Climbing the Walls!

After a long, rainy, housebound Saturday, I was desperate to get out of the house. Where we went was unimportant, as long as it was a change of scenery. Pat and I agreed upon some trivial errands and a visit to the Starbucks drive-thru. As we suited up the kids in shoes, jackets, hats and gloves, Evan asked "Why are we leaving?"

Without really thinking through my response, I said, "Because Mommy is climbing the walls."

Evan's response?

"Mommy, you shouldn't do that! It's dangerous!"

Ear Infection Number 6

Yes, that's right, since February of this year Eli has had 6 ear infections. He had a brief break over the summer, but now that Fall is in full gear - so are the ear infections. His last ear infection was so recent that he finished the last round of antibiotics 2 weeks ago today. It's been so frustrating on so many levels. First of all, no one wants to see their baby suffer - most especially me. But secondly, little Eli with his fiery red haired temper refuses to suffer alone. He is irritable and aggressive; he looses his appetite; and worse of all - he can't sleep. I can handle the bad behavior and the lack of appetite but the lack of sleep is maddening. Pat and I stumble through our days until we can get an appointment with the pediatrician and the antibiotics can kick in. Meanwhile, the poor little bugger gets so angry sometimes that he won't even let us come near him.

Luckily, we have ear tube surgery scheduled for Thursday. I can hardly wait! Evan had it done two and half years ago and has not had an ear infection since. I am cautiously optimistic that we will be as lucky with Eli. Of course, the tired nay-sayer in me, thinks that this may not be the end. But I really, really hope we can put this chapter of our lives behind us.

Evan's first Jack O-Latern

Evan insisted it be a "Scary" pumpkin. He drew the eyes and the "scary mouth with teeth"all by himself. This may not seem like such a big deal, but before he began school, he didn't understand the concept of drawing the features on a face. Now he likes to draw faces for fun. He'll fill a whole page with faces - some scary and some happy. But of course, this pumpkin had to be scary.

Pat and I split the carving duty. Then, much to Evan's delight I roasted the seeds. So yesterday evening we turned out the lights and watched the pumpkin while munching on freshly roasted pumpkin seeds. Even Eli liked the pumpkin - although he passed on the seeds.

Since the carving, the pumpkin has become the centerpiece of our dining room table. Evan likes to go into the dinning room in the dark and watch it glow as often as we'll let him. The best part is, we still have 3 pumpkins to carve! I'm trying to save a couple for Thanksgiving centerpieces, but since Evan is so excited about his Jack-O-Latern, I'm thinking Evan should "carve" at least one more!

Trick or Treat!

Yesterday was trick or treating in Manchester. The weather was perfect, and since Manchester (lamely) does trick or treating during daylight hours only, it proved to be a great afternoon for a walk.

I made Evan a rocket costume, that while very cute, proved to be difficult for stair climbing (an unfortunate and unintended consequence that threatened to ruin trick or treating). There were some tears, but a last minute costume adjustment by Dad saved the day. And then once the free candy started coming - things couldn't have been better.

Evan was having the time of his life. At every house he would loudly yell "Trick or Treat!", followed by an enthusuastic "Thank you. Have a nice Halloween!".

When we returned home, Evan was the official candy-giver-outer. A role he took very seriously. I was scorned for suggesting that he give two pieces to the kids. "No, Mommy. One piece only!"

Eli, was dressed in a kilt and tam that my mother bought in Scotland when I was a baby. With his red hair he looked like a true Scotsman. Although, unfortunately he was mistaken for a girl a couple of times.

Eli was definitely into the free candy, but was more interested in climbing onto curbs and jumping off - while hollering "bumpy bump". Next year I think he'll dig Halloween.

It's so nice that Evan finally "gets" Halloween. It made for a fun afternoon. I am already looking forward to next year.

The amusement park

We drove an hour and a half today in search of the "Anne of Green Gables Country Fair" that we had read about in the tourist guide. Lured by livestock, homemade pies, period reenactors, and general Anne of Green Gables folklore we set out for Cavendish. Much to our dismay, the promised country fair, was a series of events stretched out over several days and not a fair at all. Because we had no internet to fact check this fair, the tourism folks had duped us.

Disappointed that there would be no strawberry rhubarb pie, but not to be deterred, we made the most of the day. Instead, we enjoyed lunch and an afternoon of amusement rides.

Evan went on most of the rides by himself. He particulary enjoyed the Giant Fun Slide, and the bumper cars (with Dad). He was less fond of the Ferris Wheel, which terrified him with each revolution. However, it was the Tilt a Whirl, which he insisted he wanted to try, that was the scariest and funniest, depending upon your perspective. What started as delighted giggling soon turned to a look of abject horror once the real spinning began. The look on his face was priceless. Although, I couldn't tell for sure if it was just fear, or if he might be sick.

After the ride had finished he bonded off all smiles. "That one wasn't my favorite. It was a little bit scary"

Life's a Beach

Today was less exciting than yesterday. Everyone seemed to be a bit tired. We went out for a drive, picked up some supplies and then returned for lunch and naps. The sleep seemed to do us all good. We put on our suits and headed down to the beach. We ran, we played football, we dug trenches and lakes, we waded into the water. Hours slipped away, but we were all too busy having fun to notice. Until, Eli, in an expression of apparent hunger, began to attempt to eat a rock. When I took the rock away he began licking the sand of his hands. I scooped him up and brought him up for dinner. To my surprise it was 7:15! No wonder he was so hungry. As we fired up the grill, Eli sat and shoveled his dinner into his mouth.

After a delicious meal we put some marshmallows on the grill and made some s’mores. Evan was disappointed that we didn’t build an actual fire to cook the marshmallows, but forgot all about it when the chocolate came out. As we stuffed ourselves with s’mores the sun slipped quietly behind the horizon giving us a beautiful show. A beautiful end to another relaxing day.

The Wind Farm

The sun broke through the clouds this morning – and it was going to be a beautiful day. For the first time we got a full view of the wind farm up the coast and were surprised by how much we could suddenly see now that the clouds had passed. It was far more expansive (and much cooler) than we realized.

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of buttermilk pancakes, compliments of Dad, and then decided to make the wind farm our first stop.

At North Point there is a long rock reef where the North Umberland Strait meets the Saint Laurence at high tide. Since the tide was out we walked out on to the reef to throw rocks and admire the view.

After we spent some time searching for crabs and had thrown a few hundred rocks, we finally convinced the boys to take a walk with us. We headed up the shore to find the nature trail that would allow us to get up close to the windmills, and admire the spectacle of the enormous and graceful machines. The boys were distracted by mud puddles, but Pat and I enjoyed the view.

Later, after lunch and a long nap, we headed down the hill to play at the beach. Dad brought the kite. Evan was excited to help Dad “launch” the kite. Eli happily dug in the sand for hours.