Eliza and Curt"s Wedding

They couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to tie the knot.

It was a little tricky for the bridesmaids to walk down the steep lawn in high heels.

You's think Joanie had been performing marriage ceremonies for years. She was a pro.

Husband and wife.

 Addie and Jesse sounded great.

 Heather's two front teeth came out this week. Just in time for some toothless wedding photos. I love it. It's so classic.

 I swear that sky is not photoshopped.

 Cole can't help but be rumpled. It's just in his nature.

 I think someone said Martha made the cake. How could she possibly have had the time?

 First dance.

 Heather and Elijah played nonstop together.

 And the day would not be complete without the traditional family photo. 

Congratulations Eliza and Curt!

Saxophone

 Did you know that the saxophone is categorized as a woodwind instrument? I did not know that until a few days ago. 

In fourth grade, students can choose an instrument and join the school band. Cole has chosen the saxophone and had his first lesson at school today.

Hmm. Just when we finished paying for Wayne's trumpet, another comes along. It is beautiful though.

Apple Pie

This afternoon, Heather and I picked a few more apples to make a pie. I should say, I picked the apples and she just "hung around."

Taste testing to make sure they're good enough for our pie.

The little one is for her to take to school for snack tomorrow. Now to make some whipped cream and we'll have apple pie for dessert tonight.

Wayne's Birthday

I just realized that I never posted pictures of Wayne's 12th birthday! Here they are. Better late than never.

I made him his favorite breakfast - pancakes and bacon.

Heather and I made him a cake - same as on my birthday, lemon.

In the afternoon he had a baseball game. That's him on the pitcher's mound. My phone camera has a terrible zoom. 

 Heather feeds this horse. He seems to be the team mascot. His name is Booger.

 When we got home, we picked pears in the backyard. They're small but very good.

In the evening, Joanie and Grammie came for cake and Ice cream.

 Hard to believe my first baby is 12 years old and almost as tall as me.

Thanks to everyone for all the phone calls, cards and gifts.

Little Egg

One of the chickens laid a tiny, little egg. We hard boiled it and Heather had it for a snack. The yolk was so tiny, you could hardly see it. We had one white chicken that hadn't started laying yet. This might have been her first. Let's hope they get bigger.

Echo Aquarium and Science Center

Last Spring I watched a segment that WCAX ran about Echo Science center and their exhibit called "Bigger Than T Rex." The segment mentioned that there would be skeletons and also some of the animatronic dinosaurs used in the Jurassic Park movies. Cole and Wayne watch the Juassic Park movies all the time, so I knew we had to go see this exhibit. We went yesterday and just in the nick of time because today (Monday) is the last day!

First we stopped and had lunch at Joe's Snack Bar.

Then, on to the museum. I forgot to take a picture of the exterior, so this if from the internet.

One of the first things we saw was this lovely eel.

A demonstration on how Earth plates collide to form mountains. My camera battery was running low, so I was taking pictures with no flash. That's why all these photos will be not-so-sharp.

Out onto the observation deck to enjoy the view of Lake Champlain.

Cole had a scary encounter with a velocoraptor. 

He had to run for his life or be eaten alive!

Luckily he escaped in time to look at some bugs in a microscope.

Heather enjoyed these listening stations that were set up around the 2nd floor. 

This one was called "Sounds from the Mountains." There were several other themes as well.

A clever pinball game demonstrating the journey of the salmon.

Before the View-master there was this!

Huge fish in this tank, including some Lake Sturgeon.

Wayne pops up in the middle of a shipwreck.

And so here was the main event - for us at least. The dinosaurs. The big one there is called Giganotosaurus. "Giganotosaurus, at 45 feet long, was 5 feet longer and 3 tons heavier than “Sue,” the largest known T. Rex." Cole or Heather's entire body could fit in that mouth.

Wayne stands in front of Mapusaurus. Related to the Giganotosaurus, full grown would also be bigger than T Rex. This one is a baby.

We all escaped the museum without being eaten alive. It was s fun day and I think every kid should see those dinosaurs that lived so many millions of years ago.  

It looks like today is going to be a rainy and thundery Labor Day. I had hoped for a swim at the lake and maybe some burgers on the grill, but we might have to make other plans. Happy Labor Day!