Our Fall New England Adventure part 1

 A few weeks ago, we took off work and school (well, school was done virtually in bits and pieces on the trip) and travelled up to Boston and Vermont for a fall adventure. The trip overall was really wonderful. It was my first time traveling that far northeast, and it was lovely. (Although I have to say, we live in a gorgeous place here in the Shenandoah Valley, too.)

On our way up to Boston, we stopped in Weehawken, New Jersey, to show the kids the NYC skyline. 

Michael also wanted to see the dueling grounds where Alexander Hamilton was fatally wounded by Aaron Burr. He has really enjoyed the music of the Hamilton musical and knows many of them by heart.

Clara in front of Alexander Hamilton.

We continued driving up to Boston, arriving late at night at the Omni Parker House. The Parker House Hotel is the oldest continuously running hotel in America.

The hotel was sadly very empty, but it was neat to feel the history and enjoy its decor.

Presumably because it was so empty, the hotel upgraded us to this super fun Freedom Trial Suite which had a bunkbed for kids, a map and chalkboard on the wall, bean bags, and a little table and chairs for the kids. So so fun.

We started walking on the Freedom Trail the next morning after eating some food we'd brought in the Yeti. The kids (nor us) were not big fans of having to wear masks outside in public places--I wish I had thought to get lanyards for the boys because they kept taking off their masks and flinging them around, dropping them, etc. Kind of defeated the purpose of germ protection.

Boston is a lovely city, and even though I'm not a big city gal, I enjoyed its history and layout. It didn't feel as dirty as NYC or Atlanta, and it was fun to see the historical buildings sprinkled throughout the large skyscrapers.

We made our way to the harbor where we boarded our boat for a whale watching trip. 

We were excited. Good thing we didn't know what we were in for . . . 

The naturalist on the ship who was speaking through the loud speaker mentioned that there were 2 foot swells that day, which didn't mean much to me. As we left the harbor and picked up speed, Clara began feeling sick, and I made my way with her to the back of the boat as my own tummy started heaving along with the boat. We both threw up and stayed huddled together on the back of the boat, trying to survive. Michael became seasick while trying to keep track of Benjy who unexpectedly threw up on Michael and then promptly fell asleep. Meanwhile, Robbie and Henry were walking and running around the three-story catamaran as happy as clams while I worried about their safety and behavior but helplessly had to remain seated to try to calm my stomach.

Mercifully, as we approached the whales, the boat slowed down and stopped, which allowed us to get up and see the whales. We saw dolphins and at least three different humpback whales.

They were so huge and so close to the boat. The naturalist was amazed at how close they were and said that in her eleven years of doing tours, they had never had that experience. She said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (maybe she says that to everyone, haha, but she sounded quite sincere).

I wished I could have enjoyed the experience more, but it was really cool. Next time we'll take Dramamine beforehand.

Lots of wind!

I'm really glad that these two enjoyed it and weren't puking.

Mercifully our stomachs felt well enough to enjoy some delicious Regina Pizzeria pizza in the North End after the boat ride.

We also enjoyed treats from two different bakeries--Mike's Pastries and Modern.

We liked Mike's cannoli on the left better, although I have to say, I'm more of an ice cream girl myself.

Benjy had no objections to either.

In other news, we gave in to Robbie's year-long request to have a rat tail, which Michael cut right before our trip. I had to see it everywhere we walked around the city. 😭

Pumpkin Picking

Hunting for a pumpkin is always a fun activity, although sadly this year the pumpkins left on the vine were rotten. Still, we got a few pre-picked ones.

Clara didn't want to come with us, but this was a non-optional family activity, and I think she was glad she came.

These boys really are big sunflowers--they bring happiness and need lots of sunshine and energy to grow.

My favorite people.

This cutie had a blast just walking around the field in his boots. He unfortunately doesn't have any interest in going the same direction as the rest of us.

Thank goodness for wagons.

L - O - V - E these kiddos.

My birthday and other happenings

 I turned 38 this year. It feels pretty weird. I don't feel any different than when I was in my early twenties, although I certainly hope I am more compassionate and understanding. My birthday gift from Michael was a whole day to myself, which I enjoyed by going into the office to catch up personal items--the blogs, my journal, pondering what path I'm taking in life, planning for the fall, catching up with kind friends and family who reached out with birthday wishes, etc. Then the family surprised me with replacement dishes of the ones the kids have broken ;-). It was lovely.

The family birthday pic.

Michael and the boys made this sweet birthday banner for me. You can see in the background the patio work, which I'll share in a separate post.

I was concerned for Clara this year with virtual schooling, but mercifully she is able to attend her Zoom classes from the high school so she can have teachers there to help her with schoolwork as needed. It is going as well as could be expected.

At the bus stop waiting for her bus.

Henry took this pic of us unbeknownst to me while we were at Robbie's first soccer game watching his team play. Initially Robbie's team didn't have a coach, so Michael has kindly stepped up to be coach (I am the "support parent") in addition to being a bishop, orthodontist, husband, and father. I have helped a bit by looking up practice plan suggestions and reaching out to other soccer parent families. 

We had our first "family media plan" discussion a few weeks ago, something that will be an ongoing conversation, particularly with Robbie doing virtually learning at home (I still need to get a photo of him diligently focusing on Zoom with his class). Since I know I can't just ignore technology, I want my kids to be empowered users and not feel fear or be misinformed about it. I certainly love it in some respects and want my kids to be safe and wise. I am constantly combatting my own temptations to be on my phone instead of doing other more worthwhile things.

Henry is able to be in-person this year at Little Oaks preschool. As a June birthday, we could have put him into Kindergarten, but we prayerfully felt it was the best choice to give him another year of preschool. It is more rigid than I would like regarding mask-wearing, plexiglass dividers, and social distancing, but he seems to be enjoying it and it certainly helps to have him engaged while Robbie is doing his work at home.

This giant old-school slide at a park in Timberville was attractive to Benjy, who felt excited until he sat at the very top. However, I reached up my hand and he could barely touch it as he went down. He was proud of himself.

This year I expanded my applesauce efforts to buying two bushels of seconds at Showalter's Orchard. 

With Michael's help on a Friday night, we canned 18 quarts. I also made crockpot apple butter, instant pot applesauce, and apple pie filling for two pies. I bought the Ball Canning book and it has made me excited to can other things . . . this season of my life isn't exactly canning-conducive, but my hope is that next year I can can pickles and salsa since my refrigerator pickles earlier this summer were really yummy.

Clara got her wisdom teeth out last week! She has been super nervous about it and we've discussed it daily (often several times daily) for the past two months. Despite fighting the anesthesia (which made them have to give her a lot) and puking lots and lots the whole first day, she has been recovering really well so far, which is a great blessing.

I was excited that my efforts to collect donations for a program for at-risk first time moms went well--we collected 71 blankets and my goal was 75, along with tons of diapers and wipes. Pretty awesome.

Smoothies are good to the last drop, right Benjy?

September was a good month and I'm grateful to be getting into some sort of rhythm, although I confess I'm not quite there yet. If I could accomplish my goal of being asleep by 9:30pm, I think I'd feel better. Well, Michael and I are trying to get off our devices at 9pm to connect first. I have different things I'm trying to work on with each of the three older kids (family history work with Clara weekly, but when?, reading the Book of Mormon with Robbie each morning before Henry gets up, which is going pretty well, and working on smooth talking with Henry each day--also having a hard time finding time to do it), and I don't feel like I'm quite getting the most important things done, but I'm trying. I am trying. 

Life lately

 Thought I'd share a smattering of recent happenings around here. Despite the COVID craziness, life is good and we feel very blessed. I have times of great stress, frustration, and fear for the future, and then I need to remind myself of a question that I asked myself in my personal scripture study as I studied about how to increase my trust in God. The question was, "When has God ever let me down?" As I pondered this question, I realized I could answer, "Never!" Always has He been there, helping me through difficult times and blessing me despite my lack of faith and being undeserving. So I am trying to press forward in faith as we enter virtual schooling starting this week for Robbie at home, virtual schooling for Clara at the high school wearing a mask, in-person preschool for Henry with a mask, and a busy Benjy thrown in for fun.

We have had so many cucumbers this year, which has been super fun but also a bit overwhelming. I made refrigerator pickles for the first time, which actually tasted really yummy. Next year I want to grow Kirby cucumbers, which are technically the correct ones for pickles.

We also made so many things out of zucchini. Zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, pizza crust, pizza topping, sauteed, zucchini cake, brownies, and zucchini boats. I finally pulled them out because I just didn't want another. 

Michael is just the best dad. The.best. This was taken on our anniversary. 18 years, can you believe it??!

We were so happy to have a visit from Grandma and Grandpa for Melody and Matt's marriage ceremony. Robbie showed Grandma his Pokemon cards, which was a real gift of time.

Selfie with Grandpa.

The boys had a blast with Michael and some friends, the Petersons and the Robertsons, at Smith Mountain Lake.

Michael and the kids played "king of the raft."

Henry and his friend, Gracie Peterson.

Michael and Clark Robertson, who is such a great young man and reminds Michael of himself at that age.

We went on a hike before Melody left to celebrate our anniversary in advance. It was a magical hike up to Bear Fence Gap.

The mist just blew in over us in a big cloud, moving quickly and swirling all around us as it covered up the sun.

I wanted to take a picture of the study wall with creations the kids made this summer. We started out strong with our schedule and then petered out as the summer went on.

Oh Benjy. This kid is something else. Here he is helping himself to bandaids. This last week or two alone, he got into my makeup and broke my bronzer, blush, powder, and eyeshadow, I found him with frozen mixed berries on the living room floor, he emptied the staples box all over the study floor and dumped push pins onto the kitchen floor, wrote on the study desk with a permanent marker, pulled the plants out that I had just planted in our front pots . . . I could go on. I had to call poison control a few weeks ago for his ingestion of apparently 13 (!!) of my Synthroid tablets--mercifully no side effects were ever noted, which the poison control lady said was common. Benjy likes to slide the kitchen stools over to the pantry and get into the nuts or the pretzels and chocolate chips (the other day he opened a new bag in the pantry). He also gets into the refrigerator, messes with the water dispenser, eats cheese and leaves it around the house, et cetera et cetera. He is so much fun but man, we can't leave him alone for a minute.

The other day Robbie wanted to brush Clara's hair. It was a very sweet moment.

I had to record our home church chart for memory's sake. Home church has its pros and cons. It's going all right, all things considered. My last couple of home Primarys have gone pretty well, which gives me hope. Last week Robbie and Henry each gave a talk on prophets. And this week at actual church, Robbie bore his testimony for the first time in front of the congregation (of less than 25 people allowed, all wearing masks). It was awesome and I felt the Spirit. We were super proud of him. He also willingly fasted breakfast and snack (which almost killed him, he felt), and he paid a little fast offering in addition to his tithing. I have felt that Satan is working on him pretty hard these days, so I was proud of him for making good choices.

Last week, Michael took Henry to a boxing gym here in town to try out some equipment. 

He had a lot of fun, and we're going to purchase some of the equipment and see if it helps the kids release some aggression in a safe and healthy way. We'll see how it goes.

We enjoyed a summer rainy day a couple of weeks ago and the kids had fun playing outside in the water.

We did most of our summer outings this year and a good handful of the creations. 

We went to the Luray Zoo yesterday, which is a small rescue zoo near us. Benjy insisted on wearing a mask, which was pretty cute. He is demonstrating the improper way to wear a mask, which drives me nuts to see when I am out. Why would you wear it if you aren't even wearing it right? Don't get me wrong, I hate wearing one, but goodness, at least wear it properly.

The Capuchin monkeys in the cage to our right were really fun to watch.

This picture was taken back in 2011. Time flies!

I had no idea I'd be back 9 years later with three boys in tow. Wow.

The other day, Michael mowed the lawn with Benjy on his back so I could be free to make dinner without Benjy's help in the kitchen. What a stud.

My phone is filled with selfies of Clara. Had to post this one.

Funny kid comments

 I have individual blogs for the kids where I normally record their funny sayings (there are so many but occasionally I remember a few), but I wanted to share some here:

"Raisins!" Benjy said, as he bent over in the grass. We fortunately stopped him in time, informing him they were rabbit droppings.

"Never seen a cuter bum than that," Robbie commented, as he looked at Benjy lying on his tummy in the bathtub. "Except mine," he continued. When Henry responded incredulously, he amended, "When I was a baby."

"I said NO!" Benjy yelled at me today during lunch (I can't remember what he was upset about now, but I started laughing.) "It not funny!" he insisted. I couldn't help but keep laughing.

"I want to talk to real people, not like, adults," Clara informed me yesterday in the car.