up in Vacationland

Except for the accident, the trip up to Maine was pretty uneventful. I suggest lessons in all aspects of driving a trailer, including backing up, before setting off. The silver lining in the past few days has been that I like my big-mama van much better than the hulking SUV that we are renting while the dent in the van is fixed. I can’t imagine having to fold down the middle seat every time everyone gets in/out, and the thing uses gas like my kids drink chocolate milk through a straw.

On the down side it has been raining for an entire week and only 1 day this week looks to be lovely. Eventually it will stop and the fields will be hayed so we can take long walks and explore. My garden plot looked indistinguishable from the surrounding grass field and when Tim tried to till it on the first dry day he and the entire tractor were soon covered in mud. But soon enough I will plant my box full of veggie seeds. Apparently I’m not too late; folks who planted a few weeks back had all their seedlings killed by frost.

As for school, the older children are whittling down their workload and progressing through the tall stack of piano books their teacher handed me at the recital. They really like to experiment with the different sounds on the electronic keyboard we bought last year for them to practice on. The church organ and harpsichord settings seem to be the most popular, but Will played Old Susanna that made it sound like a real banjo.

Our first outing proved to be a success when we pulled up and Charlie piped up, “This is my favorite library! They have a train table, fish, AND a turtle!” The older children appreciate the finer things, the ability to confer with a knowledgable and enthusiastic children’s librarian who directed Will to Eoin Colfer’s books and showed him the new purchases in the space exploration section. Without my knowing it, the oldest child has learned to Google, but has limited his searches to NASA and Apollo sites. I guess when we get back to Maryland I will have to put a filter on the internet. I can’t imagine what sort of sites might pop up if he searches for “space games.”

We are certainly all glad to be back in Maine: the views are prettier, the pies at the truck stop are sweeter, and our family is able to get out into nature more, even in the damp and drizzle.