The Jungle Picture by Gemma

Gemma just finished this up. She took it into school for show and tell, and her class immortalized it by putting it on the timeline of their day today!

Eleanor's First Concert, November 2011

Happy Thanksgiving

The girls went out sledding in their pj's for more than an hour. It's chilly, but beautiful. Their favorite sledding hill is our driveway. Good thing we have studded tires on our van!

Gemma's Violin Recital, November 2011

Happy Halloween from Hogwarts

A trip to Ricker Hill

We enjoyed a gorgeous day of October summer.

After a well-played soccer game, we headed off to Turner for some more apples with Eleanor's friend Hanna. The orchard is at the top of a hill and provides a truly scenic view, though fall colors are not under way this early.

As if the scenery and excellent apples and pumpkins did not make it worth the trip, there is also a great kids activity area by the farmstand with a corn maze, duck races, bouncy houses, animals, a large sandbox filled with corn kernels, big piles of hay - All kinds of farm fun. As Jud said, "Who needs Disney World?"

Common Ground Fair 2011

While seeing the animals, especially the border collie demonstration, is always the top priority at the fair, there is plenty else to do. The kids area has lots of activities, including face painting. We also enjoyed great music (Belfast Brogue) and visiting with George and Cevia and others who came to listen. The really excellent organic versions of fair fare were a pretty big hit with the 8 and under crowd ( okay - maybe with the 98 and under crowd...) Can you believe that wee Gemma could make her way through her own fried dough?

An artist and a hula pro

Gemma starts soccer

Gemma looked like a natural her first time on the soccer field. I'm pretty sure she was having fun too, as she several times jumped up and down and giggled while playing. Another parent commented it was a bit like watching a Foosball game, with each child standing in their position waiting for the ball to come to them. I think we may be watching a lot of soccer games in our future.

Rocky Ridge

We made a quick trip to Rocky Ridge for our first bags of apples for the season. I love that place! Glad there are things to do other than picking as we got 31 pds in minutes.

Potato Harvest

The girls had a blast at our CSA helping with the potato harvest on Labor Day. What could be more fun than lots of buried treasures and vast stretches of recently turned up soil. We had to spray the girls off with the garden hose when we came home. They returned the favor by washing up MINH.

Alfred's Island

The girl's always love to see Alfred. We had another great time getting wet on and around Alfred's Island. Too bad I didn't have the camera for the water fun. Both girls jumped off the "log" on the "cliff". Thanks Alfred!

Gemma's first day

Gemma's style is to sit back and take it all in. So was the first day of kindergarten. She was excited, but was observing and didn't want to be bothered to smile. Gemma's biggest complaint about the day was that her time at school was too short. Wonder how much longer she will feel that way?