nuggets

We took the boys to West Virginia for the weekend.

And while they were busy using a new metal detector to hunt for treasure and talking about gems in the Minecraft manual, I realized our time together felt more valuable than anything they might ever make or find.

It's sometimes easier to sort the daily joys and triumphs from the rocks and hard places when you're not at home.  While there were still dirty diapers and middle of the night wake ups and sibling bickering and struggles to share new toys, there were also lots of golden nuggets packed into the brief trip::

chocolate cupcakes and homemade french fries
hot coffee and cold beer and belly laughs
projects in Poppy's dangerous room
light up Lego bricks and flashlights and farm toys
feeding the dog and the cat and the birds
jigsaw puzzles and bingo games and circuit boards
pizza and donuts and filet and sparkling grape juice
cartoons and knock knock jokes and zooey zips

 Hank was there too, precious boy, although he somehow managed not to be in many pictures...