We took a little walk up Case Mountain again. They call it a mountain, but it's not very high... it is a nice little walk, though, and not far from home.
From the summit, we get a nice little view West (towards Hartford).
(I'm trying to find out what this building is...)
A little waterfall flowing from Case Pond.
The little hiker after a little nap.
A rainy Saturday here, so we checked out the Lutz. Julia loved it, although by the end, she was getting tired of the crowd of kids (seems that many parents think a rainy Saturday is a good day for the museum...).
One of the biggest hits (for Julia as well as me!) was a large model train, which went through tunnels in the wall.
Trying to catch the train?
Practicing cow milking:
Playing in the yellow submarine (one of Julia's favourite songs). The speakers were playing both Yellow Submarine and Octopuss' Garden. Ringo is apparently still cool with the kids today.
Some fishies:
A little nervous on a horse:
They also had many animals, snakes, rabbits, turtles, etc. Getting to pet a chinchilla was a big hit.
Monday was the first day of fall, and the weather here in CT has been beautiful! Sunny and warm during the day, and a little chili at night.
Julia and I went back to the petting zoo today. She was so excited about it, she kept taking about the animals all the way there, and she kept saying "First the turkey, then the bunnies... No! First the llamas, then the turkey... No! The cow first". She just couldn't decide. Anyway, once we got there, she had a great time seeing all the animals.
Playing with some acorns.
This is a little house with a gnome in it. Julia loves that little gnome, which we call "piticu" (romanian for dwarf).
Finally, a little horsy ride before going back home and falling alseep in the car.
Yes, it has been a long time since our last post. We had some technical problems with the camera, which have now been resolved. There was much rejoicing upon the return of the camera, and now we're back to blogging...
Anyhow, in the meantime, Julia made the big move to sleeping in her own room and her own bed, which she calls her "big-girl bed". She is very excited about it, and we are all happy that it's been such an easy and smooth transition.
My little girl is growing up...
Julia & Mama watching a sunset on the lake:
A frog (watching the same sunset?).
Camping, snacking, and a little fire.
The moon over the lake.
View of North Adams, from the East.
The morning we left - the weather had started to get rainy.
Another day, another sunny picture of the lake. This morning it was particularly still (probably would have been even more so earlier, but this was a vacation...)
Julia made friends with a little chipmunk. We'd leave a few nuts on a rock and wait for him to come get them and bring them back to his little hole. Once in a while Julia would get impatient and run up to him and yell "CHIPMUNK! COME GET THE NUTS, THEY'RE RIGHT THERE!!", at which point the chipmunk would run and hide for a few minutes.
Here's the little guy checking out the surroundings.
Weighing a cashew...
Stuffed his cheeks - he'd then run off to stash his loot and come back for more.
Another "silly" tree.
Hop!
Flower for mama.
Another beautiful day in the Berkshires.
Our lake, in the morning.
We drove out to Mount Greylock for the day. Before we started out, Julia played in the kids room at the visitor's center...
What Julia would look like if she was a 200 lb goofy bear:
Some of the views from one of the lookouts (the mountains in the distance were very hazy).
Don't ask why, but we had to change Julia's pants halfway through the hike, and we just let her run around pantless for a while. She got all invigorated, and ran up the trail singing "Boo-bee-boo-bee-boo! Lookame!! Boo-bee-boo-bee-boo!", while swinging her arms up and down. This won't do it justice, but you can imagine.
Ferns.
Marcia taking in the views from another lookout.
Julia wanted to sit on the "silly trees". It wasn't easy getting mom to back off enough for this picture to be taken.
In the driver's seat:
More to follow...
We went back for a few days "camping" in the Berkshire mountains, like last year. We had scoped out a new campground, which had little log cabins.
We were lucky with the weather: it could not have been better, until tropical storm Hanna dumped some rain on us the last night before we left.
These views were from the side of the road, on the way there (the so-called "65 Mile View"):
Our little site was the last of 4 cabins, right by a little lake (South Pond).
Andy and Marcia joined us. Here's Andy showing Julia how to saw firewood in the morning.
Later that day, a little hike to Tannery Falls.
Roxi and Julia "fishing".
Relaxing, back at the cottage.
The view from dinner at the Hairpin Restaurant (the food is not nearly as good as the view). The flag is there because Andy didn't think I'd do it. :)
Here's the little camper (she's easier to find at night when she wears the headlamp):
More to follow...
