First trip to the beach

The hotel we stayed in for Katie's wedding in Rockport, MA was right on the beach, in this nice cove, and was a 4 minute walk from downtown Rockport. It was perfect for what we needed, and we were next door to a family of 5, so I didn't have to feel badly about Charlotte's periodic screaming fits.

Saturday morning we ventured down to the beach. It was my first time at a northern beach, and the water was so clear! It was Charlotte's first time at any beach.

 She was ok at first.

But then a wave came up a little higher than we were expecting and her feet got wet.

So I took her shoes off and she didn't like it.

After a little coaxing, she walked down the beach holding Dadu's hand. They found some cool shells, rocks, and a sand dollar, and then they said hi to all the seagulls.

Late Fall Weekend

My dear friend Lottie came up (from the wilds of Brooklyn!) to visit this past weekend. I picked her up at the train station in Poughkeepsie, and we went to the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum. Even though Charlotte was developing a double ear infection, she seemed to have a great time. The Museum is definitely geared towards bigger kids - at least, kids that are walking - but they had a room for the under-three crowd that was super fun.

I'm not sure who was having more fun here...

They also had this cool water table that was a model of the Hudson River. The concept was well over Charlotte's head, but she had a good time splashing.

After playing for close to two hours, we went to get lunch. Charlotte enjoyed her Cheerios, as always. Lottie and I enjoyed our sandwiches.

The following day, Charlotte's cold was not getting any better, so she slept a lot. After her morning nap, we took a quick trip up to the playground so we could go on the swings - her new favorite thing, truly.

You can tell she really wasn't feeling too great, but me, I was loving up my cuddly baby! Hat tip to Lottie for snagging this photo.

Then, we took a trip to Brewery Ommegang and Fly Creek Cider Mill.

And I finally got a shot of Charlotte with pumpkins.

All she wanted to do was eat the stems. All Lottie and I wanted to do was enjoy the 40+ samples that Fly Creek has in their store.

We had such a good time with Auntie Lottie. She's one of those friends who are really more like family: the family you choose! Charlotte thought she was great.

Mountain men!

Those who know me can likely imagine the excitement I felt when I saw an ad for a 19th century encampment of American Mountain Men about 45 minutes south of here. I somehow convinced Matt that this would be a worthwhile event to attend, so on Sunday, we packed Charlotte into the car and headed back in time.

Before I show you pictures, I'd like to just say that it was SO FLIPPING COOL to see these guys in their elements. Once upon a time, I was an anthropology major, and while I never took a class on basketweaving, I did take a class on flintknapping.

Dear god I was young. Also, I made that point!

So this past weekend, I really enjoyed talking shop with the knapping mountain man. We missed the tomahawk throwing demonstration, which was incredibly disappointing, but did get to visit in the teepee.

Ha, photobombed by a mountain man. Pretty sure that doesn't happen very often!

An adventure.

On Friday, the park we usually walk in was overrun by kids. Since I'd forgotten Gus' leash, I decided to head to a state forest that's not too far away.

Gus was anxious to get going.

I strapped a sleeping Charlotte into her wrap and we set forth. The section I walked through is so different from my usual surroundings that I felt like I was in a book. With elves.

Doesn't  that seem elven? Makes me think of ROUS. Quick, what does that stand for?*

The woods changed quickly, though, back to the typical hardwood forest, and pretty soon I was on a trail that had obviously not seen much use. It was at this point that I started to consider simply retracing my steps, as I had completely lost track of which direction I was headed in. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that walking out, the sun had been on my right, so in theory to get back to the car, the sun should be on my left. Thank you various hunting magazines that taught me the basics of navigation.

Charlotte, meanwhile, slept on, oblivious to my mounting concern that we would be eaten by a cougar.

Eventually, I happened upon this:

And I was joyful. I knew our sojourn was nearly over. All I had to do was walk to the top of that hill and hang a right, and then go up another hill.

Next time, I'm taking a map.


*rodents of unusual size, from The Princess Bride.