Return to Mt. Tire'm

This week saw the arrival in the post of super cool hiking boots for Sawyer and a proper baby-carrier hiking backpack for me and Frankie.  Yesterday was the first genuinely beautiful, perfect spring day so far with temperatures in the 60's, so we all drove down to South Waterford to try a new trail with the kids.  We scaled Mt. Tire'm and it was beautiful!

photo credit: Sadie

Victoria and I climbed Mt. Tire'm with Grandma India about 11 years ago but I didn't recall it being sooooo steep.  It was much longer and steeper than any the kids have done previously.  They complained at first, but then they got into it.  Sawyer has his new hiking boots and he's pretty excited about how fast and sticky they are.

Francesca was mostly quiet and calm in the baby-backpack, but once we got to the top, she wanted out and down.  She screamed "DOWN!" over and over until I really had no choice but to accede or go mad from her screaming at the back of my head.

Look how grown up this little girl is!!

Here Sadie is trying to lure Sawyer into the "Bear Cave".

Evidently, this is the bear.  Strange to find way way up on the top of a mountain with no car access.

I love my tree-huggers!

The overlook at the top of Mt. Tire'm is pretty stellar.  The kids definitely appreciated that they were seeing something special.  They sat and looked out over our little bit of Maine for quite a while (for kids at least).

It was a pretty glorious day.  Thank you, Maine!

Recent Miscellany (MiscellMainey?)

Here are some miscellaneous photos that have been collecting for the past week.

We hiked the orange trail again the other day and Frankie got down and did a little hiking of her own.  But here she is taking a rest on a mossy rock.

Frankie and I forded a little stream and then posed by a tree.

Oh, and Sadie has begun carrying the camera on our hikes and taking lots of photos, so watch for her photo credits in future posts.

There was a trail monkey sighting on the orange trail.

photo credit: Sadie

These three are pretty much thick as thieves now.

This one and I are outnumbered and in trouble.

photo credit: Sadie

photo credit: Sadie

photo credit: Sadie

photo credit: Sadie

I can't get enough of this little outdoorsykin.

This must be at least a week ago because we appear to be on the yellow trail.

A week ago Saturday we introduced the kids to the video game SuperMarioKart.  Sawyer adopted Yoshi as his avatar.  Seems like a good choice for our clever, mischievous, little dino-lizard. 

And when I saw these ridiculous telescoping grabber devices at the Family Dollar checkout, I knew we had to have them.

Bond, Sadie Bond!

Sweatshirts of Spain

Here are the big kids in the sweatshirts they got in Spain - and Frankie's hat too. I can't believe that was just a couple months ago.

Mwaah!

This video is too good not to share.

U.S. Olympic Saucer Team Training Camp

Someday this will seem like a pretty routine sight. But for now these three sitting together watching TV is just about the most wonderful thing in the world. 

But on to the meat of this post.
It started snowing yesterday at around 3 and it only stopped for a few hours this morning. So we're back to living in a winter wonderland.

Fortunately, when it began snowing yesterday I was already out in the car returning from grocery shopping, so I turned around and headed to the hardware store for saucers.

The snow was too wet yesterday for very good saucering, but this morning it was just right.

The kids and I built a quarter-pipe launch ramp and they began training for the Olympic Downhill Saucering.  They're naturals.

Here we are posing for our Olympic Team portrait.

Have you ever seen such determination?

And here is the Junior National Team with her coach.

These last two are videos, so be sure to watch! 

What fun!

Two Tramps in Mud Time

Sadie and Sawyer were extremely rambunctious this afternoon. So rather than mommy continuing to try to get them to calm down, I gave up on working and took them out for a hike. We left the house at 4:30pm and hit the trail just before 5. We aimed to complete the yellow trail for the first time. The kids were super into it and it was our best hike ever.
Here are some photos.

 The kids discovered running back downhill at the end of the hike.

And we finished the yellow trail!