A Victorian Christmas

Today was awesome. We drove to Alna, Maine to ride the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Narrow Guage train. It was such a quaint lost in time train station--in the middle of nowhere but just outside of Wiscasset. A light snow was falling giving the trees that powdered sugar look. It was beautiful. We arrived just in time to see the first passengers leave for Alna Center to see Santa Claus and ride the horse drawn wagon and warm themselves by the giant bonfire. Cozy. We waited patiently at the Sheepscott Station eating cookies and sipping hot chocolate and hot cider...and then the train arrived in a cloud of hissing steam and black smoke.....

 in the passenger car....watching the steam engine move the caboose...

                                     

 bye bye steam engine...

 Jaden and Ean were willing to "play along" and have their picture taken...Gabe did it because they were giving candy canes and Christmas bells out to the kids that sat with Santa...

 Ben's first candy cane

 the diesel engine took us back to Sheepscott Station

 The coolest part of our trip back was that we got to ride in the RED CABOOSE!! So Ean is only four and he has accomplished 50% of his life goals---to ride in a caboose (the other 50% is to ride in the engine)

 in the little cubby room at the top of the caboose

                                   
                                     

Thankful

I have been reading a great book with a great bunch of gals. Reading Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts has given me a new perspective...new lenses through which to view my life. So here is a portion of my thankful list in photos from our little Acadia getaway...

56. cliffs to climb

57. cliffs conquered

58. nothing like a rack o dogs on the fire

59. eating sand

60. wave running

61. Amazing birch paths

62. my troops

63. baby salamanders
64. the impish one

65. the birthday boy who wanted to go camping for his bday




66. journaling boys


67. BOB

68. Jiffy pop-- only while camping

69. Wonderful Husband (who did all the cooking and cleaning all weekend)

Summer Gardens

I love gardening. The miracle of dropping a seed into a dark, earthy hole and several months (or so) later...peas, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, marigolds, pansies, morning glories...I love the feel of soft dirt squishing through my toes. I love the smell of wet as I pull weeds. I find peace in my garden. I love my garden...BUT I fell IN LOVE with the gardens at Boothbay Botanical Gardens.



We were captivated. Lured into the magic- hopping rock mazes, skipping along secret paths, hiding amongst the beauty swings shaded with trellises of honeysuckle, cascades of roses spilling from rock edges, water lilies swaying gently in vernal pools...and so many more--names I don't know but want to learn.




The older two were enamored with the frog ponds--so many ponds, so many frogs...not enough time to catch them all. Bridges constructed from tree branches traversed the ponds...GIANT stepping stones invite you to hop into the pond without getting wet. So in we hopped and fish scattered. Tadpoles in every stage of growth (tails, no tails, little legs, big legs) wiggling, sunning lazily, dragonflies swirling and diving, damselflies flittering in delicate ballet...immersed on a stepping stone we were drawn into the pond.

The little men were captured by the water...at the water pump, at the wash board...he pumped water into watering cans, watered flowers, transferred water to goblets then to buckets and back to goblets and then to flowers...mystified by the pouring, the flowing of water. The littlest grabbed and splashed, transfixed by the tangible but not so capture-able (is that even a word?) The littles loved the mazes--especially the flat brick one...for Ean it was a railroad track and we chuffed along above the hot lava ...for Ben it was just fascinating this spiral path that gave him relief from the prickly grass.
There was so much to explore- so much summer garden to savor.

Photos were taken by Brian and Kay
(I was too busy chasing kids)


check out the slide show to see more photos!

The Nina and the Pinta

Today's field trip adventure brought us to South Portland where we toured replicas of Columbus' ships- the Nina and the Pinta. The ships were amazing and the kids really loved the hands on history. We followed that up with a trip over to the Maine Military Museum. Brian was pleasantly surprised to find numerous 26th Yankee Division artifacts. (Brian really enjoys WW2 history and is part of the 26th Yankee Division re-enactment group.)

Maine Military Museum

Crazy Days

May has been a flurry of activity. Traditionally it is a very busy time as it is time to put in the garden. This year we put in two extra gardens- a special tomato only garden in the front yard and a snow peas and lettuce garden in a cooler part of the yard. We also added a wildlife observation area. This small garden is home to a small vernal pool and some native plants and flowers. We impregnated the pool with American toad eggs several weeks ago. These eggs have now hatched and we have a pluthera of tadpoles to watch wiggle and grow. That being said we now maintain three separate veggie gardens in our little plot of land plus our wildlife habitat. We have all worked hard tilling, weeding, planting and watering...now we wait for the prize- fresh veggies and a new batch of American toads to welcome to our garden. (pictures soon my memory card seems to be missing hmmm)
Aside form the flurry of gardening activity we have had the opportunity to field trip to several exciting places. We visited Willowbrook Village, the Maine State Museum, Fort Western and Castle in the Clouds all in the same week! It was exhausting but we really had a wonderful time with great friends and family.

WILLOWBROOK VILLAGE

Jaden was willing to be the dunce for the day @ school --he got in "trouble" for being the class clown...not too far from the truth...

printing press

pumping water

Ben thought school was cool...

the four amigos

catching a ride on the fire truck

Jaden being "old fashioned"

FORT WESTERN

picking herbs from the garden, Ean is touching lambs ear...a really soft plant that I cannot remember what they used for

Making dressing and switchell

Papa Les trying his hand at the loom

Ben liked the baby cradle...

So Gabe and Jaden liked this so much that they said they would cut ALL our wood this way...NOT

CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS

GIANT refridgerator

Shower time

Ben was so impressed with the old castle

Zeus--the biggest horse in the U.S.--going for the world title