Second First Day of Summer Camp

Frances started her second summer of Copper Beech Montessori Summer Camp the other day.  The summer camp is similar to the regular school year, but with less emphasis on structure and more on fun, which is just fine with me.  Here's the big three and a half year old, ready to head to camp.

Polka dots match with polka dots, of course.

First Feed

Chandler's weight percentile had dropped slightly at her four month appointment, her pediatrician believes in starting solids between four and six months and she is waking up at night a lot, so I started her on solids, despite the feeling that it was a little early.

I decided to skip bland rice cereal and go right for something that tastes good, avocados.  Added benefit: she gets to look like that kid from The Exorcist.

She was not sure what we were up to at the beginning.  But after spitting out several mouthfuls, she got the hang of it.  Frances even gave feeding her a try.

Oh, the indignities of being a second kid.

Raspberry Picking with Mimi

On Mimi's second day here, I dragged her to Russell Orchard in Ipswich for a little raspberry picking.  It ended up being a very little raspberry picking.  It was very hot, Frances was not terribly focused and I had an unhappy Chandler strapped to me, so Mimi did most of the picking.  We beat a hasty retreat to the barn and the farm stand.

The farm stand always offers good eats and is decorated with miniature flag garlands that I love.

After a picnic lunch, Frances entertained us with some more dancing.  "Frances dancing" seems to have been the theme for the weekend.

I can think of worse themes.

Habitat in Belmont

My mom stopped in on her way to Maine for her annual sailing trip with my dad.  I took her to Habitat in Belmont, yet another Mass Audubon site.  Belmont happens to be Mitt Romney's old stomping ground.  He knew what he was doing.  Belmont is lovely, and it was made even lovelier by a certain three year-old in her tutu. 

Oh, and her "dancing shoes."  Great walking attire.

Frances wanted to be sure I touched the water too.

After walking a bit, I had to stop and feed Chandler.  Frances entertained us with a little dancing.

Never a dull moment.

Twenty Weeks

Beech Mountain, for the umpteenth and first time

We had to go up Beech, of course.  Frances did it for the first time under her own steam! (I think she could have done it last year, too, but it would have taken several hours.)  Cousin Zoe ran circles around her, but Frances got the job done and conserved some energy, too.

Chandler, the lazy bum, had to be carried the whole way.  And then she wanted to be held again at the top!

Lucky she's so cute.

And Cousin Grant slept in his carrier.

Summer Solstice

During last year's trip to Maine, I decided it would be great fun to take a picture every hour, on the hour for a day-in-the-life look at life in Sawyer's Cove.  I think I took about four pictures before being offered a sailing trip.  I couldn't be bothered to take pictures while sailing, so the project went out the window.

This year, our first full day in Maine happened to also be the Summer Solstice.  The longest day of the year seemed like a great opportunity to try the project again.  I was both right and wrong about this.  I was right in that there was tons of sunlight for lots of pretty pictures.  I was wrong in that the night leading up to the Solstice, our first night in Maine, was a disaster with lots of crying from Chandler and being "afraid from the dark" from Frances. And, for a bonus, the beautiful new window blinds don't keep out a lick of light, so Frances was up at 4:30 a.m., thinking it was time to start the day.  I put the kibosh on that misunderstanding tout de suite, but it meant my bed was filled with a lot of humanity when 7 o'clock rolled around.  The day did improve from there, so without further ado, I bring you a day-in-the-life of Sawyer's Cove.


7 o'clock - Mama's bed, minus the mama

8 o'clock - Chandler cuddles up to the drunken leprechaun

9 o'clock - Still asleep; poor kid must have been up most of the night being "afraid from the dark"

10 o'clock - Cousin Grant, me, and Frances, after being pried out of bed

11 o'clock - "Smile everyone!  This is Fun!"

Noon - The almost daily trip to the grocery store.  The next time I do one of these day-in-the-life projects, I'm going to do it on a day we don't go to the grocery store.  It may take some planning.

1 o'clock - Cheerios, the lunch of champions.  In my defense, I was working on very little sleep.

2 o'clock - Getting ready for a nap.  Auntie Lindsay had done us the favor of bringing home a considerable haul from the Southwest library.  Such a nice library, I wish I could visit more than once a year.

3 o'clock - Auntie Lindsay doing the cooking, because I was busy doing the photographing.

4 o'clock -Yep, Frances is still asleep.  She really must have been up half the night.

5 o'clock - Finally, some outdoors time.  The shore right below the house is perfect for investigating seaweed, shells and crabs.  Cousin Zoe and Frances spent quite a long time getting to know a crab.  They never quite grasped that the crab was dead.

6 o'clock - Frances helping with clean-up.  Frances is great about putting things away.  She's a little less than discerning about what goes where, but as long as I don't get upset about finding Frances's toys in Chandler's drawers, for example, it all works out.

7 o'clock - The other kiddos, the ones who hadn't been asleep most of the day, were well on their way to bed.  Not so much with Frances.

8 o'clock - One last Cheerio snack before bed.

8:24 - And Sunset from the front porch.

Bonus 9:24 - The sky wasn't quite this bright - the camera exaggerated the light a bit - but this is the view from the porch an hour after sunset.  I am going to miss this light so much in a few months; maybe not so much at 4:30 a.m. with a bed full of humanity.

I'm enjoying this project, but it does make me realize we spend too much time at the grocery store.  We could remedy that by eating more scrambled eggs and less bouillabaisse with garlic aioli, but I don't see that change happening any time soon. I also think I need to photograph sunrise, but that wasn't in the cards this time around.  To next time!

Nineteen Weeks

To Maine!

Frances, Chandler and I decided to brave the drive to Maine without a co-pilot to visit with my sister, Lindsay, and her crew.  I needn't have worried about the drive.  Frances did remarkably well, yet again, and Chandler only asked to be fed every once in awhile.  I can handle that.  We arrived by the early afternoon, so after a little recuperation, we headed off to Ship Harbor so the big kids could do some running around and the littlest kid could do her usual.

Frances and Cousin Zoe doing the running around:

The littlest kid doing her usual:

Even atrocious hats can't ruin this scenery.

Frances being pensive.

Frances being not-so-pensive.

Frances and Cousin Zoe were big buddies this year, which was a big improvement on the year they weren't quite buddies at all.

So much sea to see.

In December, I'll look at these photos and be so glad I'm not standing on the shore of Mount Desert Island, but at the time it was so good for the soul.