Westmoreland Annual Trip

Last weekend we drove down to the Northern Neck of Virginia to enjoy a weekend of outdoor fun with our friends (a.k.a. "Wednesday Playgroup" even though we now meet on Fridays).  With a little bit of planning and our cars full of stuff, we converged upon Westmoreland State park and occupied 2 cabins almost overlooking the Potomac River. 

The above picture looks a little bit like a Subaru commercial, but I guess we are those outdoorsy-dog-loving-hippy types that tend to buy Subarus...  We got to share our cabin with the Polak family which worked well since Linus and Hartley both have a lot of energy and play well together.  Here's a view of the Potomac River.









We spent one morning at the Westmoreland Berry Farm.  If you read my blog regularly, my love for recreational farm labor needs no explaining.  The goat on the left is part of a herd belonging to the farm, which had an intricate climbing apparatus just for the goats.

Linus did well eating raspberries from the "buffet" but later moved on to picking morning glories.  Mattias stayed in the shade with Magnus, who also chowed down on raspberries.





 He worked so hard picking this bouquet for me.  He may be crazy a lotof the time, but he sure has his way of making me forget.

I picked a good half bucket before giving up and heading to the blueberry bushes (which also happened to be in the shade).

While picking, Amy found this bird's next in a blueberry bush.  Inside were 2 almost featherless chicks.  Cute!

It started to get really hot, so we called it a morning and cooled off with some ice cream.

While the bigger kids napped we got a chance for some hard to come by quiet time with Magnus.  He enjoyed his first dip in a baby pool, too.  That boy is always so cheerful.

The Navarro and Cody families started preparing for the evening's Mexican Feast.

Just as the kids woke up from their naps a huge storm came, bringing drenching rain and lightning.  Good thing we brought "Fraggle Rock".  Two positive outcomes from the storm: the bugs died/went away, and the temperatures dropped, making for a comfortable evening.

Things cleared up pretty quickly, so Israel fired up the grill, and the kids were let loose outside.  Here he is about to grill his "Locally known, internationally respected chicken wings." 


















The kids had a fantastic time looking for bugs with Mattias.  Here they are eying a caterpillar Maben named "Grubby".

Mattias about to lift a log to find bugs.

After putting the kids to bed, we spent the rest of the night hanging out by the campfire, drinking, and telling stories.

The following morning, Mattias made a large stack of Swedish pancakes for everyone to stuff full of fresh picked berries and Nutella.  Then, we had to pack it all up and head home before the traffic got bad.  Here's the kid crew before departure. 

As you can see, our brood is growing.  It's so awesome that while they are growing up together, us parent can share the joys (and pains) of parenthood.  The outdoors, wonderful food, and happy kids all make the effort worthwhile.  Until next year!

Happy Father's Day

This is what happens when Mattias takes care of the kids by himself

Dad, thanks for putting up with me all those years.  Now that I have a mini-me, I know I must have been a lot to handle.  Magnus, thanks for raising a wonderful son, who is now an amazing father.  And Mattias, stop surfing the web and do the dishes!

Movement

As the mother of 2 boys (4, counting Gus and Mattias) my life is all about movement.  From the time that I wake up until about 9PM, I am in constant motion.  Just about daily you can find me crawling on the ground looking for the random lost item of the day, or you can see me running after Linus on the driveway.  We jump on the trampoline, tumble in class, stroll to the park, and trek across Costco.  No wonder my life seems like a movie in fast forward.  

Now I have one more reason to stay mobile-- Magnus just started crawling and sitting up on his own.  This means we have to sharpen our childproofing skills...

 

Linus too is just as active as ever.  Mattias took this sweet video of him in preschool, when his class had a small recital.  I just love how he's so into following directions (when he's not at home).  The second video was taken during a heat wave a few weeks ago, of Linus and his friend Hartley playing in the pool. 

Welcome Penelope May Harris!

I am elated to announce the safe delivery of Penelope May, daughter of Melissa and Matt Harris!  After a relatively quick and uncomplicated labor, Penelope was born yesterday afternoon in Rockville, Maryland.  Melissa and I have been friends for many years, and are so lucky to be able to share this phase of our lives together.

The darling little miss was sleeping in Melissa's arms when I arrived.

 Not soon after I arrived, someone came in to take portraits.  Those tiny fingers!  That sweet baby smell!

 

This morning I made good on a promise I made months ago: to bring Melissa Italian subs from a specialty shop in Arlington.   Ivan (Melissa's brother) was there, and he brought the most amazing cannolis.

 

At one point Melissa asked if I wanted to hold Penelope again, to which I answered, "In a bit, I'm eating a cannoli."  That's why she took this picture of me, with said pastry.

  
May (Melissa's mom) was also in town for the delivery.

Melissa's already getting the hang of caring for 2 kids, making sure to give Finn some extra mommy time.

Finn seemed happy about the baby, and enjoyed marvelling at her tiny feet.  Below he's making his "Linus face".

Here's a hearty congratulations to the Harris family, a complete and beautiful family of four!

 

Modern Farming II

The past few weeks have been warm and sunny, giving our garden plenty of energy to grow.  It's funny that Mattias and I love working on the yard together, something we didn't know about each other.  After 16 years together, it amazes me that there are things left unknown.  But this is our first time living in a house together after all.  There's nothing like heading into the yard after putting the kids to bed, and working side by side in silence, meditating on the days events or our plans for the future.  The simple act of cleaning and maintaining a yard clears your thoughts, but also builds teamwork in a quiet and satisfying way.  

The small 5ft plot in the back has abundant lettuce, arugula, beets, and swiss chard.  The yellow squash in the back is exploding, and hopefully we'll have green and red onions.

Mattias' shade garden is doing well now that we've put down a layer of mulch.

We also started a small herb garden on the side of the yard: catnip, chives, oregano, and mint.

Our front yard has a good number of veggies already.  Sweet peas, green beans, and up next is tomatoes.

Mattias' first major building project was building me this raised planting bed.  Right now we have 3 tomoatoes, 2 eggplants, and 3 peppers.  It even comes with loops so I can tent the bed and grow veggies in the winter.  You California folks will never understand my enthusiasm for winter veggies.

The best part?  Having Linus pluck fresh veggies and eat (at least try) them for dinner.

And don't forget we're growing children here, too!  Magnus is so close to crawling, he is so wiggly and is never content with staying in one place for too long.  He's even taken to watching his storbror Linus play with his toys.

Linus has also grown into a rowdy little boy.  His potty training is coming along great, now that we reward him with stickers and Matchbox cars.  Farmor Kerstin got him a potty watch that sings at intervals to remind him to use the potty.  Success at last!