grammie, a corn maze and tractors

Grammie Evelyn came to visit us and we've spent ten days enjoying her apple pie, fresh laundry on the line and other treats that our busy lives do not allow for every day.  At first she had some second thoughts about not packing more shorts (there was a day early last week where it almost hit 80) but since then it's been pretty darned cool.  Let's just say that my fleece socks are back to the top of the sock drawer.  

Also of note: our furnace is terminally ill.  Greg Sivik came by a few weeks ago to put boiler sealer in it to buy us some time, but the end is near.  We are praying that it will hold on until Oct 12 - that is when our new friend Eric is going to put in a new boiler and convert our steam radiators to hot water heat.  We are hoping to see increased efficiency.  Well, what am I talking about?  It can only get better. 

We went to the Treworgy Family Orchard farm and enjoyed a brilliant fall day.  Noah was a little on the cranky side - single minded about riding on the tractor hay ride - but he did cheer up with an ice cream and pumpkin.  

Grammie with Noah and Eli.  Eli is into sticking his tongue out these days.....(not just at me when I'm taking pictures)

on the hay ride

Noah chooses a Cinderella pumpkin

 Thanks to Auntie Lisa who took the next three pictures.  She and Noah had their own adventure while I fed Eli a bottle in the pumpkin patch.

Noah and Papa 

Eli and Momma

 Grammie left this morning at 5:00 a.m.  We all said goodbye in our pajamas - Leslie was going past the airport this morning and offered to give Evelyn a lift.  By this time, she should have landed back in Jacksonville, NC!  What a nice visit.  And she left us homemade applesauce in the refrigerator.

noah and the hot blue tractor

For those of us that know Noah, we understand that there really isn't anything much better in life than riding on a tractor.  Noah has been waiting for months for harvest time - Jake had promised a ride on the tractor while he "chops corn."  

Noah know the two major working tractors at Whitter Farm (or Noah's Farm as he calls it) and watches for them in the fields.  There's the hot blue tractor and the hot black tractor.  On an early trip to the farm, Noah listened carefully while Jake and Gene explained that the engines make the tractors very hot while they work...it made quite an impression on him.  I enjoy his use of adjectives. 

Here is Noah with Jake - Noah's got on his headphones.  He brought the headphones home and every once in awhile he picks them up and sniffs them: "See Mom, they smell like the hot blue tractor!"  Heavenly.  

labor day weekend in belfast....

Some photos from last weekend at camp.  Bye, bye summer......

We had to close the windows at night and had the fireplace on.  

A chill in the air

leaves have started to fall.

We are eating up lots of tomatoes from the garden &

waiting for those first fresh apples.    

Yes, more lobster stew

Erhardt/Schaff clan

Noah + Owen =

a) a whole lot of fun?  

b) chaos? 

c) some conflict? 

d) all of the above

yes, all of the above.  Noah and his friend Owen spent two days together last week in between the end of summer daycare at The Children's Center and the beginning of Montessori.  We took a trip to the farm, of course.  Here, they are helping to feed the cows.

The milk truck arrives......

Then the boys get to feeding the calves,

and doing some dancing in the calf barn

and then we headed back home.  This wagon was our mode of transportation.  Note: when 4 1/2 year old boys say that they would like to go on a hike, it usually does not mean hike there AND back.  I pulled them both (and tractors) all the way home.  

And here are the pirates!  Arrrgh!  One with a foam play sword and the other with the wooden knife from the Melissa & Doug veggies and fruit cutting set.  So much for discouraging the use of weapons....these boys have a way of creating rough and violent play no matter how many stuffed animals you put in the room.  They look pretty fearsome, don't they?

And then all things come to a halt when a equipment hauler brings skid steers to the neighbor's yard.
Noah introduced himself to the man in charge, and got some time to sit in the driver's seat.

Later that day, the boys made brownies to take to the Stillwater Montessori's get-to-know-you picnic.  Both boys will be the "big kids" at Montessori this year!

Nantucket!

Umm, yes.  It really is this beautiful.  Thanks to the amazing generosity of my good friends Jeanne and Joan, we were invited to a weekend on Nantucket.  Jeanne and I (and Tara, and the Queen of Maine, Susan Harris, Liz Phillips) all were a part of the famous (?) class of 1986 at Orono High School.  LOVE these girls and will always love them.   So I jumped at the chance to spend some time with Jeanne, Joan, Tara and Annie (and our children!)

Somewhere Annie has some great photos of the ferry ride.  I'll bug her for them and post some later.  

Tara, Jeanne, Faith and Annie

Noah jumped out of the car and said WOW!  They live on a golf course!  Fortunately, there was a golf club on hand so that he could practice his swing.  (away from the house) At one point I heard what I thought was a golf ball hitting the side of the house but it could never be proven.

So this hurricane - Irene - was slowly working its way up the coast & it was sort of always in the background.  Each day we stayed there were folks preparing the house for the storm.  What a beautiful place it was.

Our first dinner was the most delicious hamburgers with thick slices of fresh tomato.  Corn on the cob.  Oh - did I say wine?  Oh yes.  Joan's father had given us the green light to choose bottles from the wine cellar to enjoy during our stay.  Now I could get used to this, you know?  Wine cellars make a whole lot of sense to me.  Love this photo - seems to catch most of us.  Tara has baby Miller in her arms, Eli is in the little high chair, Karsen, Katie, Noah, Joan are at the table while Jeanne is pouring wine?  Helping Noah with dinner?  Lovely night.  We talked, drank wine and watched our baby monitors as the evening progressed.

A dark photo, but you get the gist of the wonderful experience of swimming in a lighted pool. There was a little chill, and Jeanne made a fire in the outdoor fireplace.  So toasty to snuggle next to after a good swim.  This is a highlight for Noah.  

Our room was fantastic, with a porch from two doors.  Eli, Noah and I were cozy and able to sleep with the sounds of the ocean in our dreams.

Noah, Karsen and Katie swim at the beach in front of the house

I hate to say it (I think) but wow it's great to travel with an iPad.  Whenever Noah needed some down time, he watched Sponge Bob episodes or played Angry Birds or golf.  Worked like a charm on the 5 1/2 hour car ride to Hyannisport, MA where we caught the ferry to Nantucket.

At one point, I didn't make an exit in time while we were traveling through the Callahan Tunnel.  So I awkwardly sort of ended up in between the travel lanes and the exit while cars and trucks zoomed past me at like 100 miles an hour.  I got scared to pull out (I was at a dead stop like a turtle on its back) and had a little anxiety.  Annie got me though it and said something like "Faith! Pull it together girlfriend.  When I tell you to go, GO!"  She did, and I finally got us on the right track.  In the meantime, Eli wakes up from sleep and starts crying, and Noah is sensing my anxiety and yelling.  I think Noah's still got a little tunnel PTSD after the ordeal.

It's more difficult driving with a car full of little kids and your best friends!  Makes you more careful, that's for sure.

So I started this story with the iPad, right?  Here is Noah at the kitchen table playing a little video golf.

Eli dancing with baby Miller

Just like this photo - Annie outside this store (with her name) with Joan and Miller:

We made the decision to head home from Nantucket a little early to get back before the hurricane hit.  We made the 3:15 ferry and were back on the mainland by 4:30.  The kids went to sleep, Annie and I listened to the Red Sox (the game that Tara and family were at with MANY rain delays because of this crazy storm) and we made it back by 11:00 pm ish.  A wonderful wonderful trip.

Joan and I had several discussions about sleep training - agreed that once we got back home, both Miller (at 6 months) and Eli (at 9 months) were ready to sleep through the night.  Oh, yes - and JOAN and I were ready to sleep through the night, too!  I am happy to report that Miller is now a fantastic sleeper and Eli is on day two of training and did pretty darned good.

He woke up once at around 12:30 am and cried for a couple of minutes, but then got right back to sleep.  The tricky part was 4:30 to 5:15 am when he wanted to get up for the day - but I held firm (well, it actually looked more like me sitting wide awake in the room next door counting the minutes) and Eli finally went back to sleep from 5:15 to 6:15 am.  At that point, I rushed back into his room and held him!  Hooray!  We made it through another night.

More sleep for Eli means more sleep for the whole family!

Tara's visit to Maine: Day Two

OK, so here I am catching up with myself again.

Day Two of Tara's visit was August 23.  Today is September 7th.  

Anyway.  After a quick visit to Stephen King's house, downtown Bangor, a Coffee Pot sandwich (from the Coffee Pot Cafe, that is......) and to The University of Maine, we end up back at my garage for a hello with the King O' Maine, who was in town for awhile.

Karsen, Tara, Eli and The King O' Maine 

Tara and her crew stayed at the University Inn, right in Orono.  It's had some work done and looks pretty darned nice!  Noah is in love with the pool and is excited to "swim."  I say that cautiously because he swims entirely with help from floatation devices.  We need to get that boy back into swim lessons ASAP.  Last year, he was a little afraid of the water - and this year he's feeling maybe a little too confident?  We'll take that confidence and get him back into the water at the YMCA,

"Look, Mama!  I'm swimming!"  (with the help of a life vest and a big pool noodle)

The next day, we all headed back to camp in Belfast for a day of hanging out.  Of course we made a trip to Young's Lobster Pound:

Jack says hello to a lobster at Young's Lobster Pound

Lobster, clams, chowder, beer, chips and .....baby food :)

Noah, Karsen, Eli, Jack, Peter and Katie

Good friends.  So nice to have you and your family in town for a couple of days, T.  Next: a trip to Nantucket!