Making Your Kids Wear Old Socks

About three months ago, I found an old pair of socks in a box in the basement. I immediately made Ethan start wearing them. The socks were the very definition of thread-bare - at least twenty years old, had lost all elasticity, and faded beyond belief. No matter. These socks - these silver, sparkly socks embroidered with Michael Jackson logos - were made to be worn. So, for the past three months, my son has been wearing socks that - for all intensive purposes - should have been thrown away two decades ago. All because his parents love the music of a kid from Indiana.

If Ethan is lucky, I'll give him the "Bad" cassette I have in my car when he gets older. May even leave him the sparkly glove in the box under our bed in his will if he plays his cards right. Maybe.

Well, it was bound to happen some time

I was wrong about something. I know, your whole world view has just been rocked. But it's true.

I had my "big" ultrasound this afternoon. All through this pregnancy I have been absolutely convinced that we were having another boy. I had a dream about it, I just had a feeling from the very beginning.

Well, I was wrong. IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!! I was shocked when the tech told me, but lo and behold, there it was- the "money shot," if you will. Definitely no third leg there. And the three distinct little lines of girl parts. WHOA. I'm still digesting the news! But I am sooooo excited to have another sweet baby girl join our family! And everything was perfect with her, she even measures five or six days ahead of my due date so she's a big girl. Here are her ultrasound pictures:I think this baby looks just like Sadie when she was born- look at that second 3D pic! It's the Sades!

Now if we could just come up with a name. Any suggestions?

Our Father's Day weekend

Well, we were father-less this Father's Day so I decided to just have some fun with the kids. I've been wanting to go strawberry picking since the farm opened on Thursday but it rained Thursday and Friday. So when it was just overcast on Saturday morning I siezed the opportunity and dragged the kids out to a strawberry patch a few miles south of West Leb. Ethan refused to touch the berries because they were wet. Oy. So he just wandered up and down the rows, and Sadie stuck by my side, smashing strawberries between her hands and then smearing them all over my khaki pants. Eventually she took off after her brother and they were both just running around the open part of the field. Our cue to leave! But not until I'd gathered a sweet haul of strawberries!

Mmmm... strawberries

We came home from the strawberry patch and Sadie took a nap. When she woke up we went back to the farm we visited a couple weeks ago. They were giving free wagon rides around the farm. Ethan said it was like a rollercoaster as we went up and down hills in the wagon.

And I had to do something with all those strawberries, so... jam! YUM. The first batch I made didn't set properly so I had to remake it. Blah. But the second batch was fine and the remade batch turned out great, too. So now I have 16 jars of strawberry jam. I'm sure they will find good homes.

We still miss you, Daddy! Even though you're far away I hope you had an enjoyable Father's Day and know that we love you so much!!!

Tiger Woods can rest easy

I took the kids mini-golfing this afternoon and discovered a few things about them. Number one- Ethan is a cheater. I kept trying to get him to put his ball on the line at the beginning of each hole, but he would inevitably give it one compulsory hit and then pick it up and move it within inches of the hole, then push it in with his hand. And of course he would then do a little victory dance. Ah, Ethan...

And Sadie just wants to be exactly like her big brother. She enjoyed carrying around her own tiny little golf club and picking up everyone's golf balls for them. I'm sure she was just trying to be helpful.


And then she tried her hand at Ethan's trick of just putting the ball directly into the hole. Seems to work well. We had to stop at the grocery store on the way home and Sadie kept playing with her dad's baseball cap, which I just thought was so cute.

We miss you, Daddy.

Help Me Lake Canobie. You're my only hope.

We went to an amusement park today as part of Tuck "Disorientation" - a series of activities for graduating students. The park, Canobie Lake, is just outside of Boston. We stayed for over eight hours and Ethan had a blast playing with the Kellys and Gassers. Sadie spent a lot of time in the stroller but a total trooper. We had a total blast.

New Hampshire's Definition of Safety

Alright. Also had to give New Hampshire a little grief as well. See below for evidence of what constitutes safety in this state. Specifically, there are state run liquor stores at "Safety Rest Areas" along major highways. What better way to rest on the highway than with your favorite alcoholic beverage?

Random Encounters with Business Propositions in Vermont

We really enjoy New England but we also love some good natured cross border trash talking. When we were in Oklahoma, Texas took the brunt the jokes. In Virginia, it was Maryland. Now that we live in New Hampshire, Vermont is our current target. As such, we wanted to share to signs we saw while driving in Vermont this week.

Exhibit A

It is great to see that this business has enough extra capacity that they feel the need to advertise. Maybe I should have considered the "Body Dumping" section of the economy when looking for employment.

Exhibit B

I am not sure what the "Buying Guns" sign does for the motel piece of the business. Are people more or less likely to stay at a cheap, roadside motel if it is the kind of place that buys guns? Truly, these are questions for the ages.

The ultimate business proposition? An establishment that buys your guns and lets you dump your bodies. Would definitely meet an unmet market need.

One additional note - yes, the Pleasant View Motel also buys gold, diamonds and ammo - all while accepting your Diner's card.

Row, row, row your boat

We went canoeing on the Connecticut River this afternoon. Dartmouth has a place where you can rent canoes by the hour (but we sprang for a season pass). It was a little harder getting into a canoe than I remember, but then again I haven't been in a canoe since sixth grade summer camp so what do I know. We had to drag the canoe down into the water by ourselves so Ethan was left in charge of making sure Sadie didn't take a header into the river. Good thing he only had to do it for a minute or two. Once we were off from the dock, it was pretty smooth "sailing." Another canoe set off right after us and Ethan thought we were in a race. We lost. At one point we even ran aground because it was so shallow. We still had a great time, though. Sadie spent almost the entire time stretching her whole body over the side of the boat so she could touch the water. Ethan nearly tipped the boat over about a hundred times because he wouldn't sit still. Good times.

This may be one of my favorite Sadie pictures ever- look at that li'l bit o' sweetness!

Look! We have more than just snow!

I know, I almost don't believe it myself. But look- hard evidence that things actually grow here on the frozen tundra:

I admit, the weather hasn't been perfect. It rained almost all last week and the temperature never got above 55. But every now and then we are rewarded with a nice day and some sunshine. Like yesterday and today. So we try to take advantage of it every chance we get. Paul is done with school for the semester and is home with us this week before he takes off for the Left Coast to spend his summer in the Bay Area. We decided it was a great time to do a little exploring across the river in Vermont.

Yesterday we hit up Billings Farm (pictured above), an old dairy farm that has been preserved and still has livestock that you can visit. Ethan and Sadie both loved it- they were mesmerized by the animals and even thought the indoor exhibits on 1800's farm life were interesting. Our visit started out a bit rocky, when this cow got a little up close and personal with Ethan (he refused to get anywhere near it after his initial encounter).

Sadie thought this cow was awesome, though

And apparently my pants tasted like some sweet grass because she kept licking me

It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but this is a calf that was born on Sadie's first birthday back in March

Ethan really liked the chickens, until one of them pecked a hole in Paul's hand

After we were done at the farm, we hit up a glass shop in Quechee on the way home. Wow! They have their workshop in the basement so we were able to watch as the workers made stemware. It was really impressive. There's also a waterfall out in the back, which was very cool. We made sure to keep the kids in straight jackets while walking through the store upstairs, as even a single goblet cost at least $70.


Today's adventure was to a place called VINS, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. They have bugs and amphibians and lots of birds. Here Paul poses with the kids in front of the bald eagles.

Sadie enjoys a snack

I love the look on her face in this one

So... you see? There's more to New Hampshire and Vermont than just snow and more snow. It's the perfect place to summer! (I just love using that word as a verb) And with Paul MIA all summer long, starting Monday, it's up to me to entertain the kids. Which means that by the end of next week I will be ready to sell them to gypsies. So, I need people to entertain me for three months. Any takers? Come on, you know you want to. We have nature! And no sales tax or seat belt laws! It's paradise!