Delightful Drenning Days

Hey, Ohio :).

yardwork. do work. hah..

Sorry I didn't get all my formal salutations in when we arrived like owls in the night earlier, but I was exhausted and I didn't care who knew that. Anyway, we're here now, and so far it has been everything a beautiful homecoming should be.

It started before I was awake. Remember a few odd weeks back when we sold the Murano? Well, because it was licensed and titled [and all that jazz] in Ohio, the title had to be sent to Ohio. Silly, but timely I suppose that we would be here when it happened. Joe and Dad headed in early to snag that, and were home before I was even conscious enough to think about rolling out of bed.

itty bitty house for an itty bitty girl

Fast forward to when the entire house was alive - we started off the true Drenning way: Mom cooking for the entire family and relaxing to the sight of us all feasting away. As soon as we were done, it was off to town [hey again, Mt.V] to the childrens' garden at the KCCC. Sydni nearly lost her mind once she realized the place was stocked with everything a standard neighborhood has, just pint sized and in perfect proportion for someone of her whopping 2.5ish foot stature. It was adorable.

With the children's garden under our belt, we made with it to get some ice cream at what used to be a Sonoco station in front of R&M's off Martinsburg [can you tell I'm a local to somewhere??]. I was flooded with since-forgotten memories and fragments of childhood history being there; driving through the high & middle school campuses, the soccer fields, and nearby neighborhoods that at one point housed so many of my friends was a flashback that sparked both fond and happily-gone recall.

ice cream with nana & pappy!

hangin out on a miniature balcony

oh hey family!

a stone map of the U.S. - [boooo michigan!]

Meanwhile, back at the Dren lodge after the out-and-about festivities had been accomplished, we settled in for an evening of typical happenings whenever we visit:

I for some reason always sleep whenever I come home. I'm not talking about going to bed at night with the rest of the world; I'm talking about midday snoozes. Every single time I come home, I find myself settled into a prolonged nap of some sort. It's inevitable. We've all come to terms with it.

Joe, during these naps, never fails to commandeer my camera and capture himself in his signature pose. That happened tonight, many times [I'm sparing you the details of the other 8 or 9 shots that were either misfired or lesser quality in some way].

cori : sleeping | joe: self-portraiture | dad: nails painted.
... welcome to the dren lodge. lol.

My parents managed to take their creativity to a whole new level; Sydni has her toenails currently painted red to match mine; they coincidentally matched my mom's, too. Dad felt left out, so after much coercing, he let mom paint his nails. Haha. In most situations I would've thought that to be a bit strange, but my dad's totlally comfortable with himself, and besides, Sydni asked too. ;)

the 'dren lodge' aka, my parents' house | us in the chairs under the porch ;)

Dear smalltown,

I miss you in the sense that I will gladly visit you anytime you'd like, but make no mistake, I'm not stayin'. :)

* Back home it was, where we spent the evening lounging out at the Dren Lodge and building energy for what is sure to be a jampacked day tomorrow. My sister & her family will be here, along with my cousins.

Can't wait!

xo | cmd