Summer of Fun!

We had some beach time. 

Micah put up a new swing the boys are crazy about.

A few splashes in the backyard pool.

Xav had swimming lessons in St. Albans.

Micah and the boys went on a few hikes.

We wandered over The Notch to Cold Hollow Cider Mill for cider donuts and free cider samples.  They were *out of ice cold sample cider*!  I was shocked.  They were selling what little they had as fast as they could make it.

Stayed at Jay Peak.  Micah had a crazy mountain race up there.  We spent a day at the waterpark, which we loved, and rode a tram up the mountain.  Merrick was teething.

Practice Makes Progress

Our littlest little is a mover!  He likes to go, Go, GO!

This is him last month, trying to figure out how to use this container to get himself upright.  He can't even get his feet under him yet.

Just three weeks later, his feet are positioned and he's using the bins as a step to try to climb on the couch after a book!

Just a Cardboard Box and Some Imagination

Mal and Xav with the cardboard box car.  I couldn't get the embed link to work.  So, click the orange words.  :)

Summer Science Experiments

The boys and I have been experimenting some this summer. 

This one involved putting a stalk of celery in colored water.  We chose red, hoping for big contrast.  It was supposed to happen over night.  After a disappointing result the first morning, M had the idea to put it in more direct sun to speed things up.  It worked much better, but still wasn't the "wow" I was hoping for.

Here we put blue and yellow food coloring in the bowls, used a folded paper towel as a wick and soon had green water in the third bowl.  This one was quick and easy and worked very well.

We also did three others where I completely forgot to take pictures. 

One was about condensation and involved ice and salt in a metal bowl with a lid.  We talked about the ice on the outside of the bowl and how it got there.  The boys thought the water was leaking through the bowl at first.

A major fail was the experiment where we tried to grow a gummy bear.  We soaked fruit chews over night in plain water.  There was, of course, supposed to be some expansion.  I think regular fruit chews are moister than a good old fashioned gummy bear and didn't expand so much as disintegrate.

Lastly, was an experiment called Invisible Skin.  We coated our hands with a few drops of vegetable oil and compared how the water acted compared to just a plain hand.  We learned about water molecules and that polar bears have an oily coating that acts as a protective layer against very cold water.

July - Thomas? Is it really you?

We spent a good deal of the month dealing with thrush, so Merrick had a purple mouth and hands.  Little, old ladies would see him and comment about me feeding him blueberries.  I'd just smile and nod. 

We went to NH again to visit our favorite family from Canadialand.  We had a great time.  I had some grown up refreshment with Heather, the boys enjoyed the playground and pool at the hotel.  Of course, we had to do some shopping at the outlet stores too!  It didn't hurt that *THE Thomas the Tank Engine,* his very own self, was seen on the track behind the hotel.

As one friend said, "That's a lot of boys!" 

The boys wrote thank you letters to Mat and Jen for allowing them to play with their model train when we stopped there.

Mal helped with groceries and even wrote a list for me.

This is Mal waiting patiently for 5 PM so he could do something with Daddy.  {LOVE}

When Company Comes to Call

***This entry got lost in the shuffle at some point and never got posted.  So...  a couple of years go by...  I think it's because the pictures aren't on my laptop.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.***

I had some of my favorite girlies come to visit us for a long weekend recently. We had a blast, quite literally! ;)  OK, we let Dave join us. 

We took a trip to downtown Burlington (sans kiddos) where we wandered Church Street and saw a fun street performance of flaming hoop jumping. We wandered down to the lake and had a yummy lunch. We stopped at the Maple store and hooked Alonnie up with enough maple syrup to last a week or two. :D

Another night we watched the movie New in Town. It was predictable, but fun.

We also had lunch one day at Smuggler's Notch. Chef Boy R Dave prepared some of our food and briefly graced us with his presence.

I finally got to meet Lora's Carolyn.

Micah built us a sweat lodge (an igloo shaped sauna) that was fabulous! He did a great job. And after that, we came out and gorged ourselves on s'mores.