Shelburne Farms

We were at that farm today for...

sheep petting,

baby goat bottle feeding,

and chickens.

Lots

and lots

of chickens. I really need to bring a book the next time to pass the time outside the chicken coop.

It's a Look

You could be the farmer (taking care of the tomato plants)...

or you could be sporting your new t-shirt from the library (thrown on over her clothes as soon as she got home with it today).

It all depends on your style.

Echo

We headed out for an adventure at the Echo Center in Burlington today. The downstairs exhibit was on giant robotic insects, which Alexa was adamant about avoiding. To be honest, they were a bit over powering. I am not sure what kid wants to look at an eight foot tall moving praying mantis. So we stuck with the usual exhibits...

Sanded some rocks to explore erosion,

made a mountain form,

said hi to the turtles,

dug for beluga whale fossils,

played in the water table,

ate lunch by the lake,

became a bit freaked out by the creepy underwater music at the giant fish exhibit,

and explored a sunken ship.

Then we came home once we had taken it all in and the weather had cleared. Which left us a lovely afternoon to help Grammie Sharon learn how to set up her new tent before her camping trip. I would like to thank her for taking me back down memory lane. Back to when I was 19 and working at Life Sports in Ellsworth. We often had tourists come in and decide that they wanted to camp at Acadia National Park. So they would buy a tent from the store, and then we got to go out in the parking lot and teach them how to assemble it. Yep.. good times... I know you are thinking what sucker took camping and tent assembly advice from a 19 year old me?  Shocking isn't it? I must say, the yard is a whole lot easier to pitch a tent than a black top parking lot. And check out that tent...

I am now calling it the guest cottage.

Gone to the Birds

So I learned something new about myself today. Turns out I find birds rather entertaining. See I have spent the majority of my day plopped in my backyard reading. I contemplated doing something more productive but then I figured why? Because, quite frankly people, I have spent an entire school year of more productive and I am burnt out. So I took the day of me, and aside from the neighbors dog being mildly annoying with some incessant barking at squirrels; it has been rather peaceful I must say.

I noticed something in all my outside quiet time. Birds are extremely humorous little buggers. It shocks me to say this, and if you know me well it would seem out of character for me to say. My usual reaction to birds is something along the line of, "Uh huh, that's nice, and that thing better not come with in 10 feet of me."  They generally freak me out a bit. I don't mind them outside, but I don't want them around me. So I have never really taken to the idea of bird watching. Don't get me wrong, I still don't ever see myself stalking through the woods with a pair of binoculars and a notebook scribbling down varieties of the feathery little guys. I have no desire to buy a book to identify one bird from the other. I prefer names like: the small brown one, the big red one, and the large blue one. I kind of filter the real names out of my head out along with names of songs, music groups, and certain sports teams. I mean who can keep all this stuff straight?

So I was rather intrigued to find that they seem to have kind of funny habits. They seem to swing between chasing one another through the yard to land in different trees and yell at one another to huddling all together on the fence,

and fighting over the bird feeder.

Really they were a lot like some people I know. I couldn't seem to tell what triggered them fighting with each other and what ended it. I would like for the little buggers to take some ownership over the mess they cause though. Look at this...

I mean isn't it enough that I have agreed to let the kids get a feeder and buy the seed? Can they get down there and clean up what they are dumping all over during their squabbles?

Holes

He dug his hole...

and now he has to lay in it.

What a Difference a Year Makes

It is hard to believe that Chloe has become so independent. We stopped by the library to stock her up on fresh reading material. As soon as we got home she piled all the books on the chair and started reading.

She didn't even know I took the pictures.

Alexa was checking out some of hers too.

She didn't last as long though and made her way outside to make some spin art.

Another advantage of a sunny summer day, art takes place outside... less clean up!

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Holy cow did we have some wild rain today. It kept us inside all morning and a lot of the afternoon. Minus the few hours after lunch when the sun was out and I shoved the kids outside to play in the wading pool. This morning though Alexa decided to amuse herself making more pictures to mail to Grandma (her great grandma). We got word that our last batch of cards and pictures arrived exactly on Grandma's birthday and that she enjoyed them. Alexa decided she needed more, and Chloe soon decided to join her by making Grandma a book. When they were done I gave each of them an envelope to put their drawings in.

They were pretty excited to address and stamp them.

I took a really cute picture of them holding the envelopes up when they were done. I then realized that you could read the full names and addresses on the envelops in the pictures. While I believe it is really only family and close friends who consistantly read this blog. It is an open Internet address, and  I have had comments posted by people I don't know at all. So it is best not to put that information out there. At any rate we retook the picture.

You will just have to trust me that the other picture was really cute too.

Summer Day One

Today was the first of many week days that I did not have to set an alarm. That's right, I am finally done the endless meetings that were tacked onto the school year. Now begins the eight weeks of the year that I get to be just Mommy. You know, my other full time job. The one without all the prestige and glamor of being a public school teacher. So what excitement did we have planned today? Well... not much really. A few appointments and errands. We took our beloved dog Cabbie in to the vet for his checkup. Cabbie has quite a reputation at the vet. It is a good reputation. The complete opposite of a cat I use to own that had to have notes about his bad behaviour written in his file (I was so embarrassed). Not Cabbie though, he views every dog, cat, and person there as some one he should make fast friends with. Luckily for him, at least where the people at the vets are concerned, it works well for him.  He had to have some blood work done to get him ready for some upcoming dental work. The vet brought him back in to me after and said, "Only Cabbie could be excited about having blood drawn." It's true. He thought it was a grand adventure. I am also happy to report Cabbie has lost between 3-4 pounds (hard to tell he was a little excited about standing on the scale) and is now in the normal weight category. The vet gave him three cookies to celebrate. No wonder he likes it there.

On other summer related news we harvested our first pepper today.

Pretty exciting.

Alexa's tomato plants have now far surpassed her in height. They are loaded with green tomatoes and she is having a hard time with waiting for them to ripen. "When can I get to pick and eat something?"

Ah summer. Let the laziness begin.

Father's Day

I have posted quite a few things today to this blog. More than I usually do. I am hoping you will bear with me for one more. There are some things that have been on my mind today. Since it is Father's Day. My father died in 1997. In August it will be 13 years ago. I was 25. That is a lot of my adult life that he never got to see, and I never got to share. I think about it sometimes. I wonder what my dad would say about some of the things I have done, and if he would be proud.

I didn't have one of those dad's that said, "I love you" a lot. In fact in my entire life I can only remember hearing it one time, and I drove home that weekend to check and make everything was OK. Sure that some tragedy must be coming for him to say that. Looking back though I know he did. Every single trip I took home I would be ready to leave, look out at my car, and the hood would be up. He would be checking my oil, tires, belts, spark plugs, and anything else that could be checked. I mean every time. As a 19 year old kid, it drove me nuts. He would do it right as I was trying to leave. Now I get it, then I really didn't.

He taught me a lot, my dad. He taught me to be responsible and to remember where you come from. He taught me that you don't need to be the center of attention. The side lines are just fine. He showed me to work hard, to live within your means, and to enjoy a hike in the woods.

He also showed me how to bait a hook, cast a line, gut a fish, shoot a gun, dress a deer, and to identify the poop of a variety of different animals. None of these are talents I actually use, but I am just saying he taught me (or at least tried to, not sure how good a student I was). And you know, in a pinch, with the economy the way it is; it is good to have options.

He tried to teach me how to fix my car too. I never really paid enough attention here. I am sorry to say. In all the hours I stood over an engine or laid on the ground under a car holding a flashlight all I really picked up was a fear of the line, "Here hold this light for a minute for me." Because I knew it was going to be at least 30 minutes. I think I picked up enough vocabulary, though, to at least know if a mechanic is talking about a part in a car. He tried though, my dad.

He taught me to root for the underdog and look out for the little guy. He taught me that actions speak louder than words. I get that now. Probably more than he ever intended me too.

My dad never met Chloe and Alexa. I wish he had because I know he would have enjoyed them as much as they would have him. I like to think he knows them though. I like to think he is around.

So happy Father's Day, Dad. I hope I made you proud.

How Many Floaties Can You Fit in a Wading Pool?

Swimming Floatie Style

The girls wanted to drag out a bunch of inflatable animals today to play with in the pool. Generally, I am a fan of anything that gets them out of the house on a nice day. They both tend to be homebodies; although Chloe is far worse than Alexa in this area. At any rate, I drug the animals up from the basement. Relics from birthdays gone by that have held up surprisingly well. For Chloe's 2nd birthday, I ordered a pack of inflatable jungle animals. They came in a pack of 12 for about ten dollars. It was a cheap way to create a theme and give the kids something to play with. On her fourth birthday we were entrenched in the dinosaur theme as Chloe was all about dinosaurs for about three years.

They did things like... ride the dinosaur.

Pile all the foaties in the pool for a bath.

Pile all the floaties in and climb in too!

Use the dinosaur as a swimming obstacle and swim under it... 

Just a few of the things they decided to try out.

Library Day

Chloe has been looking forward to signing up for the summer reading program at the town library. She has done it for the past two years.The program is for kids entering kindergarten through eighth grade. This year though, she has been counting down the days. A few weeks ago a representative from the library visited her school. They talked about the program (like they do every year) and shared the theme and prizes. As you might expect it was the prizes that captured Chloe's eye. Not just any prize, but this prize.

The dolphin which is now hanging up in the children's section of the library. The dolphin is won by a raffle. The kids get a "ticket" for every 15 minute section of time that they read over the summer. Chloe is planning to read, "All day long." There are other prizes too. This bike is actually the first place prize.

But for Chloe it is not worth it. "Who wants a bike? I will be so sad if I win that bike." I mentioned she could sell it and buy herself a dolphin, but she didn't look very convinced. At any rate, she has been awaiting the time when school would end and she could sign up for the program and start racking up her chances to win.

So we headed out today to sign up. We were unfortunately a little early as the sign ups are not for another few days. Don't worry we have the right date down and will be there for day one.

We did get to spend a rather enjoyable morning at the library. We picked up some books.

did some reading,

played with puppets,

found a sign that I feel I need to replicate for home,

and most importantly got Alexa her very own library card.

She is really proud. Chloe got one when she turned four too. I feel it is a good age to start building responsibility. Alexa says she is ready and will take good care of all the books they let her borrow. I think she will too.