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!

Wrapping up the Summer

The end of summer is always so bittersweet. It marks the busiest time of the year for John and a sort of impending doom for me, but it's also usually some of the nicest weather of the summer. This year, I decided to get out of dodge for the last full week of summer and visit family and attend my 20th high school reunion.

First stop was Nana and Grandpa's. They orchestrated quite a 24 hour visit for us. They prepared a delicious dinner with Aunt Lynn and Cousin Catherine the night we arrived and then a morning at a farm and a local swimming hole the next day. Cally hadn't seen Nana and Grandpa for two and a half months and I think they were all pretty enamored by each other:

Cally gets to see farm animals a lot, but this was her first experience at a petting zoo. As you can see she was pretty much in heaven:



And after an exciting morning at the farm, Cally showed Nana how much she loves the water:


Next stop was Grandma and Bumpa's house with special guests Kesley, Jameson, Paula, and James.

We all spent some quality time at the beach, but some of the best time was spent at the house. Grandma has accrued a number of great toys for the kids and they were happy as could be playing "Animal Picnic":


playing "Restaurant":


playing with Gus the cat:

and being read to by Grandma:


And I even got to go out with high school friends two nights in a row during my reunion weekend! It was such a treat to see so many of my girlfriends and their husbands. I felt a little lost without my own wing man, but loved hearing about what folks are doing 20 years after high school.


Today, I was driving back from visiting a friend down and Huntington and noticed that some of the trees are all ready beginning to change colors. We had just been on a hike with eight dogs and three little people. We'd munched on blackberries and marched through stinging nettles. The sun came out and we took a dip in the pond. Summer still feels like it's in full swing, but like the leaves beginning to change, my life as I know it is beginning to change. Tomorrow begins the abrupt transition from "Summer Katy" to "Working Mom". I love the seasons-- the distinctions that they each carry and the transitions along the way. My job and family life is so directly tied to those seasons and transitions. It's hard to mourn the end of one, when the excitement for the other beckons over the horizon. Of course I'll miss carefree days of summer when I have no agenda and don't have juggle daily walks with Cally and Zephy with lesson planning and grading. I cherish the time that I've spent with Cally this summer, she's my little buddy, and I know that the transition back to school tomorrow will be tough...... just like stick and mud season can be tough in Vermont. But I really am already looking forward to apple picking, fall foliage hikes, biking through crunchy leaves, first snowflakes, stacking wood and cozy fires.

The More the Merrier

Never a dull moment in the life of the Abbott's. Last weekend we headed down to Ludlow, VT for the wedding of a dear friend from my grad school days in Missoula, MT. Mic Metz was the "Dog Handler" in our wedding and decided to tie the knot with his long term partner, Lorraine. They also included their newly adopted son Brendan (age 7) and Lorraine's daughter Stephanie (age 13) in the nuptuals.


One of the best parts of the event was that the Woottons made the trek up to Vermont from Virginia for the event. Sarah also got to spend some fun years in Missoula in the EVST program and is one of the most loyal wedding attenders I know. For our own wedding, after being delayed for 24 hours getting out of Richmond, VA she hopped in the car and drove with her two small children to Vermont so she could catch the tail end of our wedding-- only to turn around the next day and drive 13 hours home. This time, she decided it might be easier to fly with her expanded brood of three (John-6, Lucy-3, and Henry-1.5) and husband. Unfortunately, there really aren't any airports near Ludlow...... so they flew into Boston and then had to drive five hours through Boston traffic only to turn around 36 hours later and return.

We rented a ski house with the Woottons and had a great time. Cally got to attend her first wedding-- all dolled up in a dress and Nana's homemade sweater. It was a very family friendly event, but even so, Cally managed to be the most vocal through the ceremony. Fortunately, the touching nuptuals were only 10 minutes long, but I cringed for my chatty daughter much of the time.........

This past weekend we were at one of the most beautiful places on Earth.


My dear friend Medora and her husband Spencer just celebrated ten years of marriage. To help them ring in the occasion, I offered to watch their kids and menagerie for the weekend (training began at 8am for the UVM Trek leaders, so John is head deep in that chapter of his year for the next couple of weeks. He was able to hang out with us Friday night, but was otherwise occupied). Addy is 8 and Tanner is 6. They adore Cally, love playing with her, live in a great place and are incredibly responsible.


On Friday afternoon we headed to the Addison Country Fair. First stop was the Children's Barn:



Next stop was the Dairy Barn:


We spotted the same pony ride operation that Cally had so adored in Bristol, VT on the 4th of July and got all fired up for Cally to ride Cookie again (she hasn't been able to stop talking about him for weeks and constantly wants to keep seeing the picture of her on him that is stored on my phone). As it turned out, Cally wanted nothing to do with riding a pony this time. She did, however, love watching her buddy Tanner enjoy his ride:



This year, the rides became a new element of Cally's visit to the fair and Tanner and Addy were so sweet about joining her on the less exciting "little kid" rides:




The rest of our weekend was spent with the menagerie-- which includes a miniature horse, a donkey, more than 20 chickens*, 4 roosters, 4 cats, and 7 dogs (plus Zephy). This is what a simple walk with the dogs looks like:


Cal and I had a great weekend with Addy and Tanner. It's so fun for Cally to get to hang out with such fun, responsible older kids. Most importantly, I know how much Medora and Spencer appreciated being able to get away for a weekend without the kids.

*Unfortunately, there may be a 2-3 fewer chickens after our visit. It turns out Zephy doesn't understand that these are egg layers, not meat birds for dogs :o(