Avery and the Printer

I've been allowing Avery to be alone for longer periods of time in the afternoon so that I can put Zach down for a nap. Sometimes (cough) I drift off to sleep for a few minutes myself. Unfortunately, these instances have been known to end with Avery doing something that he shouldn't. Nothing terrible, just minor things like getting a juice box or chocolate milk out of the pantry, or getting yogurt out of the fridge. Some parents are fine with this kind of independence, but until the day comes when the boys decide to sneak carrots out of the fridge, we want them to ask first before taking.

Yesterday when I was putting Zach down for his nap, Avery decided it would be fun to play on the computer. He loaded up "Dora Dance to the Rescue" and played for while. At some point he decided to print something out. Unfortunately it was not one copy, or two, or even ten. He printed 68 copies of the same page, in color. Thank goodness the printer ran out of paper or it could have been even worse!

Jelly on my Tummy?

Most kids are interested in whats happening when their mommy is pregnant. But Zachary has taken it to another level. Very early in Sara's pregnancy, he became convinced (on his own!) that he also has a baby in his tummy.

When he is hungry, he needs: "Food to make my baby grow."
If Avery plays too rough he says, "Don't hurt my baby!"
And ever since Sara let the kids feel her baby kick, we periodically hear "My baby is kicking me."

Today Sara told the kids they had to stop by the doctor's office to drop off forms for preschool. Zachary immediately piped up with: "And I get the jelly on my tummy and I see my baby moving?"

It took a moment to make the connection: he was referring to Sara's last sonogram.

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.