Botanical Gardens & Aquarium, Boothbay Harbor

Hi. Amanda here. I have no idea why my text is underlined, but I'm not going to waste time with it. Sorry if it's annoying.

The moms group from our church went to Boothbay Harbor last week. We took the kids to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens first. What a neat place! I didn't realize that it was so big - they have over 600 volunteers just to take care of it. We spent most of our time in the Children's Garden. Here Callum is pretending to be Burt Dow setting out in his boat the Tidley Idley.

Maira and little Freddie talk about how wonderful the weather is...

Callum is helping his friend Bode Carlson navigate the log path:

Whoops! Pictures are out of order. Here we are at the Aquarium which was just a few minutes away from the Gardens. We learned all about lobsters, and Callum was fascinated. He even picked up a lobster from the touch tank.

He loved learning about lobsters so much that he came home and started teaching Jared and I about lobsters too. And then he wanted to teach his nutcrackers, his puppy, Bumble, Curious George, etc...

Oh, here we are, back at the Gardens. Callum is sitting on 'Little Bear', a character from one of his favorite books, 'Blueberries for Sal'.

And here Callum is checking out the pail of blueberries that Sal must have dropped along the way. This was his favorite part, I think. The rest of the time we were at the Gardens he just kept talking about wanting to go back to see Little Bear and Sal's blueberries.

Friends Emmy and Bode:

Maira was fantastic all day. She is quite a trooper.

Callum is into water lately - he loves to water our plants here at home and play with the hose. So he was thrilled when he found these rocks with water fountains in them. The fountains would spray intermittently and CS was always surprised when they turned on. I love this face!

I hope to do more blogging, so stay tuned!

Bruins, birthday, puzzles

YES! The Bruins are in the Stanley cup.....this is amazing...I am watching Game 2 right now...they are tied with the Canucks at 2-2....I have loved the Bruins since I was a little kid, when I used to watch them on Channel 38 on my little black and white tv in my room....living outside of Boston, it was impossible NOT to love hockey...even though it is not the NHL, I have such fond memories of watching college hockey--BU, Harvard, BC, Northeastern....the Beanpot Tournament was something I looked forward to each year....and my favorite Bruin of ALL TIME is Cam Neeley. His pyarents were treated at New England Medical Ctr (where I treated for my lymphoma) and he did a lot of charity for the hospital....I used to get his 'season tickets' and Bob and I would go to the games at the Fleet Center...GO BRUINS!


Callum LOVES puzzles, and he is amazingly talented at them--even for an almost three year old...he does them ALL by himself...and he gets these amazingly focused looks on his face...he loves fixing things, using tools, solving problems, and stuff like that....

See the focus?
For my birthday, Amanda surprised me by inviting our friends Ben and Betsey--and their kids Polly and Brownlow over for tacos! It was great fun, and Callum and Polly are great friends....and, as you can see, Maira and Brownlow really seem to enjoy each other's company....
Ben made a tasty rhubarb crisp cake for dessert. Happy Birthday to me. I am 33 now!

Baby, can you forgive me?

Okay. Lots of rapid fire posts with lots of pictures and not a lot of text while we catch up on our lives. We want to look back at these blogs someday and see all the cool things.....or, at least the 'things' that we've done.

Last night was the big performance of "Kommon Kore," my student/faculty rock band. We get together each year and we try to throw something together for a fundraising concert. Last night, as usual, we PACKED the house. Our sound was superb...we had a pro sound guy set us up. And, if I do say so myself, we are good. It is amazing what goes on when teachers play with students and then share it for the school--is is relationships, relevance, rigor, experiential learning, and community all rolled into one nice tight musical calzone. Even. I can't say enough about it...it makes me very emotional. Our set list:

1. Someone like you-Kings of Leon
2. Forget You-Cee Lo Green
3. A Punk-Vampire Weekend
4. Heartbreak Warfare-John Mayer
Goldsmith/Walsh solo set
5. The Luckiest-Ben Folds
6. June-Adriana Walsh
7. Down-Jay Sean (feat lil wayne)
BREAK

Goldsmith/Walsh solo set pt 2
8. Highway Song-Adriana Walsh
9. As Days Go By-Jared Goldsmith
10. Friday- Rebecca Black (seriously....)
11. How far we've come-Matchbox 20
12. California Gurls-Katy Perry
13. Hey Ya-Outkast

Adri and I performing THE LUCKIEST by Ben Folds. Go youtube it. A spellbinding song. Word is that I will be performing this song at Jon and Kelsey's wedding....

I was lead vocals and keyboard....but when Adri was singing, I had a blast on bongos, conga, et al....
I had great bongo faces....
In addition to me, we had Adrian Walsh on rhythm guitar and vocals...Kari Zemrak on bass...Kody Price on drums....and good friend and teaching mentor Dr. David Lachapelle on a hot lead guitar.....
the chandelier added so much atmosphere.....and mood.....
Fantastic time....

Fireballs and catfood....

Callum is very independent lately....he likes to cook, vacuum,, and do things for himself

This time, when we werent looking, he decided he wanted to feed Lupine.....
What a great kid, huh? He meant so well...wicked cute...he was so embarrassed...

This past Saturday night, Sally and I chaperoned prom. This was the second time we have gone together....the first time being 7 years ago...in my rookie year at WHS....

To celebrate our date, I made FIREBALLS on the Weber....basically meatloaf with an attitude. A cross between a spicy meatball and a meatloaf...all wrapped in a basket weave of bacon,, of course. I smoked them on the grill for about 2 hours. I love BBQing...
Also, on the BBQ, I made some handcut "fries" which came out well!
A man, charcoal, and a cast iron skillet: It is a beautiful thing....

Maiden Voyage, even

On Saturday, we went on our first canoe trip of the year, and Maira's first canoe trip EVER. We paddled a pretty section of the Belgrade Stream, which connects Great Pond to Messalonskee lake, even. Lots of good fishing I hear. Pike and such. But we were there to paddle.

First Callum packed his "canoe bag/" Let's see: An orange, his snoopy water bottle, his little paddle, an apple, his bald eagle, and...oh! Let's not forget two Russian dolls!! You need those!!

Getting ready to "shove off." Callum LOVES paddling, and he RESPECTS the boat, his seat, AND, most of all, the water. He embraces it, enjoys it, isnt afraid to put his hand in while we go...BUT he knows to sit in his seat, wear his life vest, etc. A VERY good boy. A beautiful day. Until the thunder storm moved in.
Callum, Maira, and my co-captain paddling "scamper-the camper" canoe! Pretty shallow water...we saw crayfish on the bottom...lots of rocks...beaver dams....many orioles once we got to the expansive march....good stuff
Asleep, soothed by the sounds of the water. Cute little life jacket. She did well for the most part. Needed to eat once, but otherwise enjoyed it. We were only out for about a half hour....
My little buddy. Over the right is the marsh expanse where we saw MANY orioles with their black bodies and orange wings, even.
Come with us next time!

700TH POST!!!!!!

In honor of the 700th post of Goldsmith5, I thought I would pay homage to a very special little girl who--unlike her brother--has not yet appeared in any blog videos. Grandparents, enjoy. This past Friday, I went up to the bowels of our garage attic, pored through boxes of decorations, dead bodies, and Amanda to-do lists in order to find the one, the only: the Jumparoo. This is a rite of passage for Goldsmith children. Callum spent MANY MANY hours of his life having a blast in this thing, and now it is Maira's turn. She is such a sweet little lady, and we just love her so much. Even if she has no idea what sleeping through the night is. And stuff.

Meanderings 65

1. My Ajax dish soap--the bottle on the sink-- has "45% more than its competitors" it is funny to think about dish soap fighting each other. Has America really become THAT competitive? Now we have to have cute bubbly sinky-soap getting all nasty and gangster with each other?

2. What about a restaurant that ONLY cooks things in cast iron skillets? Even the water is boiled in dutch ovens. It is a huge selling point. "Casting Like Crazy" could be the name. I'd go. I'd get eggs probably.

3.Do you hate it when you drink something with ice in it and suddenly you learn you are about to drink an ice cube by accident? Like it slipped by the goalie somehow. I hate that. Instantaneously I have a decision to make: Am I going to suck it up and swallow the cube, which will undoubtedly disrupt the whole "groovy flow" I have going on with my beverage du jour and shock my system? OR, do I put everything on hold, stop, shift into reverse, and try to backwash the cube back into the drink. This saves the ice cube from brainfreezing me...but now you are left with backwashed drink which could contain bits of food. What if i am not ready for that commitment yet? I am just DRINKING for crying out loud...

4.Windbreaker? Seriously? A thin layer of nylon is going to "break" one of mother nature's mightiest and most forceful weapons? pa-lease. humans. No wonder we are the same race of people who think Glenn Beck is smart. So stupid.

5. Individual letters, on their own, are called "characters" As if they have personality. No way. Individual letters are not "characters." Except maybe the colon. The colon is cool: He announcing crap to the masses. The colon is a "man of the people." He tell it like it is. Other than that, individual letters are not "characters." They are nothing without me. Or periods. Stupid humans. No wonder we are the same race of people who watch cosmetic-surgery-gone-wrong-as- entertainment. Silly....