Country Pumpkin

Nate was quite thrilled with the close encounters at the Country Pumpkin courtesy of spending 50 cents on 2 apples. Too bad he wasn't around when Mom and Dad had a barn full.

Mmmm...Beaters

Fishing

Kris and I went fishing at Big Hole Brook (next to the Irvings famed salmon camp) in Doaktown. The sea trout were running - here is our catch. The two big ones are sea trout and as much as I would like to say that I caught those, I have to give the credit to Kris. Kris hooked one that made these two look like sardines but it escaped about 2 feet away from the bank. Kris actually screamed like a girl (I am not joking) and then never shut up about the one that got away for the rest of the day. Funny how little brothers never actually stop being annoying...

The two smaller ones are brook trout and I caught the second one down from the top (Karson and I named him Pete). As puny as Pete looks, he is 8 inces long which isn't bad for a brook trout. I also caught some chub and a sucker (which are huge and tres disgusto-instead of lips they have a big sucker tube). I had a great time and as much as I wanted to land a sea trout, I was happy hooking anything plus I had an excuse to smoke some Colts (to keep the flies away fo course).

On the way home, we saw something I have never seen before-seven moose all in one spot. There were four cows and 3 calves in a swamp. It was pretty spectacular.

The Dog Days Of Summer

We all went in for our first dip this week. The water is 23 degrees right now but if we get a couple of warm days in a row it should hit 28 where it usually stays until September. Remember, the more people who swim in it the easier it is to keep clean!

Ella doing one of her famous jumps off of the diving board.

Smart Dog

Ella using the ladder in the deep end to get out of the pool.

Ella In The Pool

Swimming

First swim in our pool. He loved it and didn't cry at all.

Dirt Ball

Here I Come!

Sleepy

Hard Days Work

Crosby literally sleeping in her bowl.

Sweet Baby Boy

Scary Insect Man

Good Lord!

Update

Nathaniel is growing along so quickly it is amazing. He says "Mom-mom-mom" when he is upset and "Da-da-da-da" when he is happy...go figure! He points at everything now and makes some weird grunty sound like he wants to know what it is he is pointing at. He also recognizes certain words like the names of the dogs and a few "pet" names I have for Iain when I come home to a messy house. Obviously he is a linguistic genius. I totally expect him to skip the whole grade 1 thing.

Today he officially learned to crawl and we have been quite delighted to bait him around the house with toys because we get such a kick out of watching him go. He loves walking holding onto your hand and he cruises along the furniture. I can't believe that this time last year I was still pregnant. Glad that hellish experience is over with, especially with all this hot weather we have been having.

Speaking of hot weather, the pool is filling up as we speak so dig your suits out for a swim as early as this weekend.

Granny And Nate At The Camp

The Dudes

I can only hope that Iain's coolness rubs off on Nathaniel...

Eating Chicken And Rice