Home Again, Home Again

Just a bit tired from her two weeks in Maine...

Still in her clothes, lights on, surrounded by stuffties, legs crossed, asleep.  Vacationing done right.  Wear them into the ground, that's what I always say.

Ah, yes, swimming in Maine in July

That's Frances in the white and Chandler in the blue.

And just so we're clear, that's a lake behind them, not the ocean.

Also, I didn't get in at all.

Looong Day

After reading and hiking all day long, the kids treated themselves to some homemade ice cream sandwiches, made with homemade ice cream and homemade chocolate cookies.  (It may have been my suggestion, but Jocelyn made it happen.)

And then the kids collapsed, in their clothes with the lights on.

Just a wee bit tired.

Best Playground Ever

We decided to give Beech a rest.  We got super creative and went to Ships.  (I really need to make a goal of one new trail per year.)  Frances was her speedy self with the cousins, so Chandler and I had the rocks to ourselves.

Chandler was so happy.

Tide pools are just the best.

Seaweed's not bad either.

Oh, to have this in our backyard.

Chandler Gets In On The Act

Chandler's latest puzzling behavior is "reading."  Just like her big cousins and her big sister, Chandler has taken to staring at pages with words, no pictures.    That's the back of her head, below.  What an...interesting child.

Clockwise from Chandler, we have Clare, Katie, James, Frances and Nora.  See the sunlight streaming in?  See everyone ignoring it?  I considered reminding them of the cold, dark, long winter ahead, but they were being quiet, so who cares, really?

The Good Life, To Some

I added a little filter to this one, but I believe the cloudiness of the day is still apparent. I had a little giggle with myself.  Waiting around for good swimming weather is not in these kids' natures.  Thank goodness, since they all hail from the frozen north.

I like these cousins

Yes, there's an extra.  Jocelyn didn't think driving halfway across the country with three kids and a dog was enough fun, so she roped in a Cowen-side cousin.  Katie fit right in.

It wasn't long before Frances was following suit.  The poor Most Photographed Tree wasn't getting much love that night.

The Little Person and I

Our third and final trip down Beech, Chewie and I had the trail to ourselves.  She wanted her picture taken as much as I wanted to take it.

By the second half of the trail, we'd been transformed into the aforementioned matching glittery Pegasus/unicorns.

Naturally.

The Next Phase

I've seen our future, and it looks like this:

Yes, we've entered Harry Potter land, thanks to the Cowen cousins. I'm not complaining.  Frances has now read the first book on her own.  She seemed a little fuzzy on the details, however, kept calling Hagrid "Harold."  We're going to listen to the audiobook before proceeding to the second book, just to illuminate any lingering mysteries.

My next project is talking Frances into being Hermione for Halloween, instead of Mal from Descendants.  There's no comparison really, but Frances is distracted from this truth by Mal's purple wig.  I've got over eight weeks to work on her.  No problem.

A Whole New Ball Park

The girls' Cowen cousins showed up for our second week in Maine.  Before I could bat an eye, this happened:

And then this:

And then this:

Yep, Frances joined the cousins for a swim from the dock to the shore at high tide.

It is difficult to express in words how cold that water is.  I did this swim with Frances a couple years ago without a life jacket.  About half way through the swim, I wasn't sure I was going to make it.  It was not at all clear to me that my body wouldn't seize up in protest.

And then there's Frances.  I do not know how she does it.  It's not like she's got body fat to insulate her.  And yet, there she is, doing it.  She is definitely rising to the high bar set by the cousins.  And I'm so very proud of her for keeping up.  But the pride is all but overwhelmed by stupefaction.

Ninety-Two Months of Frances, The Rising Second Grader

Ninety-Two Months Fun Fact

• Mobility:  This biking thing is a revelation.  When we were kids, biking on the carriage roads in Maine was frowned upon by certain patriarchs in our family.  It was considered too fast to allow proper appreciation of the scenery.  But here's the thing:  biking is fun.  When kids are having fun, they don't whine.  When kids aren't whining, adults are happy.  Thus, all hail the bike!  It's true, Frances's first ride on the carriage roads was not a smashing success.  She thought it was too bumpy.  But we will persevere, and I am sure Frances's endurance will improve.  We might even make it all the way around Eagle Lake sometime soon.  And if she bikes, her legs will get stronger.  If her legs get stronger, she'll have more fun hiking.  If she's having fun hiking, she won't whine.  Parents of young children, that light at the end of the tunnel is not an on-coming train!

Fifty-Three Months of Preschooler Chandler

This kid is a humdinger.

Fifty-Three Months Fun Fact:

• Biking:  She's got the balance bike down pat.  We're moving into pedals.  Here's hoping.
• Books:  Chandler loves Hansel and Gretel.  We've probably read over five versions of it.  The copy we have at home has been read many, many atime.  And I'm still not sure what appeals to her in particular.  The story often has wonderful details, like Hansel using a chicken bone to fool the witch about his weight, but our version doesn't include that detail, much to my dismay.  Maybe if I can entice her to draw a picture from the story I'll understand the fascination better?  Perhaps.  Surely it has nothing to do with burning the stepmother/witch (those characters are clearly muddled in some versions).  Surely...

Beech and Beech and Beech

We climbed Beech three times this summer.

It never disappoints, but this year was especially exciting for a couple reasons.  The fire tower was open on the weekends.  I don't remember it ever being open in my life.  It was such fun to get up in it.  A forest ranger explained a bit about mapping and reporting fires.

And we gave the long way down a try with the girls for the first time.  Usually, we use the short, gradual trail up and down.  I love the long way down, but it is long and I've never felt the girls were up to it.  This year, they did it twice, under their own steam.  One of the times, Frances was with her older cousins and Chandler and I were hiking alone.  Chandler chatted the entire time, all this pretend stuff with us as matching, glitter-covered Pegasus/unicorn beings.  Talked and talked and talked, and hiked!  It was a miracle.  And it meant we got to see all the beauty of the long way down.

Nicely done girls!  Next stop, hiking in Wales, or Iceland, or Machu Picchu or...

Just Another Day

Ice cream.

Library.

Playground.

Throw in a hike, sail or picnic, and you've got perfection.  Still, ice cream, the library and the playground aren't half bad.

On Top of Old Cadillac...

...all covered with hats!

Frances's teacher, Ms. Coughlan, texted me on our first full day in Maine to tell us that Frances had left her hat at school.  I texted her this picture to reassure her that Frances would survive without that particular hat:

Say what you will about BPS, it has some dedicated teachers.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

Time to head north again!

This arrangement of course didn't last longer than a few minutes.  I think the excuse was they needed to sleep closer to me, but if they'd just go to sleep, that wouldn't be an issue.

We were in Maine a little more than two weeks in July, first with my sister Lindsay's family, then with some Arkansas friends, and finally with my sister Jocelyn's family.  A high point was fireworks in Southwest - so low-key yet so impressive. It was a great first fireworks experience for the girls.  Next year, maybe we'll try out Boston's fireworks shenanigans, but I bet all the hoopla only makes me miss Southwest.  It was so small-town perfect.

You Say Tomahto

A friend of mine, my long-ago college roommate, says I shouldn't encourage Chandler's mountain goat behavior by taking her picture.

I like to think of it as encouraging her independent problem-solving.

We will agree to disagree, the secret to our twenty-three year relationship.

Department of Miracles

Mark and I have been trying to get Frances comfortable on a two-wheel bike for at least two summers.  No luck, whatsoever.  Weeping, gnashing of teeth.  It was not pretty.

Finally, we had the idea of removing her useless training wheels and her pedals, essentially creating a large balance bike.  She pushed herself around with her feet for two weeks, and voila!

We were actually in a bike shop for exciting reasons unrelated to Frances.  Frances jumped on a two-wheel bike and started riding like it was no big deal.

Major coup.

Next up is Chandler on a two-wheeler.  I'm planning on that going much more smoothly, now that we're getting so good at this parenting thing.

Yum....

...summer.

Chef Chandler

Chandler decided we were making lemon cupcakes.  Ok, kiddo.  She loves cupcakes.

See the tongue stuck out in concentration?  I'm blaming an Upton gene.  Who does that outside of cartoons?

Good thing she's so cute.

Her favorite part of this recipe was the colored sugar that decorated the cupcakes' tops.

But then, miracle of miracles, she actually liked the finished product!

She has requested that we make them again this week.  I will oblige.  It's not quite the healthy food exploration that Frances got at Montessori, but it's not so bad either.

Frances has requested we make cinnamon buns, a food I swore I'd never bake because the packaged buns are so good.  But I can't really turn down a request for made-from-scratch goodness.  We are going to be up to our eyeballs in homemade sweets.  So be it.

Father's Day!

We did Father's Day right this year.  We went to dinner on a farm, so it involved BBQ and getting out of town - two of Mark's favorite things.

When we arrived at the farm, the girls monkeyed around for a bit.

It was the cleanest farm I'd every seen.  They knew how to make city folk feel welcome.

We listened to bluegrass and ate our BBQ.  There were other food options, but why fight BBQ in June on a farm?

Several lawn games were available, but the girls were most interested in tug-o-war.

Frances kept tugging for two hours.  Two hours!

'I think of Chandler as our fiery child, but Frances definitely has her competitive side.  She barely stopped for ice cream.  I was very impressed.  We've encouraged her to try out some sports but have been rebuffed.  Clearly, we need to find a tug-o-war team.

Anyway, a blazing success.  We may just have established our Father's Day strategy from here on out.

Ready for Kindergarten?

For two years, Chandler has been attending a playgroup run by Boston Public Schools.  It's a well-regarded program that gives kids a chance to practice sharing with kids besides their siblings and listening to adults besides their parents.  Let's face it: they just hit their siblings and ignore their parents.

So Chandler has had two years of student practice and is moving on to the big time.  There was a party to celebrate.  First, Chandler got her face painted.  Big excitement. 

Then she got a certificate.  Less excitement, but still.

And I got to chat with a bunch of mamas from around town.  A success.

Real thing, here she comes!

God help us.