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Leaves & Leaving

Our last trip to see Grammie & Grampie in Shirley before they leave for the winter. The weather was perfect..crisp and cool and MANY fall leaves to jump and roll in. Henry has a new favorite fall past time! We sure are going to miss Grammie & Grampie (hurry home!)

The Orono Bog Boardwalk

Fall has arrived. Vanessa and I took the kids out to the bog to see if we could find any foliage starting to change, maybe see (hear) some wildlife, and to just enjoy the crisp fall day. We had a great time and the kids even did the whole boardwalk (a little over a mile) by themselves! WOW! Henry was thrilled to "discover" pitcher plants (full of water)...and was quite intrigued by his binoculars. (Though...most of the time he had them backwards so I imagine he was a bit confused (why would Mom think it's cool to make things look REALLY far away?!). Ah well...

Was pretty cute, though, how he figured out how to just slide his glasses up on his head rather than take them off completely! ha ha ha. The wheels are always turning...

Henry loves to garden...in his jammies!

Henry was VERY proud to grow & tend to his "own" garden this year...In his Easter/Spring basket he recieved his very own gardening gloves and seeds for the garden...
He planted zuccini, tomatoes, peas, sunflowers and Mom planted a few peppers and more tomato (though, she cheated and bought plants...). ;-) Have to say, he has quite the little green thumb...we've enjoyed some wonderful zuccini & tomatoes this summer and just look at those sunflowers (more photos to follow...)!

I wanna be just like my Uncle Rob...

Oh my gosh. How could I have forgotten to talk about my adventures with Uncle Rob and his guitar?! I LOVE to listen to him play....but this time I decided I wanted to play...all...by...myself (this is a HUGE thing for me lately). I was actually QUITE good if I may say so myself.

NOTE: What Henry didn't realize was that as he was strumming down below...Rob was manning the chords....so...he really DID sound good! ha ha ha!

Uncle Wob & Miss Cole

Mom's 33rd B-day...aren't I a ham?!

...and later the next day..100% attitude. But aren't my socks cool? (Thanks Grammie!)

....Now we're finally getting caught up! We're in August. My Uncle Rob (aka Uncle Wob) and his fabulous girlfriend Nicole (Miss Cole) came for a visit. We headed right up to Shirley to see Grammie & Grampie. We celebrated Mommy's birthday with cake and ice cream and all kinds of gifts. We were even lucky enough to see a mom and baby moose at the DOT. Then we were off to hang out at home and relax and get ready for our adventures in Acadia (Miss Cole's first time on the east coast!).We had a perfect sunny day (it had rained the rest of the week)...so we spent several hours at Sand beach then went to check out Thunderhole and Cadillac Mountain...

Doodle-oo-hoo-hoo!

My cousin Grace (and Auntie Tami & Uncle Mark) came home for a visit and we had a blast! The only bummer of it was that it went by waaaaay to quickly!

Headed to work with Dad...

Not a particularly great picture of me...but...we had to include it b/c it was such a cool day. I always like to go to work with Dad and help him "move papers". (I now know that in addition to moving papers, Daddy also talks to big kids and helps them). At the end of the school year I asked Dad if I could go to work with him and he said "when the kids are gone". I asked a few more times and it didn't work out. Then one day, in as pathetic as a voice as I could muster I asked "Daddy, are the kids at school?". He replied "Noooo" (knowing where I was headed with my question)....and of course I followed up with "Can I please go to work with you TODAY Daddy?". He didn't have a chance. The minute he said "Yes" I raced around and got my bag packed (Mom helped)...and we were off. I was proud to carry my own backpack and my "work stuff" (coloring books, crayons and a snack, of course). Let's do it again soon Daddy!

Fishing in Shirley Pond

Don't I look all grown up?! We were visiting my Great Gram & Gramps in Shirley and Dad took me fishing where my Gramps & Great Gramps used to fish a loooooong time ago. I had a blast!

Strawberries!

One of Henry's favorite books is "Blueberries for Sal". Sal & her mother go blueberry picking to collect berries to can for the winter. Sal has a little tin pail that makes a "kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk" when she drops berries in (b/c of course the bottom of her pail is always empty as she eats what she picks..!!). Anyhow....When I told Henry we were going to go strawberry picking with some friends he INSISTED that he have a little tin pail like little Sal. Doesn't take much to make toddlers happy (well, usually). :-) He's now a berry picking pro. Yum, yum, YUM!

My fellow Oregonians! ;-)

At the end of June....our dear friends Beth & David came to visit us all the way from Oregon! They own our old house and have been busy, busy busy in the garden--and it looks great. Can't wait to see it in person sometime soon! We had a great time....played in Acadia and hung around and laughed. Good times! Come back soon guys!

Flips (or "Thongs" to the west-coasters)!

This picture cracks me up. I took it b/c I wanted to show off Henry's new flip flops (toddler toes in flip flops are adorable). The only time his feet are relatively still is when he is zoned out in front of the TV. In looking at the picture even closer, I had to chuckle b/c he, of course, has the two plastic ice cream cones and bunch of grapes he insists on lugging just about everywhere with him! Never know when you'll need a fake sugar fix...so...carry with you at all times!

Another Beach Day...

After the craziness of the end of May and beginning of June (Grampie was in the hospital for almost three weeks!!)...we headed to the Island and stayed with Papa & Nany for the weekend. A weekend on the Island wouldn't be complete without the required stop at Sand Beach (Henry's favorite!). We didn't leave the house as early as we'd intended and got to the beach just about the time we should have been having lunch and getting H ready for a nap...but...after promising a child a day at the beach...how can you not deliver?We braced for the worst (massive meltdown) but it never came! Guess all that salt air does a toddler (and Mom) good!

Weeds grow quickly...but not as quickly as little boys

Great-Grammie and Great-Grampie returned from their winter "away" in May...

Soon after we arrived at their house for our first visit of the summer, Henry informed us that he needed to be measured on "The wall". Guess what. He's growing like a weed!

For those of you not familiar with the wall...It's where my grandparents have kept track of the "growing up" of all their grandchildren and great grandchildren (myself included). Currently my brother Rob has the spot at the top...for now...

Don't Bother me, I'm working...

Hee hee hee...Here's Henry busy at work hauling dirt up the hill into his garden space (future home of his veggie garden!) I love the mismatched crocks. For about a month he insisted on wearing mismatched shoes. I'm ok with the crocks but drew the line at one owl rain boot and one "fast" sneaker....

Hopelessly Behind...

I think these pictures were from the end of May judging by the Forsythia in bloom... ;-)

Wow! It's April!

Well, I'm not exactly sure where March went. Seems as though we were busy...but not many pictures. Well, there are many pictures of us in SNOW but they're much like the Feb. pictures...and it's now spring so Mommy doesn't want to go back to winter pics.

Here's a few of me hard at work with Daddy.
It has been sunny and beautiful here....and I've officially built my first sand castle in the sandbox! (Mommy still has to download those pictures). My other big news is that I've started "Potty Training" this week. Sounded really fun when I thought it referred to an actual train, but the jury is still out on how I feel about what's going on here. I'm really excited about having big boy undies...but I'm not so sure about leaving my diaper in the dust. But...this really deserves it's own post--to be updated after my "trial" PT week. ;-)

More Snow....

It's another snowy day in Maine...Daddy's home and so we're having a family day of fun in the back yard! ;-)