San Francisco

Sights from around the city, and a little celebrity. From top to bottom: Saks Fifth Avenue, seals at Fishermen's Wharf, Al Gore, and the tree in Union Square.

Bare Trees

We've had a busy month, including three weekend trips with the girls to southern Maine or New Hampshire. Since the weather has been unusually warm, we've been outside a bit even though the daylight is waning.

Here are some photos from a trip to the local playground:

When we can't be outside, playing with bubbles in the sink is a hit.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkins! Rabbits! Party!

Halloween was very exciting this year - just ask Bridget. The girls stayed up late to enjoy their pumpkin faces and to see all the trick-or-treaters. If you look closely, you can just make them out on the front steps waiting to spook some older kids!

Autumn

As the weather turns cooler, the girls love to get outside and play in the leaves. We also do lots of pumpkin-spotting on walks around town.

They love to dive into the leaf piles.

Moriah on the porch.

Bridget like to show off her upside-down!

Presidentials day trip

We took advantage of spectacular weather over the holiday weekend to go for a day to New Hampshire. Pine Mtn. is a short hike just north of Madison, and has spectacular views from the top. Both girls did lots of walking, and Bridget has added "hiking!" to her vocabulary.

The foliage was still vibrant at lower elevations.

The view south from the summit.

All four of us, with the north end of the Carter-Moriah range in the background.

Another view to the south from the summit, down Pinkham Notch.

Blueberry Mountain

We had a fantastic hike up Blueberry Mtn (near Tumbledown) this past Sunday. Bridget really loves to hike, and she and Moriah took turns wearing the kid-sized backpacks. She was very determined to keep going on some steep sections, and I probably only carried her about 60% of the time. The views were great - I'm including a shot of Saddleback below.

Back to school

It's been a little bit crazy here the past few weeks, but the girls haven't slowed down! We're taking advantage of the last of the warm weather to play in the water table.

Moriah was very excited to crawl around the toddler habitrail.

That was then, this is now (winter 05 above, summer 06 below):

Clearwater

We're lucky to have so many nice spots close to home for visiting with the girls. Doug likes to bring them down to the river, and I've taken them up to the lake.

This is Bridget in her favorite hat.

Laundry day at our house.

Moriah has been a little camera shy lately - or too busy playing to stop.

Sugarloafers

Happy birthday to Uncle Brendan tomorrow, in case he's reading.

We had a fun and damp weekend at Sugarloaf. The rain didn't deter any of our outdoor plans - that's why we have rubber boots! Thanks again to the Gallandts for passing them along.

We walked up the Burnt Mountain trail and played in the stream.

We also had lots of fun playing indoors. The bowl suits Doug, don't you think?

Finally, a picture of me and the girls on the rock where we had the ceremony three years ago.

Berry picking and more

Since we've been back in town, we had a fun week visiting with Kieran and everyone else in the Belgrades. Unfortunately, we don't have very many pictures! Granma and Granpa took lots to share.

We've been visiting some fun local spots, and the highlight of last Saturday was picking blueberries at a farm in Wilton. Moriah was very intent on picking as many as she could, regardless of color.




Bridget was a more discriminating picker, but also a faster consumer! The green pint basket is for show only - who would actually put berries in there?












The girls, with hay for scale.

Well-heeled in Bar Harbor

A second post with a few pictures from our second week in Bar Harbor. This is the girls at Bubble Pond, wearing the dresses that Phaedra made them. We had a great breakfast with her a few days earlier, and I know the girls were just as sad as we were that she moved home.









We tried out several different beaches. The girls are playing in a little stream at Seal Cove. They were very busy moving rocks, seaweed, and splashing in the water. We could spend an entire morning at one beach investigating all the different spots.

Hello from Bar Harbor

We're having a grand time at the coast. The girls love to play at all the different spots around the Park, and have been wearing themselves out every day.

Bridget is a first-class sand relocator.
















The Beehive in the background - the girls weren't interested in hiking.



















Finally, a picture of a cloudy day at Jordan Pond. We didn't stay for popovers.

Video trial

Here's a trial video of Moriah at the playground. She loves the slide! Sorry you have to turn your head 90 degrees.

Summertime & easy living

We've been so busy visiting and playing that I haven't had time to post some pictures. This is a small sample from the past couple of weeks.

The girls love to play in the pool. Apparently, Bridget thinks the juicer is the best toy ever.












They also like to run around at the elementary school playground down the street. They have a great time climbing up stairs, running over bridges, and crawling through tunnels here. It's a popular afternoon spot for us.




We had a fun visit with Granma and Granpa, but I didn't get to take too many pictures. Bridget loved riding in the car. Granma and Granpa got some great shots!

Happy Birthday, Uncle John!

We hope that you and Kieran are having a fun time watching World Cup soccer!

Here are some more photos from around the yard. After breakfast most mornings, the girls go pick up their rubber boots so they can go outside right away. Moriah also has her hand lens.














Bridget loves to ride the tricycle around. She will put her blanket or other treasures in the back to bring with her.















Moriah has been having lots of fun with the animals that Granma and Granpa D sent them. She likes to put them in her wagon, or bring them to the sand box, or move them around the garden.

Picnics

On the odd day that the weather is good, the girls have been enjoying many of their meals al fresco. They really like sitting on seats their size. Tenzing seems to think that the irises are a great place to hide. He enjoys hanging near (not with) the girls.

As seen around town...

We've been busy since the warm weather started. The girls like to spend almost all day outside. Moriah is sporting some nice shades, and seems to have found something really fun in one of the empty diaper boxes.


We biked to the river with the girls on Memorial Day, and Doug showed them how to redistribute all the stones from the bank into the channel.