Picnic

We visited the Brunswick Railroad Museum today.  They have a neat layout that models the lines from Brunswick to DC.  The second story of the museum has a set of displays about life in Brunswick at in the 1900s. The first floor splits itself between a kids play room with wooden trails and Thomas books and an exhibit on the C&O canal.  Edmund liked the former and Papa like the latter.

For lunch we stopped to picnic at a local campground.  Papa is celebrating VE late or VJ day early...  This time we remembered a water bottle for Grandpap!











Mom saved Edmund from choking to death on homemade bread.  She flipped him over and smacked him once and that was the end of the choking and the bread.  I don't think he was fazed.  I guess boys are used to that sort of thing.

On the Floor

How low can you go?  Still pretty low, Grandpap!

Piece Shopping

Uncle David took us along when he picked out his 12g item.

Little Mover

Helping Bella and her family move today was a blast.  This represents about half their boxed books.  Hopefully they can find the shelf pieces so they can start unpacking   !

Synchronized Jumping

Or not so synchronized.  Meg was visiting and both kids decided it was time for some jumping.  It was such a thrill.  I was happy that they were happy and contained.

Trail Trek

Today we decided to brave the heat and sun for a walk on the trail.  We made it up to the highway overpass.  The kids were quite thrilled that the cars went under us.

I have such great friends, we can sweat together over my crazy ideas!  It was definitely the day for sleeveless tops and short skirts.

Swim

Many thanks to the F's for opening up their pool!!  This week is the right kind of weather for a swim  Edmund like the water, but also found the fallen leave on the side of the pool quite fascinating.  I don't think he ate any of them.  Constant vigilance is our new motto.

Good Dog

Today we helped C&N catalog their books while they are house sitting.  Edmund was asleep until C woke him, that is how the ladies are telling it anyway.  Sameena is a great dog, and when Edmund was crying she would go around to each of the adults in the room and look at us and nudge us.  This elicited the following comment from C, "Yes, Sameena, I know Timmy fell down the well.  We'll get him later."  She was so thrilled when the Little Bear stopped crying and made friends.  She kept kissing him and he enjoyed patting her and pulling on her tongue.  Best kind of friendship.

Snot

Edmund has a little cold, and Jonathan keeps getting snot all over his shoulders.

This is why!  We love him, but he seriously needs to learn about tissues.

A Man's Menu

Since Jonathan did such a great job with the meals for Mother's Day I decided to see what I could do to make him happy.  For breakfast I made iced coffee, eggs with sauteed zucchini and onions, apricot pastry, and bacon wrapped plantains.  

Lunch after church needed to be quick, so we enjoyed bacon cheese burgers with grilled onions, doritos, watermelon, and coke.

There was plenty of time to make a nice dinner, so I served steak, baby red potatoes with butter and fresh chives, zucchini, salad, and a tasty cabernet sauvignon from the Biltmore, a gift from the H-manns.

By far the most surprising, the plantains took 1st place for the day, but dessert was a close second.  This chocolate peanut butter bacon pie was recommenced by C & M L, and we will have to make it for them sometime.

Happy Father's Day

I am so thankful to have two such handsome men as my family.  We have so much fun enjoying each other.

Pebbles

Today we took a little excursion to a new park.  They have a neat pebble pit with large trucks.  Every boy's dream is to play in this pit, run the trucks over the other kids, and eat the pebbles.  Edmund got to fulfill the first and last parts of that dream today.  He was able to fend off a truck attack from Paul, who plays vigorously.  I am hoping that this pebble-eating-idyll does not disturb the remainder of the day.

Hover Craft

Edmund has his own water hover craft.  He was not totally sure that he liked being in it.  He has a little ball which rolls around on the deck and amuses him greatly.  We are happy that we don't have to hold onto him for the entirety of the swim.

Up Late

After the youth party Edmund wanted to play cards.  We were exhausted and so was he, only he did not realize it.  We sat around and watched him for a bit.  Then he wanted to climb on us and we knew it was time for all of us to go to bed.

Bears for the Bear

Thank you Natalie!!  We will love your bears and give them a good home.  We especially like the bear pillow!

Handsome Walkers

Since we had torrential rains last week First Friday was postponed until this evening.  We walked over to enjoy some music and wine.  The wine did not work out, but the walk was great.

Orange Anyone?

Today's shirts are brought to you by the colour of revolutions in Ukraine.  Edmund is pondering whether he should stage his own rebellion over bedtime.

Box

Guess who learned to climb up onto things?  Nothing is safe now!

Unfortunately, he can't get down by himself.  I keep finding him on stuff and chirruping to get be rescued.  

Looking Up

Visitors

Rory came for a visit today.  Ostensibly, it was to drop off yogurt, but since there were no dads home we decided to just hang with the babies for a bit.












Edmund was so curious about Rory. He kept trying to climb all over her, into her seat, and onto Katy's lap.  Once I started holding Rory then he wanted to be with on me.  We chided him about chasing after girls, but I don't think that it sank in much.

Bike Jaunt

Saturday breakfast

After an actual good night's sleep, Jenny put together this lovely breakfast, complete with wild cherries thanks to Colin C.

Stuff of the Month! - May

Book: Day of Infamy by Walter Lord.  Very informative, detailed, and well organized look at the attack of December 7, 1941.  The book gives the perspectives of a wide selection of people involved, and doesn't wander off topic.  My favorite fact I learned was that we had our first ally fire on the Japanese military on that day, when a Dutch merchant ship (under arms because of the war in Europe) provided air defense around Honolulu's harbor.

Movie (theater): The Avengers.  Very well assembled, enough told to keep the characters dynamic, and lots of fun action.  With some silliness - the aircraft carrier bothered me, but I'll live.

Movie (home viewing): Hugo.  Great on multiple fronts - as an introduction to early film, for the relationships, and to promote a spirit of adventure in the young.  And Sasha Cohen even had a palatable role outside of an animated film.

Honorable Mention: Moneyball.  I like any movie that has you rooting for the greedy businessman who only looks at the numbers at the expense of the people who just want to play their hearts out

Music: Safe Trip Home by Dido.  Very easy to listen to, with an emphasis on full instrumental harmonics that appealed to my more classically oriented side.

Household project: Construction of a potting bench to keep our herbs out of reach of rabbits.  Mostly just a matter of right angles and nails, but I was happy that despite our driveway not being level, I was able to place it so that all four feet are resting firmly on the ground. Picture here, including my happy little assistant.


Low point: No Higher Honor by Condoleeza Rice.  This book is very detailed, on a meaningful subject matter, and contains a lot of less known information on some remarkable events we have lived through.  That said, I have a hard time with memoirs anyway because as a vehicle they lend themselves so much to introspection, defensiveness, and a revival of personal infighting which is of only historic influence.  This book proved no exception, though I consider it to Dr. Rice's credit that it took me almost halfway through the book before I decided I had to put it down permanently.