Busy busy busy...!

We have had a busy late-winter-early-spring. With slightly more than 50 student days remaining in our school year, we are anxiously anticipating the "lazy days" of summer!

Here are a bunch of pictures with captions, in no particular chronological order:

Last weekend, Ed went to Richmond to hang out with Matt, who spent his Spring Break week housesitting/dogsitting for his Mom & Dennis, and (of course) maple sugaring. It was a nearly perfect sugaring week, and he was BUSY!

Elijah, enjoying some outside time at home:He is CRAZY about Ed's tractor:
We walked up through the woods to visit our neighbors, Jim Ellsworth and Mary Spaulding. . They have a large (by my standards) sugaring operation, and with syrup selling for $50 a gallon this year, were happy to boil late into the night. We were treated some yummy donuts with warm maple syrup for dipping.

One lovely day, Ed, Elijah, Zoe and I went for a walk on the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail. We parked at Green's Corner Cemetery to check the status of the Isaac Lackey stone that Ed had repaired back in the very early Fall. Sadly, it had fallen over again and was broken.

We mostly pushed Elijah in the stroller, but let him out to walk the last 1/2 mile. I love this picture...
Post-bath fun. This picture was preceded by several naked-bum photos. But I hope someday Elijah will be able to enjoy this blog and the chronicle of his growing up. I hate to think he'd be embarrassed by naked-bum pictures so I opted not to post them.

Some shots from our trip to RI last month. My sisters (L-R) Leslee, Carole and Paula:Nana, and 3 of her 4 grandchildren:
Paula and Kyle, Mike and Sarah:
Leslee and Sarah (the reigning only grandDAUGHTER...for now!):

On the way to RI, we met my friend Jen for lunch and some exercise on the playground. This is her 4-year-old daughter, Maya:

Jen and Maya:

My child immediately fell into a muddy quagmire, which didn't seem to bother him much:I've known Jen since we were little girls, and her daughter is the spitting image on the Jen I was friends with as a child:

One Saturday night we met up with the Garrow family at Jeffersonville Pizza Department, a casual dining spot upstairs from a nicer restaurant. Elijah loved to peer down at the diners below, which I thought was funny.
...Until Ed realized that there was a table IMMEDIATELY beneath where Elijah was standing. He mentioned how mortifying it would be if Elijah accidentally dropped one of his sneakers into their entree...

And finally...Our first bird visitors of the year. Funny, we leave our bird feeders up all winter and not a single bird comes (even though we have plenty of chickadees, nuthatches and goldfinches around our property all winter long). These two Pine Siskins (along with one other male) have been the only visitors so far:

Aunt Eleanor has been on our minds a lot, and we are hoping she recovers quickly from her very scary fall and subsequent surgery. We appreciate that Joanie and Mary have been keeping us updated on her condition, and hope that Uncle Jake is holding up well.

My Dad is finally home from the hospital and is on the road to recovery. He is still in a great deal of pain, but is receiving some excellent care from my sisters and his visiting nurse.

My nephew Brandon (11) goes into Boston Childrens' Hospital for a colonoscopy tomorrow. The doctors are still searching for the best course of treatment for his Crohn's Disease. Today he has to fast...NOT fun. Good luck, Brandon. Hope all goes well tomorrow!