And then I cooked a bunch of lemon verbena in a simple syrup to use with seltzer water for some fancy drinks. I loved the smell, but I couldn't handle the sweetness of the drinks. Raph and other seemed to like it, but I felt like it was something new and interesting to try. And amazingly, we did drink almost a whole jar of the stuff.
Makili is learning so fast these days. Two recent incidents totally made me stop and take stock of that. First the other day he saw a guy with a mohawk in the parking lot. He stopped dead in his track, and said, "Mom what is that?" I think I laughed out loud and told him, but it made me realize how he just knows what he's seen. And then while we were drawing the other day, he was frustrated that the wheels he was drawing on Lightning McQueen (I hope we move on from this phase soon) weren't right. He was drawing with pencil, and so I suggested he erase it. He looked at me like I was crazy. When I showed him what an eraser did, he went straight to the task of erasing everything. It was really cute.
We've had some of the. loveliest. fall days ever. One of which, we got to spend with Grammy on Plum Island. I love the beach off season when there are no people there and crisp air. It was lovely. We love having Grammy here is general.
I'll be honest. When I was pregnant with Remick, I was hoping for a girl. At each of my three ultrasounds, I made them check again, in case the previous person had got it wrong. But I didn't know then that brothers rock. For real. I feel so lucky to get to raise these two brothers together, who love each other so much. Remick wants to do EVERYTHING Makili (or "Kili" as he calls his brother) does. Makili gets mad at Remick a lot for wrecking his garages, or whatever, but he also LOVES to play with him. And there is nothing better than when they are making each other giggle and playing together. I really think brothers are cool.
Loud, willful, funny. Remick completely idolizes his big brother and will do just about anything for his attention, which sometimes means he'll stand there watching his brother as he slowly and purposely knocks down his brother's garage or whatever. He says EVERYTHING anybody else says. He's gone from being the bird of prey to the parrot. Everything. He tries to ride a bike like his brother, and almost can (with steering wheels). We think he might be color-blind, but we'll see. He's a peanut, but full of energy. He and Makili like to race more than anything. Doesn't matter how many seconds or minutes Remick finishes after Makilis, every time he'll say "I won!" He's a cuddlebug, which is nice can I can actually sleep with this kid occasionally. But he likes me to hold him when he wakes up. Divine. He's a hoot. He makes jokes all the time. At the moment he really likes being a "monster" and he runs around the house with a paper mask he made yelling really loud "monster in the house!"
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 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.
