Drums

Both kids love to play the drums. We only have one rule - you must wear ear protection! Both kids help themselves to the drum set and we love to hear them play. You should hear Marty sing while he drums!

Playground

When the weather starts to cool down, we seem to head straight outside. We are realizing we only have a limited amount of time to enjoy the good weather before it will be too cold to be outside for long stretches.  A few weekends ago, we took the kids to the playground to get some much needed outside time together.  Here are the two girls. Maeve's hat is adorable!

 Lizzie is so brave on the playground!

 Maeve is always on the go!

 You can't see his mouth, but his eyebrows tell me he is smiling.

 Kate just finished making new hats for the kids - in perfect time, too!  The kids put them right on this day.

 See how long Lizzie's hair is here? We are using yarn extensions every so often to make her hair longer for different styles - she loves them! A great way to keep her hair natural and give her some different choices.

 I love this color on Marty - so handsome!

October catch up

I seem to have lost the cord that connects my camera to my computer. I have ordered a new cord, but meanwhile, this has been a pretty quiet space.  I ran my 3rd 5k of the summer in October. After the race, the kids got a chance to run an obstacle course too!

 This is the first time all 5 of us have run together. Hopefully the first of many!

Litchfield Fair!

Another great Maine weekend!  We look forward to this every year. Here Lizzie and Timber are riding the bumper cars.  Lizzie loves going on rides - she is fearless!

 Mimi and Marty watch from the sideline - he can't wait to be tall enough!

 She was all smiles - the whole time (well, I think they both were).

 Lizzie picked out her own colors for the yarn extensions.

 Lizzie and I went on a couple of the bigger spinning rides together.  We both had a great time!

 It is a good thing she Mimi and Timber buy her a ride bracelet - she goes on them over and over!

 Marty gets a ride around the fair.

 Our first stop at the fair was the antique tractor section.  A big hit with Marty!

 Both got a chance to sit on them.

 Lizzie was a big helper to Marty on the rides - this was his first year on most of them.

 We also enjoyed the exhibition halls. Lots of blue ribbons for Mimi and Timbers produce and canned goods. Then a trip in the petting zoo! The kids had their faces painted and had balloon animals made.  What a great day!

Wedding party

This past weekend, we had the great joy of celebrating Ben and Jen's wedding.  It is always fun to go to Aunt Mary and Uncle George's for a family party (or for sledding) and this was no exception.  Without planning it, the kids are color coordinated, so we tried to get a photo of them all together.  This is take 500 or so, and the closest to all smiles I could find on my camera.

 There are a great many hills for rolling down or running around here.  The kids ran around a lot and played really well together (and with other cousins) - they were exhausted by the time we headed home!

 This is also where my dad grew up. Here he is with his siblings, walking around the fields.

 I took the kids twirling in circles.

 Lizzie, Martin and Maevey owned the dance floor.  They love dancing and are all great ages for a wedding dance floor.

 The happy couple.

 Do you see Marty holding hands with Grammy and Aunt Irene?  He would dance around some on his own or get picked up, but he always went back to hold the hands of these two!  So cute!

What a great night!

Folk Festival

After our camping trip, we stopped at the folk festival on the way home.  We were just in time to see the zydeco group at the dance tent.  We were hot and tired, but were glad to be there!

camping!

In our last weekend of summer, we took the kids swimming with our good friends Bob, Laura and Rosa.  We went to Mattawampkeag and had a nice site not far from this river.  The kids loved fishing - Marty really mastered casting!  He swings it like a baseball bat with great success.

 Our site also had a nice lean to - perfect!

 Ryan loves camping. Loves cooking on an open fire, pretty much all things camping.  This was the first time we had taken the kids and it was a great success!  We were a little tired the next day, but the kids both had naps on the way home.  First of many trips together!