Back Yard Progress

 

Some of you may remember that we had to say goodbye to our tree house last fall.  The Silver Maple it rested in had a fatal fungus.  The tree was likely as old as the house--75 years.  We were sad to see it go.  

Step one was getting the tree house out of the tree.  My dad did that pretty much single handed.  If you look closely, you can see Solomon glumly looking on in the window.  

The tree came down, providing a fascinating spectacle for everyone who was home that day.  Our yard looked bare indeed when they were finished, plus there were several ruts from heavy machinery.  It was time for a revamp, so we began to re imagine the backyard.

It just so happened there were plenty of used swing sets on craigslist at the time (late April or early May).  Solomon helped me scope this one out.



A few weeks later, my Dad helped us disassemble and move it to our yard.  Solomon got a little practice with power tools.

 

The girls thought the 'Grandma's Attic' in the U-Haul was a good spot for a picture.

Meanwhile, we were doing some backyard gardening.  The ultimate goal is a butterfly garden back here, but this year it is more or less a flower garden.  We had lilies, joe pie weed, butterfly weed, and columbine from previous years.  Blue bachelor buttons, orange and red poppies, four o'clocks and sunflowers were all annuals we added to the mix.   

   

The cat is rather fond of the 'parent bench' (as in, the place for grown-ups to sit while the kids are on the playground). 

Wood chips from the tree made a path through the garden.  Ariadne enjoyed shoveling.  River rock we found the garden beds formed the sides of the path.  Note to all homeowners: don't bury landscaping rock, it will haunt future generations of gardeners.

My parents (especially my dad) have been a tremendous help through this entire process. Above my dad and Solomon are working on getting the roof up on the tower portion of the swing set.  Below my mom and the girls took a break from spreading wood chips to try out the swings.  

This is more or less where we are at present.  We added a heavy duty wave slide and replaced the old swings with Charlotte and Aria's swings (which had been suspended from the clothesline). More to come!

Ariadne's 2nd Birthday

Ariadne turned two at the very end of March.  We had playgroup that day and the spring thaw was in full swing.  There is a playground near our house that turns into a lake for a few days each year as all the snow melts, and Ariadne's birthday was the day this year.  The kids had a great time hopping from 'ice burg' to 'ice burg' and attempting daring maneuvering on the playground surrounded by water.

Ariadne at two is both delightful and challenging.  About two weeks after her birthday, her vocabulary went from a more or less normal toddler level to talking in full sentences about what ever she wants to talk about all the time.  Yep, we have yet another verbal kid.

She likes to paint and is really getting into pretend play.  Ever since we baked muffins at Charlotte's preschool class in February, she has been convinced that she belongs there.  She will sneak off to the aisle at drop off or pick up when I am not looking.  Her memory is long.  A few weeks after her birthday we built a snowman with that April snow.  She was very sad to see it melt.  All summer she would declare "My snowman melt." At two and a half she asked for for nonnie milk.  I put her off and after awhile she went to the freezer and found a forgotten packet of frozen breastmilk and told me she would have that nonnie milk.  I don't think we've used any frozen milk since she was about one!

We had our family party a week later.  Surprise, there was more snow!  Nonetheless, it was warm enough to be pleasant, though nothing like the year Ariadne was born, when we had absolutely no snow in March and several 80 degree days. 

We had family over and went to the zoo.  We started off warm in the tropics exhibit, looking at fish and turtles, birds, snakes and a sloth.  You may notice Ariadne had a haircut between her actual birthday and her party.  

I think she was looking at a bird here, but am not sure.  Whatever it is, she is delighted.  

Aria with her Grandpa John

Dad and Grandpa Barry

Giraffes pop up a surprising amount in Ariadne's day to day life--giraffe jammies, giraffe toys, giraffe cup.  It was fun to see them in real life.  There was a baby giraffe, born close to my birthday (mid September) the year before, but even the baby was very, very tall.  

Aria loves to 'go wee!'  as the kids have come to call the swinging game.  (I even have a few fond memories of this from my own childhood--it is fun!).  Here Solomon and Nova are obliging her.  An advantage to having older siblings is that there are twice as many people to play this game with you.  

The polar bears never fail to impress.  Despite their larger enclosure (which I'm sure has many other benefits)  they still swim laps, pushing off the glass and predictably returning.  

Aria is watching closely.  

After the zoo we returned home for a birthday lunch of Monte Cristo sandwiches.  Aria loves grilled cheese, so it seemed an obvious choice.  My gluten free cakepop plans didn't quite materialize (though we have done it successfully before), but a flourless chocolate cake was a good stand in.  In fact, it is the same cake the older kids had for Ariadne's 0 birthday.  My camera ran out of batteries at the zoo, and my phone shortly thereafter, so there are no pictures of cake or gift opening.  I will have to check with grandparents.  

There were many handmade gifts for this little girl.  It was an unplanned theme.  Charlotte made her felt balls, Solomon wrote her a story,  Grandma Roberta crochet doll clothes for the waldorf dolls, and Nova and Grandpa John made Ariadne a set of wooden blocks.  

Dress up clothes, real clothes, and store bought doll clothes were all enjoyed too.  

Fiddle Camp

The last week in July is fiddle camp.  Solomon and Nova have attended fiddle camp more often than not since they have been old enough (7 or 8).  Most years one of the three days of camp falls on Solomon's birthday.  It is just plain fun.  They always come home really happy.  I believe they are playing Swedish fiddle music below.  This year they also focused American fiddle music.  The kids favorite song this year was 'Sally Goodin.'

In addition to the music, there is always a craft.  In the first photo Solomon is playing 'You are My Sunshine' on his one-string dulcimer--this year's craft.  With staples for frets and a cigar box body, this 100% playable craft project has been declared the coolest yet.  Solomon tried to keep it a secret during camp, but Nova just couldn't stand the suspense and spilled the beans.  Past crafts include bodhrans (Irish drums), Mardi Gras masks, and bones (the instrument).   

Ross Sutter, the mastermind behind all the crafts, helps the kids tune their dulcimers.

What is fiddle music without a little dancing?  The kids also learn folk dances at camp and on the last day they get as many family members on the floor as possible.  Ariadne proved a little young for this particular dance, with all its allemandes, chasse and ducking under dancer-made bridges.  Granne and Solomon, and Charlotte and Nova held their own though.  Imagine all the adults going under the little bridge made by Nova and Charlotte's outstretched arms.   Ariadne got in on the last dance with me a--less complicated, but no less fun--circle dance.  

Waldorf Dolls

About a year ago now, Ariadne became fascinated with babies.  She was just a bit over one, maybe 15  months.  Both Christmas and her next birthday were far, far away.  I wanted her to have a soft, huggable doll just her own, and just her size.  I remembered my mom making Waldorf dolls for me and my sister  (why this didn't occur to me until my third daughter, I couldn't say). The idea of making one for Aria took hold and I did far more research than necessary, which is typical for me.

Here I am using all three resources simultaneously

The main tutorial I followed was entitled A Doll For Every Child on the Living Crafts website.  Instructions for the nose were from Silver Penny.  I also consulted the instructions my mother used (can't find the title right now), and the book Making Waldorf Dolls by Maricristin Sealy that my friend Libby lent me.

  

Since young toddlers and needles don't mix, doll making became the thing I would look forward to after all the kids were in bed.  Most of the sewing was by hand, which was usually less hassle than getting out the sewing machine.

The face was embroidered using embroidery floss that had been my Grandma Ruth's.  She was an avid cross-stitcher, and I think she made dolls on occasion as well.

In general, I must say, the hair was the hardest, and is still a little thinner than I'd like--more time with a yarn and a crochet hook would fix that, of course.  Ariadne's doll was well loved, even before she had hair.

Nova saw what I was up to, and wanted to try too.  One night we stayed up together and made a tiny little soft bodied doll.  Surprisingly, I think it was harder than the larger doll.







Charlotte also liked the doll and asked for one of her own.  I made one in secret.  Secret sewing is so fun!  After lots of trolling the Internet, I found good instructions for curly hair here.  Getting the doll done in time for Charlotte's birthday was a close thing; consequently, she arrived in her birthday suit.   Charlotte named her doll Ruby.  Ariadne's remains 'Dolly' for the moment.  Grandma Roberta crocheted dresses for both Ruby and Dolly, which is what they are wearing in the photo at the beginning of the blog.