summer fun

My mom was just here for a nice long visit between moving out of one Manhattan apartment and into another. We did all kinds of fun stuff, starting with the Co*mo Zoo and Como*to*wn.



They have an amazing butterfly exhibit right now.






By strange coincedence, Sparky the S*eal died two days after I took this picture.


We took our time, ate a nice lunch, and then Omie treated us to a trip on a sternwh*eeler boat down the Mississippi.



It was the first time in their conscious memory that they'd been on a boat, which they'd been asking about forever. Ollie now claims that Omie will take him on a submarine someday. I've tried to emphasize that a subway is more likely, but he's not entirely convinced his dream will never happen. We'll have to straighten this out in November, when we go to New York for Thanksgiving (and see the new apartment!),





The next evening, Grandma and Grandpa came over. (Sorry, Steve --I got no good pics of you that day).


The front yard is a popular place these days.

Here the boys are "making a map", mostly out of the contencts of their nature basket, which is filled with items from our walks.




No*ah scoots himself along like this by raising and lowering his rear.


Trike jam.






Shucks.


This was the view from our front steps on National Night Out, a block party night where the streets get blocked off. It was very well attended, and the kids loved the visiting fire truck and being able to run in the street.







2 Sunds*seths on a log at Minne*haha Creek, a creek near our house that feeds into the Missi*ssippi. In a few days, we're heading up to It*asca State Park to camp and wade in the headwaters of the Mississippi.


Totally random picture- but I love it because I love how the boys will sit quietly and draw or read books together. They also do their share of wrestling and hollering, but they seem to enjoy finding some peaceful moments together these days.




"Look, Mama! For our nature basket!"

We went on a summer hike to the wildflower garden with my mom too. A few weeks earlier, Joe*l and I and the boys went to the Quak*ing Tama*rack Bog in the same park, and Ollie fell into the muck. He was completely submurged, and I pulled him out by his arm - kind of scary, because what if we hadn't seen him fall in? It was much deeper than it looked, and he can't swim. But he was ok, if sputtering. Ollie has a great attitude, and being carried back to the car in just my sweatshirt he was already saying, "that wasn't funny at the time, but it's kind of funny to think about now!" I was still pulling muck out of his ears and hair a couple of days later.



Wishing you just a little more time to run around in the sunshine!

we are four: everything is hilarious

--including carrots, apparently. You never do know for sure what's coming when you tug on those green carrot tops - could be 7 inches long, or one. This simple fact caused so much laughter picking carrots this afternoon that they were crying.

This about sums up where we're at right now - much enthusiasm for life, much wonder, much silliness and boisterousness. I have a lot of photos to catch up on, but that will have to wait for another day.

I do want to say that we came waaaaay too close to a tornado that hit Minneapolis yesterday. The boys and I were coming back from their piano lessons in our station wagon, and a tornado hit on one side of the highway we were on (94, by 35 W and right near where it hit the Elect*c Fet*s Music Store), then bounced down again on the other side of the convention center, 2 blocks the other side of us. And we were oblivious to the reason for the big sheets of rain and greenish sky until we heard on the radio where a tornado had touched down just before, when we'd been stuck in traffic. Only then did the sirens go off. About 40 houses were damaged in S. Minneapolis, some pretty badly, and many trees were uprooted or snapped off.

There's debris everywhere in some places, and power was out to 7300 people, but not a twig was out of place on our block or the one where Jo*el's parents live. Me*agan and Phil's block was hit, though - but they and their building are OK. Tornados are very strange that way - leaving devestation or major damage in one place, and not touching another. Other tornados touched down in a suburb and in nearby Wisconsin. But no-one was hurt, and I'm sure some people were at least brought together in the community spirit I love my city for, so I'm counting my and our blessings. I hope you have many to count this summer as well.

We're positively drowning in vegetables - canning, eating as fast as we can, freezing, and giving some away and to the food shelf. It's been strange weather, but a good growing year nonetheless--I honestly don't know how this cold summer with feast-or-famine precipitation ended up being my best tomato year ever, especially for those big, meaty heirlooms we wait all year for. Will try to catch up with more pictures (including of my mom's visit a couple of weeks ago) soon.

outside

On the 4th of July, illegal fireworks in our neck of the woods (and their attendant noise and air pollution) go off in every direction. We took a peaceful walk in a nearby bird sanctuary and garden and wore the boys out, and thankfully, it worked: they slept right through explosions 2-dozen feet from their heads.







The boys are still fearless climbers, but they're also good at it.







Earlier that day, we also stopped by the children's garden that is run by their school, because it was our "week" to caretake the garden. I was so impressed by what we found there. We watered, weeded, and composted.



There are edible herbs, a "shiny things sculpture", and "hopping stones" so the kids can get right in the middle of everything.







This hangs in the garden to give parents and kids a little inspiration:







It's kind of hard to see in the pictures, but the childrens' painted rocks line all the garden beds:


The "secrets box", as the boys call it. (Click on the photo to read the text):


The logs are used like blocks, for looking at the bugs underneath them, and for making the outlines of "houses", among other things.





As I've mentioned before, the boys have their own garden this year, but they enjoy almost every part of our yard. How kids enjoy outdoor space is something that really interests me, and how we use our small space is always evolving. I try to make sure they have some hiding spaces that are private and cozy, because I loved those as a child. I have such fond memories of playing outside alone or with my brother as a child, and what all my favorite places--our backyard in NY, my grandmother's beautiful garden, the tiny patch of woods near our house in California-- had in common was a combination of openness and privacy, formality and wildness, the ability to notice tiny things and also move my muscles and use my strength. I am happy that this is possible even in our own small yard, as the boys hide behind the raspberries or under the spirea bushes, then launch themselves off of their play structure onto a giant plastic ball and vault onto the lawn. Sometimes, they run circles through the front garden and around the crabapple tree, then roll down the hill onto the sidewalk, stopping to look intently at an anthill for several minutes. They have some ownership over being able to grow things in their own space. To help them to be able to observe something of the natural world, we have several bird feeders and pay close attention to the insect life in our yard. Both boys can tell a weed from a vegetable, and will pull pig weed, crabgrass, and clover for the chickens to eat. They can dig in the dirt, and forage, and just generally play in a natural, spontaneous way. Sometimes, I'm right in there with them, and we do quite a bit of talking about it all, but more often I'm doing my own yard work near their play, or even making dinner and glancing out the back window on occasion.

The preschool garden gave me so much inspiration, and gratitude that we've found a school that values some of the same things that we particularly value. The preschool garden is an even smaller space than our backyard, and yet it is such a magical space. Perhaps the boys and I will do some rock painting this summer, or make a "shiny things sculpture" to keep the birds off of our raspberries, or build a bridge out of a plank and some firewood. Perhaps next year we'll put an herb garden in the boulevard and, as I've seen in other neighborhoods and we are doing at church, put up a little sign offering some of our bounty to any neighbors who want to take some. The possibilities are endless, right in our own yard.

jam(ming)

Oh, their conversations are funny sometimes, and they don't even know it half the time.

No*ah: "Look, Ollie! A cemetery! People who died!"
Oli*ver: "That's where they compost the dead people."
Noa*h: "Yeah."

But even I have trouble being amused at times. For instance, one of the benefits of 4-year-old twinhood seems to be a "right" to know what the other twin is doing in the restroom, a "right" neither boys ever questions. That's not a terribly big deal at home, but it means that in public restrooms, the other women in there get to hear some variation on this:

"Hey Ollie: what're you doin" in there?"
"Jus" a peepee. What're you doing? Are ya doin' a poopy?"
"No. I did a poopy this morning when Daddy was in the shower. But I flushed it, and I wiped."
"I always wipe, but I'm just doin' a peepee. Sometimes I forget to wash my hands."
"Yeah, me too. I'm doing a biiiiig peepee. I'm gonna fill the whole toilet, I think."
Giggle, giggle. "Yeah! Me too! I'm gonna make a flood!"

And so on, while I'm standing there red-faced, hissing "Boys! Stop right now, please - that's not a polite conversation!"
Later, I remind a boy to wash his hands, and (No*ah) says, "Mama! That's not a polite conversation!" Sigh.

This afternoon, I was really tired, and took a short rest during "Quiet Time". When I got up, both boys were still in their rooms, but someone must've gotten up, because I found this on the counter:



My mother will probably appreciate this, and who can blame her? When I was about the same age, I once spread a pound of butter over the entire top of the kitchen table. Actually, she probably thinks I got off easy. Noah later asked me if I liked his "sculpture". What, is sculpting with butter just something that happens to you when you live here?



Among other places (more pics to come soon), we went to a Whi*sle Pigs concert at the bandshell last weekend. One of the blue-grass fiddlers and singers is "Mr. Chris", the Pied Piper of our church. He leads the little kids in praise songs and hymns before Sunday School. As you can see, No*ah is quite enamored with Mr.. Chris and his many talents.



Ollie was more into the dancing.



Is that boy not the wildest dancer? I love watching their sheer joy in movement.

The boys and I did some jam-making and canning the other day.













We have 20 jars of jam prepared from the strawberries we picked on a church outing, as well as some of our own raspberries.



We took a school bus out to a lovely farm and picked 10 gallons of berries on a perfect evening.



We are, of course, enjoying the many delights of the garden. The boys have their own beans, zinneas and squash going this year, as well as their own patch of raspberries. The cukes and tomatoes have fruit, we're saying goodbye to the peas and lettuce right now, and the potatoes are almost ready. This weekend, Joel is taking the boys to a church camp with some other families, and I will have the house to myself for a couple of days. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself besides missing my family every minute and sitting around bored out of my skull.

And if you believed that last sentence, you don't know me very well!

family time

I found out today that in addition to my promotion going through, my work hours will change so I can work longer days and have all Fridays off after next week. It's about the 1st time in our 9-year marriage that Joel and I will consistently have even one entire same day off. Yeah!

camping

Jo*el and I took the boys camping nearby this past weekend. The boys were a lot more help than in years past.



Daddy made pancakes and served as marshmallow-blower-outer.







We also visited an exhibit farm. It was very well done, with lots of very hands-on examples of sustainable agriculture. The guides were all very sweet and articulate kids. We enjoyed it SO much more than the "farm" at the MN Z*oo.


The boys were pretty interested in getting to feel what the inside of a milking machine feels like on your finger. Ol*iver later called it a "nippler" - always with the made up words, that boy.









We also got an up-close view of some swallows whose parents were NOT happy with us.



The boys also picked strawberries and peas, and saw a chicken tractor (movable chicken coop), but the hay bale was probably their favorite thing of all.





Watermelon!





Grandma and grandpa, as well as as relatives Chris and Katherine from California came up for the evening on Saturday. We had a delicious meal, and a very nice time visiting.



The boys were completely wiped out by this point, but still enjoyed the marshmallows and good company.



The next morning was Father's Day, and the boys gave daddy some cards they'd made at camp.



They've actually been kind of sick with colds, and were pretty miserable that morning. N had a fever here. It's interesting that while he usually runs to me for hugs and kisses when he has an "owie" and is more likely to miss me, he only ever lets J walk around holding him like this. N tends to get kind of overwrought and then starts acting out, but J can usually just walk around holding him and he calms down. He will not let me do that at all.



This boy, on the other hand, would sleep next to me, come to work with me, and pretty much hang out with me 24/7 if permitted. Every morning, he follows me around saying, "Mama, I don''t want you to go to work!" When I get home, he gets a huge grin and usually comes running for a cuddle.



Today was SO hot - well into the 90's and humid to boot. J got the air conditioners in, but the boys thought that a sprinkler was an even better way to cool off.