Oak Island

About 7 years ago, Andy's dad bought an old house on Oak Island (off the south shore of Long Island) that needed a whole lot of work. Along with Dan and Paulette (and I'm sure a whole crew of other helpers) he's fixed the house up so that it is the perfect weekend retreat. Amazingly, in the seven years since the house has been in the Deegan family, we've never spent a night there, so we made it a point to do that on this trip. It was definitely worth it!

Beach Rose along the boardwalk

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Hens and chicks escape the pot

Oak Island is unique because there are no cars or motorized vehicles on the whole island. You have to take a boat across a small channel to get there, and everything has to be brought in this way, from building supplies to appliances to furniture. There are also limited utilities, so most every house has a bank of solar cells on the roof or in the backyard, and lots of things are run off of propane. There's a boardwalk that runs along the front of all the houses, giving it a real community feel (and also a "you can't hide anything from your neighbors" feel) . The land under all the houses is actually leased to the homeowners by the State of NY, a situation which has led to all sorts of interesting complications and controversies over the years... we got filled in by Andy's dad about some of the recent hot topics debated by the Oak Island community board of directors. Good fun!

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Boardwalk at Oak Island

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The sign says "OarGanic Garden"

Aiden lounging, alone and with Uncle Dan

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Aiden getting some grampa time

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Aiden loved the sandy sloping beach into the bay- I went to dip his feet in and he sqirmed away from me and sat down in the water fully clothed. A splash fest ensued, complete with three complete dunks of his face into the salty water. He came up surprised each time, but not upset. Andy and I also escaped for a few walks and a kayak around the island while Aiden was occupied by Grandpa Deegan or Uncle Dan and Aunt Paulette. It was so relaxing we will definitely be back for more soon.

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Beach bums

It's cold but who cares! I've got I-N-S-U-L-A-T-I-O-N!

The Three Musketeers

Aiden just got to visit his 2 cousins Emma and William! The babies are still not truly "interacting" with each other but at least this time there was some mutual staring going on. Even though everyone can sit up well, that doesn't seem to be improving our chances of getting a great picture of the 3 of them, where everyone is actually looking at the camera at the same time! Someday...

Baby talk

William can't believe its true!

We had a great BBQ lunch with everyone, including Aunt Mary and Uncle Peter, and Ben who was down from CT for the weekend. Emma was little miss raspberry queen, sticking out her tongue and making a wet (though appropriately feminine sounding) farty noise every few minutes. Very cute. And William is definitely taking in the world around him; he seems amazed by everything, and LOVES swimming in the pool! Kicking like a little water beetle already!

Emma looking very sweet

William enjoying Emma's exersaucer

Speaking of the pool, the 3 babies enjoyed 2 pool parties courtesy of Great Grandma Rising. Emma and William are old pros at this by now, but it was only Aiden's 3rd visit ever to a pool... so it was definitely a treat for him. Especially since the water was 90 degrees! We ran out to Target and bought him a floaty seat like Emma and William have so that he can use it this summer in Lake Champlain. (If the zebra mussels don't pop it first!)

Aiden loved William's floaty turtle!

Memorial Day Weekend BBQ

We just got back from a (much too quick) trip to Long Island for Memorial Day Weekend- Grandma Chris threw a great backyard BBQ in Patchogue, to which all the Kulises and Gillespies and Rapps attended... Since Aunt Mary and Allison were just back from a trip to the Galapagos, highlights included great wildlife photos, homemade cerviche, and a potent cocktail from Ecuador made out of limes and lighter fluid (ok, maybe it was some kind of cane-sugar rum) (and I think I drank most of it). Of course there were also burgers and hot dogs and keilbasa, and Aiden had quite a day of taste testing. He tried cous-cous, guacamole, whipped cream, chocolate pudding, lemon meringue pie, etc. etc. Needless to say he completely puked shortly before bedtime.

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.......Jeannie and the Lump

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Enjoying the Sun

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Uncle Kenny the Zen Viking

"No more, Uncle Kenny...I'm tired of pillaging!"

Aiden also went on several short stroller rides down the street to a small park on the bay where he got to stare at the waves, eat sand, and have a ride on the swings. On the way there one time we got attacked by an obese chuihuahua (sadly, no pics, I was too terrified) and a chicken.

Whee! Don't I look excited?

Chicken through a picket fence

The only bad part of the day was when we realized Aiden had gotten a sunburn on one side of his face. We had lubed him up several times with SPF 55, but after eating so many new foods, I guess he had his face wiped enough times to clean off all the sunscreen. Of course Andy and I panicked, and then after the panic wore off we just felt like horrible rotten parents for allowing him to get a sunburn at only 9 months old. Luckily, there was no sign of the burn the next morning or any of the following days, but we definitely learned our lesson and kept him so greasy with sunscreen the rest of the weekend that we could barely pick him up.

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Hanging out with Grandma Chris
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Aiden in his new METS garb

(to be worn only when all Sox outfits are dirty)

The Kitchen is DONE!!!

Finally! Our kitchen remodel is done. No more doing dishes in the tub and washing the baby under the garden hose (ha ha). Here are the before and after pics. Click on them to enlarge if you are interested in kitchen flips and that sort of thing. Otherwise, take our word for it that the new kitchen is far superior to the old one! And come visit, so you can see for yourself.

Got lots of work done in the house and yard and garden this weekend, but we did find a little time to go for a hike just around the corner at the Green Mountain Audubon Center. We are so fortunate to have this great preserve so close to our house- the trails pass through so many different habitats- old fields, forests, beaver ponds, hemlock swamp - so there are always interesting things to see. We saw an indigo bunting and a scarlet tanager (two very bright, almost day-glo males) on this hike, and a few beavers slapped their tails angrily at us too. We wandered around for almost 2 hours and didn't see a single other person.

Boardwalk through the hemlock swamp

Damn! That's a nice lodge...

Rubber ducky, you're the one...

Aiden is no longer sharing his tub with the dirty pots!

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Do the Llama Doo

COLOSSUS the Llama

On Friday evening we went to Salisbury to collect some of the wonderous waste product of the Turner's lovely llamas to spread all over our sprouting garding. We shoveled up whole trailer load of the (thankfully, non-scented) doo, and had a nice visit with the llamas too. The Turner's llamas produce a whole wheelbarrow full of poop each day (I think I got that right, although it seems like an incredible amount for only 4 llamas). Aunt Chris brought out Colossus the Llama on a tether so that we could pet him (very very soft) and feed him pellets. Even Great Grandma Dean got to meet Colossus. Some fun facts we learned about llamas: they only have teeth on the bottom jaw, and their lips are prehensile so they can actually grab and hold their food with their lips (and it feels pretty weird when they are snarfing pellets up off your hand). These llamas do spit, though only at each other.

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Aunt Chris and Colussus

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Colussus greeting the crowd

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Andy feeding Foggy and Charlie

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We also had a nice supper of gourmet sandwiches and home-grown tomato noodle soup. Aiden had a very fussy day but he cheered up a bit for the llamas. He liked Aunt Chris's soup, but not as much as the pickles!
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Sour pickle for a sourpuss

happy, happy, HAPPY!

Ollie shows Aiden a few things

This past weekend we had some brave visitors from Mass... Bek, Nate, and little Oliver! I say brave because they were essentially camping indoors at our house, since there is no sink or functional kitchen (yes, still!), and we really don't have a guest room so accomodations were a hodgepodge of air matresses and pop-up beds and a crib. But the Stevenses are a hardy crew so they didn't complain or run screaming over to my parents' place to sleep in a real guest room.

We had a great weekend exploring outside, starting with a stop at the International Migratory Bird Day celebration at the Audubon center just down the road, where we watched a staff biologist trap and band a few birds, including a male Nashville Warbler and a Common Yellowthroat. Aiden and Ollie were getting antsy after awhile though, so we joined my parents and Bek's parents Leslie & David in Monkton for lunch. Ollie is a great eater and will consume just about anything as long as he has ketchup or hummus or some other sauce to "dip-dip" the food in. Andy and I glanced at Aiden hopefully as Oliver took bite after bite of whatever he was offered...our little fussa man is still in such the beginning stages! Someday he'll get there... We did determine that there is one thing that Aiden and Ollie are in a similar stage with now - though they are 11 months apart, Ollie only weighs one pound more than chubba-lub Aiden!

Life is better when you Dip-Dip

Nate is not paying any attention to me...

Shelburne Farms was mooing and baa-aaa-ing and clucking with activity. The kids stared and poked at all the animals and we all enjoyed the bumpy tractor ride out to the large farmyard.

The road out to the Children's Barnyard is lined with old cottonwoods



Aiden in Ollie's hat

Ollie and Bek on the tractor-train

The next morning (my first Mother's Day!) was so clear and sunny we decided to hike up Mount Philo in Charlotte for the expansive views of the Champlain Valley. We had a great hike up (lots of great warblers!) and a leisurely nap/rest time at the top where Aiden played on the new picnic blanket I got for Mom's Day and Ollie ran around like a little wild man trying his best to hurl himself off a precipice before his parents could grab him! Luckily they are still a little quicker than he is.

Aiden about to sneeze, on the way up Mt. Philo

View from the top of Mt. Philo

I like this picture, it messes with your equalibrium!