witnessed him crying once or twice. That was hard. I'm sure it's even harder for his other kids and grandkids.
  
• Cousin/niece Naomi, who is herself a redhead (it's a family of redheads - I fit in with them more than I fit with my biological extended family) thanked me for helping to bring more redheads into the world. She loved on Little Man a lot while we were there and he loved her back.
  
• Cousin/niece Rachel is getting married in June. I've known her since she was a little kid and when we're together, we're like family, but we don't get to see each often, so I wasn't sure if she would be inviting me or not. I'm psyched that she is.