Fast August!

Wheh! August has flown by. Yesterday, we celebrated Aksel's 6th birthday with a Pirate Pool Party. After a 40 minute serious fret session because the chlorine levels were "off" in the pool and swimming was not permitted, we finally opened the floodgates and the many bodies leapt in squealing with glee. We had to entertain 14 small sweaty bodies on the pool deck, and I've never been so happy that I overpurchased for a birthday party. I bought a pirate pinata, and that filled a good 25 minutes.

Today the boys are taking their second piano lesson with Mr. Perez. He's a great teacher: encouraging Lachen's diligent work ethic and managing Aksel's exuberance. And, we inherited an old St. Mark's piano, so now the boys can actually learn a thing or two about dynamics.

Our friends from Minnesota Mike and Amy are coming into town tonight. Shawn's charge today is to find a good restaurant in Boston--no easy task because there are so many to choose from. Signe Jordet came for a visit last weekend. She blended right into our family and before the first day was over, the boys had hauled her upstairs to see their latest set-ups. Shawn and I enjoyed an amazing meal in south Boston with John and Christine: Shawn had seared tuna and I relished a blackened salmon. Ah, the seafood! Still, it may be time for school to start to keep us out of the restaurants. 'Taint free!

Shawn closed out his softball season with a dignified 2nd place finish. The best part of the game is the after-game time. The sons of the players have had endless fun running the bases and racing around the outfield with all the other little boys while the Gravediggers enjoy their 10th inning in a cool can. It's a good crew of people: some who have lived in Southborough for generations, others transplants from the Midwest.

Along with the pool party pictures, I added a shot of the boys at Grandma and Grandpa Reid's house where they had a joint birthday party with their Reid cousins and family. Fun times!

A Glorious Steamy Summer Night Under the Covers

If you read the title of this post and expect some sultry tale, I'm sorry to disappoint. Instead, let me explain. Today was a glorious, humid, HOT summer day. My favorite. Just working in the kitchen and lazy hand weeding my garden produced rivulets of sweat. Now this is summer. I love it. I went on a long run while my boys played baseball. I took a shower, and tossed a flowy sundress over my head. Still sweating, but who cares?!? It's summer! Glory! And then, my boys came home.

Finding it WAY too hot and sticky in the house, on went the air conditioners. We have two window units: one in the living room and one in our bedroom. Now, with Lachen and Aksel on pallets on our floor, a fan blowing, and the AC on full blast, I'M FREEZING! So, I'm literally under the down comforter while the three boys around me are laying shirtless on top of their covers. They're all hot. I just don't get it. All winter long, my extremities are frozen and numb, and for once the world around me is warm and moist, and I'm still cold. Maybe I should go and sleep on the couch. The hot, scratchy couch. Ahhh...

Except, I can't. Today was Aksel's 6th birthday, and I promised him that I'd nuzzle him tonight. He had a great day full of foods of his choosing (hotdogs, sauerkraut, soft buns--that is, not Mama's homemade crusty rolls--and carrots from our garden for dinner, lemon meringue pie and cookies & cream ice cream for dessert). His best friend came over to play all afternoon, and we wrote out the invitations to his Pirate Pool Party to be held later this month. It's good to be 6.

Excuse me while I find my wool socks.

Meandering through the Midwest

We left the endless rain of Massachusetts at the end of June, and now we're crashing at a long litany of homes. We're squatters, except that the homeowners know we're staying, so I guess not so much squatters as family members who show up on the doorstep with bags in hand.

We've had time at the cabin, time at both grandparents, a trip to Como Park Zoo, 4th of July with the toddler cousins, I co-hosted a shower with Jessa for our cousin Lindsay in Des Moines, and I quilted a quilt top. We've been eating endless quantities of fresh food from everyone's garden and CSA's. This black dirt does do a fine job with the veggies. Broccoli cones, anyone? Lachen and Aksel like to cut broccoli and chomp it down right in the garden. It is my bliss! I'm still luxuriating in a radish, mint, orange, and red onion salad from the Mittmans. Wow.

Constanza goes back to Argentina next Thursday, so Pops gave her an airplane ride today. She was ecstatic. Hopefully I can get one last Yerba Mate session in with her before we part ways :(

Lots of biking, lots of swimming, lots of visiting new babies (and their parents). So many great times! These are mostly cabin photos, but I'll post some urban ones eventually too.

Upcoming events include the Honor the Earth Pow-Wow, a Reid family picnic, great grandparent visits, a trip to St. Peter, Midtown Market and Mai Village in the Cities, moving Jessa and Eric into their new castle--I mean, house--and the arrival of Mary and Patrick's baby (due on July 4th. I was so hoping she'd deliver on my birthday, but no such luck.)

I hope you're all enjoying your July as much as we are! I just love summer.

A Visit with Gramma, Jac, and Brian

Less than two hours from our house, we can drive to the Connecticut coast to Auntie Jac and Uncle Brian's house. The boys displayed their competitive vigor in endless games of Sorry! and backyard games. We took a private tour of the Thimble Islands. Fun facts: The late 17th century pirate Captain Kidd buried treasure on these islands and they are names for thimbleberries (black raspberries). Lachen and Aksel scored great pirate hats and an "official" pirate map. Gramma Margie and Shawn scored authentic pirate beer. Despite a bit of drizzle, it was a great tour and the boys' favorite part of the trip.

We also sampled carnival rides at the Branford Festival. Shawn and I are now both too old for carnival rides. Aksel loves them, Lachen in his youthful wisdom already knows better. A seafood feast at Lenny's rounded out our evening, and with bellies full of clams, crab legs, and Maine salmon, we all slept soundly amidst the myriad of antique treasures at Jac and Brian's.

We strolled down the street to the ocean Sunday morning, and the boys each found shells to treasure. Then, well armed with maps and well fed with homemade baked goods (Thanks, Brian!) we explored the Yale University campus in New Haven. The ice rink is shaped like a whale, but its under renovation, so we'll have to tour it later in the year. After strolling around turreted buildings, grabbing some New York-style slices, and soaking up some erudite air, we headed home for a couple days before the trek westward for our Midwestern July.

We're so glad that we didn't take off for Wisconsin before Gramma arrived on the East Coast. I know of no other little boys with such a jet-setting great-grandmother. Lots of great memories made and no less than 10,000 calories consumed. We Hembergers do know how to eat!

Top of the Order: Laaaachhhhen Reeeeeid!

Lachen's on the home stretch of his baseball season. Enjoy these summertime shots!

Summer Bliss

So it's only the first day of summer vacation, and already I have started two new projects, found a new book to read (Free Range Kids), and I've baked my family's favorite chocolate chip banana bread, harvested lettuce and basil for a dinner salad, and caught tadpoles and crayfish with my boys. Here's the pattern. Mine will have some gathering and piping, so it's a bit fancier than the one shown here. It'll be a diaper bag for Mary.
Mary, her bun in the oven, and I went to Crafty Planet in Northeast Minneapolis over the weekend. I'm currently sporting their t-shirt. Seriously, how can there not be funky textile stores in my nearby vicinity? It's craziness. I am on the verge of opening my own store because there's such a blight of fabric stores and yarn shops in Massachusetts. I am going on a pilgrimage to the Stitch House in Dorchester later this week. It's my only hope. If not, it's time to replenish my stash at the Tangled Skein.

An exciting morning with the local wildlife

For those of you who have visited us, you know that we live near two ponds and we're surrounded by some serious wooded areas. It's great for exploring, finding wildflowers, crayfish, and tadpoles. We have mallards and Canadian geese. My neighbor was really worried about the fisher cat prowling in her trees. (They have inwardly turned teeth, like a shark. They're know to be vicious.) Basically, there 's just a lot of wildlife. So, it should not have surprised us when we can upon a HUGE turtle in the garden this morning on the way to the bus stop. (The photo with Aksel's profile in deceptive. This is a big turtle.) It had traveled through my garden crushing corn, upturning Swiss chard, burying lettuce, wreaking havoc on my burgeoning beets. Admittedly, I was concerned about my vegetables. When a huge turtle travels through, he does not tread lightly. And, from our many trips to the Minnesota Zoo, we all know that they feed the turtles salad. Loose leaf lettuce to be precise.
So, I indignantly grabbed Shawn's big work gloves, and I did pause for a moment looking at the gigantic crocodile-like tail, the huge head, and claws. During that pause, one of the trusty St. Mark's maintentance guys came by. "Oh yeah! She lays her eggs right there every year!"

WHAT? She's laying eggs?!? Suddenly, I'm feeling maternal solidarity with this heaving beast who traveled up a long and steep hill to lay her eggs. And look at the great lettuce just waiting for the babies when they hatch! What a good turtle mom. The shuddering, eye-rolling repulsion left. I left her there. She destroyed my garden. But, this is what mothers do.

This next part I only tell you because it is in the past and danger was indeed averted. This is a snapping turtle, and they are known to be very fast. They can snap at anything touching any part of their bodies except the tail. Aksel needed to pet the turtle on the shell and tail before school... I'M SORRY! He survived, but seriously. We narrowly avoid a turtle bite?!?

Signing off from Animal Kingdom,
Anna