Finally finished

While on our East Coast trip, I was able to finish a project I've been working on since February. Yes, really. Of course I haven't been consistently working on it that long, there were a few points where I made mistakes and had to rip them out and then take a break for a while. But, here it is, blocked and complete. It was a challenge for me, for sure, but I learned a lot about lace knitting so that's a win. The pattern is Follow Your Arrow by Ysolda and it had a choose your own adventure aspect to it that was really fun. 

Hmm...what to knit next?

Wild things

        Brixton had a Wild Things themed birthday party. My mom made tons of amazing decorations, including the front door sign and the Max cut-out. Unity helped a lot with the art and made each kid a decorated name tag.
 The highlight of the party for me was Brixton reading the book to all his friends- he was really proud and it was sweet how they all settled down to listen. We had a good collection of people from many areas of our life-it was fun to get them all together for a rumpus.

Family time

My parents just left and we already miss them so much. We had such a great visit with lots of reading and drawing and just hanging out with the grandparents. 

Brixton was able to share his new reading skills and we continued the family tradition of marking his height on the wall. Chris forgot what year it was so it's a little messy but it's still there- man, they grow!

We stumbled across a collection of antique fire engines in Ballard and the owner was nice enough to give us a tour of his warehouse. It was pretty amazing to see the old engines and all in pristine condition.

We are so thankful that they got to help us celebrate Brixton's birthday and we are looking forward to the next time when we can be together again.

Happy Birthday Brixton!

This guy. Our superhero storyteller. Our dynamic drummer. Our builder of towers, our all day snuggler. And, he's five. Happy Birthday Brixton Marcel.

This guy

This guy.

Comes to see us when he has a few days free.

Is endlessly patient when the kids use him as a climbing gym.

Kicks the ball, plays the drums, is up for all the games.

How lucky are they, to have such a super great Uncle?

Photo taken by the 11 year old. 

On our long journey home, we made a couple of stops. In New Hampshire we were able to see Chris's cousin Marcia and her family. (No pictures, sorry, I was sadly negligent during our visit.) We were also able to see my college friend Emily and her kids who live in the same town as Marcia. Emily and her family took us to a beautiful lake where the kids were able to play in the sand despite the chilly Atlantic Northeast temperatures. 

The next day we drove to Boston where we were able to have dinner with a bunch of Chris's college friends. It's fun to see that connections made over small things many years ago can endure, despite age and change and distance. 

There were lots more people we wanted to see but the timing and distances didn't work out so sadly we'll have to save those visits for the next trip. 

Vermont

Billings Farm

 

While in Vermont, we were able to visit the Billings Farm Museum. The kids enjoyed seeing some of the farm animals up close, although Brixton walked into the milking barn, took one look at the rows of cow backsides, and promptly ran out. I don't blame him, it was rather pungent. They liked the horse though, and the sheep and chickens. It was also interesting to see the displays of old tools and read about what life was like for Vermont farmers of days gone by. 

Woodstock

Greetings from Woodstock, which is charming as ever. The town is like a little storybook village that has barely changed since the 1960s at the latest. We have been enjoying our strolls through town and exploring the area, as well as hanging out with Grandma Ann.

Vermont is the color of Chris's childhood and he loves telling the kids his stories of this place, of dropping off the rope swing into the river, of the route he took when delivering the local paper. It's very different from how we live now, but it's nice for them to get a sense of another kind of life.

So, our weekend was pretty good. We had the last day of swim lessons. The kids have both made big improvements in this area over the summer. Brixton even moved up a level! 

Sunday morning we went to Meeting, and afterwards we had an orientation for the First Day school program that is starting up now. I'm on the committee that organizes the curricula and the volunteer teachers, so this is one of my big projects for the year. It's fun to see it getting started and to have some of that new year energy.

Unity also had a birthday party to attend, and then we went to a coming-of-age gathering for a teen from the Meeting. This teen is very sweet with my kids and they treat her like a celebrity, jumping all over themselves to spend time with her. It was very nice to attending her gathering and hear some wonderful ministry about growing up and the impact that she's had on the people around her. Very inspirational. 

1st day, last year of Pre-K

1st day, 2nd grade