The 3 hour tour

Well, the kids and I have been spending a lot of times in the woods lately. It is perfect for that right now. Crisp air, but warm enough for shorts. no bugs. Just lovely. Before the loveliness falls around us and we are left with winter. So I convinced the boys to hunt for mushrooms (our newest obsession) with me for a half hour before we had to pick up Ege at soccer practice. Nearly 2 hours later (we ended up having to call Raph and have him pick up Ege) we finally emerged from the woods. We started jolly and full of wonder at the world around us, and emerged fussy (even me) and cranky, wishing the trails were better marked, and honestly full of relief. Remick who typically wants to do whatever his older brother does, kept telling me, "I'm too little to walk this far" and I did end up carrying him at the end, and I told him, "you might be too little to walk this far, but you are too big to carry!" Retrospectively it was fun though. Next time we'll probably stick to well-known woods.

Before the fair

Before the fair we had another sort of adventure. We went to my aunt and uncles llama farm in Jefferson Maine. I love it there and always have, but a fire burnt their home to the ground two years ago, and now they have the lovliest house ever made to go with their llamas and barns. Everybody had fun, though neither of boys nor the two Turkish exchange students that came with us were terribly interested in the llamas. The highlight for Makili was riding around on the gator with Uncle Terry. It really was so nice.

My boys

Some quick photos of my 3 boys with my new camera:)

The FAIR

What is there not to love about a fair that sets out pieces of lumber, hammers, and nails for kids to pound away, hills with cardboard for sledding, buckets of beans just for putting your hands in, parades of people wearing veggie costumes, a "hay jump" for kids, people driving oxen, an ingredients list on the fried dough, and more oddities than could possibly be imagined. The Common Ground Fair is THE fair for fair-haters. Like me.

River of Hawks

The boys and I had a blissful day this week. We went mushroom foraging at Mount Agamenticus, and then flew the new kites that Opa sent them at the top. (FYI 300 feet of string is too much for a two year. I can tell you that based on experience after spending close to an hour getting said kite and string out of the trees:) We stopped and ate the first apples of the year. And then at some point I noticed the throng of people on the upper observation deck oohing and aaahing. We made our way over and noticed their binoculars pointed to the skies. And there above us were literally hundreds of hawks riding the air currents over the mountains. Turns out it is the hawk migration that happens every year. That day alone they had counted 1500 hawks already at 2:00. It was awesome. We loved laying in the grass watching them.

Late summer camera phone recap

My camera is out of commission and a new one hopefully in the mail this week. Here are some iphone late summer highlights: beach trips, Ege's arrival, Dre's visit, wood stacking, Irene, sweet exchange students returning for visits, free peaches, silly shirts, face plants, visiting cousins, boys with popsicles. The usual really.

Winter Panic

So winter panic has been setting in for me this week. It is turning into the end of August. The house isn't done being sided. We have an exchange student coming in a week. We have no firewood stacked (or bought or split) for the winter, and that is our only source of heat. I have frozen one bag of kale and one bag of pesto. I think late blight is trying to set in in the garden. AHHHH!!!!And then a quick picture of the kids to calm me down.

More catch up: fun with Peter

So little baby Peter doesn't know this, but he has officially reached the age of babiness that I love and find truly irresistible. Lucky for me, Mary humors me and lets me steal him away sometimes. Because even though he is completely delectible, I also remember what it meant to be a momma who always had a baby in her arms, could never put him down. It's nice to have a friend whisk him away for a little while. So it works out for both of us.

My friend Mary and her husband are deeply entrenched in the workings of a dairy farm. Her husband is actually the vegetable farmer for the operation, but really they are half of the team that run the farm. All four of the people involved are first-generation farmers, running one of the few, if not only, organic dairies in the state of NH. They lost the lease to their land and will be moving the entire farm (roughly 100 cows, plus pigs, chickens, and people) this spring. Can you imagine? Luckily, they're moving into Ann and Larry's territory. So we can still be friends:) In the meantime I'm just going to breath in Peter's adorableness.