San Francisco Trip 1

Arriving on Thanksgiving, we were able to join the rest of the Hobson family for the feast. 

We flew all day and the flight was surprisingly okay. No delays, lost bags, bad attitudes or other nonsense that frequently comes with modern air travel. The one problem was the discovery that Alden will throw-up every time the airplane descends. Not a matter of IF, but a matter of WHEN. However, knowing this allows us to be ready with a sick bag (or at least it did on the flight back... learning curve) 

 

It was great to be with the family all in one place and we were also able to celebrate Ben's birthday. We were able to meet baby Ada, and it was also a chance for many folks to meet Elliott for the first time. Alden and Levin got along famously and played well together.

Ben's birthday night bowling was a hit, although Liz and I stayed home with the babies.The group went to the Academy of Science, which had a rain forest exhibit with frogs, fish and butterflies as well as baby ostriches outside in the yard!

Baby ostrich!

Putting the Bees Away for the Winter

We have had a couple surprisingly warm days lately, the last gasps of summer. When given the chance the bees still go out and forage. They even come back with pollen, although I have no idea where they could have gotten it.

Despite the mild days it is time to prepare the bees for winter, which involves doing a final hive check to see if they have enough food, wrapping the hive in tar paper (with a little escape hole in the top), and putting a moisture board under the cover to help it stay dry inside.

Last year with the single hive I also put a piece of insulation under the tar paper, this year with four it was left out. Now all that is left is to wait and worry until February and hope they have enough food and whatever else for the winter.

Canada Trip, Moncton

I went to the Franco Fete conference last week, a French Language performing arts market for New Brunswick and Quebec.  The conference was in Moncton, about 6 hours from the house in Maine. The conference was split between three venues, one near the hotel and two in the downtown.

The drive was beautiful  and not too snowy. I think if I would have made the trip later I would be tempting the weather. 

I try not to blog too much about work, but it was great to be in a place where business was conducted in a different language.

The Kids

Standing up

Elliott loves to stand. His surprisingly strong little baby legs can easily hold up his weight and he's even taking a few steps now and then. He is pretty chatty too.

Beekeeping Outfit

This outfit was a gift from my work pals Darrell and Steve. While adorable, it is woefully inadequate for protecting a 2 month old while beekeeping.

 

Things have been pretty hectic with 2 kids, so the posts are not what they used to be. The latest Elliott update is that he is mostly sleeping through the night. This is awesome and may afford us more energy to update in the future. About three days ago Elliott just decided to sleep for 6 or 7 hours straight at night. In fact, now Ilana needs to wake him up to feed him since the milk supply gets painful after about six hours.

 In other Elliott news, he discovered thumb sucking a couple weeks back, which helps him calm down. He no longer likes pacifiers or sucking on other people's fingers. It also seems like he is realizing his hands are HIS hands which may be interesting in the near future.

Tummy time is also proving fruitful as he can now lift his head up for a little while and look around.

New Furnace

 Old Furnace

 

New Furnace 

The chimney needs a new lining which will come soon. But this is how we decided to blow $10,000 this week.

Ready for Halloween

I don't think anyone 'got' our costumes, but we knew and we had fun at the downtown Gardiner Trick or Treat event today.

Wallace and Gromit if you didn't get it by now!

Brothers

Precious family moments

Elliott really likes the light fixture in the living room ceiling. That's what he's talking to in this video and also what he's smiling at.

We tried to get a family picture on the couch the other day. Everything was family bliss until Kerstin went for the camera. Elliott started to cry because he was startled by his own flatulence and Alden subsequently buried his head in the couch. Kerstin managed to catch this magic moment.