picture-palooza

Family shot!  Taken on Clark's birthday.

Well, folks - I don't even know how to begin.  I haven't posted in over FIVE MONTHS.  Birthdays have come and gone, milestones were reached and surpassed, epic journeys were undertaken, lovely people got married, and a whole lot of everyday life happened in between. I'm going to try really hard to not let a lapse of time that large happen again.  In fact, I have decided that I am going to try a new system: in the spirit of Soulemama, I will attempt to, at the very least, post a picture every Friday, with regular blog posts in between.  A little present for anyone who actually checks in on this blog, and has gradually lost faith that anything would ever be posted again.

In the meantime, here are many many months worth of pictures, with as little explanation as possible.  It is likely overwhelming, so perhaps you can just come back and visit a bunch of times and pick up where you left off!  And like usual, I will promise to diligently work away at some videos.  Who knows when that will come to pass.  But this Friday there WILL be a new picture.  Promise!  And without further ado:

RANDOM EARLY SUMMER SHOTS

Getting the garden ready.  It was a LOT of work.

"Eureka!  I've got it!"

Co-creators

Green smoothie face

Juniper liked this outfit so much, she asked me to take a picture of her wearing it :)

Extended family portrait. Juniper is the huge one in the middle, and felt it was important to note that she was holding hands with Linden.

Checking out the model of Alvin at the Exhibit Center in Wood's Hole

May Fair parade

Juniper (stoically) rides a pony at the May Fair. Don't let her expression fool you - she LOVED it,

The Maypole. Juniper is in pink in the back, with the blue cape.  Valerie Kindly lead her through it.

Fully clothed in the sprinkler.  Is there anything better? (Likely naked in the sprinkler, which also happened quite a bit throughout the summer)

Jane visits!

Summer beach days... quintessential Cape Cod. (l-r: Juniper, Linden, Lucia)

Burying Juniper in the sand (l-r: Linden, Clark, Juniper, Valerie, Lucia and Miguel)

Summer potluck!  (l-r: Juniper, Lucia, Helen)

Hanging in the wagon (Helen, Juniper, Miguel)

How cute are these kids? (l-r: Helen, Juniper, Miguel, Lucia, and pants-less Linden)

Mary (my mom) visited during all the end-of-school festivities, to help out while Clark was at various conferences and workshops.

Mom arrived when these were in full bloom all over the Cape!

Little guy, big anchor.

FIRST HAIR CUTS! (and FATHERS DAY)

We spent father's day biting the bullet, and finally getting our kids' hair cut. Mind you, Juniper was almost 4 years old at this point, and had never before had it cut.  It was... um... long overdue, to say the least.  With Linden, we were just trying to tame his mop.  They actually both already need it to happen again, asap. And I am thinking very heavily about chopping a really good chunk of Juniper's off this time. We shall see.  Anyway, they were both really good about it (even Linden!?), and looked ridiculously cute afterwards.  A successful event, all round.

CHILD CENTER

Here are a bunch of shots I took from the Woods Hole Child Center, the co-op where Juniper spends a few mornings a week.  She loves it.  These are from the art show and the carnival that happened right before they closed for the summer.

Some of the art show.  It was amazing!

Juniper, proudly posing by her sculpture

The "dome".  Juniper enjoys scaling it and hanging upside down. I fear to put her in gymnastics, lest she take to it too strongly.

The zipline!  

Oh, those hip-biking-Child Centre-families!

Slide pile up!

Ms Clarkin reads to the kids (Kunio, in the striped shirt, lives just down the street from us)

On the day when your parent comes in as "parent helper", you get to ring the bell when it is time to come in.  Juniper takes this job very seriously.

Typical group playtime inside

playdough table

Juniper got to celebrate her birthday a couple of months early!

Posing by the sign

Carnival! (Juniper is ever the dutiful older sister)

Linden had to be kindly asked to let other people have a turn on the rickshaw. I think he would have accepted rides all morning if left to his own devices.

Juniper-dog!

Puppet show

End-of-year shot with Mrs duRivage (Darryl)...

... and with Ms Clarkin (Anne)

BOSTON TRIP

We took a pretty epic day-trip to Boston in early summer to visit Jane before she graduated from Harvard (and therefore left us to return to Canada, *sniff!*), and then to visit with our dear Halifax friends (the Sharps) as they were passing through on their way from vacationing in Florida home to NS. Jane took us on a tour of the Harvard campus, and we spent the rest of the afternoon with the Sharps at the Boston Aquarium.

Posing by the law school banner

Winnie the Pooh's house.  Did you know that he lives on Harvard campus?  Neither did we. Juniper was very sad that he was out.

You have no idea how cute these two were.  They hadn't seen each other in 9 months, and it was like they hadn't spent a day apart.  They held hands the WHOLE TIME.

Patrick and Juniper. They were born less than two weeks apart.

The whole gang: l-r: Ewan, Linden, Juniper, Patrick (Ewan and Linden were also born a couple of weeks apart)

It was so nice to spend the afternoon together! (l-r:Kerry and Ewan, Kenny and Patrick, Juniper me and Linden)

Seriously.  Juniper and Patrick broke my heart, they were so cute.

Clearly these two aren't big-city-folk. The subways were just FAR too loud.

Waiting for the subway before we parted ways.  It was actually completely heart-wrenching when we had to pull Juniper off of Patrick to get her off the jam-packed subway before the doors closed.  She was devastated to leave him.

Celebrating Canada day in the USA.  My mom thoughtfully sent some celebratory shirts for the occasion.

Do you get any cooler than this?  Seriously.

He seemed so old when I took this picture, and so young now!

All dressed up and gallant amidst the hydrangea. They are stunning on the Cape.

Juniper poses beside her sunflowers (and shares the limelight with Linden!).  I have a whole series of these shots from the day she planted them.  She was VERY proud of them.

Our garden this year...

...we put a whole lot of work into it, but then left for NB during peak harvesting season. Oh, and something ended up eating pretty much everything from it. Sigh.

EPIC NEW BRUNSWICK JOURNEY

This was a big summer. There were some very exciting things happening, namely: my sister Andrea was to be married, Clark was going on a fieldwork trip to a remote fjord in Greenland, and then our dear friend Jane was getting married.  Of course, Clark's fieldwork happened to coincide exactly with Andrea's wedding. And then Jane's wedding was almost exactly a month after Andrea's.  Result?  We cooked up a crazy plan to make it all happen.  In short, I ended up driving to Fredericton with the kids (with the help of my sister Faye, who flew to Boston to drive up with us, thank goodness), while Clark simultaneously flew to Greenland.  He met us in Fredericton after all the festivities, and then we moved to the Richards farmstead for a good couple of weeks, stayed until Jane's wedding and then came home.  In the end, we were gone from the Cape for SIX WEEKS. This was epic, and wonderful, and ridiculously hard at times, and required a whole lot of help from some amazing people.

Linden and Theresa clean up after breakfast

Juniper, Linden, and their doting (Richards-side) Aunts and Uncles

Pat and Liz do bedtime. Juniper had so much fun with all the different bedtimes, and was able to manipulate many an extra story in the process.

Andrea and Dinesh's Groom's dinner. (l-r: Ethan, Sawyer, Michael, Kelli, Steve, Ali)

Yoho, 2nd generation. (l-r: Linden, Juniper, Bea and Zack)

On one of Yoho's many amazing couches! (l-r: Linden, Erin, Tara, Juniper, Zack, Bea, Christie, Mish)

Ogilvie (second? third?) cousins at Suz's bday party (l-r: Callie, Juniper, Linden, Evan, Xander)

All gussied up, right before the big walk down the aisle! My dad joked that he wanted someone to bring him a box to stand on before the shot was taken :)

Linden in a tux. Enough said.

Juniper (the flower girl), and Ali (junior bridesmaid), looking gorgeous!

Juniper, feeling VERY big with her cousins

Theresa and Juniper doing yoga.  Both kids have become very interested in yoga as of late.

Juniper gets her great aunt Janie to paint her nails...

... and then somehow convinces Dinesh to touch them up!

On a fairy walk through O'Dell woods, on the morning of Juniper's 4th Birthday.

Juniper gets a happy birthday call from Clark, using a satellite phone from a remote fjord in Greenland

Just take a look at this amazing train cake.  Props to Faye and the Eddy kids for this masterpiece!

All the birthday party kids (yes, this was the best pic I got of all of them). (l-r: Zack, Linden, Juniper, Isa and Bea)

First trip to the farm!  Juniper and grandpa, at a pre-bedtime bonfire

Grandma and Linden

Intrepid explorers

Linden, a wonderful relic tricycle, and some (still growing!) sunflowers

I LOVE this picture.  Everything about it.

Dad and Linden, after a dip in the river

Birthday party #2!

Check out this crazy amazing cake that Liz made!  We really and truly did not even put a dent in it.

Button jacket at the beach

Dad earns his keep

The Koller Martins come to visit us at the farm! Juniper shows Eva and Sylvie around the minute they get there

Kids and a tractor. They had just picked potatoes.

Juniper shows Eva the fine art of drawing scary bears

Ahhh.... early evening at the beach.  Bliss.

Everyone learned to keep their distance from Linden, lest they get beaned in the head with a rock.  It happened more than once... not because he meant to, but because his exuberance at throwing rocks in the river and his relatively poor aim often led to trouble.

Smores.

OMG SMORES! (nom, nom, nom...)

Zsofi does bedtime.

All ready for a canoe adventure! 

Mini fedora and a barn door.  How could I NOT take a picture?

Oh my, that was a nice visit!

I think I was doing some pretty awesome dance moves in the background to get this pic, but holy moly there is a lot of cuteness there! (l-r: Juniper, Sylvie, Linden, Eva)

At Jane and Mike's pre-wedding yoho extravaganza (me and Martha)

I love this picture - these are my oldest friends! (l-r: Jane, Zsofi, Me, Martha, Christie, Meghan, Erin)

Tux AND fedora. Linden was easily the most stylish guy at Jane and Mike's wedding

Juniper and Noni. 

Just playing some croquet post-ceremony.  No biggie.

Linden and Freyja catch up and whisper sweet nothings

I likely have a similar picture from 20 years ago!

Dance party!

tired but happy - what a fun wedding!

BACK ON THE CAPE

 We got back to the Cape just as September hit, and it welcomed us back with open arms.  Autumn has always been my favourtie time of year, but Cape Cod certainly knows how to do autumn spectacularly!

This was actually from when Juniper was sick. Linden came up to snuggle and make her feel better. 

Another shot of the feel-better snuggle.  We actually struggled for over a month with some mysterious illness that Juniper contracted in NB, and lasted a distressingly long time.  It involved recurring and intermittent vomiting, diarrhea, and debilitating stomach cramps. It was awful.  But this was so incredibly cute that it almost broke my heart.

Linden in the main prop from Helen's "yellow submarine"-themed birthday party 

Juniper's first day back at the child centre!

Seeing double!  Lucia and Juniper sporting matching dresses.

At the "touch a truck" event.  Linden found his bliss.

Juniper up really, really high on a huge crane truck.

Digger. Just imagine how filthy they were immediately after this  picture was taken!

Clark turns 34! Juniper might have helped a little bit with this cake.

A magical day trip to Heritage Gardens (l-r: Juniper, Kellie, Helen, Miguel, Linden, Valerie

Linden could have played the various awesome percussion instruments all day long

Juniper undoubtedly tries to lead the kids in some game or another (l-r: Juniper, Linden, Miguel, Helen)

Carousel!

Look! Linden LOVED it!  He didn't want to leave! Every other time we tried him on a carousel up until this pint, he sobbed.  He must be getting older (*sniff*)

Juniper drew the two wooly bear caterpillars that we hosted for awhile (Fuzzy and Furry).  This was the first time she actually sat and drew something that she was looking at - and I think she did a pretty great job! Just fyi: They have since been set free to enjoy the wild and find a good place to cocoon.  We though about keeping them to see them all the way to their moth-hood, but they were clearly getting listless.

Grandpa, Grandma and Liz come to visit!  We took a day trip to Province Town on the outer cape.

Linden liked to choose quiet places and sunbathe... 

... or play with sticks, as the mood hit him.

Look who turned TWO!  I made that vest for him when he was a newborn, and somehow he is still wearing it two years later.

The traditional caterpillar 2-year birthday cake.  This one was modelled after fuzzy and furry.

OK, that's it for now. 5 months. Holy crap. If you lasted this long, I'll remind you to check back on Friday! xo

Happy Mother's Day!

It occurred to me today, as I was luxuriously given a bit of extra time to myself, that it has been way too long since I last posted.  Much has happened in the last couple of months, perhaps the most exciting of which is that Juniper has started going to preschool two mornings a week.  She loves it!  It has also led to some pretty awesome playdates outside of the play centre with some new-found friends.  I'll have to blog more about that in the near future.  For now, here are just a bunch of photos from the last little while.

Trip to Vermont!

Our good friends from Halifax, Toni, John and Isabella, were visiting Toni's mom in Vermont in March.  Though Burlington is a good 5 hour drive away, Juniper and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity for a whirlwind playdate.  So we threw some things in a suitcase, drove all morning on a Sunday, then stayed overnight, and drove back the next day after lunch.  What a wonderful, impromptu adventure it was!  I specifically did NOT forget my camera, but I neglected to check the batteries. It died after one solitary picture.  At least it was a cute one!

Juniper and Bella in Burlington

Out and About 

The moon was so amazing that we took an after-supper beach walk one evening

We met Clark for lunch one day during the week

Another shot from the lunchtime fun

On a bike trip in Beebe woods

The Beach

As you might imagine, the beach is a popular (and therefore frequently recurring) destination around here.  It doesn't matter if it is relatively chilly, or a bit too windy - both kids could spend hours just playing.  Linden's favourite activity involves rocks: throwing rocks in the water, or finding rocks and getting you to throw them in the water.  Juniper enjoys making "sand food", sand castles, and collecting shells and shiny rocks.

Linden and his rocks

Mostly, however, both kids don't hesitate to head straight for (and in) the water. This used to stress me out, as I would spend the entire time trying to keep them (mostly Linden), from running in and getting shoes and clothes soaked in these cold early spring temperatures.  Then, at some point, I realised that it was a much better idea to just roll up their pants, slap on some beach shoes, and bring plenty of extra clothes to change them into when the shivering and teeth chattering begins. Some friends have looked on in relative disbelief at this spectacle (while their own kids stay safely dry), and determined that we must just have some crazy hearty Canadian genes.  Perhaps that is true.  Soon enough, I'll be more worried about sunburns than chattering teeth - it has started to feel pretty summery as of late!

Juniper, no doubt making "sand food"

Raffi!

Did you know that Raffi has started touring again?  It's true!  When we found that out, we discovered when his Boston concert was going to be, and bought tickets.  We have never done anything like this before, but just couldn't resist - he was a childhood staple for both me and Clark, and those very same albums have become just as big a part of Juniper and Linden's lives. I have to say, the whole day went much more smoothly than I had anticipated, and both kids seemed to really enjoy the show.  Linden only lasted about 25 minutes before he started squirming and making it known that he had some serious stair climbing he had to do instead, but Juniper lasted for the entire show, and is still talking about it.  No flash photography was allowed, so I don't have pics of the concert itself, but here is an almost indecipherably dark video, just to prove we were there:

And here are a couple of other pics from the day:

Linden, looking pensive over some delicious Thai food we had for lunch before the show

Juniper sitting on the disgusting floor of the underground, waiting for the subway

Easter

We had intended for Easter to be a quiet affair this year.  We were told by a friend that there is an annual Falmouth "Easter Egg Hunt", which involves thousands and thousands of eggs on the lawn of the town library, all in one roped off area.  When one o'clock hits, all the kids rush into this relatively small area and try and stuff as many eggs as they can into their baskets. Apparently, fights often break out between the kids and also between the parents of said kids.  We were told it was an event best avoided if at all possible.  I couldn't have been more happy to follow this advice.

On the Saturday before Easter, however, we were on a nice family bike ride, and decided to come into town for some lunch.  Then - bam! - we unsuspectingly found ourselves right smack dab in the middle of the very event we had been trying to avoid. This was at noon, and the madness was not until 1:00, so Clark and I had whispered conversations over lunch about creative ways to convince Juniper that we should really just go home, but none of them were plausible.  The damage was done.  Juniper had seen what was to come, and was absolutely bound and determined to be a part of it. Here is a little taste: 

One o'clock hits, and the insanity begins:

Juniper's stash.  Of course, she had no basket, so made do with her bike helmet.

Juniper stoically poses with the uber-creepy Easter bunny

All in all, it wasn't as terrible as it could have been.  There was a special section for kids 3 and under, so Juniper didn't have to compete with the crazy older kids.  She just plopped down, filled her helmet, and then backed the hell out as quickly as she could.  The whole thing lasted maybe 45 seconds.

Linden was clearly tuckered out after the whole affair - we found this when we got home

 Then we did the much tamer Easter at home the next day, complete with a couple of modest easter baskets, and a small but successful easter egg hunt. Juniper's fairy wings and tutu were a big hit.

Settling with their spoils after the morning's excitement

Day to day

Of course, there is much that happens in between all the excitement:

Playing in the yard

Clearly, the fairy wings and tutu became a staple of Juniper's wardrobe for some time after Easter

Juniper picked up my book, snuggled under the blankets, and declared she wanted to read a book "without pictures" to herself for awhile

Wearing the matching pants I made them. Yes, the pants match the toy shelf curtains I also made (featured in the Easter picture above).  And yes, they are standing on the windowsill. What can you do?

Theresa's friends Natalie and Dan stayed with us for a night when they came to Woods Hole for a conference. They were clearly very obliging and well-loved, even though this was the first we had met them!

Garden helpers.  Check out the hat that Theresa sent down for Linden!

Starting some tomatoes and peppers.  Juniper is clearly a huge help!

When there are wild flowers on the lawn like this, Juniper calls it a "flower party".  Linden is enjoying this particular flower party.

Juniper, showing off her face painting after "Daffodil Days" festivities at Spohr Gardens

This is how Linden likes to garden

Daddy-daughter hangout by the beautiful blooming trees in our yard

Just reading in a laundry basket

I finally had a camera to capture this little custom that Juniper and Linden have of holding hands in their carseats.  Does that not just melt your heart?

Mother's Day

We braved the potential rain this morning and took what turned out to be a spectacularly beautiful walk in the woods.  Here are some shots:

Juniper leads the way

Hanging with daddy

I didn't even instruct him to hug the tree!

Looking and listening are never enough. This child needs to touch, taste and smell everything as well.

Linden played in this puddle for an eternity. Then, when I turned my back for a second, he seized the opportunity to lean down and TASTE it as well. He then stood up, smiled, and proclaimed "yucky!" I was relatively certain this would lead to some horrible gastrointestinal malfunction, but so far so good.

Climbing up the steep hill from the pond we found

And that about brings us up to date!  I promise to work on those videos asap, and I also vow to take the camera to more play dates etc to give a taste of this part of our life as well.

Those videos I promised...

Last time I posted, I promised some videos.  I was just reminded that I forgot to make good on that promise.  When I was assembling said videos, I suddenly felt like those all happened a lifetime ago - there as actually been quite a lot happen in the last couple of months. 

Anyone call for a superhero?

So, of all the things that happened, the two most notable:

1. Juniper got glasses!  When I noticed her eyes weren't aligning properly, we had her checked out, and sure enough she has strabismus. We don't know how long she will need to wear them - years, probably.  I was very nervous about potential fights about keeping them on, but so far, she's been really surprisingly good about them. Case in point:

2. In a very stressful, jam-packed weekend, we:

a) learned that our little Suzuki Swift had to return to Canada, within the week

b) visited with Deborah and Yvon in Boston

c) bought a new car (?!)

d) had Deborah and Yvon drive ours back to New Brunswick for us (thank you, thank you!)

We ended up with a Prius, of all things - it hadn't been on my radar at all, but so far we love it. And hey - if you know of anyone in the NB area looking to buy a Swift, let me know! Anyway, two pictures from that adventure:

The gang, after one crazy weekend

We say good-bye to our little car once and for all.

  And before I leave you with the video I promised, here are a couple of other shots:

Juniper learns to sew, with embroidery floss and burlap.  She threw her hands in the air at one point, and joyfully exclaimed "I'm learning!" Linden is clearly into just lounging with his sis'.

Kids, this is what happens when you don't listen to your parents, when they repeatedly tell you not to sit on your play kitchen. We left her there for awhile.

And finally, here is that video!