Happy 9th Birthday!

She doesn't care for sweets all that much, but she loves zebras so she chose Zebra Cakes for her birthday treat.  Happy birthday!

Fall

I've been so busy teaching photography at the university that I haven't made time to go out and take photos.  I grabbed my little apprentice and we headed out.

Boy Scout High Adventure Canoe Trip

I got to spend a week on the New River near Blacksburg, VA with Aidan and his Boy Scout troop doing some white water canoeing.  There were no major injuries but we broke two canoes.  The scenery was gorgeous.

This one...

This sweet girl of mine.  I hate that kids have to learn that life really sucks sometimes.  A few weeks ago our next door neighbors, a retired couple, were involved in a horrific car accident.  The husband and their adult daughter (who also lives in our neighborhood) were killed.  By a miracle (if you saw the pictures you'd know what a miracle it truly was) the wife survived with 5 broken ribs.  We've been neighbors with them for about 2 years.  We recently had them over for brunch and chatted often, usually about the weather, yard work, or his work with the Apollo space launch.  He talked to the boys whenever he saw them in their Boy Scout uniforms.  He let Sophie cross back and forth through their backyard to get to her friend's house.  When I told the kids about the accident they each reacted in their own way: Oliver quietly went to his room, Aidan didn't say much, but Sophie grabbed on to me and sobbed loudly.  That almost broke me.  

Today, just before I put her to bed, she told me she had found the book "Tear Soup" on the shelf and had tried to read it but had to stop because it was so sad and the pictures were sad and she didn't really understand it.  I promised that tomorrow we could read it together if she wanted and talk about it.  She agreed.  

So, I'm bracing myself for what might be a hard conversation, but could also be a beautiful moment.  She's already brainstorming something nice to do for our dear sweet neighbor ("do you think she likes chocolate?").  And I suspect Oliver will listen in, too.  How do you help kids deal with grief?

Beautiful day on the pond

The fish must have woke up with the warm weather because there was a lot of action on the pond.  We had 8 egrets, 12 cormants, 3 bald eagles, 1 great blue heron and 2 hooded mergansers.  Plus all the other non-fishing birds.

Happy Valentine's Day

These are what Oliver decided to hand out to his class.  He loves jokes.

And Sophie handed out these:

10!

He's been sick all week, but finally felt well enough today to have some birthday cake.  Happy birthday, Oliver!

New Toys