Lizzie's Bat Mitzvah and Thanksgiving

During Pat's weekend before finals this year, I took the kids to Maine for cousin Lizzie's Bat Mitzvah. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, and I was very proud of myself for travelling alone with the kids. However it was NOT easy! I missed half of the Bat Mitzvah due to restless kids, and Eli got the throwing up stomach virus in the middle of our second night, in the hotel room!
The result was actually quite sweet- staying an extra night at sweet cousin Pam's house. She was so warm and kind, bringing us food and toys and movies to occupy ourselves with as we occupied their master bedroom! We felt very loved. Note: look very carefully in the suitcase picture, that suitcase has special contents. BTW, I can't believe how few pictures I took that weekend.
Thanksgiving this year was at the River Garden in Bratt, a treasured tradition that reinforces my Bratt love. I can't imagine living anywhere else.

getting married

Says P to E, "Are you going to get married?"
E, "Yes, to you."
P, "You can't marry me because I am older than you."

Eli's lucky fourth

Halloween 2011

No time to write, but here are a few images from our Halloween. Priya was a leprechaun with a pot of gold to put her candy in. Eli was a "fire-cat." You can also see our little friend Liam who was a giraffe. Notice in one picture Eli's tail between his legs.. Also, the snow jack o lantern was pretty cool- we had over a foot of snow two days earlier!

Pot scoot

Kindergarten for Priya!!

No time for a big entry- here are pics of Priya's first day of kindergarten at Oak Grove Elementary! Her friend Ella (Erin's daughter) is in class with her. The girls were happy to have each other, as were Erin and I!! I will also attach a video of Priya on the monkey bars, she is very proud of her accomplishment!

I love the CSA!!!

I thought I would add a few pictures from the CSA (Picadilly Farm.) Going to the CSA each week makes me feel like I am appreciating the season. One of the best parts is that they have a pick your own flower garden. Both Priya and Eli love to be set free in this area, and they go around snipping flowers and filling their basket. Sometimes I even sneak away to pick my own tomatoes or edamame (or basil, or green beans) while they are filling up on flowers. Now, if only I could get them to cut the stems long enough to actually stay fresh for a few days in a vase when we get home!
P.S. Note that Eli's shirt is on backwards. Yes, this pictures captures the essence of Eli.

Grandma visits Vermont!

Mom just came for a visit, and we got her all to ourselves from a Friday through a Tuesday. It was great- the most one on one time I have had with her in a long time. The kids were ecstatic, and spoiled pretty thoroughly. In the mornings, they ran into her room and cuddled with her, instead of me. That made for a little extra lazy time in the morning for me.
There were so many things I wanted to do with my mom. I feel so proud of Vermont and our community, and I wanted to share it with her. I was especially set on taking her blueberry picking. The morning we were supposed to go, it started to rain. We decided to go on up anyways, and we could just buy some fresh blueberries in their shop. Amazingly, it wasn't raining up there and it held out the whole time we picked. What a blast! We picked a ton.
We also went out to eat at the Shin La, went to the petting zoo (mom left for the cheese factory, for chicken reasons.), and the farmer's market. We walked A LOT. We might have overdone the walking, mom's hip was bothering her.
We also got silly and drank wine together. Oh, and another time Patrick made us white russians. Yummy and fun.

Buying our House and Camping!!

We did it!! We finally bought a house! We have been talking about this for years, I thought it would never happen. It turns out that the house for us was the one we have already been living in. We closed on July 27th, 2011. Its pretty cool to think of us and homeowners. Patrick loves getting to tinker around on things without having to ask permission (not that he usually did ask, but still..) I just like the feeling of coming home at night and opening up my own door.
There are also a few pictures here of our camping trip to Jamaica State Park. This was a GREAT place for kids, and I loved it! I want to go back and take more advantage of the bike trail, but as for what we actually did: We swam, we cooked our own food, we got ice cream, and we felt proud of ourselves for a successful camping trip.

Visit from Nona and Grandpa!

Dad and Berta came for a brief, but lovely visit back in the beginning of July. Arriving on a Saturday and leaving on a Sunday, check out all the things we did: we went to the petting zoo and met an Emu, we went to the cheese factory and ate fancy cheese, kept the kids from falling off a steep embankment while we ate at the Top of the Hill Grill, and even lost Eli at the Montshire Museum. (We did find him.) It was fast and furious but great, hope they come again!