Last day of summer vacation.

We celebrated the last day of summer vacation, and a beautiful day at that, with some big muscle activity – a hike down Quechee Gorge. It was supposed to be a Valley Quest, but we are very familiar with the path and yet still couldn’t find the treasure box at the end. Oh well. We had a great time anyway!

long path

Away they go!

eve

Eve wore her “exercise dress” for the hike.

lex

How’s this for big muscle activity!?

snack

Snack time. Big muscle activity takes frequent refueling!

skipping rocks

The weird arm positions are because Lex was teaching the other two how to skip rocks.

low water

The water is very low this year. Unlike this week last year! Hello Irene!

caterpillar

Eve finds caterpillars everywhere we go. At the farm later in the day she had a wooly bear crawling up her shoulder!

leaves

On the way back up the hill the kids gathered “beautiful leaves” for a bouquet for me. I reminded them that in a few weeks we’ll have more leaves than we know what to do with right in our own front lawn!

After the hike we headed over to the farm to pick up our CSA share for this week. The kids ran around for awhile then announced that they were “boiling hot!” We grabbed some frozen yogurt from the CSA and brought it home for lunch. After a nice quiet time, including a scary chapter from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabahn, we spent the afternoon playing with our neighbor. It was peaceful and nice. The kids ended up in bed late because we had to pick Alan up from work, but so far they are both excited for school tomorrow. Hopefully they keep that excitement in the morning!

Hangman

Eve has taken an interest in Hangman lately. Look at the game from lunch today. Before she put in the “P” I was entirely stumped and convinced she was making things up. She told me it was three words and when I got the “U” it was clear they were repeating words. I completely missed the “P” and, to be honest, it’s because I quickly assumed she was making up words. Or changing her mind as she went a long, which she tends to do. When I was completely hung she giggled (a lot!) and started writing the “P”. Up Up Up. She was so proud of herself!

hangman

When I came in to read her stories after lunch I found her rocking her babies and reading them a story. She is so sweet and smart and ready for school!

reading

Speaking of school, here is Eve’s quote of the day:
“I hope there’s not going to be any learning on the first day of school.”