Tonight, as I was carrying Tess upstairs to bed:
Me: What would you like to do tomorrow with Mommy?
Tess: Creek — Bobbie and Motmaw's house. Shoes off, feet in. Me fishing.
Travelingjenny
Navigating the hilly terrain of motherhood
about
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I'm not sure which was more amusing: watching Grace enthusiastically (and messily) devour her s'more, or observing Tess quietly (and neatly) savor hers for several minutes. -
Think it doesn't get any cuter than this? Try to imagine Superduck dancing and singing her own theme song. -
So far, Tess sees the potty as a place to put toilet paper and to sit quietly with a book (or five). I guess that's not a bad starting place. -
Growing up, I spent hours on French Creek catching crayfish and minnows and hauling them around in buckets to show my parents before I dumped them back into the water. Naturally, it is important for me to teach Gracie about this fun pastime. She's a bit young to catch crayfish herself (they're fast, and hide well under rocks!), but I wowed her with my ability to catch them with my bare hands. I taught her how to hold them safely, which of course she got the hang of very quickly. However, it was entirely her idea to hold two at one time — and to let them pinch her.Her grandpa and I also taught her all about making temporary "homes" for toads — Gracie is already a seasoned toad-catcher — and she loved being able to watch the toads hop around. We had up to a dozen toads in there at one time!When I was a kid doing these same things, I never imagined I'd be able to teach my own daughters how to interact with the critters on the creek — and I certainly wouldn't have guessed that my lessons would be embraced with such enthusiasm!
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What I wanted most for my birthday was to go canoeing with my dad and my Gracie. But I got so much more —fresh-cut flowers from Sheryl's garden, a wonderful visit from my grandmother and aunt, ooey-gooey chocolate cake, and a reminder of my childhood as a tomboy. Yes, for a time I wanted to be called "Spidey," and my Spiderman shirt was my favorite item of clothing — but I'm pretty sure I never looked this cute…
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Pure joy and family time, canoes and canal boats – that's what vacation is all about! And that was only the first leg of our trip!
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Today was a day of rest (ha!) after returning from our huge roadtrip last night. Gracie was very happy to be reunited with her toys – particularly the ever-useful scotch tape. The windows in the barn needed to be covered so that the animals couldn't hear us – because, of course, if they heard us, they would want to come out and play. And they couldn't come out and play because it was naptime.And then, puppy needed to wear a bracelet (and a tail-let?) because Grace was wearing a bracelet, and of course we wouldn't want puppy to feel left out.Tomorrow I'll be heading to the store to buy more tape. And then I'll start slogging through the 800 photos I took while we were away, so stay tuned for tales of our adventures on the road – accompanied by a lot of pictures.
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Tomorrow we head out on our annual summer road trip. This will amount to a total of about 24 hours on the road with two energetic children who don’t like to sit still and refuse to sleep in the car. It is a well-known fact that I already have only a tenuous hold on my sanity, so this is not likely to help – please keep your fingers crossed for all of us.I would like to say that we are packed up and ready to go, but that would be a big fat lie. It did not help that I drove the minivan into the garage today – with the “pod” on top. I somehow managed to get the car into the garage (although I stopped as soon as I heard the hideous screech that alerted me to my mistake), but there was no way it was coming out. My sweet, patient husband laughed at my immense stupidity and fixed the dilemma, unloading the already packed pod and removing it without too much trouble. But I think it’s safe to say he won’t be letting me have a turn at the wheel during our trip. At any rate, we’re looking forward to unleashing our chaos (and cuteness) on various family members in various states. I’ll be back online in about ten days, hopefully with my sanity intact!
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One of the reasons we moved to Maine is that it is the perfect setting to cultivate a love of nature in our children. From the moose to the osprey, to the ubiquitous white-tailed deer, there is a plethora of amazing wildlife to view – sometimes just outside our own front door. Did you know that the animated Bambi, of Disney movie fame, was modeled after a fawn shipped from Baxter State Park in Maine? Baby deer are simply adorable, and we did have a fawn in our backyard recently, but we obviously couldn’t get quite this close to it. I am grateful for the Maine Wildlife Park, where the girls can get up-close views of some of our state’s amazing animals, making them feel even more connected to the nature around us.
Travelingjenny 