Indian Lake, Day One

We couldn't have asked for smoother travel from Portland to Albany. The girls were well behaved, the planes were pretty much on time, and we arrived safe, sane and sound.

The house we rented is great, except it doesn't provide quite the easy access to water we got used to at Bette's Place. There's a short but steep walk to the dock; but you can't really fish off the dock because of the vegetation. Then it's a considerably longer walk off the property to get to the beach.

But the beach is nice.

Everyone is getting along great, with the possible exception of Elizabeth and McKenna. They're fine -- not fighting, or anything -- but Elizabeth wants nothing more than to play with McKenna every minute of the day. McKenna, 11, is not as enthusiastic about having a five year old tag-along.

Suzanne scratching Joshua's back. Now that's luxury!

Barb and Elizabeth cuddling, very late at night. The girls stayed up crazy late on Saturday night, due to a mixture of time zone change and excitement. Suzanne had an epic meltdown, but oh well.

All the girls, save Aunt Mary, hanging out.

No, Barb didn't catch a fish. She was the first one to venture into the water, in order to free McKenna's snagged fishing line.

Uncle Mark brought his tackle box, and the girls put it to immediate use.

Running back home from the dock. Either the girls will get in shape hiking this distance multiple times a day, or Mom and Dad will, carrying them.

Suzanne dipping her toes, with Elizabeth's fishing pole in the fore.

Four Puppets and a Portraitist

Elizabeth decided to have the puppets sit for portraits. Here are the results:

Of course, Joey is #1. The first portrait, and, artistically, probably the best.

Oliver was problematic as a subject. A rooster, he had a hard time sitting still. Chickens are twitchy. Plus, the perspective on his beak was murder. Elizabeth admitted that he ended up in portrait looking "more like a duck."

Elizabeth was intimidated at the very thought of drawing Rusty. He is the most life-like.  He is also the puppet we play with the least, so she's "shy" (her word) around him. I think she knocked it out of the park with this portrait. She was disappointed in the results.

Good ole Clara. Joey's partner in silliness. A court jester, who is also the voice of wisdom and maturity within the Gang of Four. Elizabeth saw this photo and wanted to go back and add the pom-poms to her drawing of Clara's hat. I told her that it was great the way it was. She'll probably add the pom-poms tomorrow.

I also made a short documentary film of the portrait process, using my neighbor Brian's application Storymaker. It's meant mainly for amateur journalists in troubled areas (he goes to Libya and the Middle East a lot) to learn how to make competent new stories using their smart phones. But it's also good for moms and dads who want to cut a quick news-flavored documentary of their kids doing portraits of puppets, or whatever other awesome stuff kids do.

Stay tuned for the movie.

Smart Girl

Suzanne is very smart and very articulate. Tonight, upon observing the broken toilet paper dispenser, she suggested we could fix it with "tape and band aids."

She's two.

Suzanne and Grandma

Suzanne loved sitting next to Grandma tonight at dinner at the Barley Mill. When it came time for Grandma to leave, Suzanne at first insisted on going with her, then simply blocked her escape from the table.

Elizabeth Larrison, Esquire

Elizabeth is currently obsessed with having me tell her stories. She can be quite demanding, which makes me quite cranky. Tonight, she started asking for stories way before storytime. I firmly said no. So she feigned sleepiness, and suggested that because she needed an early bedtime, that would push storytime to right now. I identified her ruse and said I wasn't falling for it.

A short while later, Elizabeth suggested we have a talent contest.

"Great idea!" I said, thinking: Good job, Elizabeth; what a creative form of play.

"I'll draw," said Elizabeth. "Because I'm good at that. And you can tell stories, Dad, because that's your talent."

Flying Solo at Oaks Park

To give Barb some time to herself on the Saturday before Mother's Day, I took the kids to Oaks Park, our local amusementarium. It was Barb's suggestion, and I was not enthused about the idea of taking two little kids to a crowded amusement park on the (so-far) hottest day of the year.

Ugh.

But we had a great time! Elizabeth took good care of Suzanne, holding her hand so she wouldn't get lost, sharing treats, and just going out of her way to make sure Suzanne had a good time. (And, notably, not being upset by the fact that with only one parent and a two year old, we were restricted to the little kid rides.)

Because it was crowded, the lines for almost everything were long. So we didn't get to do as many rides as we'd have liked. But the girls got an Icee to share and an ice cream cone each (because I am an enabler, and they are sugar addicts).

I did something I thought I'd never do: played a carnival game (the squirt-gun/clown's mouth thing) and won a teddy bear for Elizabeth! Then failed twice to win a teddy bear for Suzanne.

All-in-all a great kick off to the summer!

Group Photos

It was a social day!*

The Swan boys (who live next door) have been out and about a lot, now that the weather is no longer wintry. They like our property for playing because they can run circuits around the house, which isn't practical at their place, due to gates.

We also went to Kai's first birthday party today*, and Elizabeth had a great time playing with Lily and her cousin Luke.

*This should have been posted a month ago. Due to technical difficulties, it's over thirty days delayed.