moments from the week
our newest swimmer
Moments from the past week.
summertime life
another lost tooth makes him a beaver
practicing flying
hours at the library
bang!
taking a break from fun at a new playground
a little pause
I love writing, and I love recording the fun things we get up to, but it's all feeling a little overwhelming lately. I think it's time for a little break from trying to find time to write amid all the other chaos and excitement of our late summer days. Maybe I'll get back to it next week; maybe in September... I think it just depends on whether we do anything so amazing that I just have to get it down in print.
moments from the week
cool and comfortable at the beach
Moments from the past week.
finding new ways to climb things
quiet outdoor play
we're going another way
the real summer treat
another delicacy
exploring: in search of a pond
camping 2021 part 3
cozy
Our first day's hike was hard work, so the tent felt super comfortable for a long sleep. And there were no worries about sleeping late, since the boys had requested breakfast at a restaurant for our second morning—or should I say the restaurant, one of the central pieces of our Bar Harbor vacation experience. Knowing how hard it is to park in town, I cleverly had us pack the bikes, so we could leave the car out by the playing fields and ride to the cafe. We arrived to a 15-20 minute wait, but there was also a giant connect four game so no worries at all. Before we knew it, we were sitting down to a tremendous feast.
camping is hungry work
After we ate we headed down to the shore (experiencing some difficulty navigating the bikes through the extremely crowded streets and sidewalks; now we wished we didn't have them). We played on the cannons, threw rocks into the ocean, and climbed on cliffs. Like you do.
he climbed up twice as fast as last time
On our way back through town we stopped at the department store for the boys to buy some fuzzy souvenirs. Then we did something new (a rarity when we go on the same vacation every year) when we stopped at the skate park and rode some lines. It's a great spot, and I wished I had a BMX bike! I borrowed Elijah's for a few minutes but it's not quite the same.
every town should have a skate park this good!
Since I hoped to do some slightly longer riding, I persuaded the boys to try a few miles on the carriage road network. I hadn't ridden on the carriage roads for years and years—since Harvey was born, for sure—and the main reason I brought bikes was to give them a go. The boys were feeling pretty tired but allowed me to psych them up ahead what I promised would be a fun and beautiful ride... and then, a quarter mile in, we hit a long steep steady uphill that almost brought on a mutiny. In their defense, it was super hard! But in mine as a cycling instructor and encourager, everybody but Elijah was able to ride up with just a break or two along the way. Lots of the adults we saw couldn't manage that! We paused for a tired picture at the top or so, then everybody enjoyed some downhill miles that made it all worthwhile. If you ask me, at least.
too tired to admire the view
Cycling is my favorite, but you know those boys want to be in the water. So, back at the campground, we finished the day with a good long swim in the pool.
another day, another pool soak
Dinner was just spaghetti and red sauce, so that was easy. After yet more smores, we went to bed in the tent for the last time on the trip. How was it we were going home tomorrow?! It seemed like we'd just got there!
in a pickle
When do we make pickles?! It's actually not that complicated to get at least the dill pickles done, but it takes a good bit of time and a lot of space (and mess). Also sequencing, which I'm bad at—with the last batch I was already to get started only to find we were almost out of dill seed, and this time I needed to make a trip to the store for lids. And worst of all, it's hot! Having a growing collection of pickling cukes in the fridge is a background stressor that definitely makes me feel increasingly uneasy as time goes on, so yesterday at the farmers market I bought six or seven more to force the issue. And this evening, even though it's "excessive heat watch" hot and I was tired and it was the boys' bedtime Zion, Elijah, and I got it done. They were delighted, and I'm relieved. They also wanted to make bread-and-butter pickles, but that's an entirely more complex process that we're going to have to save for another day. Or maybe even another year...