One of my favorite places in the world

School ended a week earlier than we anticipated this year.  In the six years we've lived here this is the first year that we didn't have a single snow day!  That meant that we had a week without anything planned in the beginning of the summer - a lovely thing.  My sister happened to be up from North Carolina visiting my Dad and they were headed to Ogunquit, Maine for a few days.  We decided to join them for an overnight.  I think we were there for 24 hours, but it was wonderful to be with family and to be in place that really recharges my batteries.  The boys were themselves.  Robert is a night owl (for a 4 year old) and Harry is a morning lark.  They did not disappoint.  Robert was still bouncing on the bed at 10 o'clock and Harry was falling asleep next to me as we huddled outside trying to occupy ourselves (since the little guy won't go to sleep unless he's on his own - Harry laughs at his antics and he continues and get rowdier and so it goes).  Then the following morning Harry was up at 5 or 5:30 - not entirely sure and although he tried to be quiet it wasn't wholly successful.  We have decided if we can for the time being a 2 room suite is worth the additional cost.

splat

cannonball!

I love swimming

little beach

McLaughlins on the rocks

water play

watching the boys

climbing wet rocks :-0

walking the Marginal Way

Lloyds on the rocks

Rum punch in honor of Mom :-)

This is how we entertain ourselves while waiting for lunch

Like many Moms, I think about how my children will behave in restaurants and I try to make sure that we have things to entertain them while we are at a restaurant.  Usually crayons and some paper are good for a while.  In the summer though, I need to take the crayons out of the car (they melt) and so sometimes I end up at a restaurant with nothing to entertain.  The pictures below are of the boys and how they found perfectly (somewhat acceptable) entertainment despite the fact that we somehow arrived without a pencil or pen in sight!

Harry is now older so I don't worry so much, but it is nice when there are things for him to draw with because he really enjoys drawing and has a running cartoon that he likes to work on.  The name of that is the human bomb and he started with the idea in Comic book class this year.  He has some others he likes to work on too, so if there is a pencil and paper, Harry is set for entertainment almost anywhere.  And if like this time there is nothing to draw with he usually is okay talking to us and looking around the restaurant.

Robert is a different kind of challenge.  He is in the move and explore stage of life.  He'll draw for a little while but that becomes old.  Then there is sometimes the option of looking at a book or magazine (also always an option for Harry), but that also doesn't last long.  He is our cuddler so sometimes he's happy in lap or just receiving some love from Mom and/or Dad.  He also likes to look around, but his attention span isn't as long as Harry's (as a rule - there are exceptions).  Unfortunately his favorite place tends to be on the floor under the table, that is okay in some places and rather gross in others.  We don't dine fancy very often these days - so you can imagine.

Anyway, this is where we stopped on our way up to Ogunquit this week and both of them played with their silverware for the time we waited for the food and were really pretty good.  I remember how any object could become something else in my imagination as a child and my children are both pretty good at this.  They are boys so often they are weapons, but they can also be characters and super heroes, etc.  So here are the boys concentrating on their imaginary play :-)

Preschool Celebration

Third Grade Concert

Memorial Day

Living in a small town there are some simple joys.  One of these is the Memorial Day Parade.  This year was our sixth.  For the first 2 Harry and I cheered Kevin on from the sidelines as he walks with the other 2 local clergy each year.  Then Harry joined in with Dad and then in the past couple of years he has marched with the cub scouts.  However, since Harry joined the parade, I had a new companion in the form of Robert.  This year Robert wanted to walk with Kevin.  He ended up riding on his shoulders.  I walked along the parade route first with the cub scouts and then next to Kevin and Robert.  

It is a fun event and a time that we remember just how many in our small town served or serve in the military.  I like that we live a place where the great sacrifices these people and their families make are recognized.  I hope my children will pick up on this.  Every year there are new kids in their classrooms.  These are the children of servicemen and women who are temporarily stationed at the War College for various courses.  We often have a family or 2 in the church as well.  I am always very thankful for those folks in what they bring to our small community in energy and participation in the life on the island and especially what they give to our country as soldiers  

Discussing the route

service at the local cemetary

This year R had the best ride in the parade

The band and the fire department 

some local veterans and service people with the clergy in the background

Buddies

There's an almost 5 year gap between the boys and usually when I am otherwise occupied (like now).  They each play at their own thing.  However, more and more they have begun to find common interests.  Some of this is because Robert wants to be and do what Harry does.  Harry is a prodigious reader and here he is reading to his brother.  It is a Pokemon book which is a love for both boys.  I am pretty sure that as far as identifying Pokemon Robert is just as proficient as Harry.

There is something wonderful about seeing them together on the couch happily reading and talking about the book.

A Native American Project

It is the end of the year and so there are lots of special things going on at school.  Harry's class had a day when families were invited to come and see a project they had made as groups and then also some individual stories and projects each child did.  Here are some pictures.  Harry won the drawing for the diorama so that is in his room now.  It is always a fun and fascinating thing to go in and see what the kids have done.  The diorama's were very neat and they were done by groups of three.  The children brought in materials and they actually spent a whole day in school working on them.  I think that was a neat way of doing it.  This way the teacher's know that the kids actually do the work and the work is also comparable as you look around at the various dioramas in the room.  It is funny though, even then there was at least one group where you could see an overzealous (my prejudice I admit) parent had sent in things that were a bit much - rather than the shoeboxes and sticks and natural objects from around the house/yard there were more expensive materials and that group had made t-shirts/hats etc. so they all looked very cute and matched.  At the same time this was something I think that was so wonderful in the other groups, precisely because it was clear that they had come up with their ideas together and worked together.  They pointed out the things they'd done individually and what they'd done together as a group.  

Harry is generally not good with group work, but it seemed like he did fine on the project.  His story (which has not yet come home) was the expected longer length but it was also a well thought out and finished story. That has been one of the big challenges for him this year.  He has so many ideas, that he has a hard time coming to the conclusion of a story.

Harry's group

Translating a cave message for a parent

Close up of the diorama