Maine Vacation

We've just had an amazing long weekend in Maine. We had planned this family vacation - Kevin, Sapphie and I, plus Penelope and Colin, and Hannah and Isaac - about 3 months ago. Brian was going to be in town so he came too! We had so much fun. We Wall sisters used to live in Maine, and we hadn't been back to Boothbay Harbor in over 20 years! It was just as beautiful as we remembered it, and some of our favorite places were still in business. Number one, the taffy shop, Downeast Candies, where they make homemade taffy the old fashion way and it just melts in your mouth. And number two, the popcorn place that makes so many flavors of popcorn!! Everything looked, smelled, and tasted exactly the same. Especially the ocean.It was so wonderful to be there with my sisters, and with Sapphie who really loves the ocean. It was really special to share the memories with our favorite boys, and watch them fall in love with the place. We've already planned to go next year, and will rent exactly the same house! It was such an amazing weekend and we left feeling sad to leave, but fully refreshed. Isaac has posted some of his fantastic photos on his blog. Here are some of my favorites that I took:

The ocean from our back yard

Walking to the beach

Sapphie playing in the sand
The guys taking in the ocean
Sapphie reading with Penelope
Walking with daddy to go on kayak!
First kayak ride
Playing at the beach, half naked
Saying goodbye to our wonderful spot

And, as usual, here are some more:

Marblehead

Last weekend, we went to Marblehead to visit the Manguals at their new house. We had such a blast!! Their house is absolutely beautiful, and I must admit we were a little jealous of how much space they have. One day, we'll buy a house and be able to renovate it just the way we want. For now, we'll have to go visit them more often. We've already invited ourselves for a week next summer!
Sapphie had so much fun at the beach, and with the kids. She really bonded with Julia and loved the ocean! We spent most of our time at the beach, and hanging out cooking. It was such a relaxing long weekend. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

With Daddy at the beach
Huge smile after she took a face plant in the sand

Bath time!! The three youngest took baths together every night.

On a walk with Julia

On her very first bikeride. She loved it and was so serious! We need to get her a bike.

And here are the rest!

My Office (by Kevin)

Do you ever have those days that you wonder why you are doing what you are doing? Maybe there is a better place to work? Maybe I should change careers completely?

And then there is something that brings you back to why you are doing what you are doing? Why you really do love your job, the people in the office or that commute for some?

I had one of those moments last week. Work has been crazy lately. The nights seems too late and the mornings come too early. Can't complain because I am gaining new business but that sometimes just brings that extra added stress. I sometimes daydream about Emma and I selling everything we got and packing up the family and move overseas and basically check out. Those daydreams are short lived and then something brings me back to Earth and I remember why I truly love my job.

The reality is regardless of the time of year I have one of the best offices in the State of Vermont from my windshield of my truck.

A couple pictures with my clients last week at Shelburne Farms. They seemed happy grazing and enjoying the view. Not a bad place to work or be a cow I must say.

Blog neglect

Yes, we've been neglecting our blog. The summer has been SO busy, and lots of fun. We went to New York for the 4th of July, we went to Colorado for a week, spent time at LaLa's and played with the baby chickens, and visited Nona and Grandpi in Walpole. We also picked a TON of blueberries, which Sapphie loves and still calls "bee-bees". Here are some pictures for you, but I haven't had time to write captions so you'll just have to guess where we were! We promise to write more soon!

Bee-Bee's!

Sapphie is crazy about strawberries. Our neighbor Becky has been bring us a quart everytime she goes to Pennsylvania, since April. Sapphie goes nuts when they get here. She starts yelling "bee-bee's" and then stuffs them in her face, green leaves and all. And, for the next 2 days, that's all she wants to eat. She comes in the kitchen yelling "bee-bee's", reaching up to the counter. It's so funny. Kevin and I couldn't wait to take her strawberry picking so she could see where these yummy berries come from. We did take her last year, but she was so little. I remember it was such a hot day and I didn't really think she knew what was going on. I was so hot. We lasted maybe 30 minutes. Well this Saturday, we had our chance to take her again. The forecast was 90 degrees, full sun. We decided to go to the Charlotte Berry Farm first thing in the morning, to beat the heat and the crowds.
What an excellent idea! We will make it a tradition. The weather was perfect. Low 80's, sunny, with a nice breeze. And, since we were there at 8am, we were practically the only ones there! It was a blast.

Sapphie picking berries with daddy

She went nuts. She stuffed her face.

Crouching down...what's in there?

Bee-bee's!

When she got tired, daddy put her in the back pack.

Look how many we got!!!

It was so fun. We can't wait to take her blueberry picking!!

Late Spring Pics

Here's a post with some sort of old photos. In April, Sapphie had a big month. She learned to walk!! And, she started becoming more independent. She really likes to feed herself, and not have any help from mummy! Also, she's been talking a lot and adding new words every day. She loves to organize the cupboard in the kitchen...it's so funny!

Enjoy the pictures, and the walking videos!

World Hunger (by Kevin)

It has been interesting to see the recent out pouring of support for agriculture in our society. Maybe the message is finally getting through to the public. I see more and more bumper stickers that tote pro-agriculture messages: "Buy Locally", "No Farms, No Food", "Got Milk", "Got Cheese", etc, etc.

We need to take a deeper look into what is going to happen in the coming years as our global population grows and where US agriculture fits into that picture. Here is a short video off of "You Tube" that I received today that is worth watching. Pay close attention to the facts and in a couple of days I will have a follow up post that gives you a closer perspective of agriculture in Vermont and the economic machine that the industry is in the great Green Mountain State.

One Hunger Planet

Let's educate ourselves about these practices before we criticize something we may not know anything about. You may find a great steward of the land he works and a sheppard to his livestock the next time you take a minute to talk to a farmer.

Being a steward and a sheppard sounds pretty nice.