The Pony Party

We had a total of ten cowgirls attend the pony party. They played some pin the tail on the pony, rode their stick ponies, and then sang some cowgirl songs with Jud on banjo. What a great group of kids!

Gemma's Birthday

Gemma's 4th birthday was great fun! We had family celebration in the morning and friends came over for a "pony party" in the afternoon! Here she is with her cake, birthday chair, and opening some presents.

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas, Everyone!
The Caswell's had a magical Christmas morning, with stuffed stockings, stuffed animals, and little girls stuffing their faces with chocolate and gum. Nana and Papa coming over to witness the glee and help free all the toys from their packaging.

Hope everyone else had as much joy and excitement around their trees this morning.

Merry Happy!

And thanks to Grams and Gramps

We so wished we could see our family in Michigan this holiday season. Gramma and Grampa Eleanor still managed to sneak something under the tree, including two new Barbie dolls and a new outfit for each girl. Even from a distance, they know how to get the deals! Must be those Dutch genes...

Oregon-powered princesses

Special Thanks to Auntie Jonelle and Uncle Thom for adding some sparkle to the girl's Christmas morning!

In Grammy's (snow) shoes

We were so excited about our new LL Bean snowshoes from Grammy, that we had to try them out immediately. Eleanor couldn't even wait long enough to get dressed! We have 100s of acres to explore literally in our back yard. The snow shoes worked so effortlessly. Even Gemma just took off into the woods. Thank you, Thank you Grammy!

Happy Thanksgiving at the Caswells

Classic Corn-on-the-cob job

Our other most important news is that Eleanor has lost her first tooth! And we didn't even get to suffer through it being lose for weeks. Upon eating corn-on-the cob one night for supper, Eleanor shrieked "Ouch! My tooth!" and then spit out what looked like a kernel of corn, but was really her tooth. Talk about an excited young lady...

For your information, the going rate from the tooth fairy appears to be 1.50 and a pack of sugarfree gum.

We are a dog family again!

We are so pleased to have a dog in the family! We didn't need to Hope for long to get our buddy Calvin. He is a purebred Mississippi Retriever Hound from all we can tell. He is very sweet,and amazingly well-behaved for a seven-month pup. The girls love him. He is quickly getting over some initial reserve he showed around Jud, as you can see by the pictures. Calvin got along amazingly well with other dogs at the dog park, and did well on his first walk on our busy walking path. We can't wait for our family to meet our new friend!

The Cottage of Miss Rumphius

Maybe some of you have read the children's book by Barbara Cooney called "Miss Rumphius". It is based on a woman named Hilda Hamlin who really did many of the things described in the book, including living on a cottage by the sea and spreading lupine throughout Maine. The Caswell family, along with our good friends the Ruff Family, were lucky enough to be the first non-family members ever to stay in her cottage. Or rather the cottage now owned by her daughter in-law.
It was enchanting and charming in so many ways - from it's antique construction to it's many antique (and breakable) baubles; It's position on the top of a hill at the end of peninsula to it's gardens (Yes - even though it was August, there still were some Lupine in bloom). Waking up to the ocean air was incredible.
The house was accessed by a short, rocky path. Somehow the 82-year old owner is able to lug everything she needs up the uneven and narrow path. To the left of the entrance is a large covered deck (piazza) overlooking the ocean. Incredible views of open ocean were had over meals, cups of coffee, games of Uno, children dressing. We spent as much time out here as the mosquitoes would allow.

It's hard to capture the view from the house with a camera as part of the amazement came from the broad view of the open water allowed by the location on a peninsula. What an incredible vacation spot! We wish you all could have been there with us!

On the rocky beach

We had great fun with the rocks at the "rocky beach" as Gemma called it - to differentiate it from the "sandy beach". There was great variety of rocks, perfect to play restaurant with or build statues.
A couple of steps down a path from the cottage led to a private rocky beach. We found a great deal of beach glass in a variety of colors - even purple.

Eleanor loved to goof around both at high and low tide. Notice the seaweed hairdo.

Gemma made friends with a pup who came to visit. She sat and talked to it and patted it for a long time. This girl needs a dog.
The girls especially had fun at low tide, though the going was pretty slick.

Fun around Juniper Knoll

The girls favorite part about the trip was having their friends Zoe and Calla available to play at all times. Each night was a slumber party for the four girls, who did an admirable job holding the giggles to a minimum.
There was plenty of time to just sit around and read, play games, or just relax. The kids got along wonderfully. Of course, one adult always seemed to be on duty - trouble solving any snags and providing entertainment for the kids. As you can see, Jud did more than his fair share of this duty, including waking up early and letting all the other adults sleep for an extra two hours.
The adults had a chance to catch up in the evenings, with games and Carter's home brews.

Hanging with the Hartter's

I can't tell you how good it is to be able to visit with 3 Jay and Ray practically whenever we want.

The Caswell's went down to hang out with Ray when Joel was on his trip. We had fun visiting and going to the beach. And the girls have a great time checking out all of Jude's toys. We had to bring a treat for our favorite picky eater - He did well by a chocolate sprinkle donut.

The Hartter's spent the night on Friday on their way to visit friends. Rachel makes a killer berry pie. Jude seemed impressed by the girls' toy car collection.

Horses with the Hartter's

Eleanor lately had been saying that she wants to live in Texas when she grows up because that is where all the cowgirls and cowboys live. Rachel was kind enough to take use to the UNH stables and show her there are some options for horse lovers on the East Coast.