Choo, Choo!

Last weekend was our last camping hurrah before Baby Brother arrives and the weather gets too cold.  While Jared was goose hunting on Saturday morning, Clara and I packed.  The temperatures were forecast to be in the 30s overnight, so we dug out the winter coats and hats.  Clara is apparently immune to cold because it was only in the 40s outside while we packed and maybe 60 in the house.  Nevertheless, Clara tromped around proudly in her undies.  She found her snowshoes from last winter and practiced in the basement.  She'll be ready when the snow flies.

We arrived in North Conway just in time to catch the 1:30 departure of the Conway Scenic Railroad on Saturday.  Clara loved the train.  She made this face every time the whistle blew: 

Dogs were welcome on the train too, and Elsi enjoyed the fresh air from her very own seat.

We enjoyed some refreshing ice cream after the train ride, then headed to camp.

At camp, Clara wasted some energy running up and down the hill.  

We had dinner and s'mores by the campfire.  After dinner, Clara looked up at Jared and said, "I love you, Daddy.  Let's just watch the fire now."  Of course, I was in the bathroom, so I missed it, but what a moment.  We all slept warm and cozy in the tent.  It was a cool morning, but no frost.  We had bagels for breakfast in bed, then packed up the car to go home.  We're already looking forward to camping next spring.  

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Fashionista

Well, maybe not.  Clara picked out her outfit this morning, and this is what she came up with:

I'll give her props for choosing the Michigan State Sister shirt, but it's still a little big and she's not officially a sister yet.  The socks were all her idea, and she spent some time getting them just right.

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Labor Day Weekend

We had an exciting Labor Day weekend crossing off some of the items on our long-standing to-do list.  On Saturday morning, Clara and I picked out a new mattress and bedding for her "big girl" bed.  She had fun jumping on the beds at the mattress store.  The clerk didn't seem to care and said the employees do it all the time after hours!  We moved the crib out of her room and replaced it with Jared's old twin bed.  We couldn't find the hardware for the bed in our basement, so Clara's first two nights were spent on the mattress on the floor.  By Sunday, we had everything together.  On Monday morning, we woke up to the pitter-patter of her bare little feet running up the stairs to jump in bed with us.

While Clara and I were being domestic, Jared was busy working in the yard.  With the help of our good friends and professional landscapers, Eric and Rob, we finally completed the installation of the front steps.  It turned out better than I imagined.  If anyone local needs some landscaping help, Eric and Rob are quite a team and I'd be more than happy to pass along their contact information.  The guys worked so fast that I didn't get a "before" photo, but just imagine, a gigantic rhododendron blocking the view of everything and rotten railroad ties with pea stone to leading to our front door - not very inviting.  Here's the after:

We still need some plants in the ground and some stain on the porch, but it is so much better than before!  Come on over!    

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