two hundred and fifty

Between the wind and the sun and tiny photobombers, it took maybe fifteen tries to get this one, nice shot. I think it was worth it!

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She just couldn’t bear to see those pruned branches go to waste!

two hundred and forty eight

When traveling with the girls or when visiting different museums and cultural institutions, I always try to do some research and planning ahead of time to make sure that I can make the visit relevant and interesting for them. I am always amazed at how, with just a tiny bit of effort, even a stuffy sort of place can become a great outing with kids.

I never expect places to have kids programming or kids activities available when we show up, so it was so, so lovely to go to Polly Hill Arboretum today and be welcomed by a wonderful children’s exploration kit.

The girls each signed out a backpack at the visitor’s center; each bag had maps, a compass, a bird identification card, crayons, sketch pad and notebook and a spiral bound plant identification book with at least fifteen different ‘stops’ throughout the grounds. Everything a young naturalist needs!

At several points on our walk about the girls sat and sketched. Their first subject? The stone wall and it’s surrounds. They also drew some plants and flowers along the way. They also collected leaves and seed pods from several plants (from the ground, never fear!) and were genuinely reverent in their surroundings.

We were all charmed by a temporary exhibit on the grounds called “A Walk Through Imagination“. This series of sculpture and pottery told the story of mythical ‘plant guardians’ and the houses and tiny books and tiny dragons and fairies was perfectly timed during Catherine and Esme’s current fascination with faerie houses!

It was a wonderful visit and we can’t wait to go back again!

two hundred and forty seven

At the beach today, Catherine and Esme…

…made a model solar system in the sand using (surprisingly) appropriately colored and sized stones as the sun and the planets. “My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nachos” and other fun topics were broached.

…caught and released so many jellies.

…attempted to make a fort out of four boogie boards, but the sand and the tide would not relent in their efforts to knock it down.

…identified four different shore birds by name. (Great Black Backed gull, plover, cormorant, tern)

…rode the current and observed the different water temperatures as they traveled from the pond into the ocean. They also talked about tides and how/why/when they change.

…made anchors for their boogie boards and tested to see which would keep the boards from floating away.

…swam, ate lunch and some snacks, dug a hole, chased a seagull, made some friends and had a really good day.

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two hundred and forty five

Peter got this great shot at South Beach this morning. Can you find me?

🙂

two hundred and forty four

I was an avid cyclist in middle school and high school. I even rode a fair amount in college. But the early years of our marriage and the first years of parenthood were very dry as far as cycling was concerned.

In 2010 I broke the dry spell by registering for the PMC and buying a nice Trek road bike. I banked a whole lot of miles during training and over the two day ride. It was great to be on a bike again, but it was a lonely affair. In order to ride I had to have someone stay with the girls. That someone was always Peter, so my rides were solo.

The past few years have offered me plenty of opportunities to convince myself that I’ll only ever ride alone. It was so hard to break out of the woe-is-me mindset. I could barely imagine how we’d cobble together bike gear for four, never mind how to foster enthusiasm and energy.

But then we came here for the summer and fell in love (or back in love, in my case) with the bike trails all around the island.

And just like that, we have become a family that bikes together.

With Catherine on her own bike, Esme tagging along behind, attached to my good ole bike and Peter on my Dad’s wheels, we make a sometimes wobbly, but always enthusiastic group on the trails.

Today’s ride found us going from Oak Bluffs to South Beach (left and right forks), to the Right Fork Diner for lunch and then back up along the beach back home. All told we pedaled almost 20 miles.

In hind sight, I shouldn’t have worried. It doesn’t matter much what we do together, we tend to find our own fun. It is just extra special when our group fun happens to be just how I pictured it to be!

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Oh what fun to be four year old friends!

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Such a happy day with Samara here to play with (and Caleb, too)!

two hundred and forty one

I am fully convinced that the Doctor is sending me messages in the kitchen. The proof is in the banana, “Pssst! I’m full of vitamins!”

[see link for a little Doctor/banana video]

[clearly a very slow photo day if that is my most interesting pic of today! Good night my fellow Whovians!]