August 21

Lizzie and I have had a great day. We started out having breakfast with Ryan before he headed to the garden. Then, we headed to Hampden for the Children's parade. Lizzie and I both really enjoyed the parade and she was fast asleep in the carseat before we crossed the town line. When Ryan was finished working, we all headed to the lake for a swim. Tonight we had a nice meal from the garden and took a walk around the neighborhood. What a great day! Here is Lizzie helping husk the corn.
Here she is in the water - she loves swimming (she is really getting the hang of it) and is pretty fearless about jumping in over and over.

This picture is from last weekend - Uncle Dan came home and we were all trying to fly a kite that he brought earlier in the summer - it was the perfect windy day for it - and the kite got some great height.

What a handsome husband I have! Below is a picture of Lizzie and I when we were watching for the kite.

Earlier this week, Aunt Angi came over for dinner and to see Lizzie. Lizzie really enjoyed showing her around the house and playing with her. They had a lot of fun together! When I got home from work, Lizzie was upstairs showing her the "big girl bed"(pronounced big "guurl" bed).

August 14th

Last weekend we met Mimi and Timber in Stockton Springs to go blueberry raking. We had a wonderful day of it - having lunch and an ice cream too. Lizzie had great fun!
Lizzie ran to see Mimi when they arrived - she was very excited!

The blueberries took a little longer to rake this year, but were just as delicious as last year.

Here we are heading to lunch in Belfast.

Heading back to the car.

There is a serious lack of pictures of me in this round - we are going to try to get a few more next time.

August

Last weekend, Lizzie and I went to Aunt Kate's house (we call it "the new house") to make some strawberry jam. Lizzie was a big help (jam tester) and we enjoyed some of the first batch in popovers.
Pretty cupboards!

Happy Lizzie!

We made 6 batches of strawberry jam in total (from local berries - we froze them as we couldn't seem to make jam in season) - phew! We are headed to the blueberry fields tomorrow - should be fun!

Last of July

Lizzie and Ryan spent Wednesday in Blue Hill with Ryan and Alison. The four of them went to a farm, to the Blue Hill Co-op and to a playground. A great day!

Last weekend was a family reunion in Arrowsic. Lizzie and I had a great time! Uncle Paul took a bunch of us on a quick walk to this lighthouse - very fun! Lizzie met her cousin Avery for the first time at the party - they are only about a month a part. Fun to have cousins close in age if not in location!

More of last Wednesday's trip to Blue Hill:

More of the family reunion (very out of order today!)

Lizzie and I are planning to go to a parade tomorrow and then will make some jam - our first batch this year (we are a little behind, but I have the fruit frozen from earlier in the summer).

TGIF

What a lovely Friday! Ryan and Lizzie are outside right now, swinging on the hammock. Fridays are big days in the summer as this is when all of the CSA produce is bagged and delivered to our three drop spots. It means a very early morning for Ryan and lots to be done on a schedule. So, by 4 or 5 on Friday night, we are all pretty tired and usually end up on the hammock in the evening. Just a quick post and then I will go out and join them. Last weekend we got a balloon from the grocery store - I explained to her that she had to hold on to it so it wouldn't fly away and she took that job very seriously!
As the garden is going gang-busters, Ryan (and sometimes me too) spends some of many evenings getting any extra food cut, cleaned and frozen. Here he has Lizzie helping him - she really liked helping with the basil - she loves having a job to do! We will be so glad for the basil in the winter - we love pesto!

One pic

I just uploaded photos again tonight and found that we only took one picture of Lizzie since my last post - that made choosing what to post easier! Uncle Dan (aka Super Dan) came home with a bunch of friends last weekend - we had a great time visiting with them - Lizzie was especially happy with all of her new friends!

July 4

What a hot week we have had! These pictures are from the fourth of July, but this is a pretty good example of what we have been doing on these hot days!! I think we have tried to swim nearly every day this week. Here is Uncle Tom giving Bullet a bit of a rest in the water - what a swimmer! The dog jumped off the dock, which is always fun to watch.
In fine Dickens Family tradition, Tom and Char lit a watermelon with sparklers - something we used to do when all of my grandparents and grand aunts and uncles were hosting the party in Lincolnville (to celebrate Uncle Bob's birthday, I believe). Lizzie was not quote sure what were doing, but seemed to like it when all of the sparklers were lit.

Happy girl!

Lizzie loves swimming. She is so brave in the water. Her favorite thing is to throw her self into the water and kick around (we have a very strict life jacket/grown up rule, thank goodness). She even likes jumping off of the dock. She is only supposed to jump into the waiting arms of an adult, but yesterday she started jumping towards me and then took a deliberate turn to her right to jump away from me - we have to be very careful of this brave one!

She also likes to go under water - she hasn't quite figured out the holding your breath part of swimming, but she wants to keep trying! Once again, thank goodness for the life jacket and the many grownup hands often around her. Last year our pediatrician recommended putting one grown up in charge of her when we are at the lake so that we don't all assume someone else is watching her - I think that is really great advice for our little fish!