Invincible summer

This is a post I've had in draft mode since June 7! I drafted it just weeks after the start of Henry's summer break from preschool. I think I never posted it because I wasn't quite pleased with the pictures and wanted to add more.

Clearly, it's not summer any more. I saw on the local news just a few nights ago that out of the 28 days we'd had in October, we'd had 18 days of measurable rainfall. It feels like this rain might never end and I wake eager every morning hoping to see the sun, even just a splinter of sun breaking through the clouds. Just yesterday when it felt like the gloominess might never end, I remembered this quote:
"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." -Albert Camus
Here are a few snapshots from our early days of summer. If this wasn't good enough for me to share in June, it's sure looking really good to me now.
Invincible summer.


This week we welcomed J u n e and welcomed summer. There was lots of
s u n s h i n e so we spent most of our days outside playing.

Our week was filled with:
riding bikes, sometimes just around the block and other times to the bakery for a huge, iced s u g a r c o o k i e.
88 cent ice-cream c o n e s at Baskin Robbins (also just a bike ride away).
sliding, swinging, climbing, dangling and just-plain playing at the p a r k.
splashing in the b l u e-plastic kiddie pool.
running through the sprinkler.
f a r m i n g for a day.
sniffing freshly bloomed peonies.
eating picnic lunches o u t s i d e on the deck.
making sand castles and digging in the d i r t.
grilling cheeseburgers.
playing with friends.
mowing g r a s s.
popsicles on the front porch s w i n g.

when the hulk comes out

Henry is going to be the Incredible Hulk for Halloween. The Hulk is his favorite superhero because he's green. Other than his Hulk pj's, I don't think Henry has ever seen the Hulk, whether on tv or in movies or comics or books. He just loves him based on the fact that he's green. This is the first year he has been very sure about what costume he wanted for Halloween, therefore my first year without having any say in the matter. While I thought I'd be sad not being able to choose something cute like a puppy or silly like a hotdog for him to dress up as, I'm actually most excited this year because I know he is so thrilled to dress up in this Hulk costume of his own choosing. Gabe is also dressing up as the Hulk, (a total fun coincidence that both boys chose the same costume) and Dan found these Hulk smash hands on Craigslist and picked up a pair for Gabe and one for Henry, too. They complete the costume perfectly and Henry loves them. Actually, we've all been having lots of fun with the smash hands here at home.


Henry took the rest of these pictures,




hahahaha! There's a little Hulk in all of us!

The pumpkin patch

Last week Henry's class took their first field trip. They went to the pumpkin patch. It was the perfect fall morning. Sunny and cool, but not rainy or freezing cold. It was Henry's first field trip and my first as a mom. I definitely proved to be a newbie.
See this tractor pulling away?

Well, I'm not on it. And I'm the only mom who's not on it. Ok, there was one other mom who stayed behind, but she meant to stay behind, she was feeding her newborn baby. I was caught up in the moment of Henry's first field trip and my joy at being able to be there with him and wanted to capture his first time on a hay rack ride on his first field trip,

and his first time on a hayrack ride on his first field trip with all of his friends from school,

and while I was so busy capturing these moments, the other moms were busy climbing on board the hay rack and snuggling with their preschooler. Still clicking away, I barely noticed the tractor starting to lurch forward. And before I could jump on or scream "wait for me!",

they were gone.
I missed the hay rack ride and I missed the actual pumpkin patch where the pumpkins grow and the picking of the individual pumpkins. But I did get lots of pictures of the back of the tractor as it drove away. Ha! The good news is that Henry was completely unphased. I worried as I waited in the pumpkin barn that he would feel abandoned. He seemed to not even notice that I wasn't there as he proudly plopped his pumpkin in my lap when they returned. Maybe that was more sad? No, I was glad.
Each child got to choose and pluck his or her very own pumpkin from the vine to bring home. They also watched a movie in the pumpkin barn while sitting on straw bales about how pumpkins grow all while eating freshly popped popcorn.




There was also a play area with hay bales the children could climb and different bikes and tricycles for riding.

At the end of the visit before everyone left, we took a class picture, including both Miss. Jill and Miss. Marcia. I love how small and sweet all of the children are.

And these of Henry and his friend Logan. They're up to something.

bff

It's good to have a friend to walk through life with.

William knows the value of a true friend. He loves this little friend.
They've been best friends since
yesterday just before bath time.

But today they've been inseparable.



Something I absolutely adore about William is how much he loves comforts and comforting things. He loved his pacifier (more to come on the past tense of that statement), he used to love to sleep with a blanket but now he needs all three of his Amy Coe chenille blankets to sleep, he loves his baby (a crazy frizzy-haired underwear-only wearing beanie stuffed baby) and now he likes to sleep with his baby and all of the rest of his stuffed animals. When we leave the house he usually has his hands full and sometimes his pockets stuffed with things; be it Little People farm animals or tractors or board books. Now he loves his Curious George. George came to school today when we dropped off Henry and he came on a walk with us this morning. George is the only reason William agreed to wear a hat on this chilly fall day; he put his on first so William agreed to follow.