Green & Gold Weekend 2009

We spent this past weekend with Eben's family in Moretown, Vermont. We stayed at the home of family friends and it was completely picturesque - at least in these pictures. Try not to visualize the thirteen of us (seven kids) in the house and rain all day Saturday! Anyway - the foliage did not disappoint. But most of all, I really liked the setting of the house and the apple trees. I hope that these pictures capture some of it.






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Here is Edison running over to play with his cousins.





Edison & his treasure.



We hiked up the double chair route of Mad River Glen ski area on Sunday. It turned into a beautiful day. Edison did pretty well in the backpack. I'm glad that I carried him down and not up, though - he is getting heavy!





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Mad River Glen had a "Green & Gold" celebration with live music and kids' activities. Edison adores anything he can put around his neck (remember the leopard print boa?), so of course he went crazy with the bin of dress up beads.









Clearly this is not Edison's most flattering picture, but I couldn't resist. Our friends Matt & Lisa gave him this stuffed Orca whale (yay Pac NW!) and it is his favorite stuffed animal. He loves to put its dorsal fin and tale in his mouth and suck on them while getting ready to go to sleep. He doesn't suck his thumb or a pacifier - but a whale? - SURE! I have to put it in the washer every other day to keep it from getting to fishy - wocka, wocka, wocka! (homage to Fozzy Bear)






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Having Fun in the Fall

Here is Edison trying to run our dinghy. He wants to be a boater just like dad.
Edison's friend, Isaac, who is one month older than Edison, joined us for a wonderful day last Tuesday. We went to the playground. They had a lot of fun, but it was a challenge keeping up with both of them.




Edison wants to figure out how everything works, including this digger.




Last weekend was our final sailing trip of the season. It was chilly enough for a sweater, but still really sunny.



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Edison enjoyed exploring the bushes and feeling the rose hips at the lighthouse park in Watch Hill, RI.

New Faces

I think the unifying theme of these pictures is that Edison is showing a lot of different expressions these days. Some moments he acts like a little baby again and others it seems like he is well on his way to elementary school. There have also been glimpses of the "terrible twos" like when he does NOT want to sit in his car seat and I practically have to pin him into the seat with a knee and an elbow. But that does not happen often and Eben & I keep reminding ourselves that he really is such a cooperative, friendly, and inquisitive little guy that we are very fortunate to be his parents. Here is is coming down the slide - I love the look of sheer joy in his face! This is the same expression he gives when he jumps into my arms from the side of the pool these days.


I think he is giving us a peek at what he will look like as an older child in this picture - he is quite serious.




He is climbing on just about everything. I try to take him to a playground every day. After encouraging him to climb the play toys, he now sees every object as a tempting Mt. Everest to climb. He does enjoy climbing into chairs now. We have a little rocking chair his size that has been handed down from when my mother was a child (not in this picture). He loves that it is HIS size! In this picture he is in one of our Adirondack chairs and wearing a lovely sweater for his Great Aunt Kathie and Uncle Floyd.







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We went on the sailboat last weekend with our friends Jamie & Danya. Sometimes Edison is able to finagle a cell phone away from unsuspecting friends. I think he is making calls to his stock broker in this photo.
Did you really think he'd willingly give the cell phone back?! Oh how naive! He looks like such a cute little goblin here.

Not Much to Say

I'm thinking of switching to a bi-monthly posting schedule. With Eben & I working, the days just aren't quite exciting enough to take five fun pictures a week. Edison, now almost 15 months old, isn't changing as quickly as he used to now that he is entering the toddler stage. So, don't be surprised if the posts drop down to every other week.

Love this one of Edison so happy playing with his toys.


He loves to put this cat toy wand thingy around his neck like a scarf. He thinks it is a real hoot. He's played with it way more than the cats ever did! Eben just worries that he is being a little too effeminate. I say, don't worry about that - he's 14 months old and having fun!







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We had people over for a play date last Friday. Edison did not take his morning nap and instead, played like crazy. By lunch time, he was so tired, he fell asleep in his high chair. Awwwwwww - too cute! (I did move him up to his crib right after this photo and he slept a couple of hours until we had to go to the pool.)


Here is Edison playing with the cat toy/scarf. Very hilarious video.

Labor Day

Sorry this is a long time coming. I have been busy starting my new job as assistant coach of the girls' high school swim team here in town. Tonight I also restarted my job coaching the club team here in town - now called Nutmeg Aquatics. Here are some pictures from this past week.


This first set I like to think of as "Edison does 'Risky Business.'




I mean, how cute is this boy with his teddy bear?





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At the playground he is looking more and more like a big boy.
We ended the summer with a final sailing trip to Block Island. We had great weather, but it is starting to get a bit chilly in the evenings. This was our first trip with Edison actually walking. He can't climb out of the cockpit yet, but we can tell that sailing with him next summer is going to be a challenge. We will probably put a net up around the whole boat.
One last time on the beach...Sunday was really windy, so we hung out near the dunes.

End of August Already

Edison & I had a mini-vacation of sorts here at home this week. Eben is back at work teaching, but my swim coaching job doesn't start until next week. So Edison and I went for a long run every day, including a stop at the playground. Then we'd do something fun in town, come home for lunch and a nap, and then go to the beach before dinner. It was splendid.

Here a couple last pictures from our Seattle trip (courtesy of my Aunt Kathie):
Edison - lounging in his stroller





The two of us mid-dinner at my Aunt Kirstie's







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One of the places we visited this week was Fort Griswold in Groton. It was built to protect the New London harbor from the British. (Unfortunately, Benedict Arnold led British troops in a successful effort to capture the fort.)
It is well preserved. This is a dug out passageway that links the gun area of the fort to the inner area. It was designed so that soldiers could travel through it and not be seen or get shot by the enemy.
Looking up at the fort from the gun mount area with the monument to the soldiers up on the hill. I think people can go in the obelisk, but it was closed the day we went. But I don't think I'd want to go up all those stairs on a 90 degree day carrying Edison anyway!

Seattle - Part 2

Here are the pictures from the second half of my trip to Seattle.
We met up with my dad on Monday and went to a park in Kirkland. Edison had fun wading in Lake Washington. The rocky beach was quite different from what we're used to now - but luckily Edison loves rocks!
We had dinner with my Aunt Merrie & Uncle Ken. Edison is a sucker for the tickle monster.
My friend Sara and I went hiking on Tiger Mountain - we did the "big tree" trail. Guess what - at the end of it was a big douglas fir. I think the circumference is something like 29 feet. Woah - that IS a big tree. Edison didn't even open his eyes, though.

However, he did like the picnic lunch we had in the woods.




My Aunt Kirstie & Uncle Peter hosted a lovely family dinner for us on our last day in town. My Uncle Floyd got to hold Edison a lot and I think the two of them had a great time together!



Edison is all about pushing buttons these days (luckily not MY buttons!). He had a blast with my mom's hi-fi stereo. When he would get the music on, he would shake his bottom a couple times like he was dancing. Then he'd look at us to see if we were watching - of course we were!





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