First Day of Kindergarten

This was actually taken the second day of school, when the parents are allowed in to the classrooms.

Someday I'll have time to write more in this little space but, in the meantime, here are a few pictures of our week....

Playing at the hula hoop booth at a sweet local fair.

Loving the rides at the fair, despite the peeling paint, missing steering wheel, duct tape and overall creepy vibe. What kind of mom allows her children to ride something like this?  Yep....but see how happy they are?

Ready to dance at the Ben Rudnick and Friends show.They each picked their own outfits...

I made these dresses for the girls out of my old tee shirts.  Willow's, in particular, turned out super cool and funky.  It is so "her" (just look at the picture of her at the Ben Rudnick Show)

Willow lined up with classmates at her Kindergarten Playdate-- a plac for the kids to meet and play together before school starts next week.  So cute!

Summer

Wow!   Sorry for being such a blog slacker.  The weather has been strangely fall-like for the last few weeks, with lots of rain, so we haven't been out as much as we'd like.  We had planned to head to Vermont for a camping weekend but heavy rains are forecast for the next few days so here we are again.  This is what we have been doing for the last few weeks, though:

Playing at the "pond" with best friends

The kids loved spending every day at the pond .  I can't believe it is already closing for the winter.

Swimming lessons every day.

Washing the dirt and paint off in a tub filled with equally dirty water.

Painting paper and tummies

Running back to the pond for more lessons and water fun.

Life is good.  Until next year Dug Pond!

Weekend

This week was full of much smaller activities than last, but full of sweet memories, nonetheless...

Indigo heading in to visit the baby chicks at the Natick Community Organic Farm

Walking the paths at the farm in search of the Forest Gnomes preschool

Indigo dancing with her best buddy, Jack at a concert on the town common.

Long days spent at the town beach, enjoying the sunshine and the setting.

The girls and I have been busily working on their "new" room.  We will show the before and after when we are done!

The girls and the front garden.  The coneflowers are putting on a great show this year!

Warm evening walks with Daddy

Rockport, Ma

Another beautiful day at the ocean.  We drove through Rockport, on the tip of Cape Ann and, finding it crowded, drove on a few minutes to Halibut Point State Park.  Here the shoreline was rocky and windswept-- something I expect to see in Maine when we hit the beaches there next month.  The girls missed swimming in the ocean but enjoyed peering into tidepools...

So many beautiful trees here

The trees were not only beautiful but also great for climbing!

Looking in to the quarry.  The ocean is just on the other side of the trees.

Goofing with the large boulders

We are back!

Sorry for the lack of updates here this summer!  We spent two and a half weeks in Oregon and have spent the last week battling jet lag and kitchen renovations (almost done!).  I am hoping to get back into a groove here, though, because we have lots of fun ahead during the last month of summer.

Yesterday we had plans to attend the Gathering of the Vibes-- a weekend long jam band festival in Southern Connecticut.  Temps over 100 degrees changed our plans, though. We haven't yet been to Connecticut, so we decided to head to Ocean Beach, in New London, in hopes that the ocean breezes would make the day more tolerable.  In two hours we were there and were pleasantly surprised.  This private beach includes a small amusement park, water slides, an Olympic size swimming pool, playground, splash park, and big, beautiful  white sand beach.  The water was perfect for swimming and the waves were kiddie sized.  What a perfect way to spend a hot day!

There were many people at the beach but it somehow never felt crowded

Two little mermaids

Loving the ocean

Verrill Farm

Today Jay and I took the girls to the Strawberry Festival at Verrill Farm, in Concord, Mass.  The farm was packed, so we skipped the strawberry picking and went straight to the music tent to listen to one of our favorite bands- Ben Rudnick and Friends!  They are a bluegrass/jam band for kids.  The band members are excellent musicians-- especially the mandolin player (how is such a big guy able to so quickly and delicately pluck the strings on the tiny instrument??),  and the songs are great.  It doesn't hurt that they played at least 4 Grateful Dead songs, either....

Watching the band play

There was also a cool marionette show!

Pretty day in a beautiful part of the country!