The Grey Barn

I had seen something in the local paper about how you could visit one of the local farms, and watch them milking cows!! Well, that's right up my alley! I had to go check it out. I knew my sister Caitlin would love to tag along, so we planned a time to go check it out.

Of course it was raining harder than it had in months the morning we headed up that way, which turned out to be just fine. The cows didn't seem to mind it very much, Isaac got to splash in his rain boots, which is always fun, and I discovered a mammoth tear in mine. . . not so much fun.

We met a very, very scraggly dog there, who we named Stick, because everything we said that, he'd creep over. Turns out he just really wanted someone to play fetch with him.

Isaac found a tractor right away and insisted on "driving" it around the place. We've been working on imagination lately. He would make a very charming farmer someday : )

We walked through the barn to the milking area, and I was simply flabbergasted by how brilliant these cows were. They lined themselves up outside, then came into the room in pairs, had their turn on the milking machine, then when they were done, they walked themselves outside, in a straight line, to the open barn and had breakfast. I was simply amazed that nobody was leading them, they were doing it totally on their own! And when the newest cow approached the feeding area, the others just gently moved aside to make room for them.

There was one bull, who I spotted right away, he had this crazy looking contraption in his nose which made MY nose start itching like crazy just looking at it.

(I'll definitely go back there! Hopefully on a not so rainy day)

Piles of Pumpkins

Isaac and I have been going on allot of walks these days. I'm trying to take full advantage of what Mother Nature has been offering us. A couple weeks ago, we ventured down to Morning Glory Farm to check out this years harvest of pumpkins. They hadn't brought everything there the day we visited, but there were PLENTY to play around with!

Isaac had a really great time trying to count all the sugar pumpkins lined up along the railing on the porch. It went something like this "one, two, three, five, seven, eight, nine, seven" Over and over and over again. Hahaha, he cracks me up.

They had started to set things up for their annual pumpkin festival, which of course we went to, I'll save that adventure for another post. . .

Annnnnd He's Off

For Isaac's birthday this year his Aunt WooWoo, my sister Caitlin, gave him his very first pair of rollerblades! Complete with all the pads and helmet that he needs to be the next fastest rollerblader!

We've taken him to the playground a few times, and let him try them out. I think he'll be zipping around on his own in no time!

Thank you Ariel Thomas Photography

Here are a few of the remarkable photographs that Arial took of the boys:

Pumpkin Patch Kids

On the last week of September, it hit me that we hadn't had any two year portraits taken of Isaac yet, and then it struck me that we hardly have any pictures of Isaac and Ian together. . . Something had to be done about this!

One of my best friends is a local photographer who speciality is taking photos of babies and kids. . . Thank you lady luck!

I had really wanted to have their photos taken in a pumpkin patch. Which would have worked really well, because there is one near to my parents house that I drive by twice a week. Of course the week we had set up to have the portraits taken, the farmers tilled up that field. Blast.

Lucky for me, one of the kids who works for that farm told me about a super secret pumpkin patch on the other side of the island! After a while of driving hopelessly through the woods, and battling a few majorly bumpy dirt roads, I found it. It was an absolutely breathtaking location. I couldn't believe it wasn't part of an elaborate movie set.

There was a large patch of pumpkins of every size and color, down a hill beyond that was a pond, followed by more roiling hills of fields. There was an old barn, and a field of very curious sheep there as well. At one point, when the sun was setting over that picturesque pond, everything was suddenly flooded with this gorgeous soft, warm, buttery yellow light. It made for some fabulous photos for sure.

Ariel took some really amazing shots of the boys, I can't wait to blow some of them up and send them to the Grandmas!

Simple but Super

For my birthday this year, Michael got me a clothes line. I had been saying that I really wanted one for a while, so I was so happy to get it! I have taken advantage of it as often as the weather allows me to.

I remember looking at old photo albums of my parents, and seeing a clothesline full of clothes in the snow, frozen horizontally, from the wind. . . . I have a feeling I won't go to THAT extreme. Not this year anyway.

Beach Days in September

I am pretty sure that September is my favorite time of year here on the Vineyard. The tourists have left, for the most part, the humidity breaks, the crowds and traffic become scarce, the older kids are back at school, it seems to just be a little bit easier to breathe around here.

We have been so lucky with such glorious weather! Michael has been working the midnight shift, which means he is resting during the day now. The annual fisherman's derby came, and I think he wanted to take every opportunity he had to take a few casts, knowing he wouldn't be able to dedicate as much time to it as he would have liked to this year.

I was having a day where I felt trapped in the house all day, so when the question came up, "what do you want to do?" Go to the beach, was my answer!

I didn't go there to tan, or even go into the ocean, I'm not a big ocean fan to begin with, and in September it is far too cold for me!

The sunset was pretty that night, and we all seemed to have a nice time. Isaac spent the time bulldozing the sand, and making bird nests in it. I got to try out some different modes on my camera, and Michael tried to catch the big one.

Ahhhh, thank you September.