At last! I finally got Hannah home from college for a glorious week. I made the three day round trip drive (13 hours of driving per day) to Ohio to pick her up and bring her home. We packed a lot into six days at home – shopping, movie theater, a hike, a beach walk, movie marathons and Thanksgiving festivities. I need a vacation to recover from my Thanksgiving vacation.

She’s happy with her college decision and is doing good in her classes – although Arabic has been giving her a run for her money.

We hiked.

Oh, how happy the critters were to see her. I had the best sleep as Snape (aka Boo) abandoned us to move in  with her.

Gidget missed our hikes. For a pup who doesn’t travel well, she raced to the car when it was clear she was invited to come along.

She romps along scrambling over rocks and scaling what must seem like tiny mountains, yet Gidget cannot manage to jump up onto my new sofa.

A girl and her dog. It warms my heart.

This crossing stumped Gidget. Hannah tried to lead the way and show her how to cross this tiny stream, but ultimately, Hannah had to give her a ride.

“I have the heart of a five-year-old, and don’t you forget it,” she told me.

We enjoyed a wonderful beach walk that had me longing for warmer weather so I could kick my shoes off and feel the sand on my toes.

A drive through her beloved blueberry barrens gave us time to talk about everything under the sun.

Sadly, as I write this, she and her dad are making the return trip to Ohio as classes resume on Monday. She’ll be home for a month over the Christmas holiday. I’m already counting down the days.