Spent some time in the garden this morning, picking a couple pounds of beans to go with about the same amount of peas that we picked last week. I was again reminded of how fortunate I am to have this time with the kids, there is obviously times when I wish they would venture a distance greater than six feet from me but most of the time we are able to have good conversations and I can see both their curiosity and level of questioning grow. Sophia is always trying to please us and Merrick is learning as well as constantly testing his boundaries--both good and important skills. One of the photos shows Merrick in the garden and Sophia's head is poking around the corner of the garage, she is able to eat the raspberries in the back yard as well as run to the front of the house for blueberries.
Good times that I don't wish away are extended from the backyard garden to our most recent trip to Northern Highlands-American Legion State Park (NH-AL). Lisa picked out the park and came along with us on this trip. We again had beautiful weather with daytime highs in the low eighties and nighttime lows in the fifties with no humidity. We stayed dry although last night a large storm moved through the area with winds approaching 60 miles an hour--by that time we were already showered and in our own beds--again fortunate. We spent some time hiking on the numerous trails that meander through the hemlock and maple forest. Merrick and Sophia were happy to hold the dogs' leashes although the dogs neither liked the idea of the leashes or the walking. Sophia is big enough to make the entirety of the hikes although Merrick often catches a ride on the shoulders of the the most sympathetic parent. He will get down and run for a little bit then claim his legs hurt and he needs a ride. The bugs were not bad but even a few bites causes good sized welts on the little boy. One of the bites swelled his shin into a second calf muscle. The dogs are getting old and it seems their blood line is very far removed from the wolves, so the idea of multiple days in the woods is not their idea of a good time and the novelty quickly wore off. In reality Cleo hasn't really moved since we got home and Tony has only ventured outside for a combined total of 1.7 minutes. The dogs were not allowed in the beach area nor could we leave them unattended in the tent. Lisa found a great solution to this as we hiked the shoreline she found an isolated strip of sand beach that we could take the dogs to. The kids played in the sand making sand castles, sand pies and for Merrick getting plenty of silica into his diet. He also like the idea of European swimming as well as "you are peeing" swimming. With his suit removed he found it most enjoyable to build sandcastles that he could sit on. Yes tea-bagging the sandcastles--fortunate. This was only after I convinced him not to pee were he was playing. The kids were also able to carry the largest rocks they could find and after an hour not a single toe had been crushed. Lisa and I read on the beach and the kids played close at hand. The were not too interested in the water as it is the sand not the water that is the novelty for them. The lake had a pretty good drop off which is a remnant of its recent glaciated creation. I swam and it felt good to remove a day and half's worth of wood smoke and grease. No intrepid raccoons on this trip but Lisa and I did find a couple of mice that made an equal amount of noise in the dry leaves around our campsite and the chipmunks and red squirrels added to the agony of the dogs.
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