Day 1 Of Our Trip to Vermont: Lake Champlain

Maddy & Poppy with their three grandchildren!

Poppy & Jack having fun together!

Grace jumping over the waves in Lake Champlain

 Eve sitting on the shoreline with the Lake Champlain bridge that we walked across in the background

 Handsome Jack-a-roo smiling sweetly at Maddy

Grace!!!!!

Eve running through the field 

 Jack holding Maddy's hand

Maddy & Poppy

Poppy said this picture reminds him of an old portrait painting.  I agree.  

These are two of the most beautiful people I know and how very lucky I am that they are my Mom and Dad!

Day 1 Of Our Trip to Vermont: Walking Across the Lake Champlain Bridge

Every year we go to Vermont to visit Maddy and Poppy during Middlebury's Festival on the Green week.  It has become a tradition that on our first full day there we go to Fort Ticonderoga, New York to have a picnic lunch and to swim in the lake.  For the past two years we have crossed the lake from Vermont into New York state via a ferry boat while the Lake Champlain bridge was being constructed.  We could hardly wait to go to the lake this year because the bridge was finally constructed!  We were so excited to walk across the Lake Champlain bridge for the first time!  You can click here and here to see our ferry boat rides and the bridge construction from our time there the past two years.  

Eve was amazed by the height of the bridge.  She loved peeking over the edge to get a glimpse of the beautiful lake below.

Eve

Jack loved walking with Poppy's walking stick as he crossed the bridge!

It is so rare that we get a family picture of all five of us or as we call ourselves "the team!"  Maddy took this picture of us when we reached the middle of the bridge.

At the midpoint of the Lake Champlain bridge is a plaque that shows the state line separating Vermont and New York.  Grace loved standing in two states at the same time!

 Jack with one foot in Vermont and the other in New York state!

 Eve in Vermont and New York!

Welcome Home...

We spent the last week in Middlebury, Vermont with Maddy and Poppy!  It was such a beautiful week that was filled with fun and special moments from beginning to end.  Thank you so very much to Maddy and Poppy for the unforgettable memories!  Many pictures of our week in Vermont to come!

Summertime

 

Baking Soda + Vinegar!

One morning after returning home from Broadturn Farm, Jack and Eve enjoyed experimenting with baking soda and vinegar.  I provided Jack and Eve with a variety of containers, cups and spoons so they could conduct and create their own experiments!

Creating a chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar is one of Jack's favorite activities.  Jack loves science and he could sit for hours creating different experiments with baking soda and vinegar.  Eve was so excited by every chemical reaction and each time one occurred she ran down our porch while clapping her hands and squealing!  

Our little scientist hard at work!

Biking to Broadturn Farm

All this past week we enjoyed biking to and from Broadturn Farm to bring Grace to camp and to pick her up in the afternoon.  The picture above shows Grace and Jack riding their bikes along the road.  I was pulling Eve in a bike carrier behind my bike.  Eve loves riding just as much as Grace and Jack do.  We were all so very happy for Jack this day because it was his first time riding a long distance on the road without any training wheels.  Yeah, Jack!!! 

On the way home we stopped so that Jack could look at the tractors in the field.   :)

 

Eve's little pointer finger works nonstop on our bike rides...there is so much to see and talk about on our rides!

Grace is so sweet when we arrive to Broadturn Farm.  She always waits outside of the barn and waves until we turn the corner and are out of site.  

Catching Frogs!

In the very back of our yard we have an area that we call the "frog pond."  This is a shallow wet area which is filled with lots of green frogs!  Several weeks ago Grace, Jack and Eve were delighted by this discovery.  Since then Bob has built wooden walkways/pathways through the area (little bridges) so the children can walk through this wet area.  They have spent hours and hours with their nets in hand patiently searching for and catching the green frogs that live there -- it is actually quite challenging to catch one!  Grace, Jack and Eve love to examine the frogs after they are caught and watch them jump back into the water upon their release.  The discovery of our frog pond has led to us to study about the life cycle of a frog in detail.  We are also studying the difference between frogs and toads!

You can see Grace's excitement...she caught one!

Jack also loves to catch small bugs and insects in this area.  

Can you spot the frog in this picture?  Part of the challenge is finding the frogs! 

Eve!

Frog catching has become one of Eve's favorite outdoor activities and one of her favorite words is now is "net."  I am amazed by Eve's balance and how easily she walks across the narrow wooden boards.

Broadturn Farm Camp

Grace is attending camp this week at Broadturn Farm, which is an all organic farm located near our home.  We visit Broadturn Farm so frequently that it often feels like our second home.  We love it here!  Grace also attended camp here last year and loved every minute of it.


This morning Grace, Jack, Eve and I enjoyed biking to the farm together.  It was the sweetest way to start our day.  It has also been wonderful to begin our days this week surrounded by such a beautiful land, barns, animals and flowers.  Jack can't wait to attend camp here with Grace when he is four next summer (he also can't wait for a preschool program to begin at Broadturn Farm in September!) and Eve always loves her time exploring the farm and its trails.  This is a magical place for our family.

The picture above shows Grace, Jack and Eve on the first day of camp reading the names of the other children in Grace's group.  Grace absolutely LOVES her teacher, Zoe.  Every day Grace has come home from camp to say that Zoe is the best teacher she has ever had.  Grace has learned so much from her time at camp.  She has explored the woods, held a baby turkey in her skirt, picked strawberries, gathered eggs, made fairy houses, learned about forest ecology and made several projects.  More pictures of Broadturn to come later this week!  

 Here is the mission statement of Broadturn Farm camp:

"Our mission is to help children develop a knowledge, love and respect for locally produced food, the earth, organic farming and their local community. Children are taught the principles of animal welfare, farm and forest ecology through participation in the daily workings of the farm, investigation of the forest environments, creative play and exploration. We want to share the gifts of open spaces with the next generation of farmers and consumers, who will be charged with the preservation of farms like this."

"With an eye towards the unique needs of very young children, we structure the program to includelots of imagination, hands on learning and play activities. Little ones love coming to camp; feeding pigs, visiting the cows, collecting eggs, handling chicks and ducklings, munching veggies and strawberries in the garden, learning simple recipes, exploring the woods, building fairy houses, singing songs, listening to stories, playing games, making art, and of course… learning how to use an outhouse!"

Sandy Play Dough

Eve, Grace and Jack made sandy play dough last week.  I accidentally deleted most of my pictures from this day on my computer so these are the only three that I have from this activity.  Here is the recipe that we used:

4 cups of sand
3 cups of flour
1 1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of oil

Eve had the best time making this dough and she also had such a fun time playing with the flour.  This was a great sensory activity and a new twist on our homemade play dough recipe.  The texture of this dough was gritty from the sand but also smooth like regular play dough.  We later added several sea shells that we collected from our trips to the beach to the dough, which provided lots of opportunities for pretend play.