Labor Day in Pine

We decided to pretend it was still summer and get out of the heat one last time by heading up to Nona's cabin for Labor Day.

It was cool and breezy and once again we had a delightful family weekend. Since I was a little too far along in my pregnancy to make any long hikes practical, we headed to Strawberry on Saturday to visit Fossil Springs Creamery...this was pretty much the most exciting part of our trip, so get ready for a lot of pictures of goats:

They make delicious goat cheese and fudge, and for a small fee, you can pet and play with the "baby" goats. Lili and Audrey had had this experience last year with Nona, but it was all new to Kateri and she was absolutely delighted by the whole experience.

 They were a little...persistent...in their friendliness. 

When we were chatting with the proprietor, he mentioned that they are also for sale... a detail which did not escape the notice of our poor deprived pet-less children. 

I never really thought of a goat as an especially cuddly member of the family, but Audrey disagreed. She really wanted to come back at 4pm when she could (for a small fee) actually milk one of the dairy goats.

Luckily we have a new baby on the way, which makes it impossible to even entertain the notion of acquiring a goldfish, let alone a goat. 

Do you think these ones have identified with Audrey as the black sheep of the family? 

Kateri just kept repeating any time a goat came up to her to be petted: " Look, this one loves me! This one never wants to be away from me!"

One actually did try to escape with us as we were going out through the gate and Kateri was completely convinced it was because it was desperate to come home with her.

Audrey really liked the Nubian breeds' floppy ears.

The dairy goats all had name tags...and my kids were excited to see one named "Nanny." Kateri said, "Oh it has the same name as Nanny because they both have white hair on top of their heads."

Sorry Mom.

There was also a Lily and an Emily, so Kateri was very disappointed that she had no caprine namesake. Poor kid, she's never going to be able to find her name on a personalized mug or key chain either. 

We also visited the one room schoolhouse in Strawberry.

The girls writing on their slates.

Lili put her new glasses to good effect pretending to be teacher.

My favorite part of the visit was realizing that these McGuffey readers used here as props are the same exact books our kids' school uses in their current curriculum. Awesome.

Sunday we took some nice walks and relaxed, although we did make time for another group tennis lesson. It was once again such a nice weekend; it's hard to believe that next time we visit we'll be a family of six!



Birthdays and Back to School

Since Lili always celebrates her birthday in Scituate, we usually don't have a party, but since double digits are such a big deal and all, we decided to have a little belated bash with some girls from school.

It was kind of hard to figure out what we should do with no pool and 112 degree weather, but the girls had a great time making pizzas, sundaes and friendship bracelets.

Lili is so lucky to have such a great group of friends...they were so polite and sweet to Audrey and Kateri.

They had a little indoor volleyball match as well.

And then, all too soon...it was back to school. The big girls were ready and excited to go back...

but Kateri was a little sad to have her constant companions taken away. 

Luckily her fourth birthday came along that week to distract her. A tiara from Uncle Justin... new sunglasses from Audrey...what more could a girl want?

She was pretty excited about the cake we made together, too. 

I can't believe this little girl is four...but she has had a nice long run being the baby of the family, and I think she's ready to relinquish that post. Whenever anyone asks her if she is going to be a big sister she laughs and says, "I already am a big sister!" Good answer, Kateri, good answer.

Happy Birthday, Kateri! You light up our lives every day!

Our Summer Part IV: Travis and Stephanie's Wedding

Travis and Stephanie got married!
We all went to Reno for the big event!
And I took zero good pictures of the happy couple, our kids in their flower girl dresses, or my husband giving his wonderful heartfelt speech as best man...
Oh well...sometimes it's better to just soak in everything in real time without worrying about your camera, right?
We had a great time in Reno celebrating with the bride and groom, getting to catch up with family, and meeting many wonderful people in Travis and Stephanie's life. The wedding was beautiful, and we had a great time.

Some of the pictures I did get: all the cousins together

Tolton, Kateri and Gianna

Viv thrown in to the mix

Viv bonding with her uncle.

The four brothers

The fabulous groomsman favors Justin provided...

And Audrey with two of her favorite people in the world

Our Summer Part III: Our To-Do List for Scituate

The girls have started making a "bucket list" for our time with my parents in Scituate. Every year we seem to accumulate new experiences that become little traditions. It's a good thing we are lucky enough to be there for such a good chunk of time, because the list has gotten longer and longer. Here are some of them:

Snorkel missions with Papa: Kateri was old enough this year to come along...she is as comfortable in the water as her sisters and did a great job, but it was so funny to watch her struggle against the instinct to pick her head up out of the water to take a breath.

This little inlet by Well Rock is the perfect place for beginners

Snorkel missions come with the bonus of getting to jump (or be tossed)off of rocks afterwards.



We're not always in Scituate for the Fourth, but the girls love taking part in the neighborhood parade when we are.

(Captain America's presence was a new feature)

Nanny gave Lili sailing lessons again for her birthday, so one thing high on my list was to get coffee and bagels one morning and bring them down to the harbor to embarrass watch her. It is so beautiful and quiet down there in the early morning.



And of course no summer would be complete without pony rides at the Farmer's Market...

Going to the bait shop and fishing at the reservoir with Papa,

(Look closely...there is a tiny perch at the end of proud Kateri's line)

Pink donuts hand-delivered by Papa on Sunday mornings

And celebrating Lili's birthday. This year, my parents spoiled her with giant balloons

and oyster po'boys for her birthday dinner.

(the oysters came courtesy of these two beautiful girls, my cousins from Louisiana, who arrived just in time to entertain my kids after their own cousins departed.)  

But, as is so often the case, the best things in life are free...like making huge drip castle complexes with Papa at low tide 

And then watching them get eaten up by the waves

And spending hours and hours on the "wope swing." (Maybe by next summer Kateri will have learned how to properly pronounce her "r"s.)

 

What a summer! I am so grateful to my parents for the gift of these experiences. My children will have these memories to cherish for the rest of their lives. You would think it would be hard to stay connected to their grandparents, growing up 2,700 miles or so away from them, but the time they spend creating these memories with my girls every summer makes the kids feel so loved and cherished. It really is a gift beyond any price. It does much more than just give them a fabulous vacation every year. It impresses upon them more plainly than words ever could the statement my Dad leaves me with every time we say goodbye: "If you ever need anything, anything, I'm right here."

Thank you Nanny and Papa!

Our Summer Part II: Family Times

As you can see, our family numbers have exploded in recent years. After years of being the only grand kids/nieces in the Bird family, my girls are pretty much in heaven with all of their little cousins

running around. It's the best part of our time in Scituate.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, they still maintain their love affair with the beach. Oh  the beach! It's our little slice of heaven on earth. It is always shocking to me how often we seem to have it all to ourselves. I guess if we lived in Scituate year-round we might start taking it for granted too.  

I'm so happy all three of the girls love it as much as I do.

We spent many a happy hour there this year....just us.

But then there were cousins to build sandcastles with!

And perform for (however skeptical/disinterested the audience might be)

Each one of them is so adorable and funny in their own way; it has been so much fun to watch their little personalities develop as they grow.

We can't wait to see who else will come along and join the party!