The Inevitable

The week before school started, Elizabeth had her annual pediatrician appointment.  Before she left, he checked her eyes and she had a little bit of difficulty with the eye chart.  He thought that her vision might be around 20/70 and suggested that we take her to an opthamologist.  Fortunately for us, our eye doctor and family friend is an opthamologist (not an optometrist) and had a cancellation just before I called, so we were able to get her in for an appointment just two days later.  Their assumption was that the pediatrician was probably wrong (because little kids get nervous about this kind of thing, it was at the end of the appointment, etc.), but that she should have an eye appointment anyway.  Dr. Samson is an excellent doctor - who happened to save Lee from going blind in one eye several years ago - so we were happy to put her in his very capable hands.  What we learned was that Elizabeth's vision is much worse than we expected - a staggering 20/275, which is worse than Lee and I combined!  Although she never complained about not being able to see the board in school, he feels that the amount of reading that she did over the summer is the likely cause (see The Reader).  Apparently, it is very important, especially for young eyes, to take frequent "breaks" when reading - to look across the room, refocus, rest a moment, and then start reading again.  While Dr. Samson examined Emily's eyes (she does not need glasses - a fact that is making her quite upset), Elizabeth tried on no fewer than 75 different frames, finally narrowing down the decision to two and then to one final candidate (of course, Lee, Emily and I all like the frames that she rejected).  When her glasses arrived, she was so happy!  She could care less what people think of them, she is just so excited to see everything so clearly.  Lee and I both feel a bit guilty about the fact that she obviously couldn't see at all, but are just happy that everything is so clear now.

Trying out frames at the doctor's office. 

First night wearing glasses! 

So happy. 

She looks so adorable in them - but trying to photograph how cute she looks is hard!!

End of Season

I am way behind on blogging.  There are three weeks worth of photos on the memory card in my camera due to the whirl wind at our house called "back to school + fall sports" (we are posting more frequent, but low-quality cellphone photos here, also available on the side bar as Instagram), but I just came across these photos from the first week of September on the computer.  Our garden has reached the end of its short but very productive life, but we are still lucky enough to have some plants blooming around the yard.

The sunflowers had the longest (and tallest!) life. 

We got a handful of tomatoes off of the last plant standing.

The end of summer black eyed susans.

Second blooming of the hostas.

Baxter loves being in the yard.

Beach Days

We purchased a state park pass this year and really put it to good use the second half of the summer.  The girls had the chance to spend several afternoons playing in the sand, surf and sun during the long month of August.

Look what I found in the water!

Julie with the "E girls"

Love these girls!

Gunnar loves Lee!

Sweet baby Kristian.

Julie and Emily, deep in discussion.

Water fun with Mrs. Anderson.

Sarah and Gunnar.

The Reader

It is no secret that Elizabeth loves to read.  She is rarely without a book and there are times when Lee and I have to force her to leave them behind.  She enjoys books of all kinds, but seems to have really fallen in love with fairies, mermaids and mythology.  The Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Sisters Grimm and Fablehaven series have enthralled her, causing her imagination (and her vocabulary) to really take off.  She also uses her reading as a crutch, turning to it when she doesn't like what is going on around her or when she is having difficulties with the kids at school - because of that, we are always pleased when she comes home from school and has failed to make any progress in the book she brought with her.  Between the last day of second grade and the first day of third grade, Elizabeth read 109 books (for a total of 384 in 2012), the vast majority of which were more than 200 pages (and lately, 300 or 400 pages) long.  We hope that books and reading continue to inspire her!

One of her favorite reading spots over the summer. 

A stack of books from the library. 

Couldn't possibly "waste" time in the car - must read! 

Another favorite spot.

Fairy Houses

The girls spent a good deal of time this summer working on their fairy houses.  There were several nights where they left the fairies notes filled with questions and Lee the fairies always seemed to remember to leave a  response.  Elizabeth's designs have become more and more intricate while Emily has stuck to tried and true building methods.  I really want to bring the girls to the tour of Fairy Houses in Portsmouth this coming weekend, because I think that they would really love it; however, the last couple of car trips have really taken a lot out of me (must be getting old), and Lee is strongly against me making another trip up north any time soon (not to mention that we already have an over-scheduled weekend as it is).  I guess that we will have to wait for next year!

The recent round of fairies visiting the girls' houses are from the Hosta famly and one of them left a surprise for Emily one morning!

Emily's fairy house, buried in our hosta plants.

A trail leading to another fairy house.

Covered Bridges

There are several covered bridges within a few miles of Saint-Gaudens, so while we were in the area, we hit them up. 

This bridge spans the Connecticut River, connecting the towns of Cornish, New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont.

Love this sign!

The Cornish-Windsor Bridge is the longest wooden covered bridge in the United States and the longest two-span covered bridge in the world.

Blow-Me-Down Bridge

The Blow-Me-Down Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It spans a deep gorge on the Blow-Me-Down Brook.

Blacksmith Shop Bridge

The Blacksmith Shop Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The bridge was used by only one family and given its name because of its close proximity to a local blacksmith shop that once stood in an area know as Slab City.

Dingleton Hill Bridge

The Dingleton Hill Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by James Tasker who is known to have built at least eleven bridges in the area (including Blacksmith Shop Bridge and Blow-Me-Down Bridge).