Jeff’s replacement wife

So, we’re off this afternoon.  Off the the bliss of Bear Lake for nearly a month.  Ahhhh, I really can’t wait!  Still miles of stuff to do in the next few hours before leavening….and then there’s trying to survive the 5 plus hour plane ride with three kids alone.  It might be h-e- double tooth picks for me…..but once we’re there, we’re there and my whole soul can relax.  family around, no computer (my kids have remarked several times about how excited they are for me not to have a computer….sad), beauty, dryness, no rain, sunshine (not to make all you Bostonians jealous or anything).  Man, am I excited.

Poor Jeff is being left here for a three day holiday weekend alone.  Luckily, just this week he bought this here motorcycle (i know, VEERRRRY DANGEROUS)….but, as Jeff explained to me, he needs some danger in his mid-life life.  And, although I’ve DRAGGED my feet about this whole motorcycle idea, there’s nothing greater than the smile he had on his face as he walked in the door after making the craigslist purchase.  

messy baby

What happened to my nice clean baby? Oh yeah, I started her on solids. I do miss that clean little sweet smelling breast feeding thing.....but I think we'll still keep her, broccoli mouth and all. It's around this time of babyhood that I wish with all my heart I had a dog to eat up all these scraps.

Luckily I have two little kids who either eat her mess off the ground or recycle it back up onto her tray. It's great. Very hygenic. I should be mother of the year.

And they provide her with great dinner time entertainment.

tinker toys

Thank goodness for legos and tinker toys. I think their passion for these things comes from the smart Shumway genes. Tinkering is Jeff's thing. I think it does their little brains good, and it certainly makes me happy.......I love how much it occupies them for so long, leaving me time to get stuff done, and I love seeing the things they create, what their minds come up with....how different they are from each other. Charlie is always building vehicles and machines, Hazel is always creating art.

Little K preview

This is the second time that I’ve got to shoot little K. Look how much she’s grown! Here she is at 6 months (I think).

And then here she is this week at 22 months. My, how they grow, and how the sessions change. I love running after these little two year olds and watching them explore and be adored by their parents.

I love that her mom and dad were cool with her getting TOTALLY wet in these puddles. We even stripped her down just to her boots at the end. She was in heaven and the pictures are awesome….but, to protect her privacy I didn’t post any here, it might embarrass her when she’s 15.

Oh the wonders of childhood. I love how into the rocks and flowers and plants this little girl was. Little amazing details in life that we forget about as we grow up.

a big sneak peak for baby N and family

This little lady is BREATH TAKING.  Seriously, I couldn’t take a bad shot of her.  She was happy and fun and those eyes….oh, those eyes.  The whole family was so easy and fun to be with, including their gorgeous dog.  I couldn’t really ask for more.      

Thanks baby N and family.  I can’t wait for you to see the rest!

Bar Harbor 2009

We had a spectacular family trip to Bar Harbor over Memorial Day (I can’t believe that’s a month ago now, when am I going to have things up to date, put together….probably never). 
We had had a great trip there last year and I didn’t think it could get much better…..and I wasn’t expecting too much given our three kid status, but my expectations were exceeded.  I really loved nearly every minute of it.  There is something about going back to a place….tradition, all that.  I already can’t wait til next year.
We spent three beautiful (perfect weather) days biking, hiking, eating, seeing beautiful thing after beautiful thing.  I came home saturated by all the beauty we saw.  That much beauty feels good to the soul.

We went with two of my favorite families.  It’s so nice to be around other families….especially stealer ones who are a little further ahead of us in our parenting.  I learned so much watching them and enjoyed their company so much.

(Jordan’s Pond Restaurant….perfect setting, great food, we were even able to have a “kids table” and an “adult table.”  It was awesome)

And the best part is that my brother Tal joined us with his very cool girl friend Anita.  They had been planning on going to Bar Harbor over Memorial day and it wasn’t until a few weeks before the trip that we put it together that we’d be in the same place at the same time.  They ended up staying at the same Motel as we did (separate rooms of course) and…..drum roll please….they got engaged on Saturday morning.  It was so awesome to be a small part of such a significant event for both of them.  They make a remarkable couple, they are so comfortable to be around, so fun to talk to, so aware and kind and good and you can tell they really love each other.  The fact that they got engaged really made my weekend….I love Anita and I love seeing Tal so happy.  The deserve each other.

The kids were happy and really pretty easy to travel with.  We had a great “family room” at the Bar Harbor Motel where we could put all three down in the back room and enjoy hanging out with friends and family in the front room.  It was ideal.  AND Emmeline slept the longest she has slept in her life in her little KidCo tent.  I was in HEAVEN.
The bike rides through Acadia are breathtaking.  They have all kinds of very kid friendly (no cars allowed) carriage paths that wind around sparkling lakes and through sun dappled forest.  There is nothing greater than going downhill on a bike, especially  after a long challenging climb, and with a little chatterbox 4 3/4 year old in a child seat behind you.  I think on of my favorite Hazel memories ever will be the two of us flying down a hill, Hazel behind me with her arms outstretched, looking up to the sky and hollering, “I FEEL ALIVE!!!”  We did feel alive.  We had some great chats with her behind me.  It struck me as I was riding with her that I’m a mom, with a nearly five year old.  How did I get here? 

Emmeline was a champ and slept in the trailer whenever we needed her too (even with Charlie pestering her a lot of the time)  We spent a lot of time throwing rocks into water.  Strange how kids (and dads) feel such a thrill seeing what kind of splash they can make.
This is a really blurry picture of downtown Bar Harbor.  Jeff got the kids HUGE ice cream cones which they quickly managed to drop onto the floor, pick back up, resume licking and  dripping all over themselves.  I love ice cream cones.   But hey, it’s a tradition. Uncle Tal brought along a bunch of his tools (he’s the East Coast sales rep for a tool company).  This quickly elevated him to ‘coolest uncle ever’ status in Charlie’s eyes.  They all love their uncle Tal. How could you not love him? The first evening we went to Acadia national park and had a cook out.  I love cook outs.  I love the food, the talks inspired by camp fires, the gooey s’moores, the dirt, the way you smell like campfire and bug spray as you curl up in bed afterwards.  I love them, and it’s so fun to have kids who are getting old enough to delight in these same things.       
On Sunday we went for an amazing hike, across a beach and up some steep rocks to a head overlooking the rugged, evergreen lined, rocky main coast.  It was really beautiful.  Soul satisfying.    The kids seemed to love it.  I love what nature does for kids.  Ask them to walk to the library with you through busy city streets and they complain the whole time…..ask them to climb high rocks and hike upward through beauty for an hour and they’re happy as clams.         
Until next year, Bar Harbor.