More Lori

And here Lori is with Liam and Vivi...

Sister Lori with Vivz/Marcus

My sister Lori from Salt Lake City visited
us for two days. 24 hours of rain provided
us a memorable foggy hike through Two
Lights State Park and Kettle Cove. Now,
we are off to view our beach in the sunny
weather we have today. It's been great
having her (and Brother Dan) at our home.
We hadn't seen her in almost two years.

Shaggy Trio

After an exhausting afternoon playdate consisting of
releasing salamanders to the wild, catching frogs from the
wild (the first of the season), getting Marcus stuck in the
mud/tree in the wetlands,and playing baseball...Marcus,
Arty, and Liam chill with their old pal Scooby Doo...
all in the same chair. Aren't they a scrappy crew. Liam's
blue countenance is due to same artificially colored ice
cream product...arriving in the sing-songy ice cream truck.

Vivz is officially crawling

Last night, Vivi officially began crawling in a frontward
manner and immediately picked up speed as she caught
on to the technique. This afternoon, she practiced on the
beach and found the sand medium acceptable as well.
She has begun to point at birds and squack with delight...
so much so that we think it may be her second word,
after "DaDa", of course.

Sibling Chillin

Marcus and Vivz were having a blast ripping up the
grass in our backyard...and throwing it in the air into
their hair. Vivi is making a little forward progress in
her crawling now and can't get enough of the outdoors.
Today hit 70, far as I could tell...Tee shirts. Starting
in the late afternoon, the spring peeper tree frogs start
their cacophony in the wetlands and vernal pools behind
our home. The bullfrogs too are starting to chime in...
and Liam has his first salamander of the season.

Our Sunday Trip

On Sunday, we drove to LA (Lewiston-Auburn) into the
heart of Maine's franco-american community to have the
best home cooked Mexican meal ever! The Chef, Senora
Yolanda was the hostess with the mostess. Yolanda had
invited us to dine with her family at their home, where we
ate bean/bacon soup, chicken enchiladas, chile rellenos (these
were hands down the most amazing chiles I've ever tasted),
and chicken mole. She had been cooking for days! By the time
we left 6 hours later, I literally couldn't eat another bite...and
the kids made new friends and spoke a little bit of spanish.
Here, Marcus poses with Divina and Oscar.

Spring arrives in Southern Maine

The kids shed their shoes in celebration of the "warmer"
weather, but Vivi has yet to understand the joys of lawn
chairs.

Crawling??

Vivi has started to "crawl" -- well, on slick
surfaces like tile and hardwoods, she pushes
herself backwards, all the while looking at us
and wondering why she is getting further
away from us instead of closer.

Vivi on the Rocks

Vivi is absolutely crazy about the ocean and the beach.
Here she is on the pebble beach next to the sandy beach.
She had a ton of fun picking up the rocks...until Dad caught
her with a fist size salty rock in her mouth. Two days ago,
she got her first taste of sand and seaweed in her mouth,
much to the delight of her brethren.

"Shorty Day" Playdate

Liam had what he calls a "shorty day" -- 1/2 day of school.
Perfect day for his good friend Cheyenne to come over,
look for spring insects and head to the beach to start a new
rock collection. Here, Vivi sits on Liam's lap, and Liam
sits on Cheyenne's.

Liam's Poem "Pine Cone"

Pine Cone;
A tree for an elf;
You dig a hole;
Oops, you fall in;
But, you bust out of the ground,
And, grow, and grow, and grow.