Happy Easter

Happy Easter and now I'm finally caught up to date with my life.  Sort of.  

Noah and his friend Colin

 Below, Noah with Monty the Moose.  This was a big deal - in the past, Noah has run away from Monty (and any other costumed creature).  He was feeling so good about it, he followed Monty for the rest of the day.  Lots of high fives and questions about why Monty isn't answering his questions. "Moose don't talk, honey."

We had a wonderful Easter dinner with the Aunties and Uncles.  Crab cakes and oh my gosh LOTS of presents from the Easter Bunny.

At church earlier that day, Noah insisted that he is a big boy now and can sit through an entire service without going to Sunday School.  Well, we tried it and......nope.  He just can't do it.  He was karate chopping my back as I tried to squeeze in a moment of silence.  The sermon?  Who knows?  I was keeping Noah contained to one pew.

So many blessings!

Just a few more photos from NC.....

I've had Aunt Dorothy in my thoughts throughout the year.  Can you imagine having both knees replaced at once - and then still not walking comfortably?  If life was fair, she would be getting around like the Bionic Woman with those new and improved knees.

However, she continues to put packages in the mail with the most wonderful and unexpected stuff.  The latest?  A cute flower pot of yellow crocuses that have little lights in them.  It's like a night light in Noah's room.  

She loves holding babies, so I had just the baby for her!

Grandma Dot and Eli

And here are the beautiful azaleas that bloom all over NC in the spring.  This one is in the backyard at Dorothy's house.  I found Noah whacking it with a stick. :(

Noah had so much fun chasing Seth, Ethan and Cameron in the backyard.  Why did he insist on running with a stick?  Is it a boy thing?

Baby toes in the sand!

Auntie Susan (in the background hauling water for Noah's moat) and Noah play at Onslow Beach

Noah and Cameron

Bye North Carolina!  We will see you again soon.


PS.  No photos, but our trip home was eventful.  We got to New York's LaGuardia Airport to find out that all the flights to Maine had been canceled.  So picture this:  Faith with Eli in the Baby Bjorn with just enough formula and diapers to make it to Maine.  
Suddenly, she needs to 
1.  Find formula for Eli so he can eat that night (thank you US Air employee Jamie who ran to the store for me) 
2. More diapers (note: airlines keep extra boxes of diapers just in case) 
3.  Get on a shuttle with both boys to LaGuardia Crowne Plaza - the only hotel with a room open that night  
4. Fix dinner (think Lunchables, chocolate milk and Sun Chips from the airport)
5.  Sleep in our underwear (our luggage went to Maine without us) 
6.  Be back at the airport at 6:00 am!  


What an adventure.  Noah's first night in a hotel! 

Strawberries & The Secret Life of Bees

A trip to Southwest Strawberry Farm!  You would not believe how fresh, sweet and perfect these strawberries tasted.

Here, Julian shows us where the yummiest berries are.  Noah introduced himself and his brother.  Julian said, "Well, Eli is a fine southern name!"  Noah loved his accent and also got to check out Julian's tractor.  Later, Donna told me that Julian and the Farm were featured in The Secret Life of Bees.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but it was the program book for UB back a few summers ago.  Great book.  Here, from the production notes of the film:

Since bees are summer-oriented insects and the film was a summer movie shot in the middle of winter, prop master John Sanders arranged for 12 beehives to be imported from Florida – some with as many as 40,000–60,000 bees in them. The hives were kept in a warm greenhouse in Burgaw, North Carolina, where the actors worked with them.

Queen Latifah had to be particularly at ease with the bees because her character does most of the harvesting for her family’s business. Bee master Julian Wooten, a man with 50 years’ experience (and also a retired strawberry farmer), instructed the actors on bee biology, on how to extract honey from the combs, on how to separate honey from bits of wax and on general bee etiquette. “I was stressing slow, gentle movements and trying to get them over their fear,” he explains, knowing the actors were all anxious about getting stung. Affectionately referring to him as “the bee whisperer,” Latifah says she was impressed by his understanding of bees and reassured by his guidance. “Going in there, I was always trying to calm down and come to the bees with love,” she says, though she admits that handling the honeycombs, covered with live bees, while using her bare hands, was nerve-wracking. “I just kept my hands closed, because naturally you want to swat at them, but you can’t. So you remember that they don’t want to harm you. They actually lose their life to sting you.”

A visit with Kathy, Katherine Drew and Caroline

I am so thankful that Noah (and now Eli) get to see Katherine Drew and Caroline every year.  We've been down there two years in a row, and they do get to Maine pretty regularly.  What a treat!  The girls are wonderful nurturers (check out all that wonderful attention that baby Eli gets) and they are up for whatever craziness Noah cooks up.  

Kathy, Eli, Katherine Drew and Caroline

 Here, Caroline shows Noah how to gain maximum speed and fun on the plasma car in Grammie's driveway.  So much fun!  Caroline even gets a turn with Noah pushing (although he got MOST of the rides)

 Love this photo.  The girls really are wonderful young women: fun, open, friendly, warm and talented in so many ways.  They are playing piano, playing soccer (KD), lacrosse (C), and completing science projects.  BUSY.  Hard to believe that Noah and Eli will be balancing all these sorts of things in ten years, but we will get there.

Noah tried on Caroline's socks (which never match) and shoes

Happy baby!

It's a bubble party with Noah and Katherine Drew! 

 And yes, this is where Noah landed later in the afternoon.  I had to wake him up for dinner, and even then he got down a few bites and then was ready for bed.

Notice the Bruins t-shirt:  Auntie Lisa and Uncle Mark won tickets for ALL (yes I said ALL) of the play off games in Boston.  We are rooting for the B's down here in NC!!

Tornado? Really?

On Saturday, April 16th (after our circus adventure) a tornado came to Jacksonville, NC.  Uncle Jim brought in everything that might blow away, and we hunkered down and watched the radar.  Interesting thing about tornados in the south....well, there are no basements.  I figured the best place to head if it came our way was the bathtub.  Maybe throw a mattress over our heads for good measure.  Well, we did not think that the tornados were near us...but they were.  About 1/4 of a mile.  Noah was a little freaked  out about the wind (it was loud) but eventually fell asleep.  Eli slept through the whole thing.

No damage at Ev and Jim's place.  But just down the road?  Another story.

Under the Big Top

The circus was in town!  I have always heard the phrase "under the big top" but in Maine, you see, the circus is never under a tent - it's still too darned cold!  I was psyched for Noah to get a more authentic circus experience....and it was especially dramatic because a storm was on the way so it was really really windy.  (More about that later!) 

Elephant rides?  Really?  Again, they don't do this in Maine - probably so the elephants don't freeze their trunks off.  Before we had time to think about it, I got a few tickets and said, "Grammie - here's the tickets - go have an elephant ride with Noah!"  She is such a good sport.  She climbed on up and waved to the camera.  Afterwards, she reports that you can feel all those elephant bones moving beneath you as you ride.  Don't do that every day, huh Grammie??

Noah's first time with cotton candy. What are you going to do?  As a Mom, you know it is a big stick of pure sugar.  To a four-year-old, it is big, pink, fluffy and the most magnificent looking treat you've ever seen.  He loved it.

I love both of these photos.  The one above because you can see the fun and joy in both faces.  The one below because it sort of captures all the cool energy of the circus: the big top starry ceiling, the sphere ready for racing dirt bikes, the front end loader backing out and the ringmaster standing aside while it all comes into place.

North Carolina, Day One and Two

Hello All,

I have learned that it is now difficult for me to be without my computer for a week!  Although I like the idea of "unplugging" and see the value of not feeling tied to a computer 24/7, I have to say that catching up with life after an 8 day computer hiatus is exhausting!  Phew!  So I'd like you all to pretend that it is still April 14th and we are on our way to North Carolina!

Noah jumped at the chance to see the cockpit.  The pilot was so cool....not only did Noah hang out with them - the pilot jumped out of his seat and gave Noah one instruction: "Just don't touch anything red!"  I hope he was just kidding.  I mean, tell a four-year-old not to touch something and it becomes the most desirable thing to touch in the whole world.

Now that would have been a story.  "We would have gone to North Carolina, but Noah touched the red button, and......"

Day Two.  Noah was up and out of bed and ready to go to the beach at 5:30 am.  We are not wearing socks - the first time since last September, I am sure.  Beautiful day.  You can see - it's almost like we have that beach to ourselves!  To folks in NC, I am sure it is still too early to play at the beach - but for us, it was like going from March to July in one day!

And this is what happens when Momma tells her little boy it is time to leave the beach:

We had another adventure coming our way, though.....Brad had offered to take us on a Pontoon Boat ride.  How awesome is that?  We met Cameron, Jonathan, Flora, Brenda, Jimmy, Seth & Ethan and Susan at Brad and Donna's house.  First, Noah got to collect some fresh eggs from Brad's chickens.

And away we go!  Here is Captain Noah and his two co-pilots:

Jonathan, Evelyn and Flora.

Seth, Susan and Jimmy

Brad, Ethan and Brenda

Wait!  Noah!  What is that behind your head?????
It is true.  We saw an alligator.  He was big.  Noah was pretty impressed and then, frankly, was ready to get far away from it.  "I think we need to go now..." was what he said.

Jonathan and Flora

Cousins!  Brenda, Brad, Faith and Susan

Cousins plus Evelyn :)

I am sorry to say that Noah sort of had a meltdown toward the end of the trip....Brad showing us here the many uses for a floatation device!  We had a little time out in a corner of the boat where Noah got some of his composure back.

Susan and Noah

Then, we all gathered back at Brad and Donna's for a BBQ.

Happy Eli with Jimmy