the squibix family blog

We have as much asparagus as we can eat, and the rhubarb is ready to go if I ever have enough time to make a pie. I sowed some spinach and arugula that hasn't come up yet, and planted out some lettuces from the garden store. Most exciting of all, the peas are up!

I'm going to take extra good care of them after mysterious failures each of the last two years. I want some snap peas!

Besides the food—hamburgers, grilled cheese, chips, brownies, popcorn, Hawaiian shaved ice—they bought raffle tickets, stuffed animals, and books. Which was almost everything they could have spent money on. Some of their friends also paid for henna tattoos, but that didn't interest them. The stuffed animals were delight enough!

And of course, it wouldn't be a proper old-fashioned fair without some field games. Besides the tug-of-war pictured here (Zion and Elijah's team won that contest, I was on the losing side every time I participated), there were sack races. They provided all the excitement anyone could hope for.

The event was pretty well attended, and it was a cheery sunshiny atmosphere all over the grounds. I didn't take any pictures of the animals, but they were the main attraction: you could visit and pet cattle, sheep, and goats—including a few adorable tiny baby goats. And the horse girls were riding in the ring, showing off their skills. And when the boys needed some time away from the crowd, the fairground has space for that too.

This was the first ever Spring Extravaganza; usually Middlesex 4H is content with just the one fair in August. But I guess they've been missing inviting the public to the fairground over the last two years! Of course, the end-of-summer fair is still on the calendar, and promises to be a whole lot bigger and better. We're looking forward to it!

That was this morning; besides his birthday treat breakfast of cereal, he also had cards from all of us and the first of his presents (new shifter and grips for his bike). But that wasn't the first of the birthday delights: we kicked things off yesterday evening with a celebratory moment at Bible study, with cake. We were having too much fun singing to get a photo of the candle moment, but here's what the cake looked like as it waited for everyone to be done playing and come eat it.

Then this morning before breakfast I made the same recipe into two dozen cupcakes, which we frosted with our friends during our "school time" this morning to share with more friends at Park Day this afternoon. That gave us yet another chance to sing, but because it was kind of rainy there weren't actually that many friends there. And plus most of them also brought celebratory treats. So we had plenty of cupcakes to bring home, to go with the quarter cake left from yesterday evening.

So you can see why he doesn't need a party with his friends right away. We need to eat our way through all that cake, and I need to have a couple days of not making cake. But I trust he's had enough celebrating from us to tide him over for a little while!

[edit: I see that last year I said that you can't put a candle in cereal... we sure proved that wrong!]

Back in the winter at ordering time I picked out the four different breeds I wanted for the optimal beauty of our overall flock, but then the boys each chose one of the prospective birds to claim as their own (not quite counting your chickens before they hatch, but definitely in the same neighborhood!). They've got naming rights as well. The only problem is, it's hard to tell a three-day-old Welsummer chick from a three-day-old Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock chick, so it's possible some names may have to be adjusted in a couple weeks. In any case, one of the chicks is Leia, one is Jawa, and one is Ewa (as well as Zion's birthday the day they arrived is "Star Wars Day," which may have influenced the names). I haven't named my one yet.

Like they do, the post office sent someone right over with the peeping box as soon as it came in, without even calling us. Luckily we were only walking to the car, not driving away, so we were able to let our friends know we were going to be late and let the chicks out into their (already-prepared) brooder without delay. Then we waited a bit to watch them get accustomed to their new home, and to make sure the dogs weren't going to eat them. They were certainly very interested.

So much so that I put the chicks up in the office before we left, where they can be shut behind a door. So we don't get to watch them all the time. On the plus side the heat lamp makes the office very warm indeed, just what little chickies like. And so far their cheeping hasn't bothered us at all at night. I think we'll keep them!

It was delightfully relaxing with just the two of us. Not that the pond was empty, as I had expected; on a beautiful warm weekend day lots of other people had the same idea. Not many of them were swimming though! The water was still pretty chilly. I wasn't swimming either, but that was because I don't actually own a swimsuit right now. I was happy to lie in the sun and almost fall asleep several times. I didn't even peak at the book I brought. Elijah lay in the sun too, in between forays into the water. It made for a good afternoon.

Since our party included two adults without bikes and one three-year-old on a balance bike we weren't exactly chewing up the miles. Instead, we proceded around the wide and smooth Pine Point Loop at a reasonable pace, with the older cyclists zipping ahead and then stopping to ride steep slopes to the side of the trail or climb big rocks or leap over horse jumps as the spirit took them. At some point a few of us did one actual mountain-bike trail, which was a chance for the old MTB hands Harvey, Zion, and Elijah to show off, and for a couple kids newer to the enterprise to experience how much fun it could be.

But as delightful as it is to be on a bike, it was the rocks and streams that were the real fun of the day. A couple of non-Archibald kids and I had a great time climbing the biggest of the rocks we came across, and then playing on a gigantic seesaw formed by a 40-foot (maybe? I didn't have a tape measure) white pine trunk that had fallen on a waist-high rock just right. While we were doing that Zion, Elijah, and a friend got very muddy playing around the edge of the pond, and then decided that the only thing to do to get clean was to submerge themselves up to mid-chest in the spillway.

Which they've probably always wanted to do anyways, so I guess it was fine. But Zion at least wasn't totally happy—or warm—for the rest of the ride. Did he learn his lesson? I'm sure he did not. Water is too hard to resist.

So is bicycling. We'll be out again soon!

I could have made one earlier, as far as the rhubarb was concerned: it was lack of time that held me back. But that doesn't matter, because it's having pie that we want to celebrate. Harvey and I, at least; the other boys don't care for it. Luckily they were able to fall back on the brownies I made on Saturday and the M&M cookies Leah made on Sunday. We ate the first slices of it after supper yesterday, and there's now either one big piece or two little ones left. You see how excited we were. Suffice it to say there will be more pies before long... the season has begun!

Three families brought four boats between them, so there were lots of possible combinations and lots of turns taken. One minor setback was that Zion, in charge of bringing our canoe paddles, forgot to put them in the car—but never mind, it led me to learn that you can drive a canoe with nothing more than a stout stick. Good to know! There was one new boat, a tiny sit-on-top kayak, and it was a big hit with the younger kids—especially since the day was so hot and summery that being in the water had some appeal. You couldn't paddle that boat without getting wet anyway, so why not do it from in the water?! If you were under 12, that is; the water was far from warm, so parents and big kids managed to refrain from going in.

The big kids sure took their turns with the dryer boats, though. In fact, their second trip across the pond took so long that we stayed half an hour later than we would have otherwise: half an hour after the absolute latest time we could leave and still have dinner on time. If they want to take a long voyage again, they're going to need to bring either a watch or walkie-talkies. Independence is great!

I was a little disappointed we didn't get to play with the baseball stuff we brought, not to mention the wonderful playground... but it sure is hard to resist the appeal of messing about in boats.

Well, there were only a few back in February, and they were little. But over the past few weeks there's been lots of back and forth from tables inside to different spots outside, with varying levels of sun and wind, as we worked to get seven or so trays hardened off and ready for life in the garden. The tomatoes were the first to go in, yesterday evening when I finally had a moment after a long day of learning and boating. The smell of the salt marsh hay mulch with is the best. Summery.

But with judicious use of chickenwire around individual beds we're doing our best. Since I took the pictures in this post I planted out more tomatoes and summer squashes, and I hope to get to peppers and cucumbers tomorrow. And we've got greens!

And this time of year the future berries are all very exciting.

The only problem is I want to plant way more than I have room for! When can I get a bigger garden?

The kids started up with batting practice as folks began to arrive, and then chose captains for a game with real sides. Then after a break for drinks and chips—despite my concerns, Leah put the chips out before dinner thinking that kids needed to keep their electrolyte levels up—we reorganized into kids vs adults. Not everyone played, but it was still a good-sized game, and fiercely fought. There were home runs, aggressive—not to say foolhardy—base-running and a triple play that was called back because of a general lack of understanding of the rules of "tagging up". I had to bow out before the end to start to get supper ready, but not before I hit a towering home run into the woods over the shed. Very satisfying! Still, the adult side ended up losing something like 24-12. Those kids were just too good.

For supper we had hamburgers and hot dogs on the fire (plus garden asparagus), along with salad, veggies, and lots and lots of chips (electrolytes!). Adults ate under a tent that Leah bought in the morning, thinking we'd die otherwise under the baking sun. It's the best thing ever, and even though the day cooled slightly as the party got going it was delightful to be gathered under its shade.

As the party entered its fourth hour the kids abandoned organize sports for a more typical game of battling and domination—and, apparently, courtroom trials? I'm not quite sure. The adults were having civilized conversation elsewhere. There was also some bike riding and rollerblading, and Zion built some of his new legos (most of his presents from his friends were legos, which is good because he didn't get any from his family; only sports equipment). The party started at three, and I think everyone was gone by 7:30, but I'm not sure... it was kind of hazy by that point. A good party!

Of course, that left some disappointed siblings. Elijah, for example. Luckily he's good friends with Zion's friend's sister (that's what happens with homeschoolers) so, not satisfied with planning their own trip to Kimball Farm sometime this summer, they also requested a special outing of their own for that afternoon. I was glad to oblige, and after lunch together at our house the three of us spent a happy couple hours touring in Lexington Center: we stopped by the Visitors Center, climbed the Belfry hill and explored the rocks (the kids requested I not take a picture of them inside the Belfry's protective wrought iron fence, to make sure they couldn't get in trouble), and played on a playground. Then we came home in time for them to watch a movie and eat popcorn. It's no birthday extravaganza, but still a pretty good Sunday afternoon!

Not that the visit was a complete success. The Garrison House is where all the Chelmsford elementary school kids go once in their social studies career, and it's also open to 4th grade groups from other towns. So the experience was pretty schooly, which put our kids off. The first part of the program was an hour in the craft building, where they got to churn butter, make soap, dip candles, and sew quilt squares. Which sounds awesome! But liability issues meant that they could only do a little bit of each project under careful direction, and the number of kids there ensured that there was a lot of waiting around between turns. Standing up. Plus with all the history we do anyways no one in our family was surprised to hear that, in the olden days, people couldn't go to the store and just buy what they needed. Like, duh.

The second hour, a tour of the Garrison House itself, was better. The house was continuously occupied from 1690 to 1954 before becoming a museum, and its different rooms show what it was like in the 1690s, 1750s, 1870s, and 1900s. Pretty cool! We don't have anything like that in Lexington. I could write lots about that, but the boys already did. Here's what Zion learned:

Yesterday we went to the garrison house. The garrison house was made in 1690 and a half and people lived in it til 1954. It was made as a garrison a fort. In 1690 to 1750 the house only had like 1 room and that 1 room was the kitchen the dining room the living room and the bedroom. Later in the 1700 they had better technology like beehive ovens and a crane. AND they had bricks for their fire places. Then in the late 1800s they got facterey rugs and curtains they also had time for a piano. Then in the 1900 sumbody put a wood stove in then changed it to kerosene. They also had a ice box and a pump. Later it became a mousem.

Then after the program we got to picnic and play on the grounds. That was the best part. And the benefit of doing big schooly things is that you can meet some new friends!

The big beach wasn't actually our original intention—the thought was we could walk around the center of Rockport, climb on the rocks and the breakwater, maybe go in the water at Front Beach. But when I noticed a sign saying that beach sticker parking doesn't start until the 28th I thought we might give Good Harbor a try. Even though there were lots of people taking advantage of the last free parking weekend, there was still plenty of room in the giant lot. Plenty of room on the giant beach, too: the tide was lower than I've ever seen it, so even though there were hundreds of college kids (so many bikinis and lacrosse sticks!) we had plenty of room for photos that made it look like we had the place to ourselves.

Low tide also revealed a path to the island a little ways off the beach, which we'd never been to before. So while we waited for our friends to arrive we headed over to check it out. It was a fun climb up (though a little hard to avoid the poison ivy and 19-year-olds), and with the sun peaking through the clouds we warmed right up.

Feeling warm meant that, on their way back to the car to meet our friends, the two younger boys let themselves be caught by the waves and got wet up to their middles. Which would have been fine, except at the car they were also going to change into their swimsuits. They didn't think it was a problem that they had soaked their only non-swimsuit clothes, but I wasn't thrilled.

Oh well. In actual swimsuits they took to the water again, first in the tidal stream that runs along one side of the beach. Some of it was shallow enough to wade across, but there were plenty of spots deep enough to swim in... or even to jump in! It's a pretty good beach where you can do cannonballs from the sand.

When they had their fill of that we moved to the waves. While the stream was cold, the actual ocean was positively frigid. Still, there were waves to play in, and that makes any level of chill bearable.

When I couldn't ignore Lijah's uncontrollable shivering any longer we went back to our blanket for lunch. Beach lunches sure know how to put the "sand" in "sandwich"! After we ate the boys wanted to go back in the ocean, but as we walked over a quarter mile of low tide beach through the fog it got colder and colder, and by the time we were able to put our toes in the water everybody was just about ready for dry clothes and a change of venue. Did I mention it was foggy? In patches, at least, and it was super fun watching them drift in from the water.

So yes, dry clothes. Oh wait, remember that my two younger children no longer had any such thing?! Poor Elijah in his hypothermic state was especially frustrated at his two-hours-ago self (or he should have been: he mostly acted angry at me). Happily his friends, more prepared than he, were able to furnish him with some of their spare clothes. Never mind that the shorts were a size too small and the shirt a size too big, and that both were from the girls' collection, he was glad to have dry cotton on his skin. And with him happy enough, we were able to head into downtown Rockport.

We spent a happy hour looking into shops, whining about things we wished we could buy, and climbing on the rocks of the breakwater. The boys found that, out towards the end, there are gaps between the rocks that make some pretty cool caves. They managed to travel maybe 20 feet "underground"!

Alas, by that point it was time to leave. Two of the children with us were only borrowed, and their parents were probably starting to miss them. Of course, we couldn't leave Rockport without buying some candy! Tootsie Pops and gummi worms we maybe could have found anywhere, but edible beach rocks were the perfect tourist purchase. And all the sugar fueled the long trek back to the cars. On the way I had to pause and snap a photo of Elijah, looking like a model in his borrowed clothes.

What a beautiful outing! It would have been even better if accidents on the highway hadn't made the drive home twice as long as the trip out, but never mind, that's why we have the audio book.

I do feel a little bad for them not having moms to take care of them and show them the ways of the world. If they did, they'd be able to enjoy the outdoors way longer and way earlier. But even without it's amazing to see how naturally they take to the outside world, where all that scratching makes sense! A much bigger variety of things to peck, taste, and fight over! And most importantly, room to stretch their wings! Before too long they'll be living out their permanently. I wonder how the old hens will take to them?

For now, we're not worrying about the 4H part. We're going to try things out and see if we can figure out a schedule and a routine that works. Then maybe in September we can get more official. So far, our idea is to rotate between houses and at each gathering have a selection of chores and projects that the kids (and the parents!) can take part in. For our first meeting at our friends' house, we cleaned out the chicken coop, weeded the garden, fixed some broken fencing, and pulled out grass from a piece of ground that is transitioning from lawn to food forest. Or, some people did. I was on grass removal duty the whole time. There was also a nature drawing scavenger hunt. At the end we had snack: we brought cookies and rice-crispie treats and someone else had some delicious egg tart things, but the best of all was the "apple nachos" made right on the premises. Not all the kids loved being made to do things, rather than just playing with their friends, but hopefully the snacks will keep them coming back.

And hopefully we can host the next meeting. There's a lot of work that needs to get done around here!

What weather?! We were some disappointed, I can tell you. Happily Lexington Center is a diverting place even in the absence of a street fair, and a visit to the library—where we haven't been for years, it seems like—and the visitor center kept things feeling entertaining. Of couse, we also needed to find food! We ended up going to Via Lago for a takeout meal that was quite a bit more expensive than what we would have bought at the fair, but probably a whole lot better too. And then we climbed some trees and played cornhole on the court thingy they had set up there.

Oh, and there was also a fairy house and garden tour advertised on signs all over the place, which we mostly ignored until we stumbled upon a little fairy village tucked under some trees on the edge of the lawn by Buckman Tavern. It would have been even better if there were more moveable parts for the boys to play with, but even as it was it felt like a pretty good discovery.

Leah got it on sale because she was nervous that last year's might not have survived the winter, and that was wise: after one delightful day it seems to have developed a slow leak and is out of commission for the moment. The new one might not be quite as big, but it's deeper, and there was plenty of room for all three boys to enjoy almost four hours of swimming and playing in it after lunch.

And then we finished the day with a proper Memorial Day cookout—best burgers I ever made! We had hoped to share our supper with friends, and were a little sad that didn't work out. But really, we had a pretty great day together as a family so I can't really complain. It's going to be a good summer!