New Hampshire, Ash, and Rotting Pumpkins

Okay, this is my long-awaited New Hampshire blog!!! Yay! It's going to be very long, sorry. So, while the many (26) pictures are loading, I'll talk a little about what's been going on lately. Southern California experienced super high winds, then burned to the ground. Well, a lot of it anyway. It's ashy everywhere and my lungs and head hurt from breathing it in so much. I woke up with a 101 degree fever on Thursday so I didn't go into work which sucked because I need the money after being royally screwed over in Hemet. I am never working there again! I worked Monday at Murrieta and made a lot of money and could have made equal money Tuesday and Wednesday had I not agreed to work in Hemet because they needed someone. They did NOT need anyone. I made half of what I would have made in one day working in Murrieta, in TWO days working in Hemet! Anyway, so I was looking forward to working at my home store again, but I fell ill. Oh well. I am better now, after resting a whole bunch. And, the pumpkins we had so proudly carved rotted and sank in within a couple days of being outside. I did not know they rotted so fast. Guess I'll take a lesson from that! Anyway, looks like my pictures are starting to post, so I will start narrating them. Before I get started (and you get started reading them), come look at the Dogster site I set up for Mai! http://www.dogster.com/dogs/652184
Ok, here we go!


Here is Matthew playing near my grandma's old wood stove. I can't count the number of times he hurt himself on it, but that surely didn't act as a deterrent. Maybe he likes bruises?

There's his cousin, Andrew, wondering how he can get some more baby tattoos (bruises).

Here they are, destructing and deconstructing the breezeway together.

Here's Matt taking the mysterious phone that only works for babies away from Andrew

"No, it's MINE, see?"

"But you can play with it, I guess"
And here's him sharing! He is so good at sharing. He was a huge fussy monster 95% of the time he was there but at least he played nice with Andrew. Andrew, on the other hand, did NOT play nice, but he is such a sweet kid I just think it's because it's the first time he's really played with another baby.

Here's my Uncle Den with his grandson (Andrew), who is ringing the bell!

This is 4 generations: Matthew's great-grandma, Joan Schafer, his grandma, Lynn Renard, his mom, Allyson Holloway, and him!

And this is my mom, Matt, Andrew, my Uncle Den and I. Andrew is VERY excited about something but I can't remember what. Oh yeah, life in general :-p

Here's Matt begging his great-grandma for something.

Here's Andrew: "Mr. Pose-Perfect"

And the two of them, IN THE EXACT SAME POSITION!

Hey Andrew, mind if I have a look around? Let me dive head-first into your toybox.

Here's Andrew and his Dad, my cousin Devin.

And Uncle Den and cutie-pie Andrew again!

Here they are, playing together again. Couldn't get enough pictures of that. Get two super-adorable babies together and you just get tons of camera-happy cuteness.

Noo Matthew!!!!

Here's the Maine coastline in some town I don't know the name of. Very beautiful.

More coast...

Here is Matt's footprint in the sand. He liked digging his feet in, once he got used to it.

Beautiful breaking waves. So glad I got a picture.

Here's Matt tasting the rare delicacy of Atlantic coast sand. "Has a rougher texture than Pacific sand, but worth the wait!"

Here's him, crawling VERY fast toward the water.

Hey look mom, I'm here! See me? See me?

Here's Andrew again, being generally cute :-)

And last but not least, here's Andrew attempting to look like he's not attempting to grab his grandpa's coffee.

And now, sadly, I have to go. Matt just woke up (good timing, buddy!), and I have to run around and get things like baby food and a present for a baby's first birthday tomorrow. Hope this was fun to read! I'll post again soon!