We had a pretty awesome summer. The weather was AMAZING in every sense. It really could not have been a better VT summer. We were so thoroughly spoiled that I have even enjoyed some of these cold grey fall days. I certainly did not accomplish everything on my list, but it shows me that we really did A LOT.
Here is what we checked off:
And here is what I did not get to, plus some new fall ideas:
And these will have to wait for next summer:
We met friends for our first “Corn Maze” experience; a lot harder than you would think! It took us two tries, but we had tons of fun and finally made it out.
We also joined the Wells and friends for their annual cider making extravaganza ;-) So much fun! This is Joseph’s third attendance (we missed last year) so he has a lot of experience, but it was surprising for me that he could actually help!
The young crowd inspired some apple bobbing, which is (like the corn maze) harder than you might think. Maybe I just need to practice my fall sports more.
Joseph sure had fun playing with all the pretty ladies.
The kitties get a lot of love from Joseph, though I am not sure if they really enjoy all the pirate dancing. We only have Bixby, the black one left at home. It was very, very hard to let them go--of course I KNOW that we couldn’t have seven full grown cats at home it was still so hard.
Joseph helping to make Xmas pickles.
Bob reading J his bedtime book
Shoreham Farm and Field Days, with new Shoreham resident, Grandpa (Fred), and Uncle Mike.
Spiderman explores
Family visit, on a beautiful day, to Grandma and Grandpa’s new place in Shoreham. We LOVE it and are beyond happy that things (finally—their Bristol house was on the marked for over 2 years) worked out so well. For the first time they get to have the horses home!
I never am able to put as much time into the garden and preserving as I would like, but every year (this is my third year with a garden) I learn a bit more. It sure is fun!
I made a couple zillion batches of zucchini bread and froze a lot of it.
Clearly zucchini and green peppers are what I have the most of. I made two batches of zucchini relish and even had fun fooling with the recipe the second time (by adding mustard).
I also made salsa for the first time. I actually made it too spicy for Joseph, but I figured out a fun way to use it. Now I put half a jar into my meatloaf (plus cornmeal instead of breadcrumbs) and, TADA, a yummy, extremely quick dinner, with veggies, that J will eat!! Win, win.
My favorite experiment so far has been zucchini and summer squash pickles, using a recipe from Debbie (thank you!!). I throw in lots of green peppers from the garden too, and then purchased onions and red peppers. I think it is beautiful and yummy! Summer in a jar.
Also, with absolutely nothing from the garden, today Joseph and I had fun concocting and devouring these Halloween treats (idea, much more nicely executed from here):
The weather has cooled, the leaves are changing, apples and pumpkins are everywhere, and there is lots of talk of Halloween. It’s a new school year for Joseph and I. It is fall! Actually, the short days and chill seem to be more of an adjustment for me this year since we were soooo spoiled with the amazing summer weather. Anyways, here are photos from September: (in some sort of strange computer order that I am too lazy to fix).
Lots of dress up fun. He had to try his skates on!
Craft night!
Uncle Mark’s Birthday get-together:
We continue to LOVE story time at the library. Reading here with buds Ethan and Hadley.
Picking raspberries (nice moment before he got crabby and dumped them all)
Painting pumpkins—he really enjoyed this
Lately J has been into taking his own pictures.
More dress up
We really enjoyed attending a big Bergevin Party, the first one since Joseph was born. I didn’t take many pictures since there were so many people to catch up with! J had lots of fun meeting bunches of second cousins. Hopefully we will see them all a little more often now!
The kitties are 7 weeks old now and STILL nursing. They seem almost as big as Margot. I think it is pretty funny that my kitty and I both practice extended nursing ;-)
Soccer duds from cousin Troy
This was our last beach day of the year
We had a wonderful visit with old (as in from my childhood, not aged) friends Jenna, Michele, Debbie, and Bill! The lego set Debbie and Bill gave Joseph has been such a huge hit. That day Jenna revealed her skills. Just today he played with it for about 2 hours (which is very, very unusual for a toy to entertain him for so long)!
Lots of family and cousin fun! After our last get-together at grandma and grandpa’s Bristol house (pics of the beautiful and much closer Shoreham homestead to come!!! YAYYYY) we had some fun at our house.
Fire, s’mores, and stargaizing ;-)
And a fun little hike with Jordyn and Jason to Silver Lake and our last dip of the year.
Happy fall everyone!
