Such a Weird Winter

Still catching up, but getting closer to normal.

This winter was very mild, disturbingly mild.  The kind of mild that makes trips to the Arboretum to play in the stream in mid-February a completely sane idea.

Here's Frances marching us down to the river and...

...Chandler heading on in.

Eventually, they were enough soaked that it was time to retreat to home.  Happiness is fresh, dry clothes.

Yet More Catching Up

Three-day weekends always catch Mark and me by surprise.

"Did you know there's a three-day weekend coming up?"  says one of us.

"No," says the other, over and over.

This February was no different.  We managed to pull ourselves together for an almost impromptu weekend in central Massachusetts.  Very pleasant despite breathtakingly cold weather.  Astoundingly cold weather.

First we visited the Eric Carle Museum, in Amherst, MA.

It wasn't as large as I imagined it, but it had a great library, bookstore and art room, all dedicated to the love of the picture book.

I'd really like to visit again while Frances is still interested in picture books (the days are numbered).

We finished up the night with a tour of Amherst and then bunkered down in the hotel.

See these angelic pink cheeks?

This is what happens to Chandler when she's exposed to the extreme cold.  And I forget every year.  I should just leave a tub of Hydrolatum with our cold weather gear.

Also, she may look angelic, but she's not.  The child is no fun in a hotel room.  A big hotel bed is way too fun to jump on, and those silly hotel people give you two big hotel beds to jump on!  I think Mark eventually had to pin her down to convince her to sleep.

The next day, the kids spent the morning swimming in the hotel pool (Frances swimming without flotation aid!) and then we found our way to the Montague Bookmill.  I'd seen the Montague Bookmill bumper sticker ("Books you don't need in a place you can't find") several times in Jamaica Plain and been intrigued.  I'm so glad we bothered to find it; this place is a gem - restaurant, bookstore, art gallery and comic book store all in one (that's not quite right, but close).

Frances came away with The Monster Who Grew Small (yay!) and Chandler found a Waldo book with lots of monsters (boo!).

One last foray outside the bookstore to take pictures of the frozen river...

...and then we rushed home.  We'd planned to visit the Massachusetts contemporary art museum, but after a night in a hotel room with Chandler, we were exhausted.  Another three-day weekend, another trip.

So Out of Order, Again

And really not of interest to anyone but Mark and me, but this is Chandler's first representational drawing, from when she was a couple months shy of three.  

I believe she said it was a drawing of me, but I couldn't swear to it.  Since there's no one here but us chickens, we'll say the picture is of me, her beloved mother.

So Out of Order

I try really hard to keep these posts in chronological order, but, what can I say?  Things happen (like new computer systems that confuse me).  So these pictures are actually from Thanksgiving, 2015.  Mimi and Sir visited us for the holiday and Sir, of course, wanted to visit the Museum of Fine Arts.  Frances was in school, Mark was working (thank you, Mark), but Chandler and I were game.  Well, a little game.  We tagged along for the museum visit, but while Mimi and Sir went to look at Dutch interiors, Chandler and I wandered over to the contemporary wing, where they have things like "grassy" bean bags.

I think her eyes match the bean bag in this one.

Those purple pants may not be the best reason to have kids, but they're not a bad reason either.

And then I persuaded Chandler to clear out so a class of kids who had been politely lurking nearby could have a chance.  I thought it was exceedingly kind of us to move on, considering how much Chandler was enjoying the bean bag.

Easter! And no snow!

Little Bunny Foo Foo (and her side-kicks)

hopping through the forest, scoopin' up the plastic eggs,

and eating the candy insides.

Maple Sugaring Days

The girls and I tried a whole new event this year!  So rare for us to break tradition, but really pleasant.  We went to the Maple Sugaring Days event near Houghton's Pond.  Nothing too fancy, but perfect for us.

The perfection began with a trolley ride from the parking lot to the event site.  The girls have seen trolleys around town and were thrilled to get on one themselves.

They immediately homed in on the important things: kettle corn and horses.  The horses were all rescue draft horses.  Their real job is working on a fossil-fuel-free farm, but on this particular day they were giving wagon rides.

This was actually very exciting for me.  As far as I can remember, I had never been in a horse-drawn carriage.  (Feel free to correct me, dear reader, if I am wrong, but I cannot remember an instance.)  I gladly shelled out for the ride around the field, the girls and I piled in the wagon, and away we went.

Afterward, the horse on the right fixed Chandler's hair for me.

He gave her a very slobbery kiss right on the top of her head, while managing not to nibble her or scare her to death.  Somehow she didn't even notice, which was fine with me.

Then we planted some seeds and...

...moved on to traditional pastimes like hula-hooping.  

At the very end of our afternoon, I was able to entice the girls into visiting the maple sugaring displays.  I don't think they were terribly impressed, but there wasn't much to see either.  It is a very long, slow process, especially when done traditionally over a log fire.

Never mind.  They love maple syrup and now they know a little bit more about where it comes from.  And the horses.  We can all get excited about them.

Thank you, Evacuation Day

Boston has this special holiday, Evacuation Day.  I can't even be bothered to find out why we're evacuating - snow, floods, the British, come to take their revenge?  All I know is that every Spring, the schools are closed for no good reason.  

This year, we took it as an opportunity to go to Drumlin Farm.  The sun bothered to come out, so we had our official First Hats Day.

Lots of animals were making their first appearance as well.

This fella had been around for days, but we did see some twin lambs that were only several hours old.

I'm trying to build up the girls' endurance, so I marched them around some fields.  They did not thank me.

Frances ran off in protest (yay, endurance-building; mom wins!), so I took Chandler's picture for a bit.

When Frances returned, the girls practiced their cowgirl skills.  Frances has it down.  Hi-ho, Silver!

Look at this beauty!

I'd say this box of dirt is the girls' favorite part.  They can contentedly shovel dirt from one place to another for a long, long time.  I bring a book to pass the time.  I wonder if our condo-mates at home would mind a big box of dirt in the garden.

Eventually, we had to go home.  One more stop at the big logs, before I dragged them away.

Not a bad Evacuation Day afterall.