Capon Springs

This week, Jonathan and I joined our extended Nicodemus family for a fun week at Capon Springs resort in West Virginia. 

The Main Building

This place is like a step back in time:  no locks on the doors, dinner bells and family-style meals, no TVs or cell phone service...  And the grounds are beautiful and peaceful, with many gardens, swings, hammocks, and fountains!

Capon Springs first became a resort in the late 1800s because of the "healing waters" of its mountain aquifer, but its attractions now exceed the water; here you will find excellent meals (including homemade cakes, pies, and breads!), many games (ping-pong, shuffleboard, tennis, golf...) a beautiful and well-stocked library, many hiking trails, and so much more!

Andrew likes the "healing waters"!

Exciting ping-pong action

A trip to the pool

Andrew is a good hiker!

Capon is mostly frequented by families, who come each year and establish their own unique traditions.  It was so nice to spend this week with the extended Nicodemus family (Nana and Pop-Pop; Aunt Kitty Sue and Uncle Gary; Allison and Mike; Ashley, Peter, and Eric; Mom and Dad; Emily, Wade, Caroline, and Andrew; we just missed having Tim there!)  The three babies kept us greatly entertained!

Andrew is Mr. Smiley!

Eric and Caroline quickly became friends

Four Generations with Nana, Aunt Kitty, Ashley, and Eric

My uncle and cousins on our big 7 mile hike

One of my favorite features of the camp is the "Hog Heaven" farm, where you can visit and feed pigs and goats.  I especially loved the brown and white goat (a.k.a "Billy the Kid").

Jonathan's favorite part of Capon Springs was probably all of the games.  He played a lot of ping-pong this week and even became the ping-pong tournament champion!

After just a few days in this special place, we are already looking forward to our next visit to Capon Springs!

Kenwood Beach!

Jonathan and I have now been in Maryland for a week, enjoying time with my parents at the farm and my grandparents' place on the Chesapeake Bay.  We just got back from Kenwood Beach, one of my favorite places in the world!

When we go to Kenwood, swimming is not the highlight.  Instead, the biggest attraction is walking the shoreline to find fossilized sharks' teeth that have been eroded out of the cliffs along this part of the Bay.

We had some great tooth-hunting conditions this week, which resulted in a grand total of 448 teeth, some of which were quite large!

Why is this mindless, backbreaking activity so addicting?  It's hard to say...but there is something special about wandering down the shore letting your thoughts roam freely to the rhythm of the waves.  And, of course, there is always that hope of finding "the big one" to spur you on!

I inherited my love of Kenwood Beach and shark tooth hunting from my Dad, who has indeed handed down many wonderful things to me and the rest of my family.  So it is appropriate to end this post with a big "Happy Father's Day" wish to the best Dad a girl could have!

A Tail of Two Kitties

We have been greatly enjoying our summer so far, with very few obligations and lots of naps!  We did make a few appointments, however, including a long-overdue trip to the vet for our cat, Mrs. Snuggles, to get her spayed.  We don't want to have a bunch of kittens on our hands, as cute as they are!

Ironically, the day before we took Mrs. Snuggles in for her surgery, Jonathan found an abandoned kitten not far from our house.  She was all alone, very hungry, but very lovable.  As soon as we gave her a little food, she curled up in Jonathan's lap and went to sleep.  We fell in love with her immediately!

Mrs. Snuggles was jealous and not at all impressed.

Of course, we couldn't keep this little kitten, especially since we are leaving for the summer on Monday and she needs a lot of care.  So, the search for a home began.  I posted a video on Facebook and got a few offers for this sweet kitten!

Yesterday we met up with a young woman from Gallup who was happy to give the kitten a good home.  It was hard to say goodbye to our new friend, but I am so thankful that she will be loved and cared for.

Now we just need to nurse Mrs. Snuggles back to health and assure her that she has not been replaced by some fluffy little ball of fur!  :)

Goodbye, Tim!

Today we took my brother Tim to the airport so that he could fly back to Charlotte, NC to begin accounting grad school.  Tim has been working at Rehoboth for a year doing a volunteer internship in our business office.  In the meantime, we got to spend lots of good times with him, including an Albuquerque Isotopes baseball game, a trip to Durango, numerous game nights and hikes, not to mention many fun dinners together.

It was such a blessing to have a family member here this year; it definitely made New Mexico feel more like home for us!  It was also really cool for me to see my "little" brother so grown up, making his way in a new place and excelling in his work!  He was a huge help to our school; I'm not sure how we will get by next year without him...

Yesterday, to help send Tim off in style, we hosted an open house for people to come and say goodbye to him.  I was thankful for all of the people who were able to come and I think Tim had a good time!  I gave him a book with pictures from his year here and signatures from many of the people whose lives he touched.

Tim, next year will not be the same without you here.  We miss you so much already!  But I know that God has big plans for your life and I pray that the next step on your journey is fun and fulfilling!