March for Science, Boston!

The Women's March in January went so well we decided to continue our advocacy when the opportunity for a science march presented itself!  As the weeks grew closer, we talked a lot about why science was important and why we had to be advocates for it in government policies.  At the March for Science Boston, they were doing a separate kids section.  They had an essay contest and were asking for submissions of essays answering the question, "Why should we stand up for science?".  A winner would be chosen for each age group and they would get to read it at the march. It was open to all school age kids in New England, so I thought it would be a great writing activity for school.  

Ben drew a really cool picture of dinosaur extinction and said that without science we wouldn't know about dinosaurs. James and Noah both typed essays, then we went through the editing process writing MANY drafts.  I know that they were super tired of this process, but I think they learned a lot.  Since it was all of New England kids submitting essays, I figured there was no chance of them winning, so I put it out of my head.  A few days before the march I got an email saying that Noah had won the contest for his age group (3rd-5th grade)!  I was completely dumbstruck, but so excited that he won and would have the opportunity to read it at the march, not the kids march, but the actual adult march. James did really well too and was the runner-up for his age group (K-2nd grade)! 

Gabe didn't have to work this weekend, so we were able to make it a day trip to Boston.  It was cool and rainy that day, but they still estimated the crowd to be between 50,000 and 70,000 people!  When we arrived back stage some of the judges were there and made it a point to seek out James and tell him how much they liked his essay. They didn't need to do that, but it made him feel very special. It had stopped raining by the time Noah's turn came. He walked right out on the stage and did an amazing job reading his essay in front of all of those people. There were a few points when the crowd cheered and they were chanting his name at the end.  It was such a cool experience that I hope he will hold onto forever!  We are very proud of all of our kids being so articulate and excited about science:) 

Easter 2017

Easter fell on an absolutely beautiful day this year!  The snow has mostly melted in our yard and the sun was almost warm outside.  As always, the kids enjoyed the Easter egg hunt and having chocolate bunnies for breakfast.  They did an awesome job singing at church and managed to get a few nice pictures... they weren't all serious though;)  We ate lots of good food at brunch with friends and had a very relaxing day. Happy Easter!

Vaughn Woods

The kids and I ran to Augusta today to pick up a pair of shoes Gabe was having repaired.  It was 85 degrees and sunny when we arrived compared to the mid 60s when we left Wilton. We all had jeans on... everyone was soaked with sweat by the time we walked downtown to the cobbler shop just to find it was closed due to illness... it was frustrating to say the least.  We had driven the hour to get there, so we stopped into Target, bought 5 pairs of the cheapest shorts they had and headed to check out Vaughn Woods.  We were rewarded with a really special spot! A cool waterfall, lots of neat stone bridges and a great hike.  We will definitely be back when all of the snow is gone and things dry out a bit:)

Gabe Attends the Masters

Gabe got an incredible opportunity this year!  He was invited to attend the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.  He and his friend, Chris, got out of Maine for almost a week to the warm, sunny south this week.  They watched golf, played golf, took in a baseball game and ate lots and lots of southern food.  

Meanwhile, the kids and I had a more mundane time getting school done, spending time with friends and taking a few day trips.  We spent Sunday in Bangor exploring the City Forest since there is far less snow there than at our house;)  

Acrobats, Dinosaurs and Seeds

Spring, maybe?  We are feeling ambitious this year and decided to try and plant our own seedings in the front room which can be very warm and sunny.  Today we got the pepper plants in and we plan to put the others in in a few weeks.  Ben was not impressed with the mess it made.

Audrey was at Inch by Inch today, so the boys and I headed to Portland to a school time acrobatic performance at Merrill Auditorium.  It was beyond impressive, but not great for Noah's anxiety when they stacked the chairs all the way to the ceiling and did a hand stand on them;)

After the show we made sure to make the most of our time in Portland and headed to the Portland Science Center to see the Dinosaur exhibit.  The dinosaurs were neat to see when they came "alive" with movement and sound.  We all agreed it was a good thing that Audrey wasn't there because it may have been a bit too scary.  We learned a lot and even got to dig for fossils:)  

Audrey's 4th Birthday Party!

Audrey insisted on a party that was all things Trolls (though she does keep bringing up her fire breathing dragon cake;)).  She had an awesome day celebrating with all of her friends and the older kids were absolutely fantastic sports when we asked them to let the younger kids wrap them in streamers;)  Thank you to all who came out to help us celebrate!

Vermont Skiing Get-a-way

We had an awesome weekend skiing with family in Vermont at Sugarbush!  We met Grampy, Grammy, Aunt Andrea, Uncle Travis, Aunt Sue and Uncle Doug there and spent a great day skiing!  It is so much fun now that EVERYONE can ski all day long and be part of the fun on the mountain.  Noah and James aren't afraid of any trails. Ben knows what he is comfortable with and what he is not and really enjoys most of the green and blue trails.  Audrey is totally rocking all of the green trails, including the steeper sections of some, staying in great control with turns. I guess my pictures from the actual skiing on this vacation were lacking.  Here is Audrey on the magic carpet which she kept insisting on riding despite the hill being much too easy for her.

We spent the evenings hanging out at Doug and Sue's beautiful home and enjoying the hot tub;) Thanks to everyone who skied with us and made this an awesome get-away!

On the way home (we wanted to get at least one day of "school" in) we stopped at both the Ben and Jerry's and the Cabot factories to learn all the wonders of milk;)