A Very Big Boy

I can't even believe it.  Our little Camden is riding a two-wheeler with no training wheels.  It feels so crazy to be reaching this milestone.  I don't think I've been this proud since he took his first steps.  He's not turning 4 until August, so I wasn't even anticipating this happening this summer - although he starting walking at 8.5 months, so I think I need to just get used to him reaching physical milestones on the early side.  We bought this bike for him this winter when we found it on clearance at the L.L. Bean Outlet.  We knew he probably wouldn't be riding it for a while since it's a "big boy bike" and he really had no interest in it for a long time.  All spring he said it was too hard to peddle and just didn't want to put in the effort.  He cruised around on his "Mountain Bike" all spring which is an all-terrain tricycle with huge wheels that Uncle Dave picked up at the dump last year!  About two weeks ago, Camden finally decided to give his bike a try and picked it up really quickly.

 Before long his training wheels were hardly touching the ground and we thought we'd just see what happened when we took them off.
We caught it all on video!



Daddy was excited!

 And Mama was SO proud...
And the neighbors came out to cheer for him!

And Micah said, "Yay, Bubba!" and pushed George around in his stroller...

 That same evening we brought this bike down to my parents street so they could see this awesome new skill.  (This is the same little street I learned to ride my bike on!)

 And then, our little bike that we bought on clearance broke!  Camden was sobbing and Scott tried everything to fix it, but there was no hope.  We had to bring it back to the store. 

 The next morning we dropped it back off at L.L. Bean after church.  We explained that it was broken and we were sad to find out that there wasn't another bike in the store (at an outlet store you just get lucky with what you find and there didn't happen to be another bike there at the time).  We got our money back and went all over Concord looking for another bike for Camden.  I refused to spend money on a Cars or a Spiderman bike and we found ourselves back in L.L. Bean after a frustrating journey around the city.  Unfortunately, we didn't want to order the same bike online because it was about $50 more expensive than the one we had originally purchased.  But L.L. Bean worked their magic and the store manager spoke with a customer service representative on the phone and said, "This little boy is so sad about his bike.  We need to make this right."  So, before we knew it, a brand spankin' new bike (exactly the same as the first) was being shipped to our house for free and we were only charged the price we had originally paid for the returned/used bike we had found on clearance.  And that, my friends, is why we have, and will continue, to love L.L. Bean.  We were expecting the bike to arrive on Wednesday or Thursday, but we found it on our doorstep Tuesday night.  Camden couldn't wait to get back on it the following day.  I was nervous since he had just learned for the first time on Saturday night and then hadn't ridden it since then, but we had nothing to worry about.  He hopped right back on and just took off!

So proud of himself...

Yesterday we walked (while Camden rode his bike) from our house to campus on the main road (about 1/2 mile) and then back on the rail trail.  He did amazingly well.  So much fun and great exercise for all of us (we have to run to keep up with him)!

 Riding on the Rail Trail...

 And now my little boy is grown.  :(

A Fun-Filled Day

We had such a fun family day on Saturday.  After a trip to the dump and the hardware store, we decided to swing by the little historical society located in the old train station in town.  We were bummed to see that it didn't open until 10:00, but a nice woman  opened it up for us early (we only live about 5 minutes away, so we easily could have come back, but we appreciated the gesture none-the-less).  The boys love visiting this old station, climbing on the caboose and looking around the old village store that has been kept in tact.  I love it too.  Some how it brings out the Anne of Green Gables lover in me. 

An old painting from 1900 depicting the hustle and bustle of the Potter Place station.  This place is extremely quiet now-a-days in comparison. 

 See them peeking out the windows?!?

 We are so lucky that the old train tracks have been transformed into the beautiful Northern Rail Trail where we walk, run and ride our bikes nearly daily. 

 This image shows the old train station in Andover just down the road from our house.  Now there is little community ball field and playground with the rail trail running along side it. 

 Here's the Potter Place station that we visited on Saturday. 

 Some interior shots of the beautiful general store...

 Playing checkers...

 After our visit to the historical society we ventured off for a spontaneous trip to the Danbury waterfall.  This is one of my favorite places to enjoy in our area.  We used to come here all the time as a family when I was younger and it always brings back memories of my childhood.  It's so fun to see my boys enjoy my old stomping grounds, although this waterfall will be much more fun when they're a little older and I'm not freaking out about them falling in and being swept away!

 Handsome boys...

 Love him!

Here I am with my sister and parents at the waterfall long ago!  Apparently, I wasn't so happy to be there!

 After our morning adventures we headed over to my parents for a little lunch birthday party.  My Aunt and Uncle were visiting from New York with two of my cousins (their sister Emily goes to Duke and happened to be going to Clara's birthday party on that same afternoon!  It was almost like we were all together in some weird way). 
Our boys had so much fun with Lizzy and Andrew...

 Aunt Lenore and Uncle Ken visiting with my Dad and Scott on the front porch...

 Aunt Lenore is so good with my boys.  They love her!

 They sang "Happy Birthday" to me!  Yay!  (I can't believe I'm turning 30 tomorrow - another post on that coming up soon). 

 Lizzy and the boys...

Phew!  And all of this happened before nap time!  That evening Camden learned to ride his bike with no training wheels!  I think I need to dedicate a whole post to that milestone!  Stay tuned!

Another Year Over

Another school year has come and gone!  Crazy.  It's hard to believe that we just finished our 6th year at Proctor!  How did that happen?!?!  When we first started we were newlyweds and life was SO different.  I was teaching US History and Sociology, coaching soccer and basketball, advising and dorm parenting...now I'm washing cloth diapers, reading Berenstain Bear books and feeling lucky if I get a shower in during the day!  Life has changed, but it is all so much for the better.  We love our boys and love our home and pretty much just love life in general.

Graduation was on Saturday in the pouring rain and 50˚ weather so needless to say I don't have any pictures from the day!  It is always a little bittersweet to have another year come to a close, watching the kids who were just Freshmen head off for college...It all makes me feel quite old! 

We had a great time hosting Scott's advisory (a group of seven boys that Scott mentors and advises throughout their time at Proctor) over for dinner during the week of final exams!  They are a great group and of course our little boys had so much fun with them!

 Of course, there had to be a game of "Pole-ish Frisbee" in the backyard. 

 Camden and Micah had fun with our hoop out front. 

Love this one...

 With only one senior in the group, most of these guys will be back with Scott next year. 

 Now that the school year is over, we are looking forward to summer!  Scott will still be working (he's building stone walls with two other faculty friends - he's gonna be buff! - and still doing some work at Proctor through the communications and Development departments) but he'll have every afternoon off and a lot less work in the evenings!  I'll just continue hanging out with these two goofs.