swimming

It was a bit warm today so we broke out the little pool.

The water was a little cold.

But they discovered if you hold a ball under water it goes up and makes a nice splash.

bubbles

We took a trip to a museum for story time with a craft, snack and seeing an animal. It was incredible. We were excited to see that they also had a fun new bubble exhibit. David and Allison had fun trying to see who could make the bubble around them the tallest. I loved watching their faces.

They had fun trying the wall-o-bubbles. It was a pretty breezy day, but they got it to work still.

Can you spot David?

I think we have a new tetris star!

first day of summer

We celebrated our first day of summer with seeing how wet we could get. We hit two ponds and ran through the sprinklers and finished off with a nice warm bath. The morning started off early with a trip to a pond with some friends. It was gorgeous. Bridget sat enjoyed her snack while the other kids played and splashed in the water.

They built volcanoes, rivers, ponds and watered the ants.

After lunch we went to another pond for some more swimming and wetness. After building a castle with a moat and flooding it, splashing all the kids around, we headed for home for some sprinkler fun.

caught

I walked out of the kitchen the other morning to see Bridget starting to eat. I guess she got hungry, grabbed her cereal off the table and started feeding herself.

I've learned to put things even farther away from her. She has an amazing reach.

ha ha she thinks she is so funny

A jaunt to the Green Mountain State

What a weekend of fun. We left friday evening to take a short drive up to Vermont. What a beautiful drive it was. Loved it! We stayed the night in Rutland, we had to see the difference from Rutland, MA. Vermont's Rutland was bigger. It was a late night and Allison woke up early. So when we got in the car to head to Sharon, VT she quickly fell asleep. It was a rainy drizzly and cool day with lots on the agenda. We met our friends and took a tour of Joseph Smith's birthplace.

The kids gathered around the fireplace and hearth that would have been in the home where Joseph was born.

They had a beautiful exhibit of clay statues. They were incredible! What detail and feeling.

We stepped out into the rain to go and see the 381/2 ft solid piece of granite (the worlds' largest polished piece) that stood in memory of Joseph Smith. Allison was excited to have an umbrella.

Getting back in the car we began our next hour drive.

With a few snacks and some laughs we arrived at...

to put it mildly, I was VERY excited!!!

Loving tours as I do this was one I have wanted to go to for a LONG time!

We quickly had lunch and took some pics with all the photo opps and went inside when the cow bell rang.

We saw a short film about the history of Ben and Jerry's and then went through to the factory, where we couldn't take pictures. We were able to try yummy Boston Creme Pie Ice Cream at the end though.

Can you tell I got stuck in the rain? I had to prove I was actually here. Did you know the number one Ben and Jerry's flavor is Cherry Garcia. I have never tried it nor felt the desire to, but I just might now that I know it is the number 1.

Allison tried one of my favorites, Phish food. Of course we had to have more ice cream after the sample. We then head to the Cabot Cheese factory,
which was another 40 minute drive.

David asked, "why are we going to all these factories that have cows mom?" I guess we just like dairy products. It was fun to see how cheese was made and the machines actually working.

This was packaging huge chunks that they shrink wrap and box then store for up to five years. We learned that they use part of the lipstick tree to dye the cheddar cheese orange for the west coast because it sells better if it is orange out there. No wonder I can't find orange cheddar cheese here. I never had thought of how they got it orange, especially since milk isn't orange.

Allison was hitting the limit of our stops and tours. She became happy as she could sample all sorts of cheese and popcorn with cheese powder. She loved it!

I forgot the camera as we headed to our last stop
a Maple Syrup factory.
Too bad for us they had stopped the tour. We were able to sample maple candies, maple cookies and four grades of real maple syrup.
David was a bit bummed that he couldn't see how maple syrup is made. He found out that he wasn't a big fan of real maple syrup and would stick with his mom's homemade syrup with mapeline. We bought some for me anyway!

peas

This is how we eat in Mass

playing birthday

I was sitting upstairs playing with Bridget when I was summoned. "Waitress" I went down stairs to see what I was needed for. David and Allison had set up a birthday tea party luncheon. They asked if I could actually bring them lunch with a candle like a cake. Of course I could not find any birthday candles, but sandwiches I could do.

After eating we sang Happy Birthday, blew out the candles and they pretend to open a gift we already had.
That is my kind of birthday party.

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day I found myself home with the kids and Aaron away at a conference. We were so happy to be invited to a friends house for a BBQ and games. The kids came home with some face paint. It has led to having their faces painted the last few days and asking to have them painted constantly.

David has wanted his the same way as the girl who originally did it.

Allison has gone for some variety. I haven't figured out how to paint a princess yet though.

Bridget just keeps happy jumping away.

the spy team

Amazingly we still have an active spy team in our house. This is what they call themselves "spy team". They work together, share ideas, help each other find things. They have upgraded to church clothes and to bringing along purses to hold their keys, flashlights and little evidence bags. They have found some dead ants and bugs for us. They are really quite helpful most days.

getting around

This is the common mode of transportation Bridget is using to get around these days. One leg forward and one back, she is getting pretty quick!