The Fix-It Family

My husband is Mr. Fix-It. Apparently now, so are my kids...

Last week, Becca's toy vacuum broke. The ends of the yarn frayed and wrapped around the part that spins, which caused the gears to lock up and make a loud clicking noise whenever Becca pushed the vacuum. Josh had to take the vacuum apart and remove the frayed yarn.

He had quite a team of assistants:

Because it was Becca's vacuum, Becca got to be the primary helper. First, they laid out all of the screws.

Then, Becca put each screw in the hole.

Finally, Josh tightened the screws. The kids jumped up and down with joy as they told me how they fixed the vacuum!

Vacation in Bar Harbor

How can I summarize a wonderful 11-day vacation in just a short blog entry? I will do my best, but I can only share the highlights of our trip to my favorite place on earth...

Josh surprised me this summer by planning a vacation to Bar Harbor, ME and Acadia National Park. We honeymooned there, and I absolutely love it! We went one other time, when Hannah was only 8 months old, but we could not do as much with an infant. This time, Josh suggested that we stay in a large cabin and bring along his mom, to help out with the kids and even give us a chance to get out alone once or twice. We ended up having a wonderful time!

Of course, a trip to a national park is both fun and educational at the same time. I bought the kids two books while we were there: Discovering Acadia: A Guide for Young Naturalists and Who Pooped in the Park? Acadia National park: Scat and Tracks for Kids. Hannah fell in love with them and tried to identify many plants and animals we saw. In fact, plants, animals, and the ocean became the overriding theme of the trip.

The first day, we took a whale watching boat trip out into the Atlantic Ocean. All three kids loved it! After seeing boats, puffins, and a variety of sea birds, we finally found a group of three finback whales swimming nearby. The kids squealed with delight every time they surfaced.

After a wonderful three-hour boat ride, we returned to Bar Harbor. Poor Becca was exhausted from the excitement and the cold and slept the whole way back, bundled up in a few coats to keep the wind and spray off of her face.

We also took several hikes while we were in Acadia. The kids favorite trail was Wonderland Trail near Seawall on the quiet side of the island. The first day we walked on it, the kids enjoyed stopping and looking at all of the flowers along the path.

We scrambled over rocks by the ocean, picking up shells, and enjoying the view.

Ben even saw a fox when he and I hiked a little further down the trail. He asked me about the kitty with the fluffy orange tail! We returned on a beautiful morning at low tide so we could see all of the tidal pools. The kids loved climbing from pool to pool looking for snails and crabs among the seaweed.

We also enjoyed driving Park Loop Road. One day, after a morning of heavy rain, we saw dozens of waterfalls pouring over the rocks off of the mountains.

We could even see streaks of white down the mountainsides where additional waterfalls drained away the water from the heavy rain.

Along the road, a turtle laid her eggs in the damp earth. The kids laughed excitedly as we watched her deposit several eggs into the hole.

Another day, we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the Jordan Pond House. After we ate, we hiked the nature trail through the woods and along the pond. We stumbled across a pair of loons. We quietly watched, afraid to breathe too loudly, lest we frighten the shy birds away. Instead, the loons swam right over towards us and then swam the length of the pond beside us, staying far enough away, but providing beautiful views. They even made their haunting calls repeatedly for us to hear. Even Becca can identify loons now!

Overall, we had a wonderful trip. I could write about all of the amazing birds we saw, from warblers to falcons to sea birds, or about the Margaret Todd, the boat the kids called a pirate ship the whole time we were there, or about the fun ice cream shop we enjoyed in downtown Bar Harbor, or about Somes Sound, the only fjord in the US other than in Alaska. But, I do not have the time or space. However, I greatly recommend Acadia National Park as one of the most beautiful and educational places on earth. It will always hold a piece of my heart!

My Girly Entomologist

Remember my bug-loving little girl from last summer? Well, this weekend at the cabin, she found a few tent caterpillars, though not the hundreds we found last May. Like last year, she fell in love with them and played with them all weekend. This year was a bit different, though...

Last year, Hannah was content to keep the caterpillars in a fishbowl with a bunch of leaves and let them crawl on her hands and arms. This year, she decided that the first caterpillar she found was her pet and that he really wanted to play with her all day long.

She began by pushing him around in the little doll carriage.

She was thrilled that he grabbed the little doll rattle with his feet. "Look, mama!" she yelled. "He wants to play with it!"

Then, she tried to feed him a leaf in the high chair.

She decided that he would be happier if the whole doll house were full of leaves.

Then, she put him down for a nap.

I felt bad for the poor caterpillar and tried to convince her that she was killing him with all of her attention. She just insisted that he could not live without her! After two days of this, the caterpillar "escaped" while she was looking at the stream. Hannah was quite distraught, until she found another caterpillar a few hours later and started again...

Baby Birds

When we got back from vacation at the cabin, we had baby birds in our nest!

The first day:


Today:

Preschool Graduation and Field Trip

Hannah and Ben had their last day of preschool on Monday. Instead of regular classes, they had a field trip to Malabar Farm. The kids loved all of the animals - cows, ponies, goats, sheep, rabbits, turkeys, and chickens. In the main barn, kids could pet the animals.

Just outside, they could feed chickens and turkeys. Hannah's favorite animal was a male turkey, who was gobbling and showing off his feathers. A while ago, she wrote a journal about wild turkeys based on a book she had read about them, and she loved that their heads turn red, white, and blue when they are excited. Seeing this turkey made her day:

After this, we walked down to the pond. A frog sat in the cool water:

And we saw raccoon tracks in the soft mud:

We finished the morning by spending some time in the visitors center, which had fun activities for the kids, and a walk through the aviary, where this crow hopped around and entertained the kids:

Later that evening, both classes met at a church for the end-of-the-year program and graduation. Ben was excessively excited. He danced all over the stage, yelled out random embarrassing comments, and made up his own rhythm to the songs they sang. He was wild and rather entertaining. I had to hide my head behind the pew so I could laugh without encouraging his off-the-wall behavior!

Other than that, though, they both did very well. Ben recited his sight words:

Hannah read the book Swimmy, by Leo Lionni, to the audience with good pronunciation and lots of expression. And, she proudly received her diploma.

I cannot believe she will be going into Kindergarten next year...

Hannah's Ballet Recital

After months of practice and lessons, Hannah's ballet school had its big recital this weekend. What a crazy week! The kids had dress rehearsal Tuesday and Friday and performances Saturday and Sunday. I signed up to be a helper mom, so I sat backstage with Hannah's class on Friday and Sunday. I was able to watch the show on Saturday with our family, who all came in from out of town for the weekend.

All of the kids had to arrive about an hour and a half before show time in order to get dressed and put on their make-up. Some parents brought snacks and coloring books for the girls because they would be backstage for around 3 hours. In the beginning, most of the girls sat nicely and waited, but by the end, they were running around the room, ready to be finished!

The school had a fun theme for their show this year. It was called "Dancing off the Page," and each dance was based on a different children's book. The show began in a library at closing time, and once the lights went out, the characters from the different stories started coming out of the pages of a large book onstage.

Hannah's teacher chose Clifford for her class's theme. Though the girls had a little trouble remembering their dance, which is expected considering their age, they did an excellent job and were quite adorable as well!

Their dance ended with them all giving Clifford a big hug:

After the show, my parents, Josh's mom, and I all had bouquets for Hannah. She could not stop grinning! She kept saying over and over how proud she felt and how much she loved her flowers. It was a perfect way to end the year!

More Babies

Last Saturday was a very windy day, so I moved my hanging basket from its hook and set it on the porch so it would not blow away. The next day, I went outside to water my plants, and I noticed a tiny egg nestled among the sunflowers the kids planted. I could not find a nest, and I had no idea where the egg had come from.

Later that evening, Josh stood on the wall of the porch and looked into my hanging basket. There, well hidden in the middle of my fuchsia, sat a perfectly made little nest with a matching egg inside it. I placed the other egg in the nest, but worried that the mama bird had abandoned the nest, because I had moved the plant the day before.

All day on Monday, I glanced out of the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of a bird near the nest, but I saw nothing. Finally, in the evening, I thought about disposing of the nest so the eggs would not rot in my plant. However, when I climbed up and looked into the basket, I saw three tiny eggs instead of two!

Now, mama bird hangs out in the nest and sits on her eggs. We have identified the pair as house finches, and the male has pretty red feathers and a lovely song. I peered in the nest today, briefly, and counted six little eggs. I cannot wait until they hatch. I wonder if the mama bird will let me get close enough to see the babies or if she will defend them a little more than she has defended the eggs...