A New Library

I told Jack that we were going to the library today but that we couldn't check out any books because it wasn't our library. I thought it was a good idea to mention it before we even got to the library so that he wouldn't melt down when we tried to leave without books.

I had no idea how traumatic the thought of going to a library and not getting books would be for him. He started crying. Tears were streaming down his face and he was sobbing, trying to tell me that he wanted new books. "I need (sob) new books...the ones we have (sob) are old now...I don't want to (sob) read them anymore...I need to (sob) get new books."

A request for new books is one that I find hard to turn down...especially with how genuinely upset he was about the idea of not getting any. In fact, I'm kind of proud that he has a love for books so early. So, I promised him we would buy some books.

Luckily, there was a used book store just down the street from the library. And at 50 cents a piece, Jack got all the books he wanted and a few more. It was a well spent $5. Once upon a time, I think it cost $5 a year for our out-of-town library card. 20 years later, it probably would have cost more to renew the library card than to visit the used bookstore.

Casey enjoyed the library too. She actually looked at some books while we were there, or least she looked at one page each in several books. Jack was more distracted by the toys in the children's area and didn't seem to notice the books. Casey also enjoyed the bookstore and made herself right at home...

Traveling East

We took a trip to the eastern most point in the United States today with Grammie, Grampie & Auntie Jenn. I think Casey made her first trip to Canada and maybe it was even Jack's first. I can't remember if he has been over there yet or not. We visited West Quoddy Head Light, then looked for seals in the harbor in Lubec, visited East Quoddy Head Light and then spent some time at a grey sand beach on Campobello Island.

Here are a few pictures from Mum's camera...

After we got home from our travels, Jack's imagination went into overdrive. Clifford, the Big Red Dog came to visit and almost got run over by the lawnmower. Christmas also snuck up on us and Santa Claus came to bring presents. Only after the Christmas tree was up though...the Lego Christmas tree.

Also, Jack taught Casey how to say no today. A big thank you to him for that. I have a little more time before she figures out the context in which to use it, but not much.

Friday Night Running Lights

Most Friday nights are pretty laid back in our house. Pizza and a movie for the kids usually. After they're in bed, I usually spend some time reading blogs and then tune in to Whale Wars or What Not to Wear, followed by Say Yes to the Dress. Pat is usually watching a baseball game. Pretty exciting stuff. We might mix it up a little by going out to dinner. Maybe "boring" is a more apt description than "laid back".

Last night was a little out of the norm for a Friday night. The first part went about the same...we went out and found some pizza. Of course, usually the kids have had naps and they aren't screaming for the pizza to be placed on the table as soon as we walk into a restaurant. Usually we don't have to leave a restaurant and find one with faster service for fear that we won't get food before a meltdown by either child. And usually Casey doesn't yell, "Pee Pee!" between every bite of pizza that I give her. But I give her credit for coming up with her own version of how to say pizza. We perservered and eventually we were all fed and ready for bed.

Casey was asleep before her head hit the pillow. Jack's way of proving that he is tired is to whine loudly and try every way he can think of to postpone bedtime. In the middle of all this, Mum got a phone call.

Yesterday (July 31st), Calais celebrated its bicentennial birthday. Part of the celebration included the voyage of the schooner Sylvina Beal from Eastport to Calais - the first ship to arrive in Calais bearing passengers in 150 years. The early morning voyage was probably a great ride...the sun peeking through the fog on the river. Also scheduled was a sunset cruise back down the river. Unfortunately it was pouring by the time that adventure was to start.

The phone call was an invitation from our cousin Louie to meet him at his cottage and head out in his lobster boat to meet the schooner. After a long day and evening with the kids, boating in a rainstorm wasn't immediately appealing. But once promised some good raingear, I decided a little adventure would perk up my Friday night.

Mum and I donned rain coats, pants, hooded sweatshirts, rubber boots and hats and headed down to the boat. Luckily it was a warm evening and it turned out to be beautiful on the water. It was a lot brighter once we got out in the boat and we headed up the river. We stopped at a boat landing to see if anyone else was up for the adventure and we got one taker. We almost tempted the forest ranger to join us, but she decided she should stay and man her post.

A couple miles up the river, we finally saw the schooner. It was a little eerie at first...maybe I've spent too much time talking about pirates with Jack. Although, it would be more likely that we were considered the pirates. We pulled alongside and matched her speed. We got close enough for Mum to pass some lilies to someone onboard the schooner and passed some greetings back and forth.

The passengers looked pretty miserable, probably not all dressed head to toe in waterproof gear like we were. They had slickers and raincoats and were huddled in small groups, maybe a few were passing around tasty beverages. It was far from a sunset cruise and it lacked the live music that was originally scheduled but at least we provided a little entertainment. They seemed pretty happy to see us come alongside..maybe because they realized they weren't the only crazy people out on a boat in the middle of a downpour. And it was still historic despite the weather conditions.

We circled around a few times and watched the schooner head down the river. Despite the fact that the sails weren't unfurled, it was still an impressive sight.

We'll probably have pizza and watch a movie again next Friday. It will be hard to live up to the high seas adventure of this Friday. Maybe we'll get crazy and add some peppers and onions to our pizza. Crazy.

Froggy Concealment

First of all, the drive from Philly to Maine is really long, even if there aren't kids in the car. Actually, if we just had to get to Maine, it would have been a much shorter day. But once we get to the Maine border, we continue on for about 6 hours. Jack and Casey were really good in the car and I only had to yell at Jack once for kicking my seat. We were at about hour 9 at that point.

It started to get foggy about an hour from the cottage and Jack thought it was "really spooky when it's froggy out." It's now 11am and the fog is finally lifting and revealing the gorgeous view from the cottage.

We've already made our first trip down to the beach and I wish I had a camera with me. Unfortunately the path down to the beach is a little difficult right now and I could barely get Jack and Casey down there without falling. I may have made a poor choice in footwear to make that a little more difficult.

I dipped my toe in the river and thought it was a little chilly...almost numbing if I had kept it in there much longer. Dad has a weather station here that has all sorts of weather data but apparently not a water temperature. Oh and by the way, the air temp was only 58F. Anyway, Jack and Casey had no problem with the water and waded right in. I might have put bathing suits on them had I thought they were going to get in so deep.

After Jack's shorts were hanging off him, he decided he didn't need them any more and off they came. And what Jack does, so must Casey do. Next, Jack decided he needed to pee in the river so off came his underwear. Then his shirt was a little wet so he took that off too. I managed to keep the rest of Casey's clothes on. She was getting a little tired and cold by then. After Jack threw rocks to his heart's content, we headed back up to the house. Watching him scamper across the beach in his birthday suit was priceless. Thank goodness for the concealment of the fog. The beauty of this area is that probably no one would have seen him anyway, except for the seagulls to whom Casey spent several minutes waving.

On the way back up to the cottage, Jack said, "Why is this hill so big?" A very good question...one that I probably thought every time I walked up it when I was a kid. Some things never change.

Travelling, Travelling

Last night we started our summer vacation and trip to Maine. Unfortunately, Pat had a last minute schedule change and wasn't able to make the drive to Philly with us.

Nevertheless, I loaded up the mini-van with 2 kids and a dog and headed north. I made a nice little place for Tugger to lay down in the back and instead she spent all of her time right under Jack's feet. The new Dora movie was a hit for Jack and he was occupied with that for a couple hours. Casey appreciated the box of toys I prepared for her and enjoyed throwing them all on the floor.

I fielded many questions from Jack, including, "Why does corn get stuck in your teeth when you eat it?" and "Why can't you just push the 'faster' button so we can get there faster?" and a succession of "Where are we now?" asked every 2 seconds for about 5 minutes.

About 45 minutes from Nana's house we thought we could outrun a thunder storm, but we ran into a bit of traffic. Instead we watched the lightning show and listened to the thunder while going 20 mph. I tried to explain to Tugger that a car is the safest place to be in a thunderstorm, but she still got herself all worked up. Inevitably, Jack asked "Why is the car safe?" and I mumbled something about rubber wheels and changed the subject.

We made it to Nana's in about 6 1/2 but it was actually a pretty pleasant ride. Hopefully it will be just as pleasant during the 10+ hrs to Maine.

Funnies

I started writing a post about a day in the life of Jack but it was really tiring me out to try to relive it and write it all down. Instead, I'm just going to write a few of the funny things he's said over the last couple days.

On Monday, we were playing with a new toy that his cousin Joey brought over. There were some cobwebs in it because it had been in the garage, so I asked him if we should "clean it up a little bit." He responded, "No, we should clean it all up."

Today we went to the pharmacy to pick up a refill and he said, "We need to take a number and have a seat Mommy." Luckily we didn't need to because it was just a refill but he took a seat anyway, for the 2 minutes that we were there.

He really likes to try the things we are growing in our little container garden. So far he's had a pepper and some strawberries. He asked if he could try some basil the other day and decided that he likes it. During breakfast yesterday, he jumped out of his seat, told me he needed some basil and then went outside to get himself a piece. He also brought me a piece. I ended up leaving mine near the computer. When Pat was sitting at the computer later, Jack told him he could have it. Pat asked him if it was a leaf - "No Daddy, it's not a leaf, it's basil. You can eat it." I just stood in the kitchen and laughed.

Casey adds a few new words to her repertoire every day. And they all sound so cute. She's caught on to the magic word a lot better than Jack has. If I ask Jack what the magic word is, before he can even get it out of his mouth, Casey is smiling and saying "pease, pease." Then Jack usually informs us that Casey is a big girl now.

Master Bedroom

I missed the Master Bedroom portion of Show Us Where You Live Friday at Kelly's Korner Blog but I wanted to post some pictures of my bedroom now that I've improved it a bit. Sorry I don't have any before pictures, but it was just boring.

I got the duvet cover for my birthday and have been trying to decorate the bedroom with it as inspiration. The fact that it has about every color in the rainbow in it is pretty helpful. (I do have 2 shams but we were having guests and I had to give up a pillow for a few nights.) I made the headboard to match the duvet cover...my first big crafty home improvement project. We had a headboard and footboard that came with our furniture set but I got bruises from running into the footboard on almost a weekly basis. We decided to get rid of them ie put them in Pat's closet until I do something with them. I wanted an upholstered headboard and found a website to tell me how to make my own. Overall, it was probably about $75...a good $450 cheaper than the one I had my eye on in Pottery Barn.

About a month ago, we moved a little bit of furniture around and this TV stand ended up in our room. It obviously needed a much bigger TV than the one we already had and Pat just happened to see some ads on Craig's List for flatscreen TVs. This one fit perfectly. The picture of the flower in the corner is from my sister for my birthday. It's the first thing I've hung on the wall in this room and I think it goes perfect there.

I still need to find a few items for my dresser, a few more things for the walls and maybe some taller lamps. Then there's a whole bathroom with a lot of empty wall space that is just waiting for me to get my plan together.