Little Doo is Two!

It's been two years since Little Doo was born, and it's hard to remember life without her.  Haley is such a bright little light - opinionated and determined, sweet and silly, she's quick to laugh (even through tears) and loves to surprise you with a hug or a big wet kiss on your cheek.  She makes us laugh every day.  What could be better?

Aiden loves ribs...here's the evidence!

To celebrate Haley's big day, we decided to smoke a lot of pork products and invite people over to eat them.  Maybe not your typical 2 year old birthday party, but then Haley has exceptional taste!  Pulled pork sandwiches and smoked cola BBQ ribs were on the menu, along with an amazing array of fresh side salads concocted by our friends, featuring kale, sweet potatoes, beets, summer tomatoes, wax beans and lots of fresh fruit.  It was a definite feast.  Haley also had a big fancy cake to share with her friends, and a pinata full of tooth-rotting sweets, stickers, and small toys.  

Cake and ice cream time!

Ben and Aiden playing with their toy muskets

Finnegan

HaPa and Grandma and Micah, Becky, Phoebe and Fisher also came for the day to join the party, which Haley and Aiden loved.  Fisher, Haley and Phoebe especially enjoyed the kiddie pool - they were in and out of it all day, with and without swimwear.   I'd say everyone was plenty tired when the day was over, especially the birthday girl.

Birthday girl gets her own hummus (everyone else appreciates that too!)

Fisher is a water bug

HaPa and Fisher

Pinata lineup

Dragonhunting with Aiden's class

This week we took the Windy Hill Summer Program kindergarten class out to do some dragonhunting.  Aiden was so excited to be our main helper and show his class how to net dragonflies, hold them, identify them, and let them go.  We gathered everyone on some picnic blankets when we arrived at Low Plain to go over some of the basics about dragonflies (what they are, what they eat, their life stages, etc.) and when we got to the part where Andy demonstrated how to catch one, we called Aiden up to show the class how easy it is to let a dragonfly go.  "You don't have to worry, they're perfectly harmless, and they don't bite" ...that's what I was saying as I placed the dragonfly, a large Slaty Skimmer, on Aiden's outstretched finger to release it.  And then....Aiden promptly jumped up and down waving his finger screaming, "Ow! Ow!  It BIT me!!"... What the?!?

Aiden has let go, oh I don't know, probably 200 dragonflies in the past 4 years, and NOT ONE has ever bitten him.  Until this one.  Of course... murphy's law!  The truth is that dragonflies CAN bite...they just almost never do, preferring to fly right away when given the chance instead of waste any energy on retaliation for their capture.  All the kids in his class were of course totally terrified for a good while after Aiden's "demonstration," and every time anyone caught a dragonfly, the first question asked was "Will he bite me?!?"  Still, the kids had a very good time and we managed to catch some really cool dragonflies to show them.  Some kids even got brave enough to release one or two after our rough start with the Slaty Skimmer.  The highlight of the day was our netting of a Dragonhunter, the largest dragonfly in NH, a clubtail that Andy and I have never caught before.  So it was an excellent day for everyone, even Aiden, who got over his bitten finger in about 10 seconds once the nets started flying in earnest.

The Dragonhunter! (so named b/c it eats other smaller dragonflies)

Independence Days

The 4th of July seemed to go on for several weeks this year.  I guess it's just the result of the 4th falling on a Wednesday, so that no one was quite sure whether festivities should fall on the weekend before, the weekend after, or the 4th itself.  Despite this, we managed to see zero fireworks and attend zero parades.  We did, however, make it to a birthday party, several beaches, a game night, a bog romp, blueberry picking and two outdoor concerts. Not too shabby.  The weather has been blissful summer perfection for the most part, and despite being covered from head to toe in nasty red bug bites, the kids are in heaven.  As are the adults.

Kids at our new picnic table!

At Elkins Beach

 Bog Flora

Picking blueberries

Haley trying out the double-handed technique

Berries  @ Blue Moon Farm in Warner

Haley trying to get Aiden to dance to the Long Tail  Monkeys

Vacation Time

Swimming and hunting for sea creatures at Oak Island

 Lots of family time, and water, water, everywhere is how we can best describe our annual summer vacation on Long Island.  We hit the ocean, the bay, the pool, Oak Island, and even dabbled in some lawn sprinklers.  Which was all a good thing, because it was really HOT most of the week.  We stayed at Oak Island the first few days, fishing and swimming and relaxing on the porch while also making time to attend the Rising Family reunion and a little birthday brunch for Phoebe.  Phoebe and Haley got a bit of squealy giggle time together at Oak Island, and Aiden ate a stack of raw onions and went around trying to get HaPa, Grandma Sally, and Grandpa Dada to pass out from a whiff of his onion breath.  Crazy kid.  Uncle Dan and Aunt Paulette came out and spent the day on Sunday too.

At the Rising Family reunion

Hapa with the little ladies

cool face painting

Handsome Fisher 

Trouble x 2

Charles, Emma, Elizabeth and Carrie

Phoebe's birthday 

Enjoying Great Grandma Rising's pool

Kimball enjoying Oak Island

Goofball

 On Andy's birthday/ our anniversary, we drove into the city to visit the Museum of Natural History with Grandma Chris.  In retrospect, I don't think driving in Manhattan was how Andy would have chosen to spend his birthday if he'd had his choice.  Schedules are always packed during our L.I. vacation week, though, so we made the best of it and Aiden thoroughly enjoyed all of the animal dioramas, dinosaur bones, and the giant blue whale at the Museum.  We had a long stroll through Central Park with Jeannie after the museum and ate dinner at a Mexican cafe nearby.  The next day was a bit more relaxing with a trip to Watch Hill on Fire Island.  We were going to try heading to one of the little communities on Fire Island this time (there are different ferries that go to each of them) but with free parking, dirt cheap ferry rides, and basically a deserted and pristine beach at the Fire Island National Seashore's Watch Hill, we decided...why go anywhere else?  It's absolutely perfect for us, especially with the mile long boardwalk birding trail that winds through sunken ocean forest and salt marsh for excellent birding opportunities.

Aiden checking out the prehistoric mammals

Trail through beach forest, Fire Island

Watch Hill

Sand Tag with Grandpa DaDa

Another highlight of the week was Aiden's first trip to a major league baseball game--- at YANKEE stadium!  The horror!  Actually Aiden was entirely fine with it, and thanks to Grandpa Dada's friend Daryl, they were treated like total royalty with a gigantic buffet dinner, third row seats, and a wall (yes, a whole wall) of FREE candy.  Who knew there were even seats like this available!  Aiden came home with a new batting helmet and a bagful of candybars and lolllipops, and lots of tales to tell.  I think a game like that might turn me into a Yankee fan too!  No worries even that the Yankees didn't win...can someone pass the skittles?!

Yankee Fan?

Hugs from Crazy Uncle Dan

We also made it out on Grandpa Dada's boat on Great South Bay for some swimming on a sweltering day and a tour of the Amityville canals (including a pass by the real-life Amity Horror house....shiver....).  And we had a great Kulis family BBQ at Dan and Paulette's houose to cap off our week on the island.  An unbelievably full week, gone in what seemed like a flash.  We can't imagine summer without it.

On Grandpa DaDa's boat

Too cool for the party

Allison and Aunt Mary with random dog passing through Dan & Paulette's yard

HMS Bounty Replica in Port Jefferson

On the ferry home