This is for you:

I don't intend this to really be a blog, per se.  It is intended to include certain people into the daily adventures of the life of my family.  People, who until recently, were intimately involved in those adventures.  Or people who were never involved so intimately, but who might like a glimpse, now and then, of our adventures.

For some reason, I feel like I should be writing a manifesto of this blog right now... but that goes against what I wanted from it.  So, without anymore blah, blah, blah from me here is my very first installment.

September 25 and 26:

We had a great weekend.  Beautiful weather, lovely company, and actual productivity (as you know, I am always struggling with that).  Saturday evening Heather came to visit.  She is so good with the kids.  I was finishing a bit of cleaning (just sweeping and mopping the floors) when she arrived.  Nick was on his way home from a Teaching American History grant trip to Lowell (I'm sure he'd love to upload some photos/videos from his weekend).  Heather, like the Pied Piper, came in and swept the kids up in her spell.  Not only W & C, but also Emily from next door.  Not that any of the three of them are shy or anything....

We had a nice evening; went for ice cream in Southampton.  Heather got a flavor called "Boston Blackout" despite being a die hard Yankees fan.  I guess she is an even bigger chocolate fan.

Sunday, Nick found a new (to us) breakfast spot in Westhampton: The Strawbale Cafe.  It was a beautiful spot and food was terrific. (They had keilbasa.)

Keeping busy pre-food

This was the ceiling.  Very pretty.

It's called the Strawbale Cafe because it is made from strawbales.  Cool, eh?

They have a wonderful fire pit which they light for waiting guests during maple sugaring season, when they have many and it is chillier out.

Then we were off to the D.A.R. State Forest where we wandered and explored. 

Yes, Willa wore her sparkly shoes on this hike.

Part of our wanderings.

These were the tamest ducks ever.

On one leg of our hike we saw some horse manure.  Cal was very interested in it or horrified by it, not sure which.  He wouldn't stop talking about it until we moved on to another adventure.   The kids eventually took off their shoes to "wade" which quickly turned into complete wetness.  They were a bit cold until we got back to the car and changed.  

Had a great weekend, though we did miss you.