Tubing In, Buckets Out!

We spent Aiden's actual birthday weekend up in Vermont this year.  It was a work weekend, as we're still trying to prepare for next year's sugaring season by swapping buckets for gravity-fed tubing.  That change should allow my mom to have a snowball's chance in hell of making the whole thing work by herself, with help only on weekends.  Even though we were working hard, Aiden didn't seem to mind.  He got to ride the 4-wheeler a bunch, and helped out installing tubing and playing with the girls and Fisher.  The tubing part was actually finished by the end of the day Saturday, and tanks installed on Sunday morning, so we're slowly but surely getting there.  Now to chop a sugarhouse full of splits to fire the evaporator...

Great Big Sea concert with the Kennedy's on Friday nite- before Aiden and I left for VT!

While others were working, Becky and I (mostly Becky) watched the kids.  They made the forest their playground this weekend... Becky helped them construct them a "fairy tent" and made them fern crowns so that the girls (Fisher wanted no part of a fern crown) could be forest princesses.  There were magic wands and spells, and attacks by mean bears, so I hear.  They also had fun going nudie-pitutie in the kiddie pool - you can do that on the top of the hill in the middle of nowhere in VT- and eating handful after handful of sweet concord grapes from the grape arbor.  On Saturday night, we had cake and ice cream to celebrate Aiden's birthday, and then roasted marshmallows outside on the fire. We didn't make it past 8pm though- everyone was exhausted!

On Sunday we had time for a swim in the clear water of the Huntington River.  We used to take Aiden there when he was a baby, since the best swimming holes are right down the road from our old house, so it was fun to go back and enjoy the pebbly beaches, deep pools and chilly current.  Everyone had fun collecting rocks, throwing rocks, sitting on rocks, or jumping off of rocks into the water, and then we went to the Bristol Bakery for lunch.  It felt great to get a lot of work done and have some fun, all in the same weekend.

Lost River Birthday

Aiden decided to have a smaller birthday party this year, with just a few friends, and travel somewhere cool for the day.  Part of that decision was because this is a strange year for him- he's switching schools for the second time in two years, and if he invited everyone he wanted to from both places, he'd swamp whatever venue we chose, as well as Mom & Dad's budget.  So this was a good compromise.  He decided to take Molly, Finn and Ben up to the White Mountains, to Lost River.  Lost River is a hiking trail/boardwalk system that goes down through a steep gorge, and there about a dozen caves that you can explore, some of them with such tight crevices that you have to measure yourself through a gauge before you enter to make sure you won't get stuck inside.

I was happy to have Rich come along on the excursion too, as another adult to reign in the madness as the kids sprinted  ahead from cave to cave.  They did amazing though, going through every cave and climbing and sliding and squeezing into impossible spaces.  When we finished the gorge, we hit some pizza and ice cream in Lincoln and thoroughly embarrassed Aiden by signing "Happy Birthday" to him in public.  At the pizza place, another mother who was in there with her 3 kids took Rich and I aside and thanked us for coming in, since our crew was so noisy they made her kids seem like angels!  Talk about a back-handed compliment.  Rich and I just shrugged, "no problem."  Whatever lady, it's the end of summer and kids are loud.

After lunch and a quick visit to the White Mountain Attractions Visitor Center, Rich led us to "the Basin"- a short hike in along a beautiful river that has carved out some amazing sculptures in the rock it flows over.  The huge one that the Basin is named for is like a giant swirling washbowl, as you might imagine.  When we headed out on this hike, I bet Rich that it would take only 5 minutes for Molly to get soaked (she and water are magnetic)- well, it only took 2 minutes, despite Rich's efforts, and then we just gave up and got all the kids' socks and shoes off and let them get wet.  I have to admit it was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous place to take a quick (but chilly) dip in the water.  It was also a great day for Aiden's 7th birthday celebration!  I can't believe he is 7 already... that seems so grown up, and he's turning into a very bright and considerate little guy.  We love him so much.

Beaches, Babies, Pools, and Potstickers

Our annual trip to Long Island was full of sunny days and water fun this year.  And family visits, of course.  We hung out with probably 50 relatives in the first two days of our trip, thanks to back-to-back gatherings of the triplets' birthday party, Rising family brunch, and Kulis family BBQ.  We got lots of good Daniel, Carter, and Noah time in- can hardly believe they are over a year old now!  Life with three babies is still a total production for Dan and Paulette; I am constantly amazed both by how much work it is for them just to do normal things we all take for granted, and at the same time how they've got every aspect of the boys' lives down to an efficient science.  Feelings, bottles, naps, diapers, and baths- it can't be orchestrated any more smoothly than it is, yet it still takes so much time.  But the triplets are clearly thriving and starting to have their own distinct personalities, for sure.  All three are on the very verge of walking too.  I'm excited for Dan and Paulette to reach the stage where having three kids of the same age really isn't that much different from having three that are a few years apart.  That probably won't be for a few years still, but they'll get there.

The kids also had a great time with their Rising cousins, especially at Great Grandma's pool.  Cannonballs and can openers off the diving board for the older ones, and lots of paddling around in swimmys for Haley, Peter and Charles.

On Wednesday, Aiden, Chris and I took the train into the city while Andy and Haley went to visit Andy's college friend Lisa and her three kids (one of whom, violet, is just Haley's age).  While Haley and Violet played dress up princesses, Chris and I took Aiden on his first adventure with the NYC subway system.  He loved standing up (holy cow!) in a moving vehicle, and refused to sit even if there were lots of open seats.  Aiden's choice was to go to Chinatown for lunch, so that's where we headed.  We ate a very cheap but very tasty lunch of dim sum dumplings and soup at a small restaurant and then took Aiden to an Asian candy store that featured hundreds of different kinds of gummy treats.  Grandma Chris was supposed to supervise Aiden as he picked out some different gummies, while I made a bag for Haley.  Somehow, she agreed to several pounds of gummies!  Aiden's bag of treats cost more than our lunch for three!  He was in heaven, as you can imagine.  From Chinatown we headed further south to the Staten Island Ferry, which was mobbed with tourists like ourselves wanting to get a close-and free- look at the Statue of Liberty.  It was nice to sit on the boat and enjoy the breeze and the beautiful day after so much walking around. In the afternoon I said goodbye to Aiden and Chris as they boarded a train bound for Long Island, and walked north to enjoy a delicious Indian dinner with Whitney, Will, and Aly.  It was a perfect day in the city.

We also got some beach time, mandatory for a summer visit to Long Island.  We spent a cloudy but warm and calm day at Smith Point County Park on fire island.  Grandpa Dada joined us for sand castles, walks on the beach, and some swimming.  Both kids enjoyed swimming out past the breaking waves, jumping up and over each wave crest just before it broke.  We swam until lips were blue and goosebumps were taking over.

The last few days of the week, we got to relax at Oak Island.  Haley and Kimball played in the sand, Haley with her toys and kimball by digging giant holes to bury clam shells.  Aiden set crab traps, fished for snappers, dug clams, and used the umbrella net to catch shrimp, killies, and comb jellies.  We ended up digging so many quahogs that we ate some raw and made clam chowder out of the rest.  Andy, grandpa Dada, and Aiden also went out on an evening fishing trip and caught bluefish, seabsss, and fluke.  They came home with a bag of bluefish filets too.  Oh, and there was kayaking, jumping off the dock, eating, and relaxing in the sun too.  Dan and Paulette came out with the boys on Saturday and we got to witness their first swim at Oak Island.  They all seemed to love it so I'm sure they'll be back for more soon.