life with Isla

Today we watched our favorite baby in the whole world, my niece Isla, while Merry and Stephen went out on a lunch date... the first date they have been on in a while. We were thrilled!

Isla is 10 months old, and spends most of her time laughing, putting anything and everything in her mouth, crawling around the house looking for mischief (mostly in the form of plugs and outlets) and table surfing as she gets closer and closer to being able to walk. She has a very determined personality for such a little person, so naturally when she saw that the hooties had come she wanted to snuggle with them... and eat them... and would not be deterred!
They did have a good snuggle, but here's a word to the wise: beware of your eyebrows around babies! I was wondering what got stuck in her mouth after her hootie kisses... and a white tuft of eyebrow feathers was callously discarded on the floor. Ouch.
Thankfully, Erin helped me pick out all the right kinds of felting needles last weekend, so it should be an easy fix, but wow. Hooties: not so baby-proof. At least not Isla-proof. Poor little hootie.

family game night!

Tonight the hooties and I and a handfull of friends convened for a resurrection of family game night. After a lovely dinner we broke into a new game: Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot.Let me tell you, those bunnies are vicious! But the hooties were able to hold their own, safe on their perch above all the excitement.

keeping watch in a fairy village

Our friend Kate came to visit this weekend, and we took her for a walk around Mackworth Island in the rain. The bright yellow and copper-colored leaves underfoot smelled amazing, and we stopped in the fairy village to see how preparations for winter were coming along. We found a little acorn baby there, tucked into a mussel shell with a birch bark and pine needle blanket to keep her warm. The hooties enjoyed babysitting while we wandered through the forest peaking into the scattered fairy dwellings.

We'll be back again before winter, but I am always curious to see what the village looks like when the snow melts in the spring! Will our acorn baby be all grown up by then? It's a mystery that only time will reveal, I suppose... until then nature's blanket will keep her warm.

it's a bird, it's a plane...

In fact, it's both! The hooties and I flew to Vancouver B.C. this weekend to attend a dear friend's wedding.The weekend was full of excitement, and not so full of sleep. But who cares... we can sleep when we get home! For now, we're enjoying the view from up here... I don't think the hooties ever conceived of flying this high. Woah! Their noses were pasted to the window the whole time. They were fascinated!

Stone Mountain Arts Center

Britt and Hope took the hooties and I to Stone Mountain tonight to see an incredible Irish band called Celtic Crossroads play their hearts out. There were amazing little twinkle lights and windows that were carved in the shape of trees, and 8 musicians playing music you couldn't keep yourself from dancing to in your seat. Afterwards we got to hang out with the lead singer/fiddler and one of the dancers too-the man with the fastest feet in the world. Before tonight I didn't realize it was possible that anyone could tap 30 taps per second, but apparently that's his record! We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, drinking mead, telling stories, joking, singing, and laughing in the cupola overlooking the harbor in Portland. It was a night to remember indeed.

tying up loose ends

After two years of midwifery school, we are finally finishing up our last couple days of class! Inspiration abounds as we get ready to say goodbye to our classmates before everyone scatters around the globe to finish out their apprenticeships. We're tired, and ready for a change.
I thought the hooties would like to hear about some of the things we're learning (and three heads is better than one!)... In their sneaky way they appeared as if from nowhere (those tricksters!), which made everyone smile- not always an easy task at the end of a long journey!

*S-L-O-W riders!*

As promised, we found our way to the Portland Slow Riders' bike posse after August's First Friday. We were right in our element!

The Slow Riders meet at 8pm at Monument Square on every First Friday, and are open to anyone joining their groovy turns about town.We were joined by spider man, three other tandem bikes, a woman with a dog in her backpack, some rockin' bass, and a whole lot of laughter, hooting, and whooping from crowds and bikers alike.
We had sparkles. We had lights. Glitz. Glitter. Glamour. You name it. We had a blast!
And we ended the night at Duckfat with giant smiles on our faces, fully inspired to join next month's bike posse too. We hope to make it a habit.