Having fun at home

Hello again! I finally downloaded some photos from our big camera, so today I'll show you some things that Oliver's been up to over the last few months... little snapshots of our life here.

I joined a mom's group as soon as we moved here, and have been to several playgroups with Oliver - some are at members' homes, others at parks or indoor play places... and we've hosted a few, too! The first photo is of one of Oliver's new playmates, a lovely girl who doted on Oliver the whole time she was here.

The next photo is from a few months ago when I got Oliver the Fisher Price car garage. He has lots of fun with it, but the day I got it I found him climbing all over it like it was gym equipment! This photo shows him sitting on top of it, with his leg down the elevator chute. Classic!

And the last photo is from just a few days ago, showing one of Oliver's latest fun tricks - wearing mom's crocs! I find him walking around in them most mornings now, very pleased with himself. He likes to wear dad's shoes, sometimes, too, but the crocs are the big favorite.

Today we had a nice walk at Horseshoe Lake and lots of fun playing at the big playground there with Beth and little Georgie. Later on we had a great webcam with Grandma Carole and Grandpa Maurice, where I took the computer outside so they could see Oliver playing in his new sandpit (sandbox in "American!") - so cool! He's looking forward to his first big trip to England in a few weeks! More photos from the sandpit coming soon, promise.

Boys in the Garden

Well, our time in Maine has just about come to an end... we leave tomorrow morning for the long trip home. It's been such a nice week, and the weather's been amazing pretty much every day, and we've had fun with Grandma and Granddaddy and Greenie! However, we're really looking forward to being home again and especially to having our little family all together - it feels like a long time that we've been apart!! O misses his dad, and I miss him VERY much, too.

Today was sunny and cool until late afternoon, when it clouded over and got pretty cold, fast. We played outside early in the day, and Weston and his mom, Nicole, stopped by for a visit on their way back from a walk. Here's a picture of the boys "helping" Grandma in the garden!! I'm inspired now to do more work in our yard back home... let's hope I follow through!! Later on we went to the 'Keag for crab sandwiches and then to the Owl's Head Transportation Museum, where O got to look at all the cool old airplanes.

So, now we have our exciting trip to England to get ready for, and a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa H, Auntie Al and Uncle Steven... and then a trip back up to Maine later in the summer, when Andy can come, too! Lots to look forward to.

It's not ALL mud!

So, spring in Maine is (as anyone who lives here will tell you) actually a lot more than just mud! This week has been glorious, with crisp, sunny days and cold nights - it's been around 55 degrees during the day, which doesn't sound that warm but today we just wore thin shirts and the sun felt so warm... it was perfect! It was a lot warmer inland, but stayed cooler by the coast, as usual. Nice! Just the way spring should be, none of this 70+ degree stuff they're getting already in NJ. Save it for summer!

Today we had a trip to the port in the morning, got a couple of things at the general store and met a great dog who escorted us around the landing - he acted like he was OUR dog! Big, heavy, wet, brown lab, everyone in town knows him - he belongs to a fisherman about a mile away, and comes to the port every day to hang out and get free food and good company. We sat together in the sun and wished that time could stop for a bit, but we had to get O back home for his nap.

We played outdoors a lot in the afternoon, and Oliver got to enjoy his new crocs, which (as you can see) he's quite proud of! We also visited a playground in town, and he had his first visit to a sandbox -- MAN did he love that sandbox! I think he would have stayed in it for an hour if he could - I've never seen him so happy doing just one thing for so long. Here's an action shot - he had tons of fun dumping sand all over the place, and on himself. Andy and I talked this afternoon and decided we'll have to build him his own sandbox when we get home.

Mud Season in Maine

Some of you may have heard about the four seasons in Maine: summer, fall, winter, and mud. This is mud season! Poor mom and dad have a guy come and plow the snow off the driveway after big storms, and he's not very careful when he does it, so when all the snow melts in the spring, they're left with big welts in the side of the yard, and small piles of sod way over in the other side of the yard. This year in Maine there was tons of snow, so lots of damage to the yard!

This morning we did some yard work (mom did, mostly, I helped a bit while mostly chasing Oliver around). In one photo, you can see Oliver actually sitting with his feet in one of the big welts! Later on, he slipped into another one that was full of water and mud, and wasn't too happy about it! Half of him was covered in wet mud, and it took him by surprise.

He refused to take his midday nap, which was strange... I tried for well over an hour, and he just wouldn't settle down - very frustrating for mom! I guess it was just stored up energy from being in the car all day yesterday. In the afternoon, we went next door to see Weston (just turned 2), Rich, and Nicole, and had a great time over there for a couple of hours. Oliver and I got to have some great blueberry juice, yum!

Our Journey Through Multiple Climate Zones

Today Oliver and I said a (very) sleepy goodbye to Andy at about 5:30am (well, I did, Oliver thankfully didn't wake up), and he headed to England for the week. Then after breakfast and some last minute packing, we embarked on the 8-hour journey to Maine. We actually made it door to door in 7 hours and 45 minutes this time, including a good 1:15 in stops, so that's pretty good!

When we left home, it was a balmy 68 degrees or so. A bit later I was surprised to see it hit 72. Then at New Haven, which was heavily fogged in, it was just 59. A half hour later or so, in Hartford, it was 79!!! SEVENTY NINE! At Lowell, MA, it was still about 74, but by the time we started driving through New Hampshire, which really isn't that far in the scheme of things, it was 44! Then it got back up to 50 or so around Portland and Brunswick, and back to 44 by the time we got home... it certainly felt different than when we left home in the morning!!

O was a great little boy... I had lots of different toys for him on hand, which sometimes kept him happy for a bit, and other times he rejected immediately. I had a big bag of treats and sippy cups with juice, etc, which also came in handy. He had a good long mid-day nap, and was only sporatically cranky, never for more than a couple of minutes. And he barely asked to hold my hand (for those of you that have have traveled with us, this is a big achievement, and a BIG savings to mom's aching arms and back). Towards the end of the trip, he was happily occupied for about 20 minutes playing with my empty water bottle with a cool flip-top lid. What a good boy! Extremely engergetic once we got home, after being restrained all day, and not too interested in eating or sleeping... but we managed. Grandma and Grandpa's house is just a big crazy plaything for him, and there are 3 cats here, not just one!

New workout: Step Obstacle Aerobics

So, today I started a new fitness regimine! And I'm writing about it in the blog, so it must be real. I pulled out the old step platform, and the Step Reebok video, got new sneakers (can't find my old ones!), got mentally "ready," got dressed this morning in my workout gear, poured a big glass of cold water... the only unknown was how Oliver would react to his mom jumping around the living room and not paying any attention to him.

It started out great - he literally laughed at first, thought it was funny to see me stepping up and down on this thing, waving my arms around. But pretty soon, he realized I wasn't going to stop and give him kisses every two minutes, or pick him up, or play with him... so he tried all kinds of tricks. He played with his toys nearby so I had to be careful not to step on them/him. He cried for me, raising his arms up to be held. He sat on the step platform. He went into the china cabinet and brought me a bottle of vodka (yes, really). He attempted to hold onto my feet and legs as I stepped (many times). He climbed all over the step so I had to find creative ways to follow the routine while not stomping on his hands. He cried pitifully for his mommy. But she soldiered on, and he survived! I think after a few more times, he'll get the hang of it, and know that his mommy will be at his beck and call again after just 45 minutes!