Squash, Snakes, Sunshine, and Six Years

We had a great weekend at home, the first in a long time. Noni and Papi came for dinner and a sleepover on Saturday night, we got some gardening / yardwork / errands done, and generally enjoyed the fabulous summer weather, which just doesn't quit!

Yesterday, we harvested a few winter squash from an enormous plant that began from a seed in our compost pile and has nearly taken over our garden. We're fairly sure that these are butternut squash, but since the plant came from a wayward seed, we'll just have to wait and see once we cook and eat them. The two fruits we picked yesterday weighed in at over 10 lbs each. We had our boys pose with these "big boys" so you can get an idea of their size. Some were happier than others to oblige.

(Notice the rain boots. Despite the cloudless sky, our little man wore rain boots most of the weekend. They were always on the wrong feet, and he was often sporting his trademark one-shoe-off-one-shoe-on look.)

And the proud farmer with his harvest. Admittedly, Ben's head is pretty small, but these squash are BIG!

Our tomatoes continue to thrive in this sunny weather, and we had to share our treats with Noni and Papi (and taste some of theirs) on Saturday evening.

The other big excitement on Saturday evening was spotting this on our driveway:

Boys will be boys and our two LOVED this snake. It took everything in their little beings not to grab hold of it and have a field day.

And finally, six years ago Saturday Ben and I were doing this:

Saturday's weather was so reminiscent of that hot, humid, sunny day six years ago when we stood in that tiny church, surrounded by everyone important in our lives, supporting us as we took that first step in creating our family. What a wonderful, wild six years it's been.

Rain, Rain, It's OK, You Can Stay Another Day

We're actually enjoying a rare rainy day today, getting stuff done and being cozy. And our grass and garden are happy to get a drink. Of course, little boys need at least a few minutes outside every single day, so we took a rainy walk through the woods this morning.

We had a great weekend at the lake, celebrating Bill and Lisa's wedding. It was a splendid affair, full of little touches to make any bridal magazine editor swoon. Just take a look at the bride's grand entrance... a flotilla of ten canoes coming across the lake, filled with twenty flower girls and their escorts.

Here comes the bride...
We forgot our camera - the above are stolen shots. Hopefully someone got some pictures of our little dancing kings boogying it up on the dance floor. Fun was had by all!

Reentry

Coming back from vacation is rough. And it seems the more relaxing the vacation, the harder the reentry. We are busy digging out from under piles of laundry, backlogged work, vegetables to be picked, and of course, pictures. Here are a few that capture the spirit of our wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating time at the lake together.

Two gardeners in the family = fresh veggies at every meal

How can you not feel relaxed and refreshed when this is the view you wake up to every morning?

Cousin love

Spending every day at the beach turned our timid swimmers into little fish! And speaking of fish...

...there were many attempts but none caught.

We spent lots of time in boats - kayaks (pronounced ki-YAKS by Ethan), canoes, paddleboats, and motorboats.

Our attempt at a family photo

The Brat Pack

Fun on the dock

Storytime

And in case you're wondering, the garden survived our absence (thanks to a mid-week return home by Farmer Ben). Our tomatoes have hit peak production and are coming faster than we can eat them. Anyone need some?

We held a tomato tasting during our vacation, complete with palate cleansers and scorecards. I am happy to report that one our tomatoes took home the blue ribbon.

Holding Down the Fort

While Mommy and Ethan were off galavanting in Manhattan this past weekend, Daddy and Adam were keeping things together on the homefront. I will happily concede that I got the better end of that bargain, but I think the boys did alright for themselves too. So as not to be completely bored with dear old dad, Adam invited cousin Brian over for a slumber party on Friday night, followed by a playdate on Saturday.

From what I hear, Saturday brought a mildly successful beach trip followed by a very unsuccessful nap attempt. When I talked to Ben on Saturday night he sounded exhausted and appreciative (always a side benefit of leaving men alone with their children). It seems Sunday went much better, probably because Ben returned to his wheelhouse - following pajama-clad wee ones around with camera. At least Adam had cute jammies* on and Ben got some fabulous shots of our little monkey.

* Ben would like to clarify that only pajama top was left on but that pajama bottoms were swapped for shorts.

"Up please!"

(The above photo looks so much like Ethan to me.)

"Don't bother me while I'm driving!"

Happy as can be to spend the weekend with Daddy

I was so excited to see my little munchkin and his dad on Sunday night, but I honestly don't think Adam even missed me. At least Ben did. And I take that as a sign that Adam had a perfect weekend with Dad and didn't have time or cause to worry where his mom and brother had gone. Ben returns from a few days in DC tonight (he left early Monday morning so our home stays just barely overlapped). I'm eager for our family to reunite, and look forward to spending a whole week together at the lake beginning Saturday! Until we return...

Summer in the City

This past weekend, I whisked my biggest little man away for a special trip to one of my favorite places on earth - the Big Apple. Although we were only there for about 36 hours, we packed in an amazing amount of activity, thanks to host and tour guide extraordinaires, Uncle Pauly and Andrea. Uncle Pauly is, after all, a big kid himself, so I think it was easy for him to think of things to do. Ethan would have been content just staying in Uncle Pauly's apartment and playing with all his toys and his adorable new 1 lb kitten. But alas, New York was calling and I didn't want to miss one minute! After a question-filled flight (How do we take off? What's that noise? Is that Uncle Pauly's house? Is that? Where are we? Who is that? Where's the pilot? Why are there two pilots? - you get the idea...) and cab ride to the Lower East Side, we took the subway (big hit) up to Central Park and strolled around in the sunshine.

While there, we visited the Central Park Zoo, which I had surprisingly never been to but is a great little spot!

Then it was off to FAO Schwartz.

"Mommy, why is that guy dressed like that?"

Playing the Big piano

Having some sort of Sesame Street battle?

After lunch at a haunted house, we did the Lower East Side playground tour. I'm not sure which made Ethan happier - the crazy amounts of new equipment for him to try out, or his new playmate.

I took Ethan to a different playground by myself on Sunday morning, and he wasn't nearly as thrilled with the company. He still had fun climbing on animals and drinking coffee (milk) with me on a park bench.

Ethan and a tired mommy - why is it that kids sense when their parents stay out too late and actually get up earlier as punishment?

After a real bagel and lox breakfast (have I mentioned how much I love eating in NYC?), it was time for Ethan's first Major League baseball game!

The Mets were atrocious, but the new Citifield is amazing and we had a blast anyway. Then we caught a quick drink with Noni and Papi, in town for dinner, before heading to the airport. Ethan talked non-stop about all our adventures the whole plane ride home, but was sound asleep the minute we pulled out of the parking garage in Portland.

Snuggling with his new Mr. Met doll

I enjoyed every bit of our weekend in the big city, but the best part (by far) was watching these two connect, play, bond, and act silly together.

Thanks for a great weekend Uncle Pauly! We can't wait to do it again!