Apples and then some more Apples.

We went on our annual apple picking trip this past weekend and loaded up on apples, apples, apples.  Now that everyone is capable of picking, we surely bring home a big haul.  The apple orchard we visit is usually quiet and we all enjoy being the only people out in the orchard.  We will likely visit a more active orchard later this year (the kind with tractor rides and deep-fried oreos, which mama loves!) but it's nice for our family to have a little trip without that fanfare.

Callum especially enjoyed being able to roam and explore and came back (breathless) with a story of finding Mr. MacGregor's farm. So, we all headed down a muddy hill so he could show it to us.  But, as soon as we got close to the lettuce and eggplant growing down the way from the apples he said, in a very serious voice, "Sshh. Don't go any further. Mr. MacGregor might hear us and then he will bake us in a pie and eat us for his dinner!"

Yikes!  That's a pretty hard look at the lessons inside Peter Rabbit.

 All in all, we ate lots of apples and had a great time! This guy was especially happy to be able to help out.

 But, after a while even a self-described "big boy two years old" gets tired and needs a lift.

 Happy fall everyone!!

Welcome to this Beautiful Story

Oh, Callum James! 

The very exciting new development in the life of this big brother is an unshakeable need to draw! After nearly no interest at all for years he suddenly is interested in drawing like mad! His favorite is drawing pictures with oil pastels (craypas I saved from my adolescence, none the less).  He's taken to promising to draw me something rather than explain it to me.  For example, "Hey buddy, how was your day?" "Mama, I'm going to draw it for you when we get home. Ok?" (Draw is always said with great emphasis as if he is explaining to me something new that I might not have heard of. ) 

The other day after reading one of our favorite Skippyjon Jones books he retreated to his little art table and was working away at a furious pace.  And, then he came to me asking to write the words.  He had written his own Skippyjon Jones book!  

So, here it is (if you know these books, you know that this text is ridiculous enough to actually make sense, though he was clearly winging it as far as book content on this one.) :

 Oh, I wear my suit!

 I like my family.

 I want some noise. 

 I like to ride at space with the space doggies!

 I like my sock monkey.

 I love anything in life!

 I like tables and...

 I like my mud toy. 

 I love my home.

 I like meatballs. I like my town.

 The end! 

Welcome to this beautiful story!

And the Oscar goes to...

Jude Patrick! 

Oh this one.  There is nothing quite like the dramatics of this one.  The stories he tells are always big and involved and the retelling involves reenactments.  There is nothing as simple as "I fell down, scraped my knee and cried." The story involves falling down again and again to demonstrate the fall; then full showing and reshowing of the knee scrape and then even a dramatic version of the crying.  In the morning he tells us "I was sleeping like this" and demonstrates his head resting on his hand and snoring sound effects!  

He dances with his elbows held up high and a big wiggle in the hips. 

The other day he sat looking at a tree in our yard and told me a story that went like this:

I was climbing that big, big, big, big tree.  And, I feel down so, so, so far. I cry (imagine dramatic fake crying reenactment). That is not safe. Climbing a big, big, big, big tree so, so, so, so high. No. Not safe. No Jude! (he screams) No climb big, big tree. No fall down! Not safe! [note: none of this ever happened, it was completely imagined]

He also loves to give big hugs and often says I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH! He's hugged me so hard that I've fallen backwards.  He is full of as many made up words as he is made up stories.  He likes to add KIKI to the beginning of a title.  I'm kiki-mama about 1/3 of the time.  Kiki-papa and Kiki-Callum live in the house, too.  

It's a big, big, big personality and we love it so, so, so, so much!  

One Last Summer Trip...Portland, Maine

Despite the 7 hour drive to get there we had a great time in Portland, Maine over the Labor Day weekend.  The town is heavy with the salty smell of the ocean and has that old Northeast feeling in large part because of it's maritime history. 

It was a quick trip but there is so much to do in the area that our days were filled with very boy-friendly activities. 

  This is the rocky walk out to a lighthouse.  The boys were THRILLED to see a lighthouse and really disappointed to find that we could walk up them.  We found a tall observatory for them to walk up to compensate. 

 Portland has quite a food culture and numerous fantastic coffee shops.  This was one of our favorite, mostly because the boys found a little spot to get their sillies out! 

 Callum descending the observatory steps and 

enjoying the street musicians! He actually asked this guy, "Is sax your ax?" which is a line from the Muppet Movie.  I was worried this guy was going to pick Callum up and cart him home he was so charmed. 

 This, in case your are curious, is what the boys look like while watching cartoons.  We discovered the great joy of cartoons in a small hotel room pretty quickly!

 This is just one of many amazing parks right on the sea.

 Thanks Portland! We had a great time...now, we settle into a new preschool year and hopefully a bit of a more regular schedule. 

Back to the Woods!

We just returned from our annual family trip to the wild woods of Pennsylvania. We spent the week in a one-room cabin with a stove, a refrigerator, a bunk bed, and a table...no water or bathroom. It was our experiment with a little bit more rustic type of trip and it was a great success. The boys loved waiting for the stars at night and roasting marshmallows, hiking and swimming during the day and doing lots and lots of lollygagging around.

They discovered a frog living under the cabin and would bend down talking to him, look for him in the morning and now talk about how much they miss him.
They threw lots of rocks in the nearby river....
enjoyed lots of books...
and are immensely proud of the one mile hike we did to get to a waterfall. (The 'real' hike is 11 treacherous miles with 20 waterfalls...not our style just yet).


Once again, we are impressed with PA state parks and their extensive network of cabins and have dreams of booking a whole state park's worth of cabins one year with a gaggle of family and friends. You in?

We drove back straight into Hurricane Irene. In fact, we drove alongside the Red Cross Disaster Response Team truck for a few miles. A bit harrowing...wondering if we were in fact driving the wrong directions and should just head back into PA and return after the Hurricane was done. But friends said it was OK and indeed it was. We got home in time to secure everything and slept through most of it. There was certainly lots of damage in our town...downed trees and drowned parks. But, we and everyone we know is ok, if not a little shook up. Given that both of my grandmothers are named Irene, I know the quiet strength an Irene already. Don't take them for granted, that's for sure!

We heart hiking

Friends introduced us to a nearby hike with wide pathways and lots of rocks and water. It's just our style because when we 'hike' we really just meander along, stooping over to look for frogs, stop to throw rocks into the water, and actually 'hike' close to 1/2 a mile. We were lucky on this hike, we got to see two herons swoop low right in front of us and, while we saw no frogs, we got to see lots of horses.
These boys really love being outside in the woods. They seem to instantly relax and stop bickering with each other. Dare I say they even 'team up' for adventurous games and stick 'hunts'.
Callum, who can be reserved, talked endlessly. I don't even remember what he talks about but I do remember that he talked for what felt like an hour...without stopping.
Jude bounced along, happy to have a stick and an endless world to explore. August's arrival always triggers the feeling that summer is coming to an end but simple outings like this one help us soak it all up!

Five Years Ago..

Mama and Papa were not mama and papa. They were just two kids in love who got married. A lot has happened since then but it's still a pretty simple story...