Shaw Farm Ice Cream Festival

Farm animals, mascots and free ice cream! Does it get any better?

Shaw Farm in Dracut, MA had their annual ice cream festival this morning. The kids met up with the Richard girls and had a good time. They petted the donkey, saw the cows in the dairy barn, and participated in some fun activities.

 Here they are milking a "cow."

 Posing with the mascot

 In the dairy barn

 Genevieve was so brave getting her face painted.

 "Look! A cow on my face!"

Ice cream eating contest! Each kid was given a pound of ice cream! Sebastien made a decent dent in his bowl during the allotted 3 minutes. Genevieve started nibbling on hers before the contest started and one boy protested. We assured him not to worry because she wouldn't win.

 The big kids going at it! 

VIDEO: Go Kids Go!

"Call Me, Maybe"

Showing off his skills to pop music...

A Mix of Summer

So I haven't been posting as frequently as in the past because...I GOT AN iPHONE! It's been all-consuming and I have been neglecting many a duty, but alas, I am finally adjusting and getting back to normal. I will say this, though: I love it!

We had a couple weeks of rain which made for some long indoor days with the kids. Two weekends ago it rained both Saturday and Sunday too. On this day, pictured below, puzzles were very popular.

 Last weekend, we went to Luke's 4th birthday party at a bouncy house place. Here all of the kids with birthday boy Luke front and center. Genevieve is on the far right and Sebastien in the center of  the back row.

 Genevieve was asked (or more like pulled) to the dance floor by a persistant 4 year old boy. I guess this was her first dance with a boy! She was hesitant at first, then smiled for a couple minutes, then broke it off.

 And of course, there were beach days...

 These were taken outside the restaurant after the beach...

 More recently we've been graced with nicer weather. Here's one of Genevieve at the park:

 Sebastien had his last mini-sports class today. Here is is "at bat" for kick ball. He insisted on stopping the ball with his hand, and then kicking it.

 Running to first base.

 Approaching second base.

 And here's Genevieve - REALLY wanting to play with the big kids. Next year, baby girl, next year.

What a Pickle!

While we were out enjoying a bike ride on Friday afternoon, we were met and followed home by a neighbor's cat named Pickle. Now I'm not a cat lover, but I do really like this Pickle. We started off on the wrong foot, however, a few years back when Gwynnie was a shy puppy. Pickle used to follow me and Gwynnie on our walks, causing Gwynnie to whimper and jump into my arms. I was not a fan of Pickle then. But on Friday, she followed us home and spent the entire afternoon and evening playing with the kids. I don't think I've ever seen Sebastien & Genevieve happier. Pickle followed us wherever we went in the yard, humored the kids by playing their games, and jumped up into the "tree house" with them. He even waited outside under a bush while the kids ate dinner. We played outside with Pickle again after dinner and poor Pickle waited long after we went inside for the night, hoping we'd come back out. As soon as I came downstairs after putting the kids to bed, Pickle went home...as if that was his plan.

I snapped some pictures with my phone, which apparently has a smudge on it too. This is the best I could get: