The Beach!

Some shots from Old Orchard Beach in Maine, the same beach Lars and his family went to when he was growing up. We spent the weekend there with Anne and Lars' brothers family.

Carter and his cousins

What's so funny?

Isaac eating his blue birthday cake!

Carter sitting on our neighbor Tom's four-wheeler

Summer!

Wow, what an action packed, fun filled summer! Here's a few highlights - the Brattleboro High School annual party at Dusty Ridge - complete with homemade water slide - Carter and the kids loved it, Isaac held the hose...

Then a glorious trip to Jackson Hole for Christina's wedding - what a wonderful time spent with family, friends and a gorgeous setting. Almost made me want to move back, almost....

Carter and I went on the tour bus trip to Yellowstone and posed in front of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Carter was fascinated by Yellowstone, especially the hot springs and boiling mud. He talked about geysers (or as he says "visors") for weeks afterwards.

The blushing bride and her proud papa.

My floor length strapless gown at the wedding site at the top of the gondola. What a night!

Once we got settled back in at home, I remembered why we love living here in Vermont so much. And I love having the time to just hang out with my growing boys. It is amazing how short this time is - Carter with be in kindergarten next year!

My running has unfortunately come to a crashing halt due to mounting ITBand and hip issues. I haven't run in 6 weeks and have come to know some physical therapists pretty well. The good thing is that I am now refocusing on learning to run better and smarter. I am fascinated by "ChiRunning" right now and got myself a pair of Vibram Five Fingers (those crazy fingered shoes). I am going to revitalize my core and start out running the right way, and hopefully work my way back up. Perhaps I'll try a marathon in a year or so, also thinking of triathlons again, I've done several sprint ones and would love to do a longer one - perhaps "The Nation's Triathlon" next fall in DC? We'll see. I just need to learn to listen to my body better, and stop when it says stop!

Carter starts his second year at Poker Hill preschool next week - he'll be going M,W,F. And Isaac will be starting his first preschool experience as well. We've been fortunate to be able to have him at home or with Grandma Anne for the first two years of his life, but he will be going to Heartworks preschool in Williston (the next town over) for two mornings this year in the 2 year old classroom. We just had his orientation and hope that he will enjoy some playtime with peers his own age.

We have seen Malcolm and Maura (Lars' brothers' kids) a lot this summer, since they have been staying with Grandma many weekends. They all seem to get along pretty well, and I'm glad they get to see each other so often. Meredith remains well, her tumor was gone on her last MRI. She is still in a wheelchair and needs assistance to walk, but is making slow and steady progress.

We make pancakes a lot in our house. I always ask Carter what he would like them shaped as. It started off with letters ('c' for carter, 'i' for isaac) but they quickly got more complex. Last week, Carter has been very into his Star Wars book, and he asked for a General Grievous pancake. He showed me the picture, and this is the pancake he got. Carter was so excited, he took a little video where he narrates "and this is General Grievous, he is my favorite pancake EVER!" Good thing I was an art major in college, I knew that would come in handy somewhere!

Springtime!

It's 80 degrees out, Carter and Lars are in DC for the weekend and Isaac is sleeping, so I finally have time to work on adding some photos!!

It has been a nice uneventful end to our winter here. We didn't travel for almost 3 months, and have been enjoying our time on Johnnie Brook Road. Lars quit his job in February and started up with Red House Builders (www.redhousebuilding.com) a great new job for him. Doing the same kind of carpentry, but a very organized company. Carter and Isaac are growing like weeds. It's amazing how much Carter is starting to become a little boy (yet how often he still acts like a toddler!)

Here's some photos, in no particular order:

Isaac posing in the early morning

Carter and Isaac planting tomatoes
Carter kneading bread with his fists
Opa and Oma came to visit!
"I love bagels and cream cheese!" (At least that's what Isaac would say if he could talk, right now the best we get out of him is "at" for cat, "cah" for car, "bah" for ball - starting to wonder if he is going to have a Boston accent!)
Carter loved watching the Olympics, after seeing Shaun White in the halfpipe, he immediately said he could do better and went outside and made up his version of snowboarding.
Can Carter be a teenager already? Look at that glare.... enough to silence anyone.
Not sure if he is choking or hugging him, perhaps a little of both.
Mama, enough with the pictures already, can't I eat my yogurt in peace?
I'm pretty sure that's not a squeal of joy....
We had a winter time reunion of some of the next generation of Brattleboro babes: Avah, Maude, Adelaide and Isaac.
Peek-a-boo!
Silas doing a sweet jump!

Here'a a recent Carter quote to leave you with: we were reorganizing the living room and Lars asked Carter if he'd like to put the foam letters down on the floor of his bedroom. Carter responded "yeah, that would be a good idea" pause "But we have to make sure we leave enough hard floor so I can breakdance"

Video of Carter

We just got a fancy new Mac, which comes complete with a video option on photo booth. Carter took this, and a whole series of videos, with us in the other room. Too funny not to share!

Fun in the Snow!

I'll narrate some photos to update everyone on the past month or two.....

Cousin Paul and Carter jumping off the dunes near Lake Superior in the U.P of Michigan. We spent thanksgiving with my family at our family's cabin. Fun times with 12 people in one room for 3 days!!

Our very first christmas tree. We didn't realize that you can't really see the beautiful tree if we all stand in front of it for the picture...
Carter turned 4 on Dec 7th - here's his lovely face while making his '4' birthday pancakes.
First turns on our deck, in the dark, with his brand new boots and skis. (Thanks Barber!)
Carter the daredevil showing us how he can go down the hill standing up (and he did, without falling down several times!")
Isaac, on the other hand, was not so lucky. I guess I probably shouldn't have sent Isaac down the hill by himself on the sled. But it was just a small hill and he was having so much fun. Unfortunately, there wasn't a nice blanket of snow at the time, just a nice blanket of ice. Got a nice goose egg from that one. I'm sure it won't be the last....

"Mama! Look! I'm making a face. Take my picture!!"

Halloween

Here's some of the obligatory cute Halloween photos, yes, I did do the 'crafty mom thing' and made their costumes, but I have a new sewing machine that I love!

Carter has been wearing his penguin costume all month, Isaac barely tolerated the monkey outfit, so I didn't even make the hat part...

Cousin Haley (crazy cat lady) and Carter - Haley was wonderful in helping Carter have a fabulous first trick or treating experience!

The two boys
What a good looking family! By the way, I spent so long on the boys' costumes, it was about 20 minutes before we were leaving and I realized Lars and I didn't have costumes, amazing what we can come up with by just going through our closets....

Summer of fun

Here's some random photos from our summer as the fall begins here in Vermont.....

Lars let me go out to Jackson Hole with 8 other ladies for a fun-filled relaxing week of hiking, canoeing, hiking, running, hiking, and relaxing on the deck with a beer..... here's some photos of our beautiful hike to Lake of the Crags (which we didn't reach, since we had to get back down in time for a friend's flight)

Beth Naylor enjoying the view....
Beth and JJ in the Red Rocks.
Bath time in the double sink!
Carter decorating the cake we made for Papa's 35th birthday.  We made him a scavenger hunt as well, Carter was excited and hid under the table the whole time, waiting for papa to find him!
Cousins Malcolm and Maura playing at Shelburne Farms
A rare moment of sweetness between brothers at Shelburne Farms
Carter documenting mama trying to wash the cat in tomato juice after a direct hit from a skunk.  Note: cats do not like being bathed....
Carter's first fishing experience at Green River Reservoir with Papa and Jon.  Jon caught a fish when they went out on the canoe, I guess Carter's only response was that he stopped fishing after that.  Seems he didn't realize what he was actually doing....

Carter helping to canoe at Green River
Isaac's first canoe trip - he tolerated it.. can't say he really enjoyed it, but I think it was more that he hated the life jacket....



We are enjoying a beautiful week - September may be my favorite month - warm days, cool nights, BBQs, corn, watermelon, and the apple orchard just opened for apple picking! A real sign of fall.  A few trees are starting to turn....

Here's a last image of summertime fun: