Skipping Town

Last day in NH. The day started off with Lucia coming downstairs with her face covered in hives. Who knows what triggered them--a different sunscreen? the berries she and Greta were crushing for Nature Cook? something in the pond? an old blanket? It could be anything. I ran to Rite Aid for some Benedryl pills and lotion; by bedtime, they'd gotten a little better, but not much. We'll see how she is tomorrow. I did a lot of packing and preparing while Andrew worked; it's always such a to-do to get ready to leave. The kids played with their phones, read, did math review. We took Farrah for a walk and played Chinese checkers. It rained all day. Andrew picked up clam strips for dinner from the Weathervane. We'll leave tomorrow mid-morning. I can't believe a month has gone by so quickly.  Some pics from our rafting trip yesterday:

Winding down. We leave on Friday, so we're starting to undo our month of living in this house. BUT! First, we squeezed in a rafting trip this morning. It was such a rainy month that we didn't manage to schedule it until now. But it was worth it, as always, and we had lots of fun. We stopped a couple of times to swim and collect rocks, and we didn't get too tired from paddling because the river was quite high. It was a perfect final thing to do. The kids spent some time today figuring out their phones and were obsessed with texting each other and sending each other pictures. We set up playlists on their phones and they were excited about adding lots of songs. It was pretty cute.  We also took all the floats out of the pond and deflated them. That was sad. And after one final spell of reading in the hammocks, I took them down and packed them away.  After dinner tonight, Greta got stung by a bee on her toe--her first-ever sting. She was hysterical. I got the stinger out and sh

Today we did the most un-New-Hampshirey thing imaginable: we drove to the Verizon store in West Lebanon and got Lucia a phone. It was time. She spent all of fifth grade as the only girl without a phone, left out of group chats and etc., and though I have always loudly claimed there was NO WAY ON THIS EARTH she'd get a phone before high school, I caved. I can't have her be left out. The years ahead will be fraught enough without forcing her to the sidelines from the get-go. As I wrote in the last post, we told her last night that we'd decided to get her a phone, and she was over the moon. It was like Christmas Eve, and it took her forever to fall asleep. Greta handled the news with surprising grace, probably because we said she could have my current iPhone to use for photos and videos after I upgraded to a new phone.  When we got to the Verizon store today, I had three clear goals: upgrade to a modest new phone for myself; add a line and get Lucia a phone; factory-clear my o

 Sat. 7/24 We fit a lot into the day. A hike in the woods in the morning, lots of pond time. The kids brought bowls onto the floating dock and caught tadpoles and salamanders with their nets to put into the water-filled bowls. They were absorbed in this activity for several hours. Andrew left at dinnertime to drive to MA for a friend's wedding, and the girls and I played Chinese checkers and read a lot of our book. I let they stay up very late and then I just went to bed at the same time. Farrah was restless at Andrew's absence. Sun. 7/25 The kids and I were on our own Sunday, with Andrew in MA. They had their "routine" morning, as they call it--wake up, read in bed, play with AG's, come down for breakfast around 10am. They did math review. After lunch, we drove into West Lebanon for some shopping. Later, they played on the dock again. It was supposed to rain most of the day but it ended up being beautiful. Mon. 7/26 The kids had their routine morning. Then math r

A landmark day: we had a snapping turtle sighting! The girls were in the pond this afternoon, kicking toward the cattails on their rings, when Lucia began screaming that she could see the turtle's shell. It wasn't moving. Greta started panicking, kicking wildly in an attempt to get away but not going anywhere, then changed her mind and tried to get closer to see it. They were so panicked / excited that Andrew, who was about to go for a run, got into the canoe and rowed out to see what was going on. It seemed possible that the turtle was dead, since it wasn't moving and it was kind of tucked into the cattails. But when Andrew got over to the girls, he didn't see the turtle--but then there was a dramatic movement in the lily pads, clearly a creature moving through them. The turtle. Alive. Returning to the deep. We'll see if the kids want to get into the pond again, after this.  The other exciting encounter today was when the girls and I were hiking around in the woods

A mostly nice-weather day. I did a grocery run early in the morning, and then after a long morning of breakfast, reading, and math review, we went to the creek--the swimming hole side. Farrah does not care for this side of the creek and sat close to me on the ground most of the time. She did explore the creek a little bit. Greta went deep into the swimming hole, wearing water shoes. Lucia, wearing rain boots, tried to balance on a fallen tree and, of course, wound up with her boots full of water.  Then they began bickering about taking doll pictures and we went back to the house. We spent some time at the pond, and then Andrew and I got ready for our dinner guests, cousins Sandy and Peter. We ate outside. We'd hoped their calm, tolerant dog would serve as a kind of mentor for Farrah, but Farrah proved to be inhospitable to a new dog on her turf, and alternately sniffed and barked wildly.  This was the first night it was uncloudy enough to see some stars, so once our cousins left An

No rain, some sun. We had our usual morning of late sleeping, playing, math review, and reading. After lunch, the kids, Farrah, and I went down to the creek, which is still rushing crazily after so much rain. We came back to the house so Greta could have a telehealth appointment with a pediatrician for a rash on her arms and face (nothing serious).  Andrew had a stressful two-hour call in the afternoon, so I took the girls (at their request) to Books-a-Million. Going to this bookstore is so exciting for them. Greta REALLY wanted to go because, since she hit 6,000 pages of reading, she was eligible for her "BIG FUN PRIZE" (I think I have the most fun of all of us creating the summer reading incentives). Anyhoo, they get a BIG FUN PRIZE every 3,000 pages, and Greta had chosen a black cat bolster pillow she'd seen at Books-a-Million, so we went and she bought that. Lucia bought a book. Lucia is handling the fact that she has not yet reached 6,000 pages with surprising grace.

Finally, some sun--hazy sun, but sun nonetheless. Marion left this morning--it was so lucky that this visit worked out. She brought the girls a boxed set of Jane Austens--her and Andrew's mom's favorite books. They're going to love them, in a few years. We spent most of the afternoon at the pond, though the kids squabbled a lot and couldn't get into a pond rhythm. We then read in hammocks for a while, but the rain from the past few days made the woods really buggy. After dinner, we all played Chinese checkers.  Now it's raining again. What is going on with this July??

Half rain, BUT ALSO half sun! Littell family friend Marion drove in today for a visit, and fortunately the rain had stopped by the time she arrived. We all walked down to the creek, which was rushing wildly after the past few days of rain. Once the sun came out, the kids went into the pond. We ate dinner outside and sat around the fire. It was a lovely day. It makes such a difference when we can be outside. Greta has reached a milestone of 6,000 pages read so far this summer. Lucia's at 4,000.  What we're reading: Lucia: The List Greta: Dragons in a Bag Margo: You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz Andrew: Swann's Way

Another rainy day. We've had more rainy days here this month than we've ever had during our stays. In lieu of going outside, we read all day. I mean ALL DAY. Both girls read an entire book each, plus some; and I finished a book. (Andrew took a different path: he went for a run and watched some golf on his iPad.) The girls did math review, and we all played Chinese checkers. We took Farrah on a couple of walks when it wasn't raining. The kids played with their AGs for a long time. So: a nice day, if an inside one. 

Fri. 7/16 A nice warm day. I went out early in the morning to Walmart because our microwave had suddenly died Thursday night. The kids weren't even awake yet when I got home. Finally they emerged and had their usual morning routine of reading / playing with AGs. We read up to the last chapter of Harry Potter 6 throughout the day, read in hammocks, and played in the pond. The kids did math review. Both girls have been making me laugh to the point of crying lately, doing funny accents at an unnecessarily loud volume. They are so funny. Friday night we had Andrew's cousins over for dinner. We ate outside and had a lovely evening. Except for Farrah, who was distressed that we were outside after the sun went down. She eventually went inside and slept in the fireplace. Sat. 7/17 More rain. We had the usual morning (see above). We read the final chapter of Harry Potter 6 when the kids came down for breakfast--this was our favorite one in the series so far. We'll see how #7 is. The

It was a full, full day. We finally did our Mount Ascutney hike this morning, an annual tradition. We only hike the final part to the very top, a little over a mile up and back. Then, also tradition, we went out for ice cream for lunch. Andrew had to work after that, so the kids and I visited a local swimming pond in town. It was a very nice place to swim but it was VERY crowded, with no inflatables allowed, so the consensus was that our pond is way better. So we came home and L&G swam in our pond for the rest of the afternoon. They really are having fun with the new floating dock and all the floaties.  We made some popcorn for a snack and read Harry Potter, then went for a pre-dinner swim in William's pool, which the kids always love. Dinner was leftovers. Then more Harry Potter (this #6 has taken a turn I did NOT expect; somehow I've gotten this far without actually knowing what happens in this series), and then a late bedtime because Greta desperately wanted to finish th

Finally a break in the rainy weather, letting in some of the NH magic we've been waiting for. We had some dicey moments before lunch--Lucia had a tick at the back of her neck, just starting to burrow in; I had two ticks on me (but was able to brush them off). We'd been trying to read Harry Potter outside but gave up and continued inside instead. After some lunch, math review, and reading, the day warmed up, and the kids were able to swim in the pond for a while. Then some rain blew in. Fortunately, it was short-lived, and the sun came out again. After a lot of AG time, the kids asked to go back to the pond before dinner, and they had so much fun--in the true zone of the pond, swimming and jumping off the dock and playing elaborate games with the inflatables.  Dinner was chicken legs on the grill and BBQ ribs. A NH favorite. Then Andrew lit the fire pit for s'mores and the kids' favorite activity, fire sticks.  We had a very creepy experience last night. It was late, and