Halloween

Here's to my little monkey and dragon!  These guys LOVE halloween!  I kind of don't, but it's hard to be a curmudgeon about it when they are so excited about dressing up, carving pumpkins, and seeing the pumpkin glow.  Part of the problem is that I'm not very creative.  I've got friends who come up with costumes like this:

And I pull off last minute costumes like this: (note everyone else is creative here, but me)

I was supposed to be "spring", but I forgot the main part of my costume.   Here is Hazen wearing my one attempt at creativity.

When I showed up at one of the two adult parties we were to attend without my "head piece", my friend turned to me and said, "Who are you????? Cally?".  It doesn't help that this time of year is always the end of the marking quarter for me, a kid or two is usually sick, and we never know if we are going to pull off a sitter.  But I am learning to get into it for the kids.

On the Sunday before Halloween, Cally and I went on a girls date with Thompson and Susan to Shelburne Museum.  The girls had a ball, the weather cooperated, and we even got to see some culture.

Meanwhile, this guy was home with a cough..... which turned into difficulty getting enough oxygen and a late night visit to Dr. Parker on Sunday night.  As luck would have it, I noticed Hazen "belly breathing" right before bed.  We dreaded having to take him to the hospital (his respirations were about 48 per minute), but are lucky to have an amazing doctor who was willing to open up his office and meet John and Hazen at 8:30pm on a Sunday night.  When Hazen arrived, his oxygen levels were too low, but after a few sessions on the nebulizer, his saturation level went up and they came home with a new machine to help him cope with his new diagnosis of asthma.

He doesn't mind sitting with his dinosaur mask at all.  Fortunately, within a few days, he was doing a lot better, so we got to hit the Pumpkin Glow in Jericho on Wednesday night. One of my colleagues who has retired, coordinates the growing and carving of hundreds of pumpkins.  We make it a part of our Halloween tradition every year.  This year, John had class, so I took the kids on my own.  It gets a little scary dodging all the cars, but is worth it, for sure.

On Halloween, the kids woke up and were thrilled to wear their costumes all day at Tammy's.  Kids aren't allowed to get dressed up at Poker Hill, so Cally was very excited to be at Tammy's for the day.  Apparently, they did take them off for a  few hours during quiet time, but they put them right back on in the afternoon-- ready to take to the streets of Jericho Center right after a quick dinner of real food.

The Jericho Center Store has a really great "haunted barn" and we hit about 7 homes on the green before heading home.  Tom and Cara joined us in the rain, which was totally sweet

A fun "day after Halloween" hike at Mills Riverside Park with Mt. Mansfield in the background.

A colleague and his wife decided it would be funny to dress as the Abbott's for Halloween this year.  The costume was pretty accurate, except that I've never broken a bone nor been in a sling and it wasn't Zephy's tail that got hurt, it was her rear leg......... 

My boys:

Too Long

It's been a long time since this clan has made a trek down to visit Grandma and Bumpa.  Because John was going to be away teaching the field practical part of his "Wilderness Education and Leadership" course for a weekend and the grandparents had recently gotten back from a big trip to Russia, we decided to pay them a visit.

The kids love going down to visit their grandparents.  There is the trampoline, but also the abundance of different toys and books, a mellow old dog, and visits to new and exciting places like the Maritime Center:

checking out a horseshoe crab

more touch tank fun

meeting Captain America

meeting some sort version of Aquaman

But what they love most, is getting to spend some quality time with their grandparents.  

Grandma's are much better readers than Mom or Dad

Hazen checking out Bumpa's latest model

We got to go on dog walks, were spoiled by home cooked meals, and appreciated a gorgeous weekend.  Cally and Bumpa walked over to the high school to see a football game together, Hazen took a great nap, I got to catch up with a few old friends, and we even survived going out to a nice dinner with the kids!

On Sunday, we visited the Stamford Nature Center where the kids saw pigs, exotic sheep, goats, chickens, oxen, gekkos, snakes, tortoises, and more.

But the real reason we went, was to see the Otters.  The Nature Center has a wonderful facility for two adorable river otters.  23 year ago, Bumpa donated his two pet otters to this facility.  When I was 18 years old, Bumpa arrived home from one of his many business trips to Texas with a small cat carrying case.  He had taken a layover in Louisiana to pick up these critters that had fascinated him since reading "Ring of Bright Water" 30 years earlier.  He had secretly done research, gotten a license to have them, and found a place to procure them.

Some men have mid-life crisis that involve buying a fast car or a big boat...... but Bumpa got baby river otters!  He hadn't necessarily thought through everything that would be involved with owning river otters, but this impulse buy was one that opened my heart to one of the most amazing organisms on the planet.  There is no other animal that has such an innate need/drive to play.  Whether sliding down carpeted staircases on their belly or strewing toilet paper around the bathroom as if taking part in Mischief Night, they were both always having fun.  We taught them how to swim and fish and walked them on leashes.

Because our home in suburban Connecticut wasn't all that well equipped for long term Otter fostering, Bumpa donated Charlie and Tess to the Nature Center.  For years, when I would come back into town during vacations from college, we would go and visit them and they always recognized us.  Sadly, Tess succumbed to a illness (likely to have been introduced by a wild otter that got into the facility during a big snow storm).  A new lady otter named Rosie was brought in to be Charlie's mate, but she was never as friendly.  Charlie, too, died before every siring any offspring.

Bumpa taught me that it's good to dream big and make it happen-- even if people think you are slightly wacky.

We had a great visit to Connecticut.  There is nothing relaxing about hanging out with Hazen and Cally right now,  They have a lot of energy and volume and conversation.  But Grandma and Bumpa really rallied to show us all a fun time. I'm so glad we got to spend a great weekend with the grandparents.

Fall Fandango Continues

This fall keeps on giving us the most gorgeous weather I've ever experienced at this time of year in Vermont.  The Plimpton-Harris family is boarding two lovely horses for the winter, so we decided to go down there to ride the horses, help shuttle bales of hay, and enjoy the lovely day while watching little Henry Kelsey.  

Tanner, Henry, Hazen, Cally, the goats, and one horse

"Riding" the ATV

The big event was getting Hazen on the horse.... and so fired up about being there.  Every time we've tried to do a pony ride, he's freaked out and we've had to get our money back.  So, we were really surprised how excited he was to be on Creole.

Can't beat this setting

Hazen is full of questions these days.  So when he kept asking us where milk comes from, it occurred to me that we'd never brought him to milk a cow.  Shelburne Farms has all sorts of farm demonstrations throughout the spring, summer and fall, so we decided to head over there on a gorgeous Sunday to let Hazey see for himself, just where we get our milk from.

He wasn't really sure what to think when he saw the big cow and learned all about her.

After watching Cally do some milking, he was confident enough to give it a try:

We also went on a great hike on the Shelburne Farms property:

Climbing a gorgeous apple tree

Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks to the West

The Green Mountains to the East

Taking a ride back to the car behind a tractor

It's been a bummer that John "broke his wing" and has missed out on riding and adventuring through the forest on his bike this fall.  However, it has enabled us to do a lot more as a family.  We are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place!

Our Little Helpers

Fall's a busy time for getting stuff done around the house!  Fortunately, the kids are at ages where they LOVE to help.  Whether donning work gloves to help dad scoop chicken poop or carrying a rake around to help Mom rake the lawn or even picking up the "little logs" and keeping Mom company while she stacks wood, the kids have been super jazzed to help us get it all done.

Cally helping dad clean out the chicken coop

Rake Helper #1

Rake Helper #2

Can you find the kids?  The ginger hair blends right into the leaves.

Hazen helping cut apples for the 4 apple pies he made with Dad

Their enthusiasm for "getting it done" around the house, has made all these chores so much more fun for everyone.  But, don't worry, they still find time to goof around and play like regular kids do!