Sweet Boy

Finn has always been a kind kid--until recently. The past 5 months or so have been filled with over-reactions to minor personal fouls from siblings, me, Dad, whoever. I've been explaining to him that if he smacks Madie after she wronged him, he's the one who gets in trouble, regardless of what she did, because he decided to punish her instead of leaving it to me or working it out with her. So, she got hers from him, and now he gets his from me. Lucky kid.

My Christmas wish is that this will sink in before February.

But every once in a while a little piece of Old Finn bobs up to the surface and you get moments like yesterday. 

On Friday our neighbors (a couple) put down their 12-year-old dog. It was very difficult for them. I mentioned this at breakfast on Saturday morning and suggested that we make some "Sorry" cards for them. 

It was snowing in the morning, but was turning to rain some time during the day, so the kids went out with Mike to work on the snow fort in the morning to get some play time in before it got too slushy. I had been lying down with Petya and had fallen asleep. I woke to Finn yelling for Dad to come help him write something out. I got up and found him in the house with a piece of paper shouting out the door. 

"Finn, what do you need help with?"

"Oh, good! Come here." He took me into his bedroom. "How do you spell sorry?" 

I sound the word out slowly while he spells it on a piece of paper. He signed his name and drew a black stick-figure dog. "Is this for Mike and Amy?" 

"Yeah, it's a sorry card. I'm gonna make another one." After two or three cards, he ran into the living room and we began redressing him for outside. I saw one of our neighbors was out in the yard with Mike already. They were chatting while Madie went down the snow fort on a little blue sled. I found out our neighbor had been feeling down (of course) and had come over when she'd seen the kids in the yard. She had given them a couple of sleds. She spent a good while out there before her husband also came over to chat. They appreciated the cards very much. 

That evening Finn came out of bed with two more cards. "Can you two write 'Thank you for the sleds' on these? Here Mum, but Dad can write on one, too."

The sleds are the flexible kind with the handle in the front you pull up between your legs. Though I'm sure, with the accurate depictions, you did not need an explanation.

Gingerbread Houses

This past week has been a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Monday brought a snowstorm that kept Madie home from school, but before the kids could get out to play, it started raining. Our driveway has been a lethal threat since.

We made gingerbread houses for family night on Monday. The kids always love it, and always pile the decorations on so thick that when you stand up the pieces to put them together, half the candy falls off.

"You guys, if it's not touching the icing, it's not going to stay put."

Whatever. They just eat them anyway.

This is Madie's I-AM-smiling face.

I don't know what face this is. I guess it's an effort to look nonchalant? Like, "Oh, I just made this house. By myself. Well, my mum helped a little."

Madie has memorized the chorus to Jingle Bells on the piano. She says she now wants to learn a "fancy" version. I told her we could do that, but we might not get to it until after Christmas. She's cool with that. She just likes to play songs she knows well. 

But hear this: she's also been after me to teach her more (major) scales on the piano. I told her we would, once she had C, F, and G mastered. (I was planning on it after New Years.) She took it upon herself to just learn all the other major scales (starting on white keys only--she hasn't realized you can play it starting on any key). She can now play A, B, C, D, E, F, and G major scales. THEN--and here the bragging is really ridiculous--she taught herself to transpose the chorus of Jingle Bells into all those keys. Good grief. What next. She basically teaches herself.

This is not the version she has learned, but it is an aspiration. Perhaps next year.

Tuesday was gorgeous. I was downtown alone, for some reason, and saw this great sign. It's not until Friday, but it's never too early to break out the Festivus pole.

Madie was sick on Friday, so she stayed home from school. Some sort of stomach bug. Petya had it a little, too, on Wednesday. Today (or I guess, yesterday. Saturday is what I mean.) she still wasn't 100%, but hopefully tomorrow will be a marked improvement.

All this time home and inside has meant breaking out the marble run. The kids love it, even though it leads to some stress-induced arguments. It's always good for at least a few minutes.

He gets it from Dad.

Conversation of 12/7/2016

Dad: One of you please get the forks and one of you get the napkins.

Me: Oh, there aren't any napkins. There are a bunch in the dryer, but I haven't brought them up yet.

Finn: Thanks, Mum.

Dad and I look at each other.

Me in my sweetest Mumma voice: Thanks for what, dearest?

Finn: For washing the napkins and leaving them downstairs.

Dad and I look at each other again. I roll my eyes.

Mike in a whisper: I don't think we taught him sarcasm, I think he just has it innately.

Story Time

I can't remember what day exactly, but after I had worked out, we decided it was too nice outside to just go straight to the car. So Finn and Petya hit the playground with me. 

Finn is a good pumper. Petya is even picking it up a little from watching him.

It was fun to just run around with them. Usually when I'm at the playground, we're with friends, so I sit and chat while they play. I love that too, but it's good to just run around with them and do what they want.

In the past Finn has felt lukewarm about story time at the library. He likes seeing his friends, but if they're not there, he's often not interested. Recently though, he has really been looking forward to it, especially the little craft. This week, after realizing it was almost time to head to the library, he exclaimed, "I wonder what they'll make this time!"

Finn shares a Calvin and Hobbes book with Logan. The two of them were giggling in this corner for about 10 minutes after story time.

With Wondering Awe

With wondering awe, the wisemen saw 

The star in heaven springing, 

And with delight in peaceful night,

They heard the angels singing: 

Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna to his name!

I'm sitting here with Mike right now. He's studying for a certification. I'm writing up the program for Christmas day. I have all of the special musical numbers worked out and some of the reading parts, but none of the congregational hymns, so I ran an idea past Mike.

"I think right before we read that part, we'll have the congregation sing With Wondering Awe, because the last couple of verses say this: 

And still is found, the world around,

The old and hallowed story,

And still is sung in every tongue

The angels' song of glory...

The heav'nly star its rays afar

On ev'ry land is throwing,

And shall not cease till--"

 "I've never even heard of this song."

I gape at him. 

"What? I don't think I've ever sung this before, ever." 

"Mike, we sang this last year. Not just the congregation, but it was a song the choir performed last year. We practiced it. The whole theme of our program last year was "Wondrous Little Stranger." I point to the phrase in the second verse. 

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Sorry..."

This is one of those, "You never even notice me anymore!" moments.

Thanksgiving Break Week

We spent yesterday up to Gram's. It's always fun visiting with Grammy and Alexa. It's even more fun teasing Alexa and Sean. I was surprised Uncle Shawn didn't join us, but Gram said he did spend Thanksgiving evening with them. 

They held off on the traditional feast until we came, which wasn't my intention, but we enjoyed a second turkey dinner! 

We walked to Bob's Hardware, always a hit. Petya wanted to walk like the big kids--she walked the whole way back.

The day before we went up to Gram's was wet and gray, and we knew the next day we'd be spending 4 hours in the car, so Mike met us at the Y after work to run around a bit. Petya loves to sit on the trucks and scoot herself all over the floor. She's getting pretty big for them--not that they were ever meant for someone to sit on them. 

We took family pictures back in October, but, as is typical, Madie spent the time fooling around and pulling faces. I promised Mike I would try to get a shot of her before it snowed. With no school, this was the week to do it. I asked her to go pick something out to wear and she pouted. I told her to pick long-sleeved so she'd be warm (our other pictures were taken outside, so I was looking for continuity--in November). We couldn't agree on anything, so I finally just pulled out this short-sleeved dress and she blanched.

"Just remember, the less you fool around, the faster we'll get inside."

After 10 minutes I knew I had some good ones. She was happy to take the dress off and get back into pajamas. And I was happy to have a decent picture of her.

Mike took Finn canoeing and fishing this week. He has his license, but he's only been able to get out a few times all year, and they haven't caught anything yet. Still, Finn loves to go out on the boat. 

Madie refuses to get in "until we get a boat without duct tape."

We've spent the week teaching the kids a couple of new games. I think I mentioned in the last post chess and Chinese checkers. They kept complaining regular checkers is more fun. ?? Who likes checkers? Is there a more boring game?

I think it was good for P to join in. She didn't really play, she just moved her pieces around in her corner, but she did learn to wait her turn. Both Chinese checkers and chess have really helped Madie to think a couple of moves ahead.

Tomorrow is back to the grind.

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Thanksgiving 2016

Ahhh, the kick-off to the holiday season. And what a way to get it started! It makes you happy to be a New Worlder. (Canada gets it.)

Thanksgiving in Maine is even better, because it starts on Tuesday evening. Pie Night at the church. It's a beautiful thing. Pies pies pies. This year, I decided I would pull a MariLou and make a pie for everyone in my family. I thought I'd make some of them for Pie Night and some for Thanksgiving. So I asked Mike what he wanted and he lead with "Boston cream pie," followed by, "or that strawberry pie Grammy made a while back. That was amazing." So, a layer cake or a pie made from November (i.e. tasteless) strawberries. Thanks. The kids asked for an Oreo pie. I made the Boston cream and the Oreo pie (which my kids didn't like) and a sausage pie. Thankfully they were all eaten. Next year I think I'll just make one or two simple pies for Pie Night and the rest on Thanksgiving.

The remains of a million blueberries.

Last night I made our pies, a lime cheese pie and pumpkin. I also prepped the fruit for the fruit bowl. I was prepared for doing Thanksgiving like I remember my mum doing Thanksgiving: getting up at 5:30 or 6, setting up the table with the fruit bowl, drinks, and even deviled eggs until I realized we had no mayonnaise. Then setting to work, Mike peeling, me cooking, non-stop until 2 pm when we would sit to a feast and subsequently crawl to the couch/bed/dog bed where we could sleep off the tryptophan.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions in my parents' home was breakfast/brunch. It was a large fruit basket filled with pears, oranges, bananas, grapes, nuts, apples, and a big bowl of sherbet punch and a platter of deviled eggs. This being our first Thanksgiving at home, I was excited to do the same for my kids--it was a bigger hit than I thought. Even Madie (my picky eater) enjoyed it!

As it turned out, I had large stretches of nothing. I did get up early, and I'm glad because I had left the kitchen a wreck from the night before, so I cleaned up and set up the table. But when I turned to decide what to do next, I realized, I couldn't do much for a few hours. I didn't really start doing anything until 11. We did end up eating a little later than I anticipated--3:40 or so--but it wasn't bad.

When they weren't busy cracking nuts, the kids spent the majority of their time in the basement learning chess. They've been asking to learn, and Mike finally gave in. He taught them checkers and then Chinese checkers a couple weeks ago and they have loved it. Checkers is especially nice since they can play it themselves with no "advisors." Every day this week they have gone down to play checkers--Finn and Madie will keep busy at it for an hour or more! 

At the beginning of the chess lesson today, I overheard Mike trying to get them calm enough to explain the rules. They were both very excited he had agreed to teach them. Finn asked, "Do you get to jump people and take their pieces?" Mike responded with a yes, to which Finn exclaimed, "Yes! I love this game!"

Not everyone was playing chess. Obviously, these two were at a rave and just about passed out from the excitement.

While the turkey was roasting, I took the kids out to gather clippings and trimmings for some wreaths. We were out for maybe 15 minutes, but they loved it. They kept saying, "This is so much fun! I love this! This is a great Thanksgiving activity!" I'm glad, because Madie especially was not very happy to learn we had decided to stay home for Thanksgiving this year and go up to my grandmother's on Saturday instead. She was set for a dull day, indeed.

After we had plated the turkey and used what we needed of the drippings for gravy, I prepped Elvis' Thanksgiving dinner.

He is always extra good when he gets a special treat. He knows we'll make him start over if he jumps before he's told.

Haha!

Madie always groans when we light candles to eat. I'm not exactly sure why, but it makes her the only child I know who doesn't like eating by candlelight. Maybe it started after I told her the story of Kaitlyn melting her ear almost off when her hair caught fire at Christmas Eve when she was a kid. I don't know.

Finn told me, not for the first time this week, he was thankful for "friends and lots of toys to give to them, because we have too many toys." Amen, Son. 

I thought for a while of dressing up--I like to dress up for occasions like this, but often I don't just out of convenience. Obviously, convenience won out again this year.

After dinner we went for a flashlit stroll through the woods. Finn was interested in going at first, but as soon as we started he asked how long we would be. I said not long, and he suggested that we walk until we come to the "rocky path, then turn back." That "rocky path" is a gravel road, big enough for two cars to carefully pass, and meticulously maintained by the club groundskeeper. We walked all the way down that road to the club house that overlooks the ocean. There we turned off our lights and let our eyes adjust. Madie was particularly enthralled with this. She was amazed that our eyes could actually work fairly well in the dark. She kept telling me about all the colors in the sky. "I see green and purple and gold." Mike and I  agreed on the description "overcast," but to each her own. 

When we spotted our house lights from the woods, Finn--who, at 5 minutes in, told us (not whining, just informing) he was tired and hungry and thirsty--added to his gratitude. "You know what I'm thankful for? Our house. I'm really glad we don't have to live outside in a cave." Again, man, I'm with you.

When we returned it was pie time, then Harry Potter and baths and a final game of chess. Finn and Mike played downstairs and I asked Madie if she wanted to play against me on the tablet. "Oh! Sure! That'll be fun! You know how to play?" 

"Yes, I know how to play." After the game, the 7-year-old novice told me, "Oh, man! You know,  you were good. You were better than I thought you'd be." Thanks, Madie. You're a great coach.

Look at this face?

Wonderful Things

Here is a quick update on each kid:

Madie: She continues to read voraciously, at least 1-2 chapter books per day. It is quite remarkable and admirable. I certainly don't remember reading nearly that amount when I was her age. She is very busy with play practice (Nutcracker), Girl Scouts, school, piano, and other extracurriculars. We are hoping to focus on climbing and swimming this winter. She is very fussy when it comes to food. One day, she will eat fried chicken and gush about how much she likes it. The next she will refuse to even touch it. It's just odd because there is usually no consistency! Texture, temperature, and color are all key indicators for food. She is our kid that sleeps in the latest, which is usually until 7:30 am.  

Finn: He has notebooks that he loves using to note is memoirs, which consist of random combinations of letters. He will often write down a few combos and ask, "Hey Dad, is this a word?" Usually, it's not. He can write a few simple words though. He is very interested in it, and loves to draw. During Sacrament meeting today, he was bored (which is usually the case) and I showed him how I draw some dinosaurs. That suddenly got him interested in learning to draw some dinosaurs. It was very cool to watch him try to copy some of my doodles. He did a good job! He is very interested in animals, thanks to Octonauts and Dinosaur Train (great kids shows). I went on a hike with him today and he and I discussed animal fight hypotheticals, and who a potential winner would be. A few that were discussed were:

• Fisher vs. red fox
• Fisher vs. Elvis
• Fisher vs. badger
• Badger vs. bear
• Fisher vs. Finn
• 10 fishers vs. Finn and friends wielding axes, guns, and swords
• Tiger vs. elephant
• Wolf vs. tiger

Petya: This little girl is starting to hit the terrible two's stage. She is starting to whine and complain about things, but of course cannot really express what she really wants. This makes for a very complicated discussion because we cannot meet her wants and needs. She always comes around when you ask about Elvis, or her baby. She is very sweet, and loves to be snuggled and held. She has this amazing, feathery/muppet-like hair that makes me smile. Lately, she has been learning how to respond to an offer from Mom & Dad to the kids. "Do you guys want milk?" or "Do you want a snack?" Or even if one of the kids asks for something, like Madie asking for a drink of water, Petya runs over and yells, "Me!" to every single scenario. Yesterday Finn was put into a timeout, where he was calming down and trying to get ready for his four-minute timer. When he was ready, he called from their bedroom, "I'm ready for the timer!" Petya responded, "Me!"

Halloween

This was our first year actually making it all the way up and down Ledgelawn Ave. They shut the whole street down to cars at 5 pm so kids can trick-or-treat the area. It gets pretty crazy, and, of course, cold. This year though, the kids stuck it out. 

Nell went as a bunny. I wanted to do some makeup on her cheeks, but once the eyebrows were done, it was all I could do  to get the nose on.

I went as 6-year-old ME! Yes, the haircut is real. I won Most Original at our church party.

A couple months ago Madie asked me what kind of person would have pink eyebrows. 

"I don't know. A rockstar, I guess."

"Great." 

A day later she came in the house and announced she'd be a rockstar for Halloween. I didn't put the connection together until later I asked her why she wanted to be a rockstar and she said, "Because you said it was a rockstar that would have pink eyebrows." When it came down to it though, she didn't even have me do the eyebrows.

At least we didn't have to buy anything special for it. Or make anything for it. That's a win in my book.

Mike, as a last-minute costume, went as Evan McMullin. We ran into some Mormon mafia while we were there, which was advantageous.

For the party we dressed Nell up as the rapper Nelly, which I thought was hilarious, but most people didn't get. It would have helped if we'd had the little white bandaids, or if she had kept the do rag on. Or if Nelly was a lot more popular.

I tried to get a pic of Finn's eagle costume, but he kept spinning around so it's just a blur, so this group picture will have to do.

Deck the Halls and Dress the Toddler

Finn wants to get a kick start on decorating this year. He's been concerned about my lack of prerogative thus far in making a wreath. Today he told me we should spend some time on Pinterest (not quite in so many words) looking at ideas for Christmas.

"Ideas like what? Like--decorations? Or toys?"
"Well, let's just look at Christmas things and then I'll tell you what I want to look at." This means he'll tell me what to click on when he sees a picture. Of course, when you only type in "Christmas" it generally brings up decorations or inspirational quotes. So that's what we started with. But even before we got going he had some pretty good ideas.

"Maybe we should put ribbons in the hallways. We could put ribbons downstairs too. Oh! We should decorate downstairs!"

"Finn, what do you think of these candles with the wreath around them?"
"Yeah. Maybe we can put it in my room."
"Well, maybe we'll keep the candles out here. But we can put lights in your room."

I saw a cute idea to clip evergreen branches to trim and keep in vases. I suggested we put one in his room so they could have some decorations on a "tree" in there as well. He liked that idea, too.

Eventually we did move onto toys, but only for a few minutes before we had to leave if we were to watch the Halloween parade. He's always a fun kid to hang out with, no matter what we're doing, but his love of Pinterest is cute. He likes to make things look nice. Even his baby sister:

Finn picked all of Nell's clothes this morning and then insisted on getting her dressed himself, even the tights! Finally she ditched him and came to me with the toes flopping a foot in front of her.

Petya's Birthday

Our Lady P just turned two years old. I can't believe it. She got some stellar gifts, like a camping chair, two hats, a stuffed doggy, a book, some crayons, bubbles, and rolls of paper. She also got some shoes and snow boots. She is such a cute girl. Here are some fun things she has been doing or saying lately: 

1. Calls Elvis 'Gog Gog'
2. Says 'Please', 'milk', 'Anna', 'Caroline', 'Nana' (banana), 'water', 'up', 'thank you', 'cup', 'boots', 'bock' (chicken), 'moo' (cow), 'ook' (look)
3. Still obsessed with ears, and proudly sucks her index and middle finger on her left hand
4. She always wants to help cook, or clean whatever Mom or Dad are working on. Even to the detriment of the food or cleanliness of the concentrated area. However, she is very conscientious about certain tasks such as cleaning up the bath toys after a shower/tubby. Without asking, she always puts every single toy away as the water goes down the drain
5.  She has been mothering a dolly lately ('baby'), and carries her most places with her. She insists that baby is safely buckled in the car and won't let us drive away without fulfilling her demands. Her demands are 'baby buckle!', repeated until complete
6. She laughs at a lot of her own antics and faces
7. She loves to be outside and play fetch with Elvis, push a baby stroller. She freaks out when you try to bring her inside
8. Loves snuggling with Elvis and his big velvety ears
9. Has fun playing violin, piano, and harmonica. Always wants a turn
10. She colors, draws, and loves to show what she has colored
11. She still eats just about everything
12. Her current nicknames are 'Baby Taco', 'Baby Bean dip', 'Taco Sauce', 'Peso'
13. She generally likes nursery, but is a bit more attached and is harder to drop off than the other two
14. She likes to play with Finn, but likes to sit on Madie's lap

Labor Day

Labor Day was gorgeous. We drove to Blue Hill for our (newly promoted) ward's annual party, and enjoyed lobster rolls. We arrived early so we could hike up Blue Hill Mountain. We didn't get all the way up, but it was a beautiful hike and a new one for all of us. Blue Hill is a beautiful area. If Mike's work wasn't an hour away from it, I wouldn't mind living there at all.

Waiting for the slow-pokes.

The view from about halfway up the mountain, looking out over Mt. Desert Narrows.

The kids are great hikers. Madie loves being in the lead, and can really maintain it without much effort. Of course, Finn helps that by stopping every 10 feet to eat berries. Seriously, the boy's like a bear.

Mallory's Birthday

This was the big one. Mallory entered a new bracket this year, with the rest of the 30 year olds. I decided to go big for it. For me, it's thrilling to concoct secret plans and surprises for people. I have quite a record for doing these throughout our marriage. Even our engagement took Mal by surprise, dropping 'The Question' two days before Valentines day. So to start off, I took Madie and Finn on camping trips for their birthdays this year. I planned it with them, and we did whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted. Mal mentioned how she would love to do that for her birthday (multiple times). It got me thinking about how I could make that happen. It's challenging to do things like that in Maine, because we don't have a ton of family around to watch the kids. In fact, Mallory and I have never gone on an over-nighter alone together since we have had kids. Almost our entire marriage. 

I made reservations for a 'family' camping trip on Mallory's birthday in Baxter. I tried to sell it as a fun family excursion for her birthday, which she wasn't too hot on. But, being the trooper she is, she felt she could play along for the time being. In the background, I worked out the details with Alexa to come and watch the kids for Mallory's birthday. Alexa graciously took two days off to come and manage the house while we went north. A month leading up to Mal's birthday, she was jokingly telling friends/family about this fun birthday (sarcasm) that I had planned for her with the whole family up in Baxter. Specifically, this was at Grammy Haskins house when Levi and Raquel were visiting. Alexa (who was already in the plans at this point), jokingly told Mal, "So, I guess I'll see you around your birthday?" Mallory laughed and dove into our plans for our trip. Alexa and I smiled at each other, rubbing our hands together in an evil, plotting sort of way. 

Two weeks before Mallory's birthday, the kids were pretty wound up. They were stressing both of us out, but Mal was taking the brunt of it at home. She seemed like she was getting anxious, especially since it had been a couple of weeks since we had a date and this looming 'family' trip coming on her birthday. A week before her birthday, I broke. We were sitting on the couch on a Monday evening, and I spilled the beans. I really didn't want to, but I felt it would make the week go by much smoother with a light at the end of the tunnel. When I told her, her eyes lit up. That was almost as good as what I imagined her face looking like when I called a last-minute audible for our trip on Friday. But the week was much improved, and it was fun planning some details with her leading up to it. 

On our way up to Baxter, we stopped by this new Cuban restaurant, Cubita Libre. Dude...that was amazing. Finally, someone decided to invest in a decent latin food restaurant in the Bangor area! It's been killing me not to have any. Now we have a refuge for the storm with our new favorite restaurant in Bangor. We got to the Roaring Brook campground, had a peaceful campfire, and retired to bed at a decent time. After we laid in bed for a few minutes, Mal noticed a flickering of light toward our campfire. She jumped up to unzip the tent and look out the window to see our campfire had fired itself up again. I was totally passed out, but she took care of it, got back into the tent, and sat there staring up at the tent ceiling for the next four hours before she could fall asleep. Not quite how I imagined our first night away from the kids, ever. I was thinking more, sleep at 10, up at 8 sort of thing. No interruptions, not screaming. Just the silence of sleeping in Baxter. Not the case!

I woke up early, got the fire going, and we had a nice blueberry cobbler for breakfast, along with sausage and yogurt. Breakfast of champions. We packed up camp, and started hiking toward Chimney Pond. The colors were brilliant along Roaring Brook, and the views as we approached Katahdin were amazing. It loomed over us for about half the hike. I hadn't been on that side of Katahdin before. I had always summited from the back side. This way was very impressive, and offered many views. We didn't catch much wildlife, unfortunately. The Ranger mentioned the moose population took quite a hit over the last few years. But it was such a fun little adventure. Now that we've been able to sneak away for a night, I'm hooked. We definitely need to do this more. 

Oh yeah. On the way back home from Baxter, we stopped by Cubita Libre for round two. So good. 

Katahdin 2016

The fourth consecutive September pilgrimage up to the top of Maine was another great success. Every year is unique in it's own way. The first year was somewhat damp and foggy. The second ascent we saw the northern lights. The third ascent was the sunrise summit. This year was no different. A cold front came in, and significantly dropped temperatures. The summit was 15 degrees with wind chill. Fellow bearded hikers had ice fixed to their facial hair. Of course, I didn't realize how cold it was until I came home and checked the temperature. I think the boys had a fun time, but didn't expect winter-like conditions at the summit. In previous years, we have had lunch at the top, enjoyed the view. Great trip!

Sunday Excursions

Finn has done well on his bike this summer. Hopefully next summer the training wheels will come off.

She's getting to be a speedster on her bike.

Elvis is one of the biggest fans of Sunday excursions.

This walk was a little too close to nap time.

Rock climbing Great Head.