Disgraceful

Forgive me, followers, for I have FAILED - it has been over a year since my last blog post! I started to get really overwhelmed with how "behind" I had become with missing posts, to the point where I just gave up.  But we so often refer to old posts to remember little tidbits of information, and we're so, so grateful that it's there (to replace my failing memory, for one thing) that it seems like a really bad idea to give it up altogether.  So I'm back! Let's hope I can keep it up.  So many things have happened since my last post -- our entire trip to "Hot Spain" in the summer of 2013, Ollie's 1st grade year in school, Halloween (fireman and "Spanish dancer," for the record), Ollie turning 7 (mining museum; volcano cake!), Christmas in Maine (lovely as always), Maddie turning 5 (five!! Frozen party, pretty fab Anna and Elsa cake, if I do say so myself), and a most fantastic trip to England this May, to celebrate Grandma Carole and Granddad Maurice's 50th wedding anniversary - I will do my best to return to that here, with photos. 

Now it is July 6, and we're a few days away from heading to Maine for 5 (five!) weeks.  We just celebrated a really nice 4th of July with the Felch clan, starting with the parade in Sparta, and ending with a fun bbq back at the house, which culminated in a full showing of the Lego Movie, currently both Maddie and Ollie's TOP movie of choice.  The day after that, we drove to Stony Creek, CT for a blissful overnight at the Linden House B&B, where it's really easy to pretend you're a millionaire for 24 hours, tucked at the end of a little point right out of town, surrounded by ocean, all the Thimble Islands poking out everywhere you look.  We visited some of our very favorite local haunts, and the kids went swimming twice (in Ollie's case, much of the time was spent on hermit-crab catch and release).  Because it had rained on the 4th of July in CT,
lots of people were setting off fireworks all up the Branford coast on Saturday night, and all the way to New Haven, actually, so the kids were BEYOND thrilled to stay up very, very late, perched on rocks at the tippy end of the property, with the best view in town as they watched them explode at random.  This was following an exquisite sunset - the photo here shows Maddie and Ollie quite mesmerized in the last seconds of the sun falling out of sight.  My favorite part of the fireworks display was hearing Ollie exclaim, quite a few times, "This was the best day of my life!" and "We're lucky we didn't miss these!"  It seems that Andy and I are doing a good job of raising Ollie and Maddie to marvel at life's simple pleasures, something that we're both quite good at ourselves, I like to think.  What a lovely weekend.

Our Baby Girl is 4!

How did that happen? Four years old?!  I've always loved age 4... and Maddie is already so deeply awesome that age 4 can only be the icing on the cake.  I am something like almost a year behind on this blog, and I'm not sure if I will "forgive" the lost time and give it up for lost, or if I'll try to go back and re-create some of it... but right now I just feel like it's Maddie's ACTUAL fourth birthday and it's not a bad idea to jot some things down!  We're in Maine this week for

Easter (falls very early this year!) and it's so nice to be here for Maddie's birthday... we started the day with a special breakfast at home with Grandma and Granddaddy, which was mostly a present-opening extravaganza with a bit of eggs on toast thrown in on the side.  Andy and I gave Maddie a remote control Hello Kitty car (which didn't work, sadly, must be returned), a super cute sparkley Hello Kitty necklace (which Maddie proudly wore all day), a small pop-up play castle (which Maddie and Ollie played in throughout the day and so far haven't destroyed), and a much-anticipated flamingo costume.  Yes, if you ask for a flamingo costume, you just might get it!  And she did.  Super cute.  The other presents were endless... a lovely sundress and sunhat, books, clothes, Hello Kitty backpack and supplies and jewelry making kit, a gorgeous tutu, and even spy walkie talkies.  Maddie was excited about each present, often exclaiming, "Oh! It's just what I always wanted!"  The rest of the day was normal and nice - kids driving mommy and daddy crazy, lots of playing, a walk to the harbor, a trip to town to get supplies for dinner and a stop at the lovely Rockland library, and then back home
again to prepare for our yummy lobster dinner (Maddie's request).  Super yum!  The cake came out great, I kind of wish it wasn't quite so yummy because now I'm going to want to eat more of it.  Maddie will celebrate her birthday again in another week and a half with her friends in New Jersey, when we all go to the Turtle Back Zoo.  All I can say is, Maddie is the sweetest, most thoughtful, most fun little girl I know.  She's almost never in a bad mood, very rarely cranky, so full of cool ideas and endless cute chatter -- the world is just a brighter place because she's in it.  I have a feeling that when you (Maddie) look back on this blog in 30 years or something, the same will still be true.  We love you so very, very much.  Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Hurricane Sandy: An Experience in Absentia

Maddie and Ollie, some many years from now, you may ask your mom and dad, "Why don't we remember Hurrican Sandy? We lived in New Jersey in the fall of 2012!" And we will have to remind you... we spent the entire storm and the weeks that followed it in Maine, untouched by even a whisper of the hardships that had smashed all semblance of normal life in NJ. Yes, like all of the east coast, we had very heavy winds and rain on Monday night and Tuesday, but around us here, there was virtually no damage at all, and no power outage. So we carried on as usual after that, while nearly 100% of northern New Jersey was out of power, and trees had smashed people's houses, and school was cancelled for over a week - even Halloween was cancelled! We are still here in Maine, more than a week later, and our house in NJ is still without power. We won't be headed home until we get power back. It is unfathomable, the devestation that so many are experiencing: lost lives, lost homes, lost businesses. We have lost nothing but a lot of frozen meats and Maine shrimp... not a lot to complain about, that's for sure. And through all of this crazy time, you have been surrounded by all four of your loving grandparents; just today Grandma Carole and Granddad Maurice flew home to England after a wonderful 2 1/2 week visit. Their last night was spent with Daddy in our cold, darkened house on Alexandra Road -- just a taste of what the entire week has been like for the rest of New Jersey. We had a wonderful birthday celebration for you on Saturday, Ollie (your favorite present was your "big boy" camera!), and right now you are sleeping upstairs, your very last night as a five-year-old. I hope that if life continues to blanket you with blessings rather than hardships, you grow up with a heart that is caring, mindful, and generous in every way, and that you help others when you are able.

Ollie's First Day of School!!!

Ollie, 28 minutes ago, you stepped onto a schoolbus for the very first time, and stepped right out of little-boyhood into big-boyhood, with your typical enthusiasm and joy. As this day got closer, you got more and more excited. We've been busy gathering the supplies on your back-to-school list from the school, which include baby wipes (??), 6 glue sticks, and a margarine container, among other assorted items.  Daddy worked from home today so we could all walk to the bus stop on the corner together, and so he could see his little boy off on his BIG DAY!!

Maddie is at preschool today, but she'll be home in time to meet you at the bus stop after school. As soon as we could see the bus coming up the street, you started shouting excitedly, "Here it comes!!" and as you walked towards the door,

you remembered to wave but you were completely focused on the bus. I don't think you would have looked back, but we shouted, "Turn around for a photo, Ollie!!" and you graciously obliged. The busdriver, Ms. Peggy, called out, "Hello, Oliver!" as soon as the door opened for him, and she looks very friendly, indeed. We saw you waving and smiling from your seat inside the bus, and we waved as the bus pulled away, taking you off to start SUCH a big adventure. 

Daddy held my hand and I had to wipe away a few tears, seeing my little boy taking such a big step. Ollie, you will love it, because you are so full of curiosity, enthusiasm, humor, and gentleness. We're so proud that you're our boy.

Happy Camper

Ollie is having a fantastic week at Blueberry Cove... on the last two mornings when I dropped him off, he quickly found his new friend, Joey, and I watched (with heart swelling) as they wandered off together, hand in hand. He came home last night with his spare clothes bunched up in his backpack, soaking wet and filthy with mud - so I figured it must have been a good day. Today it's a big camp trip to Drift Inn Beach all morning, what fun!

Our Garden Fairy

Sweet Maddie is so excited about her new fairy costume! She hasn't had a lot of dress-up clothes yet, so when I saw this today, I couldn't resist. We've had days and days of only sunshine here in Maine, and finally today we had a big huge rainstorm, with a bit of thunder and lightening as well (the kids loved it!). When it cleared out this evening, the light was fantastic, so we couldn't resist having a little walk to the harbor to enjoy it. Maddie obliged her silly mom by posing endlessly for photos. In this first shot, I think I asked her to smile really big, and this was the result!

I decided she must be calling out to all the other garden fairies to join in her revelry. Then she ran around in the grass a lot, possibly attempting to take flight. Prettiest garden fairy ever. xoxo

Nothing Better

Whether it's Tenants Harbor or Hayfield, I think there's almost nothing nicer in the world than taking an evening stroll with Andy and the kids. We're having glorious weather here this year, every day feels like heaven. All you can do is smile.