Wedding Day:)

The summer is already off the a busy start, but we were happy to take a day to celebrate these two!  My mom and Harold were married today in a small backyard ceremony with friends and family present.  We took a "fly by the seat of our pants" approach and everything worked out so well:)  Although bittersweet for us as one more step in the grieving process, this was a happy one.  We got to witness two people who have each experienced their own grief at losing their partners come together to love and support one another. A happy day for sure.  Congratulations Mom and Harold!

Biking

For the past several years Noah has been the only one riding on two wheels and we have had a great time riding the rail trail from our house.  This year James was finally interested and he too could ride on the rail trails with us.  I know that the other two have the ability, but lack the desire to learn to ride without training wheels, so I am trying to coax at least one of them into it so that we can all ride together without someone having to stay home with the other adult.  I bought a trailer bike from Craigslist and it has been awesome to get almost everyone out there.  Both Ben and Audrey love riding on it, but neither still "dare" to try riding independently, so for now we will bike in shifts until one of them comes around;)  The kids and I have been doing lots of biking this spring!  I have almost no pictures mostly because it is difficult to ride and snap pictures and also because we are just enjoying another way to be healthy and active, nothing "special".  

Starting the Shed

Gabe's parents have now made two trips down in as many weeks to help us get the shed underway this summer.  We will be forever grateful, not just for the decreased labor costs, but also for the knowledge we are all gaining through this process!  There have been some more harrowing moments,  like trying to get those rafters up there, but so far it has been a wonderful experience.  Thanks guys for taking on this project with us!

Chop Chop

Noah's violin teacher suggested we try the kids cooking magazine "Chop Chop".  All I can say is that it is amazing!  The kids LOVE to read through it.  There are so many recipes that are super healthy and made with real, whole foods.  It is getting the kids so excited about cooking and trying dishes they would have baulked at before.  Some of the recipes are super simple and some are more involved.  But, they all have step by step instructions for kids to do everything themselves as well as time management for pulling a meal together.  All the while they have explanations and science behind why things are done a certain way and what different terms mean.  Not to mention various fun games and taste tests to be done with the food. I was able to take so many pictures because I didn't have to help!  I won't belabor it, but it is a must have magazine for kids out there:) 

Breaking Ground and a Busy Weekend!

Our tinfoil tent didn't survive the winter and we really need more space for all of our outdoor "stuff", so we have officially broken ground on our new shed!  Thanks to our gracious neighbor who took time on a morning he should have been sleeping to drive his tractor up over the hill and move some dirt for us.  

This was Fiddle Camp weekend for Gabe, Noah, and James.  They were joined by Heli, Rain and Suvi who drove up from Boston.  It sounds like they had an awesome time visiting, dancing the night away (Gabe gets full credit for letting Noah go out in public in that outfit) and of course playing the violin and guitar.  

While the older siblings were away Ben, Audrey, Nannie and I attended Audrey's art show at her preschool.  The theme is "circles, spots and polka dots" so I was able to convince her to wear this dress.  The art work was fairly amazing!  

On Saturday we finally ventured to the waterfall nearby that we have been trying to visit for years!  It was a great walk in, complete with walking up the river bed to see the waterfall then proceeding to scale the wall of the gorge as a short cut to get back out... Ben wasn't impressed, but the tree roots did prevent us from sliding all the way to the bottom;)