Summer: NH, Fri. 7/23

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 and Lucia spotted the tiniest tree frog we've ever seen. Tiny: the size of a fingernail. It would hop onto a blade of grass and barely bend the grass. Lucia put her hand down, and it hopped into it. Then it began hopping up her arm. It was the cutest little frog ever.

And tonight we went out to dinner at the Harpoon Brewery. We'd reserved an outside table. It was the first time the kids had been in a restaurant in over a year. I had a chicken cheesteak; Andrew had a reuban; Lucia had a bowl of clam chowder; and Greta had the most adventurous meal--a BBQ Sundae, which was basically a deconstructed pulled-pork sandwich served in a sundae bowl. It was delicious, and we want to recreate it at home. We had a fun time at the restaurant and then stopped for ice cream on the way home. 

Real talk: Today there were So. Many. Ticks. None that embedded, but a lot that just existed, briefly, on us before we brushed them off / flushed them. Shiver.

What We're Reading:

Margo: The Guild of the Infant Saviour by Megan Culhane Galbraith

Andrew: Swann's Way by Proust (he'll be working on this for a while)

Lucia: City Spies by James Ponti

Greta: The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Read aloud: Saltwater Secrets by Cindy Callaghan