"Ba-gok Cottage" and the "Enchanted Twain Forest"

 This week our pre-fab chicken coop finally arrived (it took a detour to our old Logan address first - oops). We were all so excited to set it up. The children were very helpful, and our garage smells so much better sans chickens! We named it "Ba-gok Cottage", a slight copy of Wade and Amber's "Bok Bok Cottage". They are an inspiration to us. Our five little chickens are nothing compared to their impressive hobby farm. Anyway, we worked together for about an hour until it was all set up. It has two little roosting places for laying eggs, which will hopefully start in October. The roof tops all have hinges for easy access. The floor slides out for easy cleaning. It is so cool! We hope that our chickens like it as much as we do!

In other news, Noma got her first hornet sting today. The poor thing was walking up the steps to our house when a hornet flew out of a hole in the house and stung her on her head just above her temple. Happily, she is not allergic, and she was pretty tough about it after she got a cookie. Adam sprayed the hole and patched it up. After that he went on to take care of another hazard - bats, but more specifically bat guano on our front porch (toxic poop). He climbed up into our attic and grabbed a screen that he found laying around up there, and jammed it between the decorative shudders and the house. He scared away eight bats, and left the screen jammed there in the hopes that there won't be enough room for them to return now. We will see.

Now for the Enchanted Twain Forest (a.k.a. the woods that border our property). It is a wonderful and terrible place with dragons, trolls, force fields, fairies, etc. There is an enormous "Grandmother Tree" (ever seen Fern Gully?) that speaks wisdom and provides protection from the dragons (ticks?).

There is a "Bridge of Hope" that can grant wishes when one climbs it and then jumps off into the arms of... daddy.

There are three critical rock walls that, when passed, can keep the trolls at bay for up to five minutes as children rush to beat the troll down to the dreaded "Troll Bridge". Once you arrive at the "Troll Bridge" you must peek inside to see if the troll is there.

If not, one is free to look for frogs and fairies and chase fish. Then one must cast a spell on the area to make the troll fall asleep upon his return. When one is too tired to go on, one can place both hands upon any tree and get energy. It is truly a magical place!

Here are some extra recent pics, just for fun :)

  

This was at friends Brooklyn and Kennedy's house.

 

Check out those fluffy legs!

Lots of Little Things...

While there haven't been any major events lately, we have been keeping busy with a lot of little things.

The Mark Twain Library continues to be a favorite place to visit. They have so many creative programs for little kids. Last week the girls took their teddy bears, "Fluffy Blue Bear" and "Krickle" to a teddy bear sleepover. They just dropped them off at the library in the evening, and then picked them up in the morning after some stories and muffins and juice for breakfast. How cute is that, I ask you? They loved it!

We also went to something called "Shakespeare on the Sound", an annual event where a company comes and acts out a play outdoors near the water (the "Sound" is what they call the beach, the inlet of water from the Atlantic Ocean). It is a free event where you bring a picnic and chairs, and just enjoy. This year they preformed Romeo and Juliet, and it was a bit of a musical. It was very well done and professional. I liked introducing the girls (Noma stayed home with Adam) to the concept of a tragedy. It ended at 10:30pm, but they were awake and alert for the entire show.

On the hot summer days, we have found that it is much better to know people with pools than it is to have a pool. We have been very fortunate to have opportunities to cool off in a few different pools of friends and neighbors.The pool featured below is the one that my phone fell into, but was saved by 36 hours in a zip-locked bag of uncooked rice (it really works!).

A few weeks ago, we arranged to meet up with Ryder, a cousin, who is right between Viv and Ru in age, and her mom, Joanna. We met before in CA, but they were in NYC, so we decided to meet at the Central Park Zoo. It was slightly daunting for me to take the three little ones all by myself (traveling with a recently potty-trained 2 yr old is always a little nerve-wracking). I'd never gone into the city by myself. We took the train and had to transfer and then find the subway and then walk a few blocks to the park. But we did it! We had a wonderful time catching up. The girls got along really well, and I really loved getting to know Joanna. They trip home was a little more complicated with a lot of waiting because I wasn't familiar with the train schedules and such, but we eventually made it home. Whew! (Sadly, that snow cone in Ru's hand below fell victim to the pavement).

In other news, I went to a job interview at a "nearby" university (only 45 minutes away!). It went really well and I was feeling really good about the way it was going until I was told that the position required me to be there five days a week. I was actually willing to drive out there two or even three times a week (the schedule at USU was like that for adjuncts), but not five. Ah well, something else will work out. I'm just trying to decide what I will do this fall. It will be just me and Noma home all day with the older two in school. Crazy. It's been an interesting adjustment for me to not work. I miss teaching, but I'm also loving this summer of fun with my girls.

Adam continues to work insane hours. I'm not sure how he does it. It's been easier for me to handle without work or a schedule to keep, thank goodness. But it's a good sign, in this economy, to be so busy. He seems to establishing himself and making a name for himself here. Hopefully one day all of his loooooong hours will translate into a more stable situation with a better and more sustainable schedule.... Any day now, I'm sure.

We spend our days doing things like babysitting for friends, making cookies (thanks, cousin Chloe for the "easy bake oven") and other foods, cleaning, having impromptu dance parties, playing games, cleaning up, playing with chickens, getting hair cuts, cleaning, reading books, doing homework, cleaning the house, etc. It is a great life!... and that statement makes me uneasy. I am "waiting for an anvil to drop," as I have said for years. I know it won't always be lovely, but here's to the present!

In other news (animal news), there have been no new tick sightings (knock on wood), and Viv is almost done taking her meds. However, we  heard a strange animal in one of our air vents the other night... no idea. We set out mouse traps, and so far, nothing. We also discovered bats that are living way up by our attic window shudders. Their poop lands on our front patio by the children's bench. Awesome. We haven't seen racoons for a while, thank goodness. This morning a woodpecker just outside our window woke me up. And the girls caught (and released) a frog on their walk the other day. Yes, we live in the woods. To quote Ru a year ago at family camp, "There's millions of nature out here!"

Noma-bug

It's time again for a post about the cute things that Sonoma says - age 2.

-Chap stick is always simply, "lips" She frequently says, "I want lips."
-Medicine is pronounced "menace" (as in Dennis the Menace)
-Ruby was recently pronounced "Wiby", but is now "Wooby"
-Horses say, "Meigh" (and not "Neigh")
-Thank you evolved from "dakum" to "deegoo" to "dankyoo"
-Monkey was "muhgee"
-Juice was "duce"
-Grandma or grandpa has been "buhgah" and is usually "bungah"
-Sticker is "sigee" (emphasis on the first syllable)
-Olivia is "Alivala"
-Rabbit is "wabbut"
-Blanket is "banget"
-Ballerina is "weena" or when she really tries, "uhnuhweena"
-Garbage is "buggage"
-Stroller is "slow-der"
-Toilet is "tohlet"
-Butterfly is "Uh-fly"

With language like this, I am in heaven. I love listening to her talk. She is great at communicating, and is very creative with the gibberish that she throws in to fill in the blanks of what she wants to say.

She was recently potty-trained (just 2 months after turning 2), and is loving her independence. She especially enjoys being naked. Despite the first weeks initial accidents and the occasional play with toilet water (disgusting!), she has done very well with it all.

Sonoma loves playing with her big sisters. They are usually very good at including her in their games. She wants to be like them in every way. This means that she is following in their girly footsteps. Anyone wearing a dress or a skirt is automatically a "pincess" (princess). She likes to get dressed up and hold a "pack-pack" (backpack - which can be any sort of bag) where ever we go. She also loves stories and reading, playing with dolls, dancing, swinging, and being silly.

We love her smile (even though she has an under bite)! And although she is in the 5th percentile for height, she enjoys eating quite a bit. She likes to eat (among other things) avocado, tomato, seaweed, cheese, bread and butter, and treats, of course.

We LOVE our Noma-bug! She is our little bumblebee (Ru is a ladybug, Viv is a butterfly, fyi).

Independence Day

 
This year's Independence Day came after a week or so of not-awesomeness. First Adam finally went to a doctor for a weird skin thing that had been plaguing him, and it turned out to be poison oak. Then Olivia fell ill with a fever and intense body aches for 4 days until I found the tell-tale bulls-eye rash on her back.

Apparently a tick bit her, and despite daily "tick checks", we never saw the tick. She was put on 25 days of anti-biotics. During this time, we decided to potty-train Sonoma. I found myself caring for a needy sick child and cleaning up after a diaper-less toddler for a week. It was all I could handle, and I got a head cold and joined the ranks of the sickly in the family. Ruby was a trooper. In any case, when the 4th finally rolled around, we were ready to celebrate independence from illness and diapers, if not the independence of our country!

We kept things low-key this year. We celebrated by having a picnic (corn on the cob and watermelon included) on our balcony. The previous tenants of this house had told us that they could see fireworks from the balcony, so we didn't go anywhere. We did our own sparklers with America music in the background, waited until dark, and then watched the show. Adam and I were grateful to be able to have the bedtime routine of pajamas, story, brushing teeth, etc.out of the way when the show ended (not to mention the fact that we didn't have to drive home afterwards) and could just say goodnight. It was a peaceful and beautiful day. God bless America... and everywhere else, too!

...also Viv wrote a poem and put it to music, and Ru made a pillowcase. Good times...

Jack and Les at the Carriage House

My brother Jackson and his lovely wife, Celeste came to visit for a few days. We had such a wonderful time with them! They came on Jackson's birthday (July 5th), so we had the pleasure of celebrating it with them. The girls, of course, were thrilled for an excuse to eat cake and ice cream. They got here and settled in for a few hours before we headed over to nearby Ridgefield where they have a free concert in the park twice a week during the summer! We just heard about it and decided to try it out. It turned out to be a very impressive bluegrass band with Sierra Hull, and we had a wonderful time.

We wandered around the cute town, ordered pizza, set up our camping chairs, played Frisbee, and enjoyed the amazing atmosphere. It will definitely be an activity that we will repeat. Then we came home and had the obligatory cake and ice cream to top off the night.

The next day we headed to our local YMCA. I had not been in a while, and I was impressed with their pond (complete with fish and a sandy beach) and splash pad for kids.

It was a big hit. Sonoma hit a breaking point, however, and became insanely crazy and unmanageable once we made it to the dressing rooms. Thankfully she fell into a coma-like sleep on the way to lunch. She remained sleeping despite the cement upon which she slept as we ate in peace.

No visit to our home would be complete without s'mores in the backyard. We lit leftover sparklers and had a grand time. It was hard to say good bye, but we are so grateful that they were able to squeeze us into their road trip!