Cold water, good times!

We went with some friends to Stony Brook Park yesterday. As has been the case with most of our adventures this summer, this was David's first time there.
We try to come down here at least once every summer (see this from a few years back; we didn't get to go last year on account of David being so little.)
It was a rather cool day, and the water is always freezing cold, but that didn't stop any of the kids from diving in. When you have a group of kids playing around a particularly fascinating water feature, it's little more than a waste of breath to try to tell them not to get wet. Add into that the extra excitement of being with a bunch of friends, and, well--- they can't say I didn't warn them that they'd all be very, very cold before too long.
David, who dislikes most things, liked it here a lot.
I hadn't considered how much he likes playing with running water- he loves the spray fountain at the pool and the running water when the bathtub is filling. His only complaint was that I would not let him go entirely, as he would be swept downstream. At 15 months old, he still has little understanding of such concepts.
Did I mention it was cold? Freezing. My kids would break through ice to go swimming if I let them.
By the time we reached the end of the trail, they were all ready for dry clothes and hot chocolate, both of which I had the foresight to pack.
David, who objects strongly to all forms of restraint or containment, did very well in the backpack. I was prepared for a few hours of being kicked in the kidneys and having my hair pulled (as per usual), but he was so fascinated by all the waterfalls he hardly had time to complain.
This is a great place to take pictures; in fact, we came one fall with the camera tripod and did our Christmas card photo shoot here. The only problem is most of the pictures I tend to get are of the kids running away from me, so I get a lot of shots of people's backs.
We had a great day!

Creatures of the Night

Some of you may remember our Chipmunk Relocation Program. Our neighborhood has an abundance of the rodents, some prime rodent habitats, and no real predators, thus the little chippers have had ample opportunity to procreate freely and wreak havoc on our yard, not to mention causing great aggravation to our dog. Matt was of a mind to trap and remove each and every one, wiping them out and solving our problems. I was of the mind that we were only going to be able to trap the dumb chipmunks, leaving the smart chipmunks free to reproduce themselves and ultimately form some kind of superior race of genius chipmunks who would eventually overthrow us. The other thought I had on the situation was the eventuality that we would catch something in the trap that was NOT a chipmunk, which is what you see here.
This is a possum. He's pretty small, but he has a big mouth with a lot of very sharp looking teeth that he was quite happy to flash for us. To our knowledge Mr. Possum has done us no harm, and while we harbor no ill will towards him, it does not seem he feel the same way towards us. I sent my oldest son to open the trap doors so our little guest would be free to vacate at his earliest convenience. Hopefully possums don't hold grudges for very long.

He walks the line

Baby D has been toddling for a little while now. One hesitant step at a time, growing (gradually) more brave every day. None of my children were very motivated when it came to walking; they all much preferred to sit back and cautiously observe for a good amount of time before testing the waters themselves. We can now officially classify David as a fully upright hominid. Now that he's sure that this whole walking upright thing isn't just some fad, he's going at it full tilt, even going so far as to run away from his own dear mama!

Putting things by

There's nothing like spending an 85-degree summer afternoon standing in front of a stove with all the burners going full bore, trying to keep several huge pots full of water boiling. Oh yes, it's canning season!
Yesterday was Pickle Day (actually, it was Tuesday, but whatever.) The big box of cucumbers we bought at the market last week now fills a dozen quart jars, and my house reeks of vinegar and garlic.
I'll probably have to do this exact same routine at least two more times to make us enough pickles to get through the winter. We're not taking any chances, you know, in case there's another Great Pickle Famine. The Becker Family will have pickles a-plenty, by Jove!

Market Day with the Beckers

We loaded up this morning and headed downtown to the Public Market this morning. You can sorta see the shopping cart we bring in the trunk; it does it's job, but stuff on the bottom has a tendency to get squished, so we end up doing a lot of shuffling around of stuff as we go to make sure the heavy stuff goes underneath the squishy stuff.
As is usually the case when we go shopping, our trip was cut short when we ran out of room to haul stuff (this even after sending the boys back to the van to drop some stuff off.)
I was ridiculously, deliriously happy to find a purveyor of sour cherries, and I bought all he had. Further along in the market there was another seller, so I'm hoping there will still be some available when we go to the market next week. Sour cherries are extremely fragile and have a short season; we had picked some a few weeks ago, but weather, uncooperative babies, and busy-ness with other stuff precluded another trip to the farm. We'll get at least a few more cherry pies now!

Gratuitous baby cuteness

Babies are cute and little for such a short time. Fortunately for a pork chop like David, that time has not yet passed.
He's very funny when he wakes up in the morning.
He likes to play hard-to-get, scampering around inside his crib.
If no one is immediately available to free him from his prison, he tries vainly to climb out.
When this doesn't get him anywhere, he goes back to complaining and posturing. If he gets real good and mad, he'll throw his blankets and stuffy bunny out onto the floor. That'll show us.
Good thing he's so cute.

Kicked to the curb

This is a quintessential summer morning, Becker-style. Before the sun gets too hot, the kids drag their bikes out to ride around the circle and up and down the sidewalk, while I sit in my chair with my coffee. It really, truly, does not get any better than this. I've spent the first hour of many summer mornings in this exact spot for more than ten years now. I'd say I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of that $5 white plastic chair.
David is not quite up to Cat-1 bike racing yet, so he's just chillin' in his ride with the windows down, eating some animal cookies.
Our bicycle collection has not fared as well as our white plastic chair collection has over the years. In a big family, bikes (among many other items) get handed down as they are outgrown by the older children. Our littlest 12-inch kiddie bike was finally beaten up beyond repair, leaving poor little Renee without a ride this summer. Lucky for her we stumbled upon a just-right for her bike at a garage sale this weekend for ten bucks. She's back on the road and ready to go!