Apple Harvest

Early Release October is always a good time to go apple picking. The weather often cooperates, the apples are ready, and there are no crowds to compete with. We had the good fortune of being able to take Steve along this year, which has now become a family tradition that everyone looks forward to.

Honeypot Farm in Stow, MA is delightful. There are a few animals for the kids to view and feed: 3 young pigs, multitude of goats that climb ramps and beg for food, chickens, rabbits to poke through their cage...

There are

hayrides that traverse the orchards, although we have never taken a

ride. It has always been my opinion that part of my purpose of going to the orchard is to get little boys to exhaust themselves, running through the rows of trees

and climbing the larger ones. They don't seem to mind. :)

We picked apples, chose our pumpkins, boys gobbled their carmel/nut encrusted apples made there, and we managed to pick up a half gallon on unpasteurized cider which I am now afraid to drink because I worry about how safe it is.

Lamson Farm Day 2009

What a lovely day we had, roaming the fields of Lamson Farm in Mont Vernon late September. It was precisely how the boys remembered it. A few animals, a few displays, Mac the Knife, hot cider and donuts, hayrides in the wagon pulled by the Pomeroy's tractor, and the obligatory barbequed chicken dinner complete with homemade pies and baked beans. yummmmm! Although I have to say the pies weren't nearly as good this year as they have been in the past.

The farm looked lovely. Seems that they have done some work on the barn in recent years and it was nice to poke my head in to see where I used to play as a child. It is, of course, much smaller than it used to be ... or I suppose I have gotten bigger. I don't know but it is a cool thing to open a door to old fond memories: old Mr. Lamson shuffling from one cow to the next, Blackie the milker who didn't have much white on her, chasing calves through the fields... all good stuff.

Angus had the good fortune to run into bunches of his old classmates. It was delicious to see him smile from ear to ear as old friends came up to him and asked, "Do you know who I am?". I could see Angus rack his brain for a minute but never lose the smile. He would pause momentarily as he searched for the name and when it surfaced to his brain, his eyes would smile too. I think that was the high-light of my day.

Boys are back in school. I'm really hoping that this is a good year for both of them. Steve is ... well Steve is home a lot more these days, which is a blessing and a curse. Dang Economy!  Good news is that he is starting to make some real headway on that extremely long To-Do list. :)

Declan is in seventh grade this year and will be participating in Band, Boy Scouts, running on the cross country team, and taking music lessons on top of regular studies and a very busy social life.

Angus will also be in the Boy Scouts and running on the cross country team. he just got new running shoes and somehow moved up to size 11.5. I don't understand how that happened. He barely wears through sneakers anymore because his feet are growing at a freakish rate. 

Isaiah is making changes by leaps and bounds. Just recently he learned how to walk backwards, clap his hands with purpose and give high-fives, and put a ball into a container instead of just dumping everything OUT onto the floor. Amazing. He really is a delightful little buggar.

I'm lining up my limited volunteer activities for the year at the school and library. I'm still not interested in overextending myself too much. Nonetheless, there will be fundraising events to help plan, book sale to organize, the 7th grade play, etc. etc. etc. 

One Year Already!

On Saturday, Isaiah celebrated his first year in our world. My-oh-my how time flies.

A couple of weeks ago we took a (nearly) week-long trip to upstate New York, stopping in Ithaca overnight. While in Ithaca I managed to meet up with two dear friends who also have babies under the age of two and we saw some beautiful countryside.

Hiked to Taughannock waterfall which was quite impressive (g'head, google it!).

and hiked Watkins Glen where Declan had the misfortune to re-fracture his collarbone.

Fingerlakes region brings rolling hills and farm after farm after farm. I have never seen so much

corn growing in my life! Cornfields were replaced by vineyards as we

travelled north towards Rochester to spend some time with Steve's family. Absolutely stunning country out that way.

Funniest thing I saw (and didn't get a picture of) was a large sprawling lawn in front of a house. Dead center was a toilet with seat lifted and a handful of plastic flowers "

planted" in the bowl. Who thinks this stuff up?

While in Rochester, we had several days to spend with Steve's Mom, sister Gemma, Rick, Kaleigh & Damon, as well as brothers Greg and Mark who made the trek as well. We did the requisite trips to Seabreeze amusement and water park, Whispering Pines putt-putt- golf (the oldest miniature golf park in continuous use), Bill Greys for burgers, and too many visits to Abbotts frozen custard. Older kids swam in Lake Ontario one afternoon while Isaiah chased seagulls in the park and we rounded out our trip with reconnecting with great Aunts Sylvia and Joan and friends Mike and Sandy.

We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the zoo where Isaiah was stunned to see all these animals from his books come to life.

Updates

Isaiah is 11 months old today. Walking, practically running, everywhere. Constant babbling. Eating more and more table foods.

Declan broke his collarbone. Again. Poor kid is missing out on boy scout camp this week and was just informed by the orthopedic surgeon that he is pretty much done with normal activities for the next month.

Angus is off at camp and probably having a super time after having spent a week in NH wth Gramma and Papa. I bet he doesn't even miss us!

Arizona in the Summertime

... is HOT. 

Steve had to travel there for work (the week of his birthday), so Isaiah and I came along for the trip. Stayed near Old Town part of Scottsdale and had a great time discovering all that it had to offer. Did you know they have an amazing collection of public art? 

We would get up early, eat breakfast and head out for a nice long walk over to the park. Isaiah played in the grass and

 admired the water fountains, flowers, and birds and just generally exhausted himself before it got too hot. 

He napped in the Ergo as we

 headed back to hotel for some downtime and lunch. 

In the afternoons we needed indoor 

respite from the heat so we headed to either the library (super children's section), the mall, or ducked from one store to the next. Scottsdale has a free trolley system that pretty much took us anywhere we wanted to go. 

Late afternoons found us cooling off in the pool.

Summertime

Sorry for the lack of new posts, but boys are out of school and we are just plain busy these days. Angus and Declan are proving to be terrific helpers around the house, taking on new chores and jobs .. some for money and others just because they need to be done. 

The used booksale at the library was another huge success. --->

It has rained for 1.5 months so I'm afraid that the landscaping project is continuing to drag out forever.

Isaiah is walking quite well...

and has lots of smiles...