We're back

Please indulge me in a bit of a vacation-photo slide show. We're just back from a week in Bar Harbor, Maine.

It wasn't perfect.  Everyone wants you to come back and say "it was great!," but to be honest, there was hardship and sadness on this trip.

But there was beauty and joy, too, and sunny days amidst the fog.

Here are a few glimpses of the parts I want to remember:

Low-tide treasure hunts. Lucy is enamored of rockweed, which she treats like bubble-wrap: pop!

The view from "our" cottage on a gorgeous day.


Lots of delicious meals and treats.




A slow morning exploring "the bar."



Exploring water flow and erosion at Sand Beach.

A gorgeous hike with our brave, strong hiker.

(and these weren't even the most-beautiful parts of the hike; those came after the camera battery died)

Lots of gliding down big hills on Lucy's balance bike.


Watching boats and marveling at the juxtapositions: big and small, old-fashioned and modern, luxury and working.


Time on nearly-empty beaches with gorgeous views.


Spectacular treat choices for our dairy-free girl (blueberry-basil, here).


Taking time to check out the view from the tippy-top of this bridge's tower on the way home.

Scenes from a long weekend

Time to tap the trees! (Actually, with this strange winter, I think we could have been sugaring for a long while now.)

Reach,

snatch,

slurp!

Repeat.

An afternoon walk with Alexa, visiting from Michigan.

With gliding!

A morning at the children's museum, especially to see the ambulance (a current interest of Lucy's):

With climbing,

and big bubbles.


How was your weekend?

Reserved for family

There hasn't been much time to write lately, but that's because we're been spending our free time with family.

My mother moved from four-hours-away to only half-an-hour-away this past year, so Lucy and I are able to spend at least a morning a week visiting with her.

And this past weekend, Lucy's paternal grandparents were in town, so we spent lots of time playing, hiking, and eating out with them.

So there's been a lot of flexing schedules, messing with naps, and traveling around when it would be easier to stay at home.

But family is worth it. I'm so grateful for this time together, and for Lucy's opportunity to know her grandparents.

Please excuse our absences now and then.

This moment is reserved for family.

A little winter hike

On the last day of Christmas...

It's the last day of Christmas, so I think I can still get away with some Christmas photos, can't I? We had a very drawn-out celebration, opening gifts over many days due to sickness and family and friends' travel schedules. We had three little open-gifts-with-friends moments, a quiet Christmas day with just our little family of three, and a big belated Christmas with my extended family of ten. Each one was special, and it was actually really nice to draw it out over time.

Checking out her new tree house with Tim.

Checking to see if Eric liked her present. She'd thought of it herself--"we should get him some yarn, so he can make himself a hat"--and chose the yarn from our stash.

Opening "her" stocking on Christmas morning. (I haven't actually made her one yet. This is one of a set of three my mother made for me and my sisters when we were little. I loved getting to share it with her, and she loved it, too.)

Playing with the amazing mouse family made for her by our 7-year-old friend, Jenna.

Stockings (again, from my childhood) awaiting my family on our belated Christmas morning.

Everyone gathered here, like I like it.

Playing with a game from "Great Jane," in the Christmas dress from Granny.

Silliness with Bob and Alexa. (Our family Christmases seem to always require a silly-costumes shot.)

Three cousins look at Lucy's annual grandparent-gift photo album.

Enough partying.

16th-20th activities of Advent: gone in a blur

This photo was taken on our walk to our village's luminary celebration, an annual event complete with luminarias; a bonfire; cider, popcorn, and donuts; a concert of Christmas music; and--Lucy's favorite--horse-drawn wagon rides to see the lights. I took it minutes after we narrowly missed being hit by a truck as we crossed the street. (I do mean narrowly: 2 cars had stopped for us, we began crossing the road, the 3rd truck didn't stop, we heard it crash into the 2nd car, Andi screamed run!, and we ran, avoiding getting hit by the ricocheting truck by only a foot or two.)

There have been Advent-y goings-on this week. There's been wrapping and mailing and lights and card-writing. But like the luminary celebration, they've been mostly lost in bigger events and emotions this week-- three days of croup, two nasty phone calls, and a crazy driver in a speeding truck...

I've been up too many nights crafting, wrapping, cleaning, so tonight, I'm just sitting in the mess and my exhaustion, ignoring the to-do list, listening, listening, listening for that scary cough, and planning to go up very soon to wrap my baby in my arms where she belongs.

15th activity of Advent: ornaments

Our tree is both extra-beautiful and tinged with sadness this year. My mother and sisters and I recently divided our family's ornaments into three piles, and now my tree is full of childhood memories, my mother's felt dala horses, my grandmother's and great-aunts' crocheted snowflakes, and even more red, straw, and white. I don't want to think about why she gave them to us now, so I'm just trying to focus on the beauty.

10th activity of Advent: cutting the tree

One of our favorite traditions at Christmas time is cutting our own tree. We've been doing it for years, usually with good friends.

This year, Lucy led the way.

We tried a new farm this year.

It's an old farm, in operation since 1955. Some of the trees are the original ones, planted all those years ago. They use a method new to us: "stump culture." Rather than cutting the tree at the ground, you leave a stump with some branches, which will bend up and become future "trees." Fascinating and sustainable.

It was a new perspective, looking up and trying to judge height, size, and shape from the ground. (Here, Tim uses Lucy to measure a tree.)

Dave had never cut a Christmas tree, so he got the honors.



Goodbye, trees. We'll be back next year.