Late Summer Delights

I had been planning all summer to take the kids on a hike up Mount Kearsarge, but it just didn't happen for one reason or another.  Finally, in September, we did make it up the mountain with some friends.  We went up by the shortest route possible, to give Haley a chance to actually hike it herself.  She didn't make it all the way, but she definitely improved on the 10' feet she hiked last year on Mount Sunapee before declaring, "pick-a-me-up."  Aiden and his buds fairly raced up the mountain, and I just saw their little behinds disappear around the first bend and left someone else, Kyle or Cristine, to chase them down all the way to the top.  Heidi and Rich and Haley and I sauntered up more slowly and met up with them on the summit.  At the top, we had a picnic lunch in the sheltered rock depression below the tower and the kids scrambled around on the rock faces, making forts and poking at wooly bear caterpillars.  I'm glad we did make it up this year, better late than never.

We've also been harvesting in our little garden lately.  Tomatoes are still green for the most part, but we've got beets and kale and swiss chard galore.  Aiden is growing a pumpkin, and Haley's got sweet orange carrots, much better tasting than the big yellow ones we've grown in the big garden.  String beans were good this year too, and we managed to put away 8 jars of dilly beans, which, after we wait 5 weeks for them to be ready, will be snarfed up in about 2 days.  Timber stayed with us this weekend too, while Mom was sailing in a regatta with Uncle Brandt and Aunt Sandy on Long Island.

On Sunday, we succumbed to Autumn and went apple picking.  Gould Hill Orchards is our favorite in New Hampshire- there are great mountain views and lots of strange varieties of apples to try if you are adventurous.  And cider donuts, fresh from the fryer...  we invited the Backstroms to come with us since Haley has been talking about her last playdate with Mya for weeks on end.  While they were picking Cortlands, the girls noticed some sounds coming from the grass at their feet.  It turned out there were four just-fledged cedar waxwings huddling in the grass, trilling for their parents to come feed them.  The kids were fascinated, and the waxwings were very lucky they weren't trampled sitting right under some ripe apples on a busy weekend at the orchard.  After awhile, we were able to pull the kids away for cider donuts to give the birds some peace.