Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend began with a trip down to Wilmington, VT to visit my Dad. He owns a home on Mount Snow that he rents out to skiers in the wintertime. Normally, he inhabits it himself every Friday through Monday from April to October, just to get away from the city. This year because of the cancer treatments, Memorial Day weekend was his first trip up north. We felt blessed to share a day with him there.

Here's Grampy with his littlest grandchild:

My Dad warned me on the phone that he had lost a lot of weight since we last saw him. We were braced for the worst, but in fact he looked pretty darned good!

Me and Dad

Ed and Dad

Dad and my stepmother Lynn

Later in the weekend, Ed tilled the new garden and I was involved in a larger-than-life hosta relocation project. Elijah was happy to hang out with the "babysitter"...a.k.a. the tractor. He'd spend all day sitting on it and trying to work all the buttons and levers. The tractor, of course, is off and the key is removed-- so it's *kind of* safe.

Okay, not totally safe. If you look closely, you can see the tears on Elijah's cheeks that haven't dried yet. This picture was taken shortly after he slipped off the tractor seat and split his lip. Oops.

Ah, well. He recovers quickly:

Only 8 teaching days to go until Final Exams!

Just Pictures

Ten teaching days to go before final exams. We have been very busy and eagerly anticipating summer vacation. Got a taste of summer weather this week, even seeing some temperatures in the 80's! The lilacs and rhododendrons are in bloom, and they smell so sweet!

Here are a bunch of random shots of us enjoying after school sunshine. Yes, my child LIVES in that Old Navy ball cap!

Elijah has learned to climb the ladder to the clubhouse.

VERY proud of his accomplishment!

But...once he got up there, he had no idea how to get back down.

Hmmmm..............

Mommy to the rescue!
Back down with both feet on the ground!

Horsing around with Daddy on the floor.

On Sunday, Elijah's friend Dianna came over for a cookout. Elijah was enthralled by the idea of having someone else his same age in our house. This was his first playdate in our own home. What did they do?

Study their Math, of course!

Since that afternoon, Elijah has asked, "A na-na?" ("Where's Dianna?") literally a thousand times!

Off to visit my Dad in Wilmington tomorrow~

Happy Long Weekend!

Matt's Graduation Party

This afternoon, Susie and Dennis hosted a graduation party for Matt. Here are a bunch of photos from the day.

In the morning, the weather was quite nice. We decided to take advantage of a couple of free hours- I planted some flowers while Ed and Elijah mowed the lawn. Here's Eli, with his "John Deere" mower, a birthday present from Aunt Martha and Uncle Chris:

Around 11:00, we left the house. After stopping at Hannaford's for the dinner rolls and then Richmond Beverage for the keg, we arrived at Susie and Dennis' around noon. The weather had turned rainy by this point, so we did a lot of indoor visiting to begin with. Here's a picture of Matt's cake:

Matt and his Mom (Susie):
Lizzie and Lauren (before jumping into the pond in the pouring rain):

And after:
Elijah, Ed and Grammie:
Kim and Barrett Adams. They are expecting their first child (a boy) in mid-August:

The Graduate, and his trusty sidekick:
Ed and Elijah, getting a little stir-crazy:
Eventually the weather cleared for a bit and most people ventured outdoors. Dennis immediately became every little boy's hero when he gave them turns "driving" the excavator:There was also some basketball:Some people headed down to check out the pond:
Dave and Gene Adams, enjoying a break from the rain:
Two sisters make their way down to the pond:
With a third not far behind. No, Joanie is not carrying a rather large knife- it just looks like it. That's the strap from her camera case. But I'd stay on her good side, just in case!

I'm sorry that there were so many people at the party who managed to elude my camera, but we all had a fantastic time celebrating Matt's graduation from St. Mike's!