A grand day at Granby

Yesterday we took the kids on a day-trip to the Granby Zoo in Quebec.

The animals are all in great habitats where they are easy to see.

They have lots of exhibits where people can interact with the animals. The kids passed on petting the sharks, but Lucy loved feeding nectar to the tropical birds.

You'd think this would be the highlight of our trip, but no -- Granby Zoo has even more exciting activities . . .

Like bumper cars!

And a roller coaster! (Lucy and Austin are about halfway back in white. Lucy is screaming with joy. Only she could get that man to ride a roller coaster.)

And to top it off, there's a huge waterpark with a wave pool and slides. I couldn't get the best shots of the kids riding the waves because they were both so crazy they needed constant parental supervision.

All zoos should have an amusement park and a water park attached! Ask my kids where heaven is and they'll tell you it's in Canada.

Friends Campout 2010

Every summer we spend a weekend camping with our dear friends from the Philly Singles Ward days: Joe and Sarah Smith, Jason and Rachel Mumford, Bruce and Jeanne Hardy-Baird, and the various and assorted small children that have become part of our lives in recent years.

It was our turn to host the campout here in Vermont this year. We looked around at some campground options then thought, why not do it here at our house?

Austin mowed the meadow down by the river, we dug out a firepit, and voila! A perfect camp site with all the advantages of home.

Bruce and Jeanne brought their kayaks so we got a good flotilla going.

How many people can fit in a canoe? A lot, apparently.

The water was a little chilly but that didn't dissuade our intrepid swimmers. Jason is particularly happy when he's immersed in a natural body of water.

I think Beckett may be our next Jason.

I mixed some washable tempera with baby shampoo so the kids could decorate themselves then jump in the river to wash off.


They really got into it.

I think this was Henry's favorite activity of the whole weekend. He's quite a little artist. Note the yellow mustache.

Lucy and Ben discovered a secret hideout on the river's edge and spent hours exploring and arranging it.

Jeanne also taught Lucy and Ben to kayak. This cemented Jeanne's status as awesomest-person-ever in Lucy's eyes.

When the kids got too waterlogged there was always the trampoline to jump on.


And the tire swing to swing on.

And pony rides on Captain.

And just hanging out together.

The food was incredible. (It helps to camp near a real kitchen!) Jeanne made the most delicious carrot cake I have ever tasted, in honor of the "39-ers" -- Austin, Joe, Jason and Jeanne all turn 40 this year. Jason and Rachel made a Cobb Salad with greens from Dog River Farm and bacon and Rocquefort cheese from the Co-op. I ate four plates full. We had dozens of fresh eggs for breakfast, thanks to the chickens.

(Ben Smith took this picture so there would be one with me in it!)

Thanks for coming all the way to Vermont! We love you guys!

Moss Walk

Rachel's father, a botanist, once visited our house and declared that we have 100 types of mosses and 40 varieties of sedges. We are very proud of this fact. So when Rachel's sister Kirsten dropped in on our campout, we talked her into taking a walk up to Family Falls to teach us about some of our many mosses. Kirsten is also a botanist who is helping write a field guide to mosses in New England. Yeah!

Everybody went searching for different mosses. (Gavin also found some great sticks to use as light sabers.)

We didn't identify 100 varieties, but we did find an impressive collection of mosses. Big mosses and small ones, mosses that grow only in water or only on dead trees, mosses that look like tiny ferns, mosses that grow straight up to make miniature moss forests. I have to say, moss is way more interesting than I ever imagined.

And then we made it to Family Falls, where the stream water drops straight down off huge moss-covered rocks. That was Julia and Beckett's favorite part. My favorite part was watching Lucy get so excited about moss. And having Kirsten show me what in the world a sedge was. I've been wondering that ever since learning that we have 40 in our yard.

Pie-Eating Contest

We wrapped up our camping weekend with a pie-eating contest. The rules are simple: the first person to finish their slice of pudding pie without using their hands is the winner!

The first contestants were the 39-ers: Austin, Joe, Jason, and Jeanne.

Austin downed his pie in record time.

Though Jeanne definitely made a strong second-place showing.

The kids had their chance next.

Lucy attacked her pie with great enthusiasm (she is definitely her father's daughter) but lost this round to super-eater Ben Smith.


Ava Smith gets points for methodically munching away until her pie was totally gone and her plate licked clean. Way to stick it out, Ava!

Beckett Baird worked hard on his pie too.

The other "grown-ups" saddled up for Round Three. I had great support from Lucy and Gavin, who yelled "eat faster, Mom!" and "take bigger bites" in each of my ears.

But none of us stood a chance with Bruce in the contest. He didn't eat his pie so much as hoovered it. He explained his technique, honed at many Baird family reunion pie-eating contests: just suck it up, crust and all, as fast as possible.

The Winnahs!

Pretty Ponies

Meet Captain, the new pony that will be visiting with us for a couple of months. He is here with Peaches, the sweet little Shetland that came last summer.

Lucy is in pony heaven. She spent most of the day on Friday out in the field talking to Captain and Peaches, feeding them fallen apples and petting them and generally making friends.

The ponies belong to Sue McNeill, who has been kind to let us borrow her favorite animals two summers in a row. Here she is bridling Lucy up to teach her about being gentle on the reins. Lucy just finished reading Black Beauty so you don't need to convince her that horses should always be treated gently, and she's been poring over Horse and Pony Care every night. Sue, I think Captain and Peaches are in good hands with this girl!

Thanks, Dad!

Wow -- speaking of getting great help with projects -- my Dad came to visit for one day last Friday. He reversed my dryer door while I was making lunch. He talked me through a plan to remodel the upstairs bathroom. He went out to the chicken coop and tore out the old nest box and installed the new one. Then, the next thing I knew, my kitchen sink was on the floor.

The project was supposed to just be a faucet cartridge replacement to stop the drip. But why replace a cartridge when you can replace the whole faucet? And why just pull the faucet out when you can remove the whole sink and fix the countertop? To make things more interesting, we started this project in the late afternoon after all three hardware stores in Northfield were closed. The closest Home Depot is an hour away in New Hampshire. Fortunately, we only had to make one emergency Home Depot run.

We always promise that we won't ask Dad to do projects when he comes, but somehow we always end up doing projects, and they always end up being more complicated than we expect. Dad says he likes doing home improvements when he comes to visit, and that it was all worth it to see the kids and eat a fried egg that was still warm from the chicken. I don't know if that's really true, but I do know that I appreciate having a Dad who is both incredibly talented and a good sport.