Fun-filled weekend, part 1

BestFriend's extended weekend at Casa de mis padres was amazing and packed to the brim with all sorts of exciting adventures!

After I picked her up from the airport on Friday around noon, we dropped her things off at the house before beginning our exploration of my area. We started at the nature trail at a local swamp. I warned her that I hadn't been there since elementary school, but that I seemed to remember that it was an interesting experience. It was fun ~ wooden boardwalk suspended not even a yard above the swamp, tall and vividly green trees and plants around us, live animal sightings (two lizards, one snake, one raccoon, and some birds) ~ an enjoyable half-hour excursion.

From there, we headed to the beach because BestFriend desperately wanted to find sharks' teeth. Unfortunately, we had no luck there, but we had a fun time meandering along the sand and sea grasses. We found bits of coral (cool! I didn't remember finding that on earlier visits), and BestFriend picked up a cluster of (empty) oyster shells which had bonded together. Wonderful treasures.

We headed home for a huge dinner for my family and three of my sister's friends who had helped her move her things out of her college apartment for the summer. After an exquisite dining experience (mmmm ... love my mom's cooking!), we watched "The Wedding Date" ~ our one chick flick this weekend.

On Saturday, we rose early to head into the nearest city. While using the local transportation, we saw an advertisement for an outdoors artisan festival/farmer's market. We browsed the paintings, clothing, jewelry (and we both invested in "real fresh-water pearl" jewelry which was being sold for such a good deal that we questioned its "real" status), and cutting boards (and we each bought, on impulse, a small cutting board on sale because they were all so beautiful). As we were heading out, the heavens opened and HEAVY rain began to fall. We stayed under the tent for a little while before dashing to a used bookstore across the street. An hour or so later, we emerged from the bookstore with new books. (I picked up yet another travel memoir to read, even though I have not started on one I got last month, and I'm still in the middle of a spiritual memoir BestFriend lent me in March.) From there, we went to an art museum before wandering around the city looking at pretty, historical structures. Oddly enough, I ran into a student from GradSchool who asked what I was doing in famous city. (He lives many hours from here, and he didn't realize I live much closer to the city.)

My sister and mother spent the day shopping, and when we arrived home, we were shown all of the professional clothing they'd gotten for my sister's internship this summer. After that, I tried on items from my wardrobe while BestFriend and my mom voted for or against keeping certain items. (Ill-fitting, no longer age-appropriate, etc. clothing has since been placed in bags for nearby younger neighbors to browse.) Alas, former favorite items are no longer part of my wardrobe, and we didn't even go through everything. Still, I'm glad to be rid of clothing which was just taking up space in my closet!

More to come in a future entry. Must take a break from writing now to go deal with laundry and the like. :-)