Little Boys and the Big Lake

My one stipulation before agreeing to let my husband take off and trek through the woods for a month was that we'd get to see him once a week.  So last Monday I took the boys to Grand Marais to see Eli.  He'd only been hiking for four days but had already covered 48 miles when we met him at the trailhead.  I might have cried when I saw him.  The four days he'd been gone might have been a bit brutal at home with the kids.  The baby might have started teething two teeth at once the day after Eli left and the toddler might have cranked up his toddler antics and given me a run for my money and neither little boy might have slept well for days on end.

In short, the first thing out of my mouth when I picked up Eli at the trailhead might have been, "You are never, ever, EVER allowed to do this ever again!"

But he's okay with that :)  Not only because he knows what a sacrifice it is for me to let him do this, but also because he misses us like crazy.  It's not easy being away from each other.  We are people who need a lot - and I mean, a lot - of time together to function well.  So although Eli's been loving the hike and processing life and meeting with God and reading The Silmarillion and simply feeling good overall, he misses us like crazy.  So seeing us pull into the parking lot to get him was the highlight of his week, even if his wife was a little crazy at the time :)

We enjoyed two days together, loving on our boys and enjoying time by Lake Superior.  We had the blessing of staying at the same house where we spent a month last year on Eli's rural rotation.  It sits on Lake Superior and was a perfect place to settle in for a couple days.  Our time together also offered Eli the chance to shower and resupply, and allowed me the chance to nap - a very, very important thing for this Mama :)

And Caleb had the chance to play by the lake, the Big Lake, the Lake that is Superior (as we like to say).  He threw more rocks into the water than we could count, and his shoes and pants were soaked before all was said and done.  He was a very happy boy :)  Kai joined us outside when his nap was done and he loved climbing the rocks and boulders down the shore.  And I had the joy of taking photos of these little boys by the big lake!

And just because I love to turn photos into black and white, I did.  I find something magical about black and white photos, especially if they're close-ups of little people.

So it was good and needed to see Eli mid-hike.  And it was good to play with our boys by the lake.  It filled up our tanks before we had to say goodbye again.  We dropped him off at the trailhead on Wednesday and he's been hiking ever since.  We'll see him again tomorrow and stay at a resort for a night and let him shower and resupply and revel in our boys again.  

We've always known that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but we're being reminded of that again.  It's hard to be apart, but it makes the time together especially sweet.

So hike on, Eli.  Our boys are eager to see you again soon, and eager to hear in the future how you took this time to nurture your soul and please the heart of God.  Hike on.