The great outdoors

An amazing old weeping beech tree at Mohonk 

Well, here we are after school has started, after labor day, about a month since our vacation in NY and I'm just getting to post pictures of our trip.  Since we take our NY trip pretty late in the summer, we always hit the ground running when we return.  We've also really lucked out on the weather by traveling in early August.  Our outdoor time is one of my favorite things about our NY vacation.  Now both children are old enough to really enjoy all the running, climbing, and even hiking we do in the Shawangunk mountains.  

Every year we spend a day up at Lake Mohonk and the Mohonk Mountain House.  Now that dad works there, it's more convenient than ever to visit.  And I think Sara and I have both left behind our memories of endless summers driving up and down the mountain serving food to resort guests.  It's very pleasant to spend the day there and tell ourselves "we'll never have to be waiters again!"  We hope now anyway.  

"hugging" the flowers at Mohonk 

Liza got to go out in the row boat with us this year 

Knocking on the door at the Three Bears house 

Mohonk's lily pond where we found a big, beautiful snake

Angel child

JB and I were excited to take Benjamin on a rougher trail at the Mohonk Preserve this summer--the Millbrook ridge trail.  I knew he would love scrambling up the rocks on the way up, and I was not wrong.  He's sure-footed in his climbing and all-too-fearless on our outdoor adventures.  He was also fairly patient when the trail started to get long.  What a great pleasure to introduce him to the mountains I've loved since my own childhood and on into my adult life.  

Millbrook ridge trail--up and up 

Made it to the top 

boy with a view 

Summer harvest

As we get ready for the last phase of summer--our trip to NY and back to school--let's look at how fun our summer has been so far!  It really has been a leisurely summer, and more fun than last year since the kids are older, but I am already looking forward to the structure of the school-year again.  

We had our first peach harvest this week!  Last year the squirrels took every one of the hundred or so green ones that had started on the tree. This year the squirrels bided their time.  We watched the peaches grow ripe on the tree, figuring we had about a 50% chance of getting most of those peaches.  So earlier this week, I went out one afternoon, and sure enough, the squirrels has taken their chance while the dog was inside and about 2/3 of our peaches were gone.  We quickly harvested the ones that were left and ready enough to pick.  We still got a big bowlful and they are delicious peaches.  

Earlier summer canoe trip on the rushing Brazos River

Father's day trip to Lion's Park 

Trip with Grandmommy and Granddad to the awesome new
Perot Science and Nature Museum in Dallas.  

Perot's heat-scensor TV.  Ben's tummy is the hot-spot!  

Klyde-Warren Park an easy walk from the
Perot.  Dallas is a different place with this
park.  

And then Benjamin had swimming lessons...

And his first camp! Farm camp every morning for a week.  

Liza and I had some quality time while B was at camp 

Liza Jane and her "rocket-ship." 

Silly girl

At our local popsicle shop

And so many trees have been climbed...

So many...

So many trees...

We figured it was time.  

Rest time reading in the tree house

Contents of June

JB reminded me that if I am writing a post about reading I need to mention Benjamin's obsession with the "contents of april," his name for the "table of contents."  It has proven impossible to change his way of saying this.  I'm sure it's one of those things that will work itself out...right? 

Using his phrase as a title for this post also suggests that I am writing about what is making us content this first month of summer--reading and imaginative play together.   

I think this was an attempt at "rest time" 

Indeed, reading or looking at books is a primary activity for both kids right now, with Benjamin in the early stages of actually reading and Liza Jane pointing with great excitement at pictures she sees and "look mommy, letters!"  She will also sit down with a book and flip through the pages as she talk herself through the book, most of which I don't usually understand except for the occasional "mommy and baby and baby and daddy..."

reading right there in the middle of things at Poppa Rollos 

And what a delight to read with Benjamin this summer.  Reading is truly the go-to activity at our house, so it makes sense that Benjamin should be eager to read on his own I suppose. We're not big believers in pushing early reading for it's own sake though; it's really been his initiative that has made him a reader.  We're going through first reader books like Hop on Pop and the Little Bear books.  We just got a new bunch from the library so we can read some stories he doesn't already know.  As I'm writing this during Liza's nap, Ben is reading "Going on a Bear Hunt" next to me here on the couch.

Another wonderful thing about this summer is sibling play.  Benjamin and Eliza have really learned how to enjoy playing together. Not that they don't have their fights, and I do wonder how this is going to be different when Eliza starts to really dig in her heels about being bossed around, but I don't want to diminish this stage either.  Their favorite thing to play right now is microwave, which is actually our old broken microwave that we put on the floor of the entry-way a few weeks ago and will probably stay there a bit longer.  

The Thomas the Train tent someone gave us has also been a hit for play time.  Benjamin really doesn't care very much about the whole "Thomas" thing, but he does like to take the train/airplane/boat to places like Mars, Paris, and Liza's favorite place:  "I'm goin' to town, mama."  I love it when they talk together and get into the same game.  Usually it starts with Ben saying, "ok Liza, let's do this" and Liza responds very sweetly with "Oh, awright Ben Ben!" But sometimes Liza has ideas of her own and I've tried to encourage Ben to be responsive to her ideas too.  

The last picture of the day is from a little canoe trip JB took with Benjamin and another family. He took Liza out for a little spin when we met them for a picnic.  And now I hear Liza on the monitor, "Mama, it's time to wake up!" She's being very sweet about it, but that won't last long...

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Eliza turns two

When Eliza Jane was just a few weeks old, or maybe even days old, like in the picture below, I remember being struck by her distinct personality.  It was inevitable that we would compare her, our second child, to our first, but she has certainly done her best to set herself apart.  The picture below often comes to mind when I consider how unique she is.  It's not a remarkable picture at all, but something struck me about her dark eyes and distinct features when I took it and for me it is still a peek into her soul.  

our mysterious new child in her first week life 

What I noticed back then has been confirmed and clarified as she has grown.  Our little two-year-old still has a mind of her own, but now that she can talk, we are all much happier.  She has clear ideas about what she wants and is persistent in her pursuit of of her goals. "Re-direct" has not been as helpful or effective a parenting dictum for our second time through toddler-hood.  I've found that making rules and expectations very clear and leaving a bit of room for negotiation seems to work for us.  A few months ago I told her it was time to go downstairs, but she was not done playing with blocks and said, "No, I'm buildin' my towah, mama."  I was so delighted she had used a complete sentence, I let her finish her tower and when I said it was time to go, she responded with her typical refrain, "Aw-right, mama."     

looking more like her daddy all the time 

Eliza's sense of humor has blossomed recently too.  Eliza has picked up knock-knock jokes from her brother and has made up her own about a bee (knock-knock, who's there, a bee, a bee who?, a bee MAMA!).  I was having a little conversation with her the other day about her class at school, and she was naming the kids in her class.  I would sometimes prompt her by asking, "Is there a Mallory in your class?" and she would say yes.  Then I asked, knowing that there was no kid with this name in her class, "Is there a BOB in your class?"  Eliza started this big belly laugh like I had never heard from her before.  "Bob in my class! Make me laugh, mama!"  We both had a good laugh.  

As she rides her horse around,
Eliza says, inexplicably, "glinka, glinka!" 

Liza's eagerness to learn and have fun, her keen social instincts, delight in music, and love for her brother have all made this girl such a joy to nurture this year.  When asked what he likes about Eliza Jane, Benjamin says, "she plays with me and she speaks really loud." Hmmm.  

ritual hot chocolate with granddad 

We had her birthday celebration in Sulphur Springs this year with JB's family, complete with helium balloons and purple cupcakes, both of which were requested consistently for the two weeks leading up to her birthday.  Eliza is becoming quite the little girl--we're thankful for her life every day!

good-bye until next time!  

with her new and beloved Madeline tea set 

a summer trip to homestead heritage for ice cream

Special Friends

This boy sure did love being reunited with his special
friend Aunt Amy.  

I did too.  We made bagels.  And we made cheese.
 Yes, we are amazing.  

A special tree house picnic.  

With william the giraffe, who chases away the skunks.  

Up high by the Brazos River.