And We're Off!

Ohhhh so excited for our big trip back to England! I can't really underestimate just how happy the kids are about this adventure... choosing what to bring, packing, thinking about seeing Grandma and Granddad, their cousins, and aunt and uncle, being back at the "Hayfield House" -- but all the excitement begins with FLYING ON AN AIRPLANE!! This is immediate gratification, major intrigue from the get-go. They're dressed in super-comfy airplane clothes (no tight waists!) and have chosen flight companions, which interestingly are stuffed lambs for each of them. Maddie was recently inseparable from "Mr. Horsey," but he was tossed aside for "lamby," which I found quite shocking. :-) We had to set the alarm for FOUR AM to be ready for our pickup to catch an 8:30 flight. Long line at check-in, but the kids were great, and after that we had a little breakfast and had a bit of time to check out the planes from the window. The flight was amazing... what a difference traveling with Maddie at age 2.5, compared with 1.5! They both were just as happy as clams, calm, content, fantastic. The time flew by, they each napped about an hour. I watched a movie! They sat with Andy most of the time in the 3 seats next to the window, while I was across the aisle. The general pleasantness of this flight was sadly not matched with the return flight, but more on that later! England, here we come!!!!

Back to (Pre)School!!!

Ollie was pretty excited to get back to school today - he even forgot to feed his fish before we left! He'd been talking about how he wanted to wear his pirate costume, but that fell through... then on the drive to school, he was talking about how he was going to pretend to be a mouse, and squeak whenever anyone talked to him. I guess he's intent on making an impression. At any rate, when he got to school he just dashed off to play with his friends - no "Shiver me timbers!" or mouse noises. Here's a photo taken during the circle time "Get up and Dance" song. Each student has their own verse in the song, and during their verse, they go to the middle of the circle and dance. Let's just say Ollie has learned some pretty radical dance moves from his dad... he tore it up. Look at that smile!! His friends Kayla and Dylan are at their smiliest, too. After happy waves goodbye, Maddie and I had a girly trip to the mall, where I *finally* found a comfortable, moderately good looking pair of shoes to bring to England, and we got some gifts to bring with us for Tilly & Neesy. It rained hard all day today... a great day to spend in school with your friends!

Fish 1 and Fish 2!

Well, Ollie... recently you had a minor meltdown about how much you wanted a puppy, and I explained to you that puppies are a lot of work, and difficult to care for when you travel... but you were quite persisent.  Since Daddy was away in Germany, I was glad when he called during one such meltdown, and after I explained everything to him, he told me to give the phone to you.  You had a little conversation with Daddy, and your face brightened right up! When I got the phone back, I discovered that Daddy had solved the problem by suggesting that you get a FISH instead!!!

  Hmmm.  Clever Daddy, no more puppy meltdown, but now we have to get a fish?!!  Ok.  Soon I was hearing nothing but "When are we getting our fish, Mommy?"  So, off we went to the pet store.  First we picked out a little tank, pretty rocks, a couple of fake plants, filters, fish food, and a tiny castle.  Then we discovered that we couldn't bring fish home until we brought in a water sample.  That was a blow... we had to WAIT to get the fish!  In another day or so we were back, and you chose one large orange goldfish, and a smaller brownish one as well.  You've been enjoying them ever since, although I have to say, it's Mommy who does all the water changes and most of the feeding.  I think I should pass that on to Daddy, don't you think?!!

The Big Apple

Sometime in the very beginning of September, we had a special weekend trip to New York to visit Rachel, Beth and Saul... Maddie and Ollie were SO excited to ride the train all the way to the big city!! We had such a good time -- wow, city living is exhausting!! The kids were just great, and a big highlight was visiting one of the piers that had a small waterpark. Even just riding the subway was a treat for you - this picture makes me laugh because you're all looking different ways, and all looking silly. Can't wait for our next visit with cousin Saul!

The Best Laid Plans

Andy just got back from a work trip to Argentina, and all week long on phone calls and skypes we talked about going camping over the weekend. Ollie was so excited! And it was Maddie's first time camping, so even though she didn't really know what was coming (foreshadow), she was an enthusiastic participant. On Friday night, Andy (just back from his 10-hour flight) and I made loads of lists... food to pack, food to pick up at the store, camping gear, bedding stuff, etc. So much stuff. On Saturday morning it took ages to get it all together, and we actually had to make some tough decisions and leave some things behind -- no coffee or hot cocoa in the morning = don't have to pack the mugs, cooking stove, pot, cafetiere (yes, we were going to bring one), etc. The car was more packed for one night of camping than for our 3-week visit to Maine recently. By about 11am we were finally on our way, with Andy behind the wheel saying something about how he used to camp for a whole weekend and just leave the house with a backpack. Harumph.
We found our site at Stokes State Forest, deep deep in the woods, a decent spot with woods separating our site from the others around. That was nice but overall there wasn't a lot of "charm" to this particular area of the campground. Between signs at the camp office, various brochures we'd been given with our welcome packet, and more signs at the campsite, we'd gotten overall about 734 warnings about bears, so that was cool. The kids were happy and bouncy and wonderful, helping with all the unloading and organizing and tent-making. The only big trauma was when Maddie fell off the steps of this stupid platform thing (some people put their tents on platforms, apparently), and fell sort of forwards on her head but with her body going the other way, that sort of horrible way kids fall sometimes where you think they're going to break their neck. A little bit of crying and she was fine, thankfully.
After we got the tent up and had a nice little lunch (grilled cheesedogs), we headed out in search of ice cream (but secretly to give Maddie nap time)... our plan worked, and they BOTH fell asleep in the car. We got some ice cream after they woke up, and then wove our way back to the campsite, by way of High Point State Park, which is right next to Stokes. We drove by a sweet little pond there, and Ollie couldn't resist stripping down to his undies and going for a swim. Maddie joined in, too, mostly to get her feet wet. Ollie swam and frolicked for a good half hour before some park rangers came driving by and stopped to tell us that this was a fishing lake, not a swimming lake. Whatever!! It was the best part of the day, regardless.
Back at our site, we noticed a lot of clouds coming in (more foreshadow). No matter! We got all the sleeping gear set up, and Andy grilled us some super yummy cheeseburgers. Just as we were starting to eat, the raindrops began to fall, and we started hearing distant thunder. Good timing, we thought! Have our dinner, get in the tent, no problem. By the time we all made a mad dash for the tent, it was coming down hard. We were chatting happily in the tent until we realized that it was NOT waterproof.... definite leaks. Hmmm, maybe it won't be too bad. But then there were more leaks. And we realized that we'd either have to endure a night of moist sleeplessness (with bashing rain and potential thunder and lightening), or throw in the towel and head home. We were fairly indecisive still, so we flipped a coin, 2 out of 3, and going home won out. Lady luck did well by us that night... it rained hard all night long, and for nearly 3 full days afterwards as well. When Andy and Ollie went back to our site the following day to pack up the tent and get the rest of our stuff, Andy said there was at least a gallon of water in the tent. We're getting a new tent now, so we should be all set next time, rain or shine. Anyway - it was an adventure, and we had fun, and that's what it's all about.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!

Andy's not big on fanfare for his birthday, really, but the kids and I still wanted to do something special for him... so he came downstairs in the morning to a big bunch of balloons, a few presents, homemade scones with birthday candles, and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday," during which Ollie's beaming smile pretty much outshone the candles. His most favorite present was an authentic NBC tshirt featuring Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness; it really is something to behold. After that it was a regular workday for him (boo!), but he did manage to get home early and we all headed up to Lake Mohawk for an early dinner at Il Porto on the boardwalk. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening, warm and very breezy, but the kids were being rascals so we didn't linger afterwards. After they went to bed, Andy and I watched one of his favorite movies, Lost in Translation. A quiet birthday, but he says it was nice. :-) We love you so much, sweetie.

Soulshine Farm 2011

One of our best finds this summer was Soulshine Farm, a tiny farm in Randolph that runs camps each summer and has (from what I can tell) a very devoted following! It's just two mornings a week for three hours, and in that time they do arts and crafts, farm/gardening stuff, and yoga!! We signed Ollie up for two separate weeks over the summer, and from the very first day, he just loved it to bits. Apparently the feeling was mutual; after his first day, the owner wrote me an email to say "When they made the term 'happy camper,' they must have been talking about a boy like Oliver. Thank you for sharing him with us!" So sweet. He already can't wait for "farm camp" next year. Maddie and I have been having loads of girly time, which probably isn't always awesome for her (I'm trying to get on the exercise bike at home a lot) - but other times we go to the playpark or run errands. Her favorite game right now is "I spy." She says, all in one breath, "LesplayIspyMummy, myturnnow, Ispysuffin......... pink!" Seriously cute.