weekend visitors

We had the pleasure of hosting a good friend of mine and her son this weekend, who were visiting New England for the Enki Education Homeschooling Conference, which ended this past Friday. The kids quickly became fast friends and had a blast. J and his new pal especially enjoyed "buddy reading" -- they almost immediately starting taking turns reading alternating lines in books. They also enjoyed talking about one of the things they have in common -- a passion for Spongebob Squarepants!

We took a couple of short hikes during their visit, the boys happily bounding ahead of us slowpoke adults. We visited a couple of state forests on Saturday, including The Laurel Sanctuary that we had hoped to catch at peak blooming. We missed by a week or two, or so it looked, but it also didn't seem like it had been a very good year for Mountain Laurel this year, there just weren't many bushes in bloom. But we had a nice hike anyway, and the woods were pretty even without a quantity of laurel blossoms.

Sunday we headed down to a state beach on Long Island Sound. Zoo Boy enjoyed digging in the sand, wading along the water's edge, and, best of all, following the gulls and terns up and down the beach. We're pretty sure he's going to grow up to be a professional beach comber....

Meanwhile, the other two boys spent the bulk of their time in the ridiculously cold water. I'm not sure how they did it! The fact that the day itself wasn't particularly hot, AND had a stiff breeze, sure didn't help. In this photo, The Map Man kept them entertained as long as he could stand it out there, but he eventually shivered his way in. J soon followed, after more than an hour in the frigid surf. Their friend just wouldn't give up, though, and spent more than two hours out there. He must be half polar bear! (I meanwhile was sitting on our blanket under an umbrella -- I did get a toe or two wet before all was said and done, but my activity was limited strictly to rock and shell collecting. Swimming in the ocean doens't hold a lot of appeal to me, especially on a chilly day!)

J proves how cold it was when he got out. He also entertained us by shivering to the tune of "Ode To Joy".

It was a great weekend! In addition to the photos I managed to capture of the boys' fun, we also visited a local playground, had a little campfire where we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and spent a lot of time just hanging out and playing and visiting at our place. Laughter is good for the soul, and our souls were brimming by the time we put our friends on their plane home this morning.