Lucy Toothy

Just as it was looking like Lucy would go into second grade with her full set of baby teeth, she suddenly discovered that her bottom front tooth was a little wiggly! She had it wiggled out by evening, so I scrambled to make her a tooth-pouch for the tooth fairy (and check our supply of dollar bills) while she wrote a letter to the fairy. The next day, she spent most of the day wiggling the other one until it came out, too.



She's thrilled, but I'm a little sad. I remember being so excited when she was six months old and those sharp little bottom teeth came in. We would hold her upside down so she would open her mouth and show them off. Now she wants to show off their absence, and she's big enough to protest when I try to hold her upside down.

Playing Outside

This kid with the dirty face and a toad clutched in his hand -- yep, he's mine.

His sister, the Toad Princess, actually gets these little guys to crawl up on her shoulder! I can also dispel the myth that toads become princes because I did observe her kiss one. It earned her a lecture from her mother but no magical transformations happened to either one of them.

Lucy and Gavin can be entertained for HOURS by the creatures they find in the yard. All I have to do to keep them busy is find them a toad, some worms, or a beetle and they're good to go!

When Austin gets home he takes them for rides around the yard on Peaches and Beauty. Gavin is getting good at holding on to Peaches with his legs while she trots around. Lucy has become quite a good little horsewoman too. She takes her "Care of Horses and Ponies" book out to the paddock daily to check them for diseases.

Beauty gets her best exercise from Austin, though. He's the one who brings her water and scoops her poop and lets her know who is in charge. She's willing to walk Lucy around the yard a few times in exchange for a nice fast trot with Austin up the trails near the house.

They say that a kid hasn't had enough fun if there isn't a ring of dirt around the bathtub at the end of each day. By that measure my kids are having a great summer. I'd say my husband is, too.

Cousin-Palooza

Mardi (Austin's sister), Joel, Gray, Ridge, and Holden came to visit us for the week so we've been partying for days. Our kids were so thrilled to have fun cousins to play with, and I think Mardi and Joel's kids were just happy to be out of the car and have places to run around, so everyone had a wonderful time playing together.

The first day they were here was nice and hot so Joel barbecued for us and we all went for a swim in the river.

The next few days weren't as nice but that didn't deter the kids. This is the five of them in their swimsuits joyfully jumping on the trampoline in the pouring rain.

Everyone took lots of rides on Beauty and Peaches and helped with the farm chores. Gray and Mardi were especially good sports. The kids loved brushing Peaches, and Peaches didn't seem to mind all the attention, either.

We took a tour of the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory and sampled a new flavor, Oatmeal Cookie (yummm!). This was the first time I've toured the factory when they were actually making the ice cream and it was very interesting.

Then we drove up to Montreal. Highlight for the kids was the "duck" tour around the city, especially the part where the bus drove into the St. Lawrence River and became a boat. (That and the hotel pool, of course.)

Our friends Reid and Jenni and Magnus Mumford came and stayed for a night this week too. Reid is a professional bike racer so they've been living in an RV, going from race to race and wandering around the country in between. It's so fun to talk with them about their adventures and I hope they will come back through Vermont and stay a while.

Now all our visitors are gone -- sigh -- and things are quiet and boring again.

So when are YOU coming?

Sister's Day

We started a tradition of celebrating Sister's Day when Gavin was a little baby. We had Mother's Day and Father's Day so Lucy wanted to know when Sister's Day was. If she'd asked for "Kids Day" or something we probably wouldn't have gone with it but she was (and is!) such a good sister, and being a good sister is such an important job, we decided to celebrate it. Every year she gets a cake and a small present for Sister's Day.

This was the first year that Gavin insisted on Brother's Day. Seems only fair, and he is a very nice brother, as brothers go. He wanted a "pink chewbacca cake" and this was the best I could do. I'm not as creative as they are.

Belated happy Sister's Day and Brother's Day to my brothers and my sisters. Love you guys. You all deserve a cake and a prize.