Things I did today:
Things Alan did:
Things the kids did:
Now we are all eating pizza and watching Zootopia. Happy Sunday!
Perler bead creations. The kids were busy today!
Life is good.
We took a great day trip to the White Mountains with Rosy today. We explored the Lost River and Gorge, then we got lunch, then headed up to the Basin. We were going to swim, but the water was sooooooo cold! Fresh mountain water!
At the Lost River we started by going down, down, down.
Then we went back up!
Eve asked me to take her picture. Unfortunately you can’t really see the waterfall behind her.
So beautiful!
Sistahs!
Rosy took a picture of me and Alan and the kids up in that bridge. Maybe she’ll share it with us. 😀
We also went crawling through caves and rock formations. It was so much fun!!
It’s hard to take pictures in dark caves!
Then we climbed all the way up to the tip top for an amazing view!
The famous Lemon Squeeze! If you don’t fit through that wooden frame, you won’t fit through the squeeze!
Duck!
Alan bravely went through the Lemon Squeeze with the kids!
It was all smiles all day!
We took a break in the tree house. Do you see the baby bear behind Eve?
There’s another one! There were adorable carved bears all around the tree house.
After lunch we went over to The Basin. There are so many amazing things to see in the White Mountains.
A waterfall near the basin.
The water was CHILLY!!
Chilly, but beautiful.
They went in anyway!
To round out the day we stopped for ice cream. When you have lunch at 3pm, ice cream for dinner is perfect!
Eve sat by herself on the bench to eat ice cream and read her book.
A great day was had by all! (except the poor woman who broke her ankle at the Basin and had to wait nearly an hour for the rescue squad to get to her!) We saw a few other things up that way that looked interesting, so we all agreed another day trip would be in order.
We have our own baseball team in town these days and last night we finally made it to a game! The kids fussed and moaned about going, but ended up having a blast and begging to go back tomorrow!
We don’t have propped baseball attire and gear yet, but we did ok. 😄
Trying for a Mom/Eve selfie, but umm, someone is attacking from behind!
It got a little chilly towards the end, but it was a perfect night for baseball!
We didn’t exactly catch a ball (like I said above, we were unprepared), but one of the players tossed a long drive foul ball over the fence to the kids. 😄
Rosy came with us to join in the fun. We are hoping to make it back Sunday or Monday for another home game. Go local sports team!! 😄
A few months ago Eve decided she wanted to get her ears pierced. She started saving her money, earned the final amount at our yard sale last weekend, and immediately wanted to get it done! We drove around all afternoon, but could not find a place that was open, did ear piercing, and had someone available to do it. Seemed like the magic trifecta did not exist on a Saturday afternoon! Eve was disappointed, but she rallied and we made an appointment for Tuesday morning instead. The big day FINALLY came and she was thrilled! She asked, a lot, about how it would go, how much it would hurt, what the earrings would look like, and would they get infected. I told her Rosy’s story and she said, “Yeah, I know. Rosy told me.” :)
When we got there for her appointment she was excited to learn that they have tons of starter earrings to chose from. She found her birthstones and decided they were the ones.
They did both ears at the same time. I held her hand and took pictures at the same time. She just sat there with her big eyes. <3
I posted a bunch of pictures on Snapchat, but forgot to save them before they expired. Too much technology in my life! These are the only two pictures I took not through Snapchat.
The whole process takes about three minutes from start to finish. Lex was with us but couldn’t look. Eve had those big old eyes and hyperactive (nervous) energy. I just laughed and enjoyed the whole process. She was so excited! She even was happy to pay for them herself, including the cleaning solution that they “strongly recommend.” She has done a great job, so far, of cleaning them twice a day and turning them with clean fingers. We agreed they would stay in until the end of September and then she could change them. She loves them so much she says she is in no hurry to change them.
One of the ladies at the salon showed Eve that she had several piercings in each ear, including birthstone earrings just like Eve. While paying, Eve whispered to me, “This is good, but I think I am just going to get one piercing in each ear. There is no reason to get more done.” :)
Eve helped with yard sale signs. :)
We had a busy yard sale weekend. Saturday went really well, with four other houses on the street joining in and tons of people stopping by! The kids set up a stand (borrowed from the neighbor) and sold lemonade and rice crispy treats. It went so well I updated the signs, sent out news messages to the listserve and Facebook, and extended my sale through Sunday. Apparently Sunday is NOT a yard sale day! I had only three people stop by and none of them bought anything, though they did take things from my “free” table. At noon I boxed everything up and took it all to the donation center!
We have been trying have more fun family time and apparetly my yard sale didn’t count, so this afternoon we decided to take a hike up Mt. Ascutney. Well, the plan was to drive up and then walk the “easy” trail to the summit. We double checked that the road to the top was open, so we didn’t have the same problem we had last time we tried it!
We went to Jesse’s for dinner, after calling ahead to make sure dogs are allowed on the patio. Part way through dinner the manager came to tell us that dogs are not actually allowed on the patio (darn OSHA!), but she kindly allowed us to put him on the other side of the split rail fence. His first time out to dinner and he gets booted. Poor pup!
By the time we finished dinner and got to the mountain it was already 7pm. I said, great, it will be a sunset hike! The website says the park closes at sunset, but the guy at the gate said the gate locks at 8pm. Eek! So we did a very hurried hike!
We were expecting an easy .7 mile trail, but we got this instead!
Do you see the trail in there?!?
It was worth it though! Look at this view!
Beautiful sky!
Almost sunset.
At the West Peak Vista, on the way to the summit.
Some people get beautiful family portraits… we get this! :)
Arlo was there too. :)
Alan being a human compass, pointing out the sights for the kids.
Then it was off to the summit!!
More of this! NOT the flat, easy trail I promised the kids.
Seriously?! And we were doing it in a hurry! Energetic Eve and Alan zipped right ahead, but Lex and Arlo and I took a bit longer.
When we finally made it to the summit we found pure beauty! There is an observation tower at the top (which I did not get a picture of), so you can get even higher!
Eve, enjoying the view.
Moments before the sky turned pink.
Eve suggested a photo! :)
Then Lex asked to be in the photo!! My lucky day!
We were almost half an hour late and when we got back to the car, the park rangers were heading up the road, probably looking for us! I got a quick glimpse of a beautiful pink sunset from the viewing area, but Alan was in the car and the park rangers were driving up, so I didn’t get the final photo. It will have to live in memory!
The day was full of ups and downs, but we all agreed to keep “practicing” our fun family outings and hopefully we’ll get better at them! :)
I have been thinking a lot about being a woman in our culture. So much in the news about rape mentality and “leaning in” and how women dress and now that Eve is growing up I have it all swirling in my head. She has very long legs and a slender body so things that fit around her waist are often too short, in my opinion. However, trying to explain “too short” is tricky. In school I just tell her there is a “finger-tip” policy, which she promptly, and rightly, argues that others are doing it so why can’t she? Outside of school the discussion is trickier.
Let’s all go to the movies…
She wore this outfit the other day. That used to be a suitable dress, a few inches ago. I told her she needs to put something under it. She pulled up the skirt and showed me the short shorts that were already under it. She’s a smart girl and knows that she always needs something under a skirt. However, the shorts and the dress are both too small! I tell her that and she says, but why, they fit fine. I tell her they are too short and she says, “too short for what?” Therein lies the question. Too short for what?
Hmmm… too short for her prudish mother? Too short for those long legs? Too short for today’s culture? I have no real answer. She isn’t wearing them to be sexy, obviously, and not even really for “comfort” like some women argue about scant clothing. Mostly she wears them because she likes them and they fit last year and they still feel comfortable so why not. I know I need to go through her drawers, again, and take out everything I think is too small, however, I can’t do that forever. She is going to have those long legs for the rest of her life and she needs to be confident in her body and her attire, but still not make herself an easy target. I am grateful that she is a strong, capable girl with great social skills and I know that will take her far in life, I just hope I can teach her to take care of herself and someday come up with a good reason to explain “too short.”
I saw this on the wall in the bathroom at the vet’s office. Random place, but I love the quote and it somehow seems relevant to this post.
Big kids, big problems.
Arlo spent yesterday at the vet’s office. He had a nice little nap and work up a little lighter! They said he was a champ. This vet was the first vet to examine him when he got up here as a little puppy and it’s fun to hear all of the staff ooohing and aaahing over him now. One vet assistant walked and said, “Oh my gosh, he is so big now!” Another told us that he came up with a sister who was adopted by someone else. I immediately asked who, but she said she didn’t know. She said Arlo was definitely the calmer of the two. :) It’s nice that they know his history and really seem to care about him. I love our vet and her staff! :)
We had the option of a cone or old t-shirt. The shirt looks dopey, but I thought it would be the more comfortable of the choices. He is not amused. :)
Begging for cheese. I spoiled him just a little bit that evening. I figure he deserved it after such a long day.
I also asked the vet to look at his very red paw and she said he had a yeast infection between his toes. I said it started right after I had him groomed, could that be a cause, and she just smiled and nodded. Can’t win! So now he has a few days of antianxiety meds, pain relievers, antibiotics for the yeast, and wipes I’m supposed to clean his paw twice a day. Between his meds and my meds, my counter is starting to look like a pharmacy!
PS. The word “Arlo” is a very unattractive word. :/ I should have that of that before proposing the name! Lesson learned.
Our neighbors got a new camper and invited Eve to sleep over the first night. She was pretty excited.
All ready for a sleepover.
We had a nice chat on the walk over too. She told me that she often feels jealous of Lex because he is older and gets to do a lot of stuff (in her mind) that she doesn’t, but she tries to reminder herself that there are things she does that he doesn’t, like sleepovers. She said she feels a little sad for Lex that he doesn’t get to have fun sleepovers and sleepaway camps. It was a nice conversation, and when I told Alan about it later he said that they had a similar conversation a few days ago at breakfast, only it was him pointing those things out to her! It’s always nice to hear evidence that your kid is listening! :)
My neighbor said she bought the camper because she has fond memories of camping as a child and playing in their camper. Reminded me of the old tow-behind we used to have parked in the side lawn and all the fun times we had playing in it. It was like our own little play house.
Big smiles!
I woke up in the middle of the night to a big thunder storm and immediately thought of Miss Eve in a camper! She told me later that she woke from the first drop of rain that fell and stayed awake through the whole storm. She said she wasn’t scared, just couldn’t sleep. I bet there were a few emotions going on that she wasn’t telling me about. :)
Since Mom and Dad don’t have a blog I figure it’s my job to document this event, Bodhi puppy is going to live in the country! Lucky pup! Lucky parents! We are all pretty happy for many reasons. I’m happy we get to see him grow up. Happy there is a new bundle of joy to keep them busy. And happy that it wasn’t me adopting him! LOL!
Here are a few pics.
Bodhi came to visit at our house for a few minutes. He came with his brother and Parrish. Arlo wasn’t sure what to make of all the commotion and little things in his house!
Bodhi (left) and his brother Dash (right) having a final play before Bodhi headed home.
They are so stinkin’ cute!! Dash on the left and Bodhi on the right.
Bodhi wasn’t real interested in leaving his brother and walking all the way over to our house, so Dad gave him a ride.
We have said goodbye to three other puppies, so it was very nice to be able so say “see ya later” to Bodhi.
Bodhi in a box. It’s like a puppy car seat. I wonder how quickly he was out of that box and snuggled on a lap. <3
Mom reminded me of a great picture I posted on the blog the first time I posted puppy pictures. When we went back to find it we were happy to see that the puppy in the picture was Bodhi! Maybe it was meant to be. (Maybe it was Facebook actually, since I can’t find the post on the blog.)
Bodhi and Lex, the very first time we met the puppies.
Congrats Mema and Grandpa Tom. Now we have yet another great reason to visit! :)
I’m at a course this week learning to teaching Coding and Robotics to the Elementary and Middle Grades. I’m LOVING it! I’m so thankful to have a job I can immediately apply this new knowledge too as well. We met Friday to learn a lot of stuff, then this week we are “teacher helpers” at a coding camp for kids. It has been interesting learning with and from the kids, several who have coding experience already.
We have been focusing on code.org, and Lego WeDo 2.0, and touched a bit on Scratch as well. Here is my first Scratch project. :)
The WeDos are similar to the NXT and EV3 programs that Lex has and loves. It has been interesting and challenging learning this “simplified” program because Lego made it more cartoony, but less usable. These kids (and teachers!) are struggling with the lack of functionality, inconsistent outcomes, and vague icons. As someone who has studied usability in the past, I can honestly say there is no excuse for this, especially from Lego! That said, I will continue learning it and developing ways I can introduce it in my library without having 250 confused kids!
Big thanks to Alan and my parents who team up to take care of the homestead while I’m away for five days!