I won a photo shoot and 8’x10′ picture in a silent raffle at school last spring. Does it count as “winning” if you have to pay for it? I paid $5 or something. I was excited. Last month I noticed that it expired in September so I called to set up the appointment. After clicking around their website a bit I was less excited. The photo poses were all quite dull. After talking to the woman on the phone and finding out that there is no way to get the digital copies I was even less excited. I told her I was hoping to use one for Christmas cards and she said, “Don’t worry, we sell Christmas cards.” Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about!

I made the appointment for two weeks ago but had to reschedule because Alan was really sick. Rescheduled for today. So my day went like this. Rush the whole family out the door at 7:55. Drop kids off at school. Drop Alan off at work. Bring myself to work. Of course it is cold and raining through all of this. Then I went out of my way to go to the Dunkin Donuts that sells cheap iced tea (this momma needs her caffeine!) only to find that they had raised their prices. Sigh. Made it to work anyway. Busy, but productive day. Home in time to get the kids off the bus. Eve was a mess. She’s so high and low. She ran home, yelling happily, jumping in puddles… then ended up collapsed in the living room in tears. Why? She couldn’t tell me. She said her body just needed to cry. Which, funny enough, was almost the same thing Lex told me in bed tonight as he was in tears. Sigh.

I got her calmed down, we all had snack, then started the effort of finding coordinating clothes for a family photo. Can you see how unexcited I was about this?! :) No fancy shoes or manicures. We just got somewhat matching clothes and headed out. The lady at the (sketchy looking) place asked me a half a dozen times if I needed to use the powder room to freshen up my make-up. I was kind of offended, but mostly just didn’t care. Lex put up a fuss about going, but I bribed encouraged him with the promise of Panera for dinner so he cooperated and overall the photo shoot went well.

Turns out the owners/photographers are the parents of the one kid in school Lex doesn’t like. Luckily for all of us Lex chose to keep his opinions to himself when they told us who their kid was.

Panera for dinner turned out to be exhausting. The kids were uber silly and loud. Wore me right out. Home for a late bedtime. Back at it tomorrow!

We go back next week to look through the photos and pick one for our 8’x10′. I’ll post a picture of it when we get it. :)

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!

Away they go!

Eve wore her “exercise dress” for the hike.

How’s this for big muscle activity!?

Snack time. Big muscle activity takes frequent refueling!

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

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

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

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!

Real quick. Last post. When it rains it pours around here!

Eve pouting in the corner because “No one will play with me,” after Lex and I got bored of playing her endless imaginary game. Poor girl. She needs some 5yr old girl friends to play with!

This is what quiet time in our house looks like sometimes. Other times it’s a boy lost in a book. I never know what I’ll find when I open the door.

Who can resist licking the bowl after the most popular snack in the house – popcorn with raisins, spray butter, and nutritional yeast!

Tea and the newspaper. Like my new tea mug? I painted it myself. :)

Eve bought window markers with her allowance last week and our windows have been thoroughly decorated all week. We finally got around to washing them this weekend. I even managed to make it a game for the kids!

I can’t expect to make it through a busy week with family and babysitters and contractors and house disruptions and all without at least one major breakdown. This week’s breakdown came courtesy of Lex on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately it ended with him jumping off the ottaman in his bedroom and crashing face first into a wooden doll cradle. The result was a scrape on his gums above his front teeth, a cut on the inside of his lip, and an hour with a mouthful of gauze to contain the bleeding. Now he’s left with a fat lip. Poor boy.

One more day until school starts!

After kindergarten open house we swung by the house to pick up Mema and Lex and then headed out for an exciting day at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center in Burlington. We went there once last year but Eve was sick and it wasn’t a stellar success. This trip went MUCH better! It was a beautiful day, the kids were all happy and eager, and we had a great time!

It’s a beautiful day on Lake Champlain.

Checking out the fish while waiting for me to check in at the museum.

First things first, lunch on the terrace.

Lunch with a view. What more could we ask for?!

First stop in the museum was a sunken ship exhibit. The kids loved it. We actually started and ended our visit in this shipwreck!

Then off to visit the turtles. Did you know there exists a soft-shelled turtle?

Eve loved the touch tank. I didn’t get a good picture of her touching the sea star, but this is a cool picture of a sea star feeding. The museum woman said you can tell it’s feeding because it is bunched up in the middle.

Out on the deck for a quick pic. :) I love that he smiles for the camera these days!

Getting a better view of New York state with a good pair of museum binoculars.

Getting silly. Time for a break.

We went back outside for a snack break, then a trip through the ankle misting machine. :)

When we left the museum we walked up to Church Street, which is a cool walking street with lots of activity. The first thing we found there is a painted bear exhibit. I didn’t catch the details of why, but there were painted bears everywhere. A fundraiser for something, I’m sure. The kids decided we need to take pictures of them on every single bear. Mema and I took turns taking the pictures. I’ll spare you every single one and just post a few. :)

The game was to try and take the picture before Eve stuck her tongue out. I didn’t win with this picture. :)

We stopped a the Lake Champaign Chocolate store. I vetoed the “block of chocolate” option and we agreed on a bag of mixed chocolates instead.

I love these unprompted, heart-melting, hand-holding moments. It does a momma proud.

At the end of the street we found a fountain. The kids couldn’t resist. I couldn’t say no.

Lo and behold, we found a Panera Bread on Church Street! One with outdoor seating. One where the staff delivers your meal! Life is good. (on that note, I didn’t make it to the Life is Good store just down the street…. maybe next trip.)

One more bear for good measure.

Then back in the car, more Wizard of Oz on audiobook for the drive home, and tired happy children. Life is good.