BIG STORM MAY 27,2011

Many people have heard that we had some severe weather here last week. Our FB pages have some photos from the aftermath.

East Montpelier, Plainfield, Barre, and Montpelier were hit pretty hard. Roads washed out all over the area.

The storm started around 7pm and lasted into the night. Violent winds, thunder, lightning, torrential rain and hail.

Fortunately, our property is not in the flood plain. We watched the storm from our third floor. Well, some of Team T braved the conditions on the deck until they could no longer keep a handle on the kiddie pool.

It was a pretty tense storm. The rivers rose and flooded the town. Mostly basements were effected of the local businesses. We continue to be slammed with T-storms.

WELL IN EAST CALAIS,VT

We are excited to have water out in Calais. This was our big land improvement over the last few weeks. We will no longer have to haul water out to camp.

This will be important, especially later in the summer when the piglets come.

We had our own little well christening ceremony. We still need to add the pump. Style and design are still being assessed.

Yum! It is good stuff!

Riding Bikes and Hot Wheels

This is what we do every nice day we can. We ride all over town and stop by some of our favorite places.





State and Main St. in the heart of town
















La Brioche for muffins and cookies













Positive Pie 2 For slices and see daddy

















Our neighbors house

LETTER D is Funny

D is for Dots!

MONDAYS ARE GREAT FOR PAINTING

This week we were inspired to paint.

ALLOWANCE

Here is one responsible kiddo....

She's saving for some parakeets.

CAMP: PROJECTS

It is the peak of Black Fly season. The kids and dad don't seem to mind. We did take refuge in the camper this week. It was cleaned out. The kids enjoyed the camp toys which include Z- cards.

Daddy freed up the remaining blueberry bushes and built this lovely patio outside the camper. The kids braved the cold stream and black flies. Some big rocks were freed in the blueberry patch that made a great hole for a "tiger" to hide in. It was covered with branches and bushes. Think Swiss Family Robinson. Needless to say, we are all a bit scratchy this week.

BLACK FLY FESTIVAL, Adamant, VT

It's that time of year again! Why not celebrate these little pests! Dad and daughter were judges for the pie contest this year. Mom bought a new "netted jacket so she could tolerate camping out on the land this weekend. These little flies bite and they always come out in May. The season is short, thank god! The little town of
Adamant (part of Calais) always has a festival every year. A tiny parade, some homemade food, and a pie making contest is all part of the fun. One activity unique to this festival is swatting black flies. It's free!

PRESCHOOL AT HOME

It's time.... With help from big sister, he's learning those letters and sounds!

CHRISTMAS IN MAY ??

For kids that have been away from their toys for 6 months!!

Camping in Calais....

We have a new set up on the land. Walls and a make shift bunk bed for the kids!

Team T will probably spend a good chunk of the summer out here.

Our kids need a lot of time to play in the woods.

SPRING IN VERMONT

WILD RAMPS YUM! These onions are so sweet! Steam them, stir fry or bake them into bread! All you need is a good eye, a shovel, and a bucket. Go out and forage!

Spring Time!

It is that time to pot the trees and get our seedlings started.

We have several trees that we will be putting in Calais later this summer.

We have started our container gardens and some stuff we might put in the ground on the land later. There are lots of projects on the land. We'll see what happens. Our pigs will be arriving a little later than usual. That happens when you take a big trip.

ALL SPECIES DAY MAY 1, 2011

ALL SPECIES DAY

Our first weekend back in Vermont....

The kids put on their swan costume and cheetah costume and headed up to Hubbard Park for the Annual All Species Day festival presentations. We met up with our best friends, a hippo and a deer and paraded to the Capital with all of Mother Earth's animal friends. We watched Mother Earth appear in the pageant on the lawn. The Maypole was also a big part of the show.

Cousins

We'll sure miss you guys!

Itsy Bitsy won't be so itsy bitsy when we see you next!

Seplak Family Photos California April 2011

Easter in Southern California

San Diego ... La Jolla 2011

Old Town San Diego April 2011

We visited Old Town San Diego. I have to say, we were quite impressed with the new improved Mormon Battalion museum. I'd highly recommend it to everyone. It is quite a presentation. My kids loved the talking photos and the interactive tour. At the end they got to pan for gold and experience some old day fun! The stop at the candy shop was good fun as well. We had to sample some rock candy and other nostalgic sugary treats.

Disneyland April 2011

One of our favorite places to visit in California is Disneyland! We spent two days at the Magic Kingdom and California Adventure. This year the highlights for A. were riding Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. She also braved and hour and a half line for the rapid ride at C.A. since it was about 95 degrees that day. Mom got soaking wet! N.'s highlight was riding the Matterhorn! Yes he just met the height limit. The fireworks, Buzz Light Year, and Fantasmic were also some of his favorites.

Our grandparents and cousins frequent the Magic Kingdom. They have season passes and go often for short periods of time. . We pushed them to the limits with our full days and nights at the park. If N. had his way, he'd go everyday. We were able to go watch the fireworks outside the park an extra night.

California : Desert Hot Springs April 2011

We spent a week with grandma, grandpa, and all the M. cousins in Palm Desert. Swimming was on the agenda everyday. It wasn't warm everyday, but we managed to brave the pool and swim in the hot tub. The views of Mt. San Jacinto and San Gregornio covered in snow was quite picturesque against the desert back drop.

Besides swimming and hanging out, we visited the Living Desert museum (which is quite spectacular) and hiked in Palm Canyon.




A loves her private swim lessons with her aunt!

Back From a 5 Month Adventure in South America

That's right! We took the winter off and went down to check out South America. Our daughter missed the kindergarten cut off by 3 weeks so instead of another year of preschool, we quit our jobs and went to explore a new place together as a family. You can read about our adventures at....


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