Story Time in Blue Hill

We went to the Blue Hill Library today for story time. Avery was very well behaved, listened almost the entire time, and both asked and answered questions. It lasted for almost an hour, which is a long time for a kid to pay attention, but it seemed to be a good indication to me for how well he'll do in a school setting. The library is a restored historic building and was quite nice inside.

After story time we went to get lunch, but the place where I wanted to eat was only open for lunch Wed-Sat. So we wandered until we found a bakery behind a used book store on Main Street. We had fresh hearth-fired pizza and I got roasted eggplant on my half. Yum!

After lunch we headed to a different bookstore where the kids read books in the kid section and I got them a 20th Century book treasury, which they seem to love. The book has some great classic kid's books and best sellers (and we now have our fourth copy of "Good Night Moon"!).

Hiking Up to Blueberry Hill

We hiked up to Blueberry Hill and boy did it wipe me out. Eli packed a lovely picnic consisting of turkey sandwiches, cheese, apples, and of course, blueberries. I think the kids had nothing but juice and blueberries.

Spectacle Swim

I was browsing through some old pictures on the Hiram Blake web site when I found a picture of Eli and Nora swimming at Hiram Blake Camp. It is from 2003 when I was 30 weeks pregnant with Avery and probably had no desire to get in a rowboat.

Cait and Cullen and Meg are manning the rowboat, so this is probably a dock to Spectacle Island swim (a distance of more than 1/4 mile in very cold water!).

Hiram Blake Camp 2007

Breakfast this year took on a new dimension when the boys figured out how to eat everything through a straw. First it was the chocolate milk. Then the scrambled eggs. Then the pancakes!

And dinner, which is normally a four course meal (salad, soup, main course, dessert), was also an interesting affair. Debbie and Dave set up one of the rooms in the farmhouse as a kids' playroom. For most meals the kids came in, ate buttered bread, and left to play in the playroom. When dinner was served they returned for a few bites (if we were lucky) and then returned to playing. For dessert they would come back, eat until it was gone, and then head outside to the playground.

On our first day at camp we took the kids to Pebble Beach. They started sliding down the big rock, so Eli made it into a makeshift water slide, throwing water up on the rock face with a big bucket. What was merely fun went over the top; they had a blast climbing up and sliding down, not to mention sliding down while climbing up.

The Cole Transportation Museum

This year's drive up to Maine was very uncomfortable for me. Pregnancy does not lend itself to sitting in the car for long periods of time. Once again we spent the night in Freeport. The boys did well in the car, but Avery was awful at the hotel. He tossed and turned and bothered us for more than 2 hours after we put him to bed. Eli looks forward to the days when hotel sleep will once again be relaxing.

After breakfast we did our traditional outlet mall shopping and then drove up to Bangor, home of the Cole Land Transportation Museum. We were impressed by this strange old museum. It was like a giant warehouse, full to the brim with all manner of odd vehicles. Eli's favorite was a Ford car that could be transformed into a tractor. I liked the giant wedge shaped snow plows that were almost two stories tall. I think the kids liked the trains best because they got to climb on and go inside.

It's a Girl!

I just had my 20 week ultrasound and found out the baby's gender. It's a GIRL!!! We are very excited. Eli has been pestering me with names since we found out. Even Avery and Zachary seem to be excited about the idea of having a sister (though that's probably just contagious excitement from us).

Avery and Zachary came along with us for the ultrasound. Avery was very inquisitive about the monitor and what he was seeing. I don't think either of them understood the images, but when they heard the heartbeat they were extremely interested.

After having all the pictures and measurements taken, we had to wait almost 30 minutes for the doctor to arrive and verify that the baby was healthy and growing normally. The kids were getting into everything and wanted to touch the equipment, so I showed them videos on our camera and Eli showed them movies and games on his iPhone. They also lay down on the bed to pretend to get ultrasounds; apparently they've been pregnant ever since we told them I was pregnant.

Mad Memory Skills

Avery and Zachary have been displaying some incredible memory skills. There is a show that they watch on TV (yes, I know, TV bad) called Little Einsteins. Each episode has a story that revolves around a famous artist and classical composer. The music is played throughout the show and the art usually shows up somewhere in the middle.

They have seen most of the episodes a couple of times now, but what i find to be very cool is that they can tell me the name of the episode from the snippet of classical music that is played. They can also repeat the tune and sing the song that the Little Einsteins sometimes make up. So impressive!

Cookie Crooks

Avery and Zachary got up just after 6 this morning. They decided that since Mommy and Daddy were still in bed they'd go downstairs and help themselves to breakfast. As many Americans often do, they chose to have healthy cookies for the most important meal of the day.

I should stop here and mention that we don't normally like it when the boys go downstairs before us because inevitably they do something like this.

So I called them back upstairs, cookie still in their mouths, and gave them each a time out and no juice. They were very apologetic, and then proceeded to explain the teamwork behind their snack procurement effort: Avery opened the pantry and found the cookies. Zachary climbed up to get them. Avery got one cookie out and split it, while Zach put the rest of the package back. Impressive for two hungry children.

Kayaking on the Potomac

On Sunday we went to West Virginia to see the grandparents. We met up with them in Sheperdstown and went to the Farmer's Market, then for a walk on the C&O canal. After our walk we went back to their house and had lunch and took a dip in the Potomac. The boys had a great time with Grandpa in the kayak. Avery even did some kayaking himself.

The Week of July 4th

Last week was a busy one. On Sunday the 1st we went to see Ratatouille with Seth, Rob, Bryan and Logan. The kids, surprisingly, sat through the entire movie. This was Zachary's first movie, and he did get antsy near the end, but stayed in his seat. Compare that to Avery who tried to leave the the theater in the middle of his first movie.

On Monday I took the boys to get a haircut. Next we went to the toy store, then to the coffee place to get a drink and a muffin, and finally to the park. It was a breezy day so I didn't think the pool would be fun, but the park sure was.

Tuesday through Thursday we had more swim lessons for the boys. It was so cold in the pool that Zach was even less cooperative than last week. Avery almost refused to go in the water on Wednesday because he was so cold; luckily Eli was there to watch Zach so I could sit with Avery and get him warmed up to the water.

Lessons aside, the boys are coming along nicely. Zachary will voluntarily put his head under water and with water wings on he'll swim a short distance unaided. Avery can swim under water for as long as he can hold his breath, but he doesn't yet have the buoyancy or technique to keep his head above water.

On Tuesday we also had Leslie, Logan, and Kaylee came over to swim, and to watch Avery while Zachary and I had our swim lesson.

On Wednesday my family came over in the evening for dinner and fireworks. Eli set off "South Carolina" fireworks for an hour or so while we watched. He drew quite a crowd of our neighbors as well. The kids enjoyed the fireworks and doing sparklers, although Avery and Zach did not like the loud booming salutes.

On Thursday we had Jessica, Matt, and Annabelle over for dinner and to light off leftover fireworks. Eli said at the end that he was plenty tired and that his inner pyro would be sated for quite a while.

Friday was our shopping day and I had my 18 week prenatal appointment. So far so good!

On Saturday we ended the week with Logan's third birthday party. The kids played with toys, and each other, the whole time. This was great for Eli and I because we didn't have to watch them constantly.