Climbing and Jumping

After our morning meeting we headed over to Nana's to pick up the kids. Chris decided to do a little pruning on Nana's apple trees while we were there. The trees are over 100 years old!

She kept climbing and sawing, and eventually got pretty high up in the tree, which really impressed the girls.Emily and Kate aren't quite old enough to help with the trees, so they tried to play on Nana's swingset. They remembered all the fun times we had when we were living with Nana last summer.Somehow it's just not as much fun when things are covered in snow.Emily, inspired by Mama, tried to climb the swingset.Finally the girls headed over to the deck, where Emily proceeded to hurl herself off it into the snowbank over and over. We were quite impressed with our little daredevil.

Trek Team Meeting

Today we had a team meeting at our house for our Trek Across Maine team, the Kennewaldo All-Stars. Nana generously offered to watch the girls during our meeting. Chris is the team captain--last summer she and her father rode in the Trek, and this year she has recruited an entire team to ride it with her. Everyone is from either Kennebec or Waldo County, hence the name.

The ride is not until June, but it is definitely time to start training and getting geared up. It is a three-day, 180 mile ride, so there is a lot to prepare for. We talked about logistics, training, fundraising (it's a fundraiser for the American Lung Association), and gear.Several of the team members don't have much biking apparel (one doesn't even have a bike yet!), so Chris went through her gear and talked about what to look for and where to get it. It was very informative! In the photo below, Brenda's dad Bob and Chris's dad Gary are discussing the relative merits of different types of handlebars. Bob is also enjoying Chris's famous coffee cake, which she made just for the meeting. Yum!Then we went downstairs to the basement and talked more about the bikes themselves, including a big discussion of pedal types. We agreed that we will meet again after the snow melts to have Chris give us all a clinic on how to change a flat tire.Finally, we took a team photo for the Trek website. Pictured are Karen, Bob, Chris, Melissa, Amanda, LeeAnn, and Gary. Not pictured are Brenda (taking the photo!) and Sara, who couldn't make the meeting.We are all really looking forward to the Trek.... Go Kennewaldo All-Stars!

Thawing Out?

Today the weather warmed up considerably, almost hitting 50 degrees! The warm weather is causing a lot of thawing, so we headed out to scrape some of the ice off the driveway (which had turned to slush). The girls were eager to help.

In a burst of optimism, Emily got out her rake and tried to rake some of the grass that has started to peek through the snow.Soon the girls realized that there were some good puddles formed by the meltwater, so they abandoned their tools........and the splashing commenced!Everybody loves a good run through a puddle.

Crafty Girls

Ever since the valentine-making fiesta, Emily and Kate have been getting more interested in crafts. We put together an "art bin" with markers, construction paper, glue sticks, crayons, and safety scissors, and they have been interested in it more and more. Emily is a huge fan of the scissors (maybe because her sister isn't allowed to use them yet?), and one of her favorite things to do is cut paper into tiny pieces.

Kate really enjoys peeling and sticking stickers. Sometimes stickers are hard to get off the sheet, but Kate is pretty stubborn (okay very stubborn) and will work and work at it until she gets the one she wants. Brenda's Aunt Marilyn sent the girls some coloring books for Valentine's Day, and coloring has become a favorite pastime. They usually want one of their moms to color with them.The girls are actually pretty good at sharing the crayons and markers. We like the crafts because even though they can get messy at times, they help keep the kids occupied for a little while during these long winter days!

Connor Finally Gets a Bath

When we lived in Seattle and California we would give Connor a regular bath every week or two, even in winter. Here in Maine it isn't possible to give him an outside bath because of the cold temperatures, and we've avoided washing him in the bathtub because of the giant mess it would make.

Last weekend we saw an ad in the newspaper for a "coin-operated" dog wash, so today we tried it out. It was in Benton, a town just up the road from us.

The dog wash was great! You put money in just like a car wash, and you get aprons, a big tub, a warm water sprayer, and shampoo.We brought stepstools so the girls could help too, which they loved doing. They each had a brush and made sure that Connor got scrubbed and brushed pretty well (at least on one side).They even had a doggie blow dryer, which made Connor very fluffy!We got kind of wet but had a good time, and now we have a squeaky clean dog!

Sledding!

Today was a perfect day for sledding:  Sunny weather and fresh powder! Nana was babysitting the girls' cousins, and she brought them over to our house in the afternoon to go sledding down our driveway.

Kate missed the sledding because she was taking her nap, so Emily got the cousins all to herself! Emily loves playing with her cousins.Alana and Sebastian had some races down the hill. They were both really fast!Everyone had some good wipeouts. Lili tried to "snowboard" on the blue boat sled and had to bail out.Mama was inspired by the kids and she got her own real snowboard out. She didn't go down the driveway, but instead went down the yard and into the field. The powder was great!Emily's favorite was the inflatable two-person sled with Alana. We were amazed at the cousins' sledding skills. They rode the sleds like snowboards! They didn't complain about the cold either--you can really tell that they are Mainers.

When Emily got tired of walking back up the hill, she waited at the bottom for Sebastian to come down, and pounced on him! She loves wrestling with Sebastian, and he plays very nicely with her.After sledding it was time to go inside and warm up with popcorn and hot chocolate.What a fun time!

Kate and Jack

Today Kate spent some time cuddling with our cat Jack. Both of the girls really love to pet Jack, and sometimes (when we're not watching) carry him around like a sack of potatoes.

Jack is about twelve years old, and has been with Chris for a long time. He is a very gentle and loving cat. He tolerates a lot, even kisses from a two year old.We are lucky to have such a wise and gentle kitty as part of our family.

Bed Shopping

Emily is ready for a "big girl bed", so tonight after dinner we headed over to Fortin's to check out their sale items. Fortin's is a local family-owned furniture and appliance store just down the road from us.

Of course Emily wanted a bunk bed, but Mama said "No way."There were not a lot of people shopping at Fortin's on a Friday night, so we got plenty of attention. The sales manager, John, gave the girls little Serta stuffed sheep, which they immediately named Theodore (Emily's) and Bill (Kate's).The girls thought the mattress showroom was super cool. All those beds to play on!As you can see from the photo below, Kate insists on doing everything herself. She actually made it up onto this bed, believe it or not.It took all the girls' willpower not to jump on the beds, but they managed to behave very nicely. We'll probably go back tomorrow and actually buy a bed, which is too bad because bed shopping is really fun, and the girls would like to do it more!

CM vs WW Part 2: Snow Driving

This is Brenda again with another observation about the difference between Central Maine (CM) and the area where I grew up, Western Washington (WW). Everyone has seen the news videos of Seattle drivers sliding around and crashing into each other after a minor snowfall. I have had to defend my fellow WW'ers to many Mainers who wonder "What is wrong with those drivers?"  Here are four answers:

1. Population. There are many, many, more people on the roads in WW than in CM. When you have hundreds of thousands of cars in a small area, there are a lot more opportunities to get in a wreck.

2. Terrain. WW (especially Seattle) has a lot more hills than CM.

3. Type of Car. The proportion of four-wheel drive vehicles, or even front-wheel drive vehicles on the road in WW is much smaller than in CM.

4. And the biggest reason:  Road preparation. The photo below shows a typical plow/sander truck in CM.

Our town in CM has 8 of these trucks, and a population of 8,000 people, which means we have one truck for every 1,000 people. The city of Seattle has a population of approximately 600,000 and 27 of these trucks, which is a ratio of one truck for every 22,200 people. This means that when all those people in WW get in their rear-wheel drive cars and hit the hills after the snowstorm, the roads have usually not been plowed or sanded.

So that takes care of the roads, what about all the individual driveways? In CM the photo below is a common sight: a regular pickup truck with a plow mounted on it. If your driveway has any length at all, chances are that in CM you either have one of these trucks or you have the guy who owns it on speed dial.Snowblowers are another common sight. People put them on their tractor or riding lawnmower, or they just use walk-behind ones. These can clear a driveway pretty fast!And finally, there is the old-fashioned way to deal with snow:  Shovel it!

Portland Children's Museum

Today Brenda didn't have to go to work, so she took the kids down to Portland to the Children's Museum. It was the first time we'd been there, and Grandma & Grandpa L. decided to come along too.

The very first thing we tried was the "ball" room, which Emily loved. She really likes to play ball (rolling, bouncing, and throwing). They had some neat stuff like a compressed air fountain (below), that kept a beach ball spinning in the air.For some reason, Kate was extremely grumpy today. We couldn't figure out if she was just feeling under the weather, or if she is entering a "terrible two" stage. Luckily, there was a car to play in and Kate loves to drive.In the farming area, Emily learned how to milk a cow........while Kate practiced rolling and counting eggs.Both of the kids liked spinning the giant globe around.And of course the water table was a big hit. The girls love to splash and float water toys (what kid doesn't?). Emily especially liked to play near the top of the water area where it came out like a waterfall.We let the girls spend a lot of time playing in the water, because it seemed to be one of the only things that would keep Kate happy. Even Grandpa enjoyed it!The only other thing that really held Kate's interest was the tea party. There was a room showing japanese culture, with a pretend sushi set and a teapot with cups. Kate insisted on playing "tea party" for quite a while, and we all played along.It was nice to spend a day with Grandma & Grandpa, and to go somewhere we'd never been before.