Wakondah Pond is this?

I couldn't resist using this "clever" question one more time.  I didn't come up with it, but I sure am over-using it.  Last week my parents rented a house on Wakondah Pond in Moltonboro, NH.  It was a more than a slight upgrade from our usual camping accommodations.  It was a lovely house with a dock and raft on the pond.  The pond itself was clean and clear.  The house even came with the use of a canoe and a kayak. 

Floating in a kayak on Wakondah Pond

The boys, young and old(er), had fun fishing. 

Ben's Big Catch of the Day

We all had fun swimming, floating, boating, and sunning.  

The girls spent a lot of time taking care of their babies - and each other.

Sadie w/ baby Jacob, Kayla w/ baby New Baby, Tobi w/ baby Kayla

 This conversation was had at least once an hour everyday.

Tobi: "Whatcha doin', Sadie Mae?"
Sadie:  "Oh, jus' nuffin."

We went on a short hike up Rattle Snake Mt. The youngest girls even tried it out.  Tobi was not interested for at least half of the hike in walking or being carried by any one else except Mommy!  She did manage to forget her fears for a good part of the hike up and a little bit of the hike down.  She's 2...what did I really expect? 

taking a few steps on her own

Made it!

Checking out the view with Grandpa

Snack at the top

 Another fun outing was a day at the Squam Lake Science Center.  What a fun place that had great interactive exhibits with something for all ages.

Such a fun week.  So thankful to my parents for making it possible!

Dinner for 11

Stories with Grandma

Soft Serve at the Dairy Bar

Ben on a rock

Swimming with Daddy

One big bonus for the week was having Ben there.  His work has been so demanding lately that I really didn't think he would be there for more than a day or two.  Even when he told me before we left that he was going to try to set up a work station there and stay the week, I didn't dare get my hopes up because I just knew something wouldn't work right and he'd have to come home.  I'm glad that I was wrong and he was able to be there the whole week.  He managed to get in 45 hrs of work (which is still like 10 to 15 hrs less than what he has been doing) and spend the afternoons and evenings with us!  I don't think he minded the view at all or having his work day punctuated with "Hi, Daddy! Whatcha doin'?"

Watching Elmo in Ben's mobile office

Over all it was great week!  So, Wakondah Pond was it?  A pretty great one, if you ask me!  (Ok, I'm done now, I promise!)

A Bubblicous Good Time

So, Tobi turned 2 this week.  We had a little party for her on Monday night, her birthday eve.  I could easily turn this into a NOT ME MONDAY post since it was on a Monday and a plenty of things went awry.  Since we moved the party to a week night we decided to cook the food the day before. The plan was to heat up the chicken and sausages in our electric oven as well as heat up the beans and cook the corn on the electric stove a few minutes before we were to eat.  So when I returned from running a few errands to hear that we had lost electricity the ramifications of that hit me in waves... "oh no, how will I heat up all the food?"...."oh, and no water even if I could heat it up"...."and no water means no toilets"..."oh well, I guess I'll run and take a quick shower before everyone gets here...OR NOT!!!!"  No water meant no shower (perhaps the most disappointing news for me and everyone else!).  How did we lose power on a perfectly beautiful day?  It was a little windy, but THAT windy???  Ben called the power company and they had a recording saying that they were aware of the power outages in the following towns: Hooksett.  Only us?!  Great...20 guests and no food or toilets?  No problem, right? 

Well, as it turned out we managed...thankfully we invited family and friends and not a bunch of critics.  We started up the charcoal grill and started heating up the meat.  I didn't ever really investigate the bathroom situation...I just let people decide what they wanted to do about that :)  Just as we were pulling out the salads from the semi-cold fridge it dawned on us (after looking in the fridge for several minutes) that the light had been on in the fridge!  The power was back on! We quickly heated up the rest of the food and no one was the worse for waiting.

Tobi didn't seem to mind that the power was out at all.  She had been pretty excited for her bubble party, daily listing her guests.  This was her special "bubble" dress -

If you have a bubble party I would highly reccommend hiring this guy:
He cooks -

He provides entertainment -

And he even brought the cake with him -

(Plus he flew in from Indiana the day before and mowed the lawn and prepared the food!...talk about getting your money's worth!) 


It was a special treat to have Tobi's great aunt and uncle and cousins (once removed) who were here visiting from Japan.  We like to bring in some serious out-of-town guests! 

Blowing bubbles with Auntie Linda and Cousin Kayla (Uncle Dean is wearing the shades in the background) -

Stare down with cousin Chris -

Cousin Josh leading the planning meeting at the "boys" table. (We tried to hide the ugly old picnic table around the back of the house but instead it turned into the perfect hide out spot....hmmm)-

 The girls had their own table too...less planning, more eating and chatting -

And of course, no girl time would be complete without some shopping.

Tobi really enjoyed opening her presents.  She is always good for a "Wow!"  or "Whas dat, Tobi?"

There were a few other happenings that made the pre-party prep more than adventurous.  My parents came up early to help me set up and Dad came to finish the great play yard and sandbox he had been building for Tobi.  Mom and I were trying to put up the canopy and she somehow got the part of her hand between her thumb and forefinger pinched in the metal of the pole.  She was in so much pain and I could do nothing to help.  Meanwhile, Tobi was escaping down the driveway and I was torn in those few seconds to leave my mom and rescue my daughter or free my mother from her excruciating pain and then rescue the babe.  Thankfully Tobi was frozen in fear watching us... and VERY thankfully I didn't have to choose, because my dad pulled into the driveway right at that moment...wondering why we were just letting Tobi run free while we were putting up the canopy until he saw me frantically calling for help.  He was quick to think to use something to pry the metal apart just enough to let her hand free.  That was not a fun couple of minutes...thankfully mom was a little battered and bruised but not broken!  Ugh.

We got the canopy up with no further injuries.  And the play yard and sandbox were finished, albeit with out the use of power tools at the end.  You can not use a power saw with out electricity... you can't even charge your cordless tools....but somehow he still managed to finish.  

Despite a few glitches it was a great day.  These two years have gone by quite quickly in some ways...but in others I feel really blessed to be home with Tobi everyday and have truly enjoyed watching he change daily and become the little girl that she is.  She was cracking me up as everyone was leaving.  She made her rounds to everyone and by name wished them Good bye and used one of her classic lines "Thanks for coming" or "See you soon" or "Come again soon".  She didn't miss a person or a beat.  Tobi girl, you make me smile everyday! 

I have to admit that I did shed a tear or two when I kissed my one year old good night for the last time.  It's just one day...but somehow it still feels like a big change.  Happy Birthday - baby girl!

the Fourth, Islesboro style

A different 4th for us.  It's funny how the least traditional holiday for me growing up has become traditional so quickly.  It's one of Ben's favorites...mostly due to the fact that he got to put on his own fireworks show.  We also have celebrated with both families and friends over the past 3 years.  This year brought change since Ben family moved to the Island...so we decided to celebrate the 4th island style.  The 4th is a huge tradition on the Island...it's when the whole community is there, the summer people and the year rounders... the island was very busy with people and activities.

We arrived Sat. am just in time for the parade.  The parade consisted of island businesses and organizations decorating cars and floats.  Very small town America with a particularly island flare. John got to decorate his bike and ride in the parade (which literally started in his front yard) which was a step up from our Deerfield parade around the Parade. 

Later that afternoon we went to the fire house for a chicken BBQ.

And after that we headed to Big Tree Beach...a favorite spot for Jon and Shay.

And then after dinner we sat on a neighbors lawn and watched the fireworks that we done at the ferry landing.  It was a pretty decent display for a small community.

The next day we went to church...and Tobi made it through the whole service (with the help of a bagel, baby dolls, books and whatever other distractions we could find in the pew).  We hadn't had that success yet on our previous visits.  Only once did I have to chase Tobi down, when we first walked into the church and she saw her Daddy at the piano and decided to run right up and add her own bass notes to the prelude.  Good thing she's cute.

Church was followed by more beach time...and of course it wouldn't be the 4th without morning glories.

 

Monday we took one more quick trip to the water (that's the fun of living on an Island...it only takes a minute to get to water in every direction.

Then back on the ferry (after a quick search for some missing glasses - mine of course...and missing the 2:30 ferry by 5 cars!) and back to NH.  Tobi slept like a, well, baby. And we made some great new memories on the 4th.

Oh...this is definitely NOT ME Monday...Sickness, Toddler Meltdowns, and Cat for Sale Version

It's been a while...but this has been a week of wishing it was "NOT ME!" who experienced several things. You can read about my non-adventures and then if you want you can check out some other not me's here:





If you happened to be at Merril Park pool in Concord, NH last Monday...despite what you may have thought that you saw...it was not me who was repeatedly pulling my not quite 2 year old up out of the water, saying "You don't know how to swim yet!  Let Mommy hold you!  Listen to Mommy!"  And it was not my almost two year old who responded with squirming, pushing, crying, shouts of NO! and whatever other dramatic response you could think of...resulting in repeated time outs.  And after a whole whopping 15 minutes at the pool, it was not me that you saw carrying a screaming kicking toddler under one arm and all the other pool goods in the other out of the pool area and straight to the car.  And it wouldn't have been me and my cherub of a tot standing in the parking lot screaming bloody murder, stomping, kicking, and yelling NO! while I tried to strip off the wet bathing suit and swimmy diaper... what a show that would have been! 

(time-out # ?)

And it was not my family that left our outing to the farm in a similar state.  As you can see we always have a smile on and are completely cooperative!

It was not me who, while suffering from a sudden summer cold, propped my daughter on my bed with my laptop and several kids DVDs while I laid down next to her and kept falling off into a slumber.  I am always vigilant about the amount of TV Tobi watches and even when I'm sick I always muster up enough energy to care for my child properly. (No pictures here!)

And lastly something that DID NOT happen to me this week...because if it did happen I surely would not be sleeping in my own bed anymore.  Tuesday at 2:40 am I was not woken up by our cat meowing in a completely strange way only to feel him jump up on the bed and then hear some squeaking noises.  I did not immediatley freak out, wake Ben up only to hear him say "UGHHH...".  To which responded "WHAT???WHAT??? - IS IT A MOUSE...tell me it's NOT A MOUSE."  That cat most defintely did NOT drop a severely maimed mouse on Ben's bare chest only for him to feel it go under the sheet next to his body.  If that had happened I'm sure I would not have balled myself up on the furthest corner of the bed with my head buried in my pillow saying "Where is it?  Oh my gosh, get it out here!!!! Please!!!"  And most definitely I did not hear Ben say "Good Kitty!" as he scooped the mouse up off the floor.  Seriously, that would be crazy!  Why would anyone give a cat praise for dropping a half dead mouse in your bed????  Wouldn't that make him think you wanted him to do it again???  I'll tell you what though...if I ever do hear some crazy meowing followed by high pitched squeaking in my bed you will probably find me climbing the walls hanging on to the ceiling with my nails!! 

Good Kitty?  Hmmmm...