Fall Travels

Last week, we took advantage of some days off from school to make the rounds and visit with friends and family. Our first stop was Rosendale, NY where our good friend's Tim, Sophia, Beckett, and baby Iris live. Cally and Beckett (almost 3 years old) have met several times, but this was our first introduction to Iris (4 months old). It was such a treat to see this family-- ever generous with home cooked meals and adventures.






We spent Thursday afternoon in Darien, visiting Bumpa and Grandma. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we visited a great playground at the beach.





Friday, these country mice, made their way into the Big Apple. We were lucky enough to find street parking within a block of my friend Pixie's apartment and spent the afternoon at the Central Park Zoo. This was Cally's first experience at a zoo. She was pretty fired up to see polar bears, seals, penguins, and a snow leopard:





Finally, Cally got to meet her "red headed soul sister", Skylar. Sklyar's mom, Pixie, is one of my dear friends from college and it was such a treat to get to see her and her family. Without any red heads in either of our own families, we were both totally surprised to have our own and couldn't wait to introduce the girls (Skylar is 16 months and her brother Jasper is 4 years old).



Next stop was Brooklyn where we were fortunate to park ourselves for most of the weekend. John's good friend Michael and his wife Elizabeth have a son Dean, who is a couple of months younger than Cally. They have a gorgeous brownstone and made us feel so at home there. Having never really spent much time in Brooklyn, we were both amazed with how "liveable" it is there........ tree lined streets, great playgrounds, grass, funky flea market, delicious food, etc.






Cally loved it all! She hasn't stopped talking about all the people and animals that she saw during our travels. We feel so lucky to have so many friends who are willing to open their heart and homes to us. Please know that visitors are always welcome in Jericho!

First Snow and Wedding Dances

Saturday, Cally attended her second wedding. We had mixed feelings about bringing her to this wedding........ it's never a whole lot of fun for the parents to chase a 22 month old around and try to keep a chatterbox from talking during a bilingual ceremony, but Cally did a great job and the dancing made it all worthwhile:



We also got record snowfall in the mountains this weekend (18 inches at the stake on Mt. Mansfield). And so, yesterday, the Abbott family packed up the car with dog, child, skis, backpack, etc. in the hopes of getting some early season turns in (while some of us still can). The turns didn't actually happen...... most of the snow down low had melted. But, Cally was all fired up about the snow and the chairlift and couldn't stop talking about "kiing" (skiing without the s).





We're pretty pumped that Cally's even talking about skiing. Is two too early to make some turns?

Apples, Pumpkins, Cousins, Hayrides, and more

There really isn't a whole lot more to love about Vermont than this time of year......... It's been all about eating apples on your own, checking out pumpkins:



Riding ponies and tractors:


Jumping in inflatable bouncy houses:


Apple picking:


Checking out farm animals:


Hanging out with cousins:


and eating blueberry pancakes.


It's been an amazing fall. Cally is more and more fun everyday. She's talking about her wants and needs ("I do it myself", "Dad, I need help"), taking on "big girl" responsibility and skills (she actually feeds the animals, is drinking with some success out of a real cup, and putting on her own boots), giving unsolicited hugs and kisses, singing songs, counting to five or six, and insisting on climbing in and out of her car seat on her own.


Who could imagine this little red head throwing a tantrum at the grocery store the other night?

"Mamma, I'm happy"

Cally likes to talk. When she wakes up in the morning, we hear her little voice coming out of her bedroom saying, "I'm done sleeping" and that is where the dialogue about her day begins. She talks about needing to go downstairs to feed Zephy and Lobby, wanting eggs for breakfast, and is even learning to say her pleases and thank you's. Like most parents walking through these transitions, it is liberating to actually know what your child wants and does not want. Most recently, Cally has become acutely aware of her feelings. For the past few months, she's been asking us if we are happy or sad, if the animals are happy or sad, and making her own declarations about who is happy or sad. However, she has rarely used "I" statements, until just this past week. While on a walk with the family, Cally was in the backpack and saw that John and I were holding hands. She then declared, "Mommy, hold my hand". So I held both her hand and John's while we walked with the sun shinning on us, Mt. Mansfield in the background, Zephy running through the tall grass around us, and a general sense of bliss coursing through our veins. Just then, as if reading our minds, Cally proclaimed, "Mamma, I'm happy". John and I nearly cried. It was so disarming to actually know that our little daughter was feeling exactly the same way we were AND she was able to articulate those feelings.






Oh to be a toddler again, where stresses like losing the edits that a newly appointed committee member on your dissertation committee took the time to send you or hearing from a parent that their freshman learned everything that you've taken the time to teach their daughter in middle school already, aren't even a part of your reality. Where being sad, because your best buddy won't share is about the biggest woe you'll have all day. And where going to the Tunbridge World's Fair, sitting on a giant pumpkin or 3,000 lb ox and simply visiting the animals and taking one ride is all you need to be happy.

Kicking it at Mooselookmeguntic for Labor Day

John must have some pretty great intuition, because over a month ago, he booked a site for us to canoe/camp up on Lake Mooselookmeguntic in Western Maine. He must have known that getting back into the swing of dual working parents wouldn't be easy-- but this year, adding to the regular hustle and bustle of new school years, we have one car in the shop, our laundry machine is awaiting a new pump and we're waiting on a new part for our lawn mower...we needed a relaxing weekend like your read about!

With the overreactive predictions of national forecasters tracking Hurricane Earl, we almost canceled John's well intentioned plans. We didn't pack up ahead of time and woke up Saturday morning sort of wishy-washy about the whole thing. We both knew we needed to take advantage of our three day weekend-- take some time to recharge for the rest of the fall, but didn't really want to drive four hours and get rained on, either. In the end, we took a careful look at the satellite and decided to just "go for it". Within about an hour, we were loaded with the canoe, the dog, and the Abbott family was off and running.


Five hours later, we arrived in familiar territory. We'd been to the Rangely Lakes part of Maine for our first time exactly a year ago, but this year we actually knew where to get maps and where our camp site was. And this year, Cally wasn't just crawling, she was running and narrating our whole trip. Our paddle was very short to the island campsite (you can see the island from where we "put in")-- which was fortunate because Earl did send some winds this way and much of the lake was covered with white caps on Sunday.


Cally was in heaven all weekend long. We didn't bring a single toy for her, but she had such a great time throwing rocks, getting sticks for Zephy, going for hikes and paddles, and helping out wherever she could.



And Zephy, our somewhat delinquent dog, was the biggest surprise of the trip. She took to the canoe and the camping like we had always hoped she would (but hasn't until now). And it was her second birthday recently, so we're optimistic that she's making a turn towards maturity.


Most importantly, we all relaxed,


explored,


and ate well.


Now we can gear up for another short week. Hopefully, we'll get our dual working parent "groove" on soon. But meanwhile, Cally seems no worse for the wear!