Children's Garden

Earlier this summer, while Mormor stayed home with Jack, I took Sam & Cousin Gordie to the Children's Garden at the Boothbay Botanical Gardens. It is a beautiful, creative space with so much to see and do. In addition to the usual attractions the boys participated in a Butterfly Workshop. It was a fun day that the boys are sure to remember for a long time - especially with the help of the ninety-two pictures I took that day! Here are just a few:

Eager garden-goers. I was at least ten steps behind them all afternoon!

Unfortunately it is not easily visible from this photo, but these rocks are carved to look like whales and have little spouts on top that blow a fine mist of water. What a great entrance to a children's garden!

Building a fairy house.

Workshop participants.

A little butterfly costume crafting.

And then the butterflies were set free in the maze to drink nectar from the flowers.

Gordie, who turns out to be a real expert on butterfly behavior and anatomy, did not want to have anything to do with dressing up like one. Good thing he was close at hand, though, because Sam started fluttering to and fro, mistakenly pretending to suck nectar for the tips of the petals. Gordie made a special trip, like a catcher to the mound, to inform him that the nectar would be in the center of the flower. Such a pair, those two!

This was our second summer visiting the gardens. Such fun. I can see this will be a continued tradition.

June 2011: Fire Station, Car Washing, Dentist & More

A few shots from the month of June:

With Sam at a morning of summer camp, Jack & I snuck off to the fire station with some of his buddies to check out the shiny red fleet of engines. We've managed to keep our exciting outing a secret from big brother - but Sam loves to look at this blog, so soon it will be out of the bag and no doubt we'll be scheduling a second trip!

Late spring we bought a new car. Our trusty old Saturn wagon suddenly wasn't so trusty any more. We bought a Jetta Sports Wagon TDI, (turbo diesel injection). For the last ten years, neither Kevin nor I have put a lot of stock in what we drive - we've always looked at a car as more of a tool than a statement of identity - but I have to admit we both really love this new car. It drives like a dream and gets unbelievable mileage. The sassy red intimidated me at first but now I'm quite fond of it. The boys are pretty happy with the new ride too and are doing their part to keep it looking spiffy. Here they give it a wash at Mormor's house.

Sam LOVES going to the dentist. His last appointment was in the late afternoon and all day he kept asking, "How long before we can go to the dentist?!" I'm sure these cool crab shades, which he remembered from his last visit, were part of the draw.

I was concerned it would be tricky to keep Jack occupied during Sam's appointment but he sat just like this the entire time!

And then he, too, got a turn in the chair. Dr. Winn counted his teeth and let him play with the light. I'm glad to report that, in spite of not getting his first tooth until FOURTEEN months, Jack now has a mouthful of them.

A triptych of Jack:

My mom gave Jack a lilac branch one day when we were leaving her house. He loved its sweet smell and held it tight, even after falling asleep. My kind of guy.

Out for a morning tromp.

These adorable shorts Jack is wearing were made by Kevin's exceptionally talented Aunt Karen. I love them!