Lest my last post gets you too worried about me (I know, I know, you’re all thinking, the woman has three weeks in Vermont and all she can do is complain about the weather?) – rest assured, I’m fine: Becky and Tim are here! I’ve written about Matt’s sister, Becky, elsewhere on this blog. She is one of those people who does the right and helpful thing always and she and Tim are just what the doctor ordered: two new adults with an actual appetite for watching the children set up train track and plastic animals and who do not mind doing dishes by hand. They have been here a little more than twenty-four hours and already the boys have had extra television, extra storytime, extra ice cream, and lots of extra hugs and kisses.
The first thing Teddy had to do this morning was bring Becky down to the pond to catch some critters (the one benefit of the rain has been that there are easy pickings; Matt bought the boys nets and a bucket the first day we were here and they have been put to good use). Normally it’s strictly catch and release, but apparently today they had to bring them up to show Uncle Tim, because I turned around to find Teddy waving a little frog around the kitchen. I quickly sent everyone out on the porch and we all admired the frogs, tadpoles, and spotted salamander.
Tommy was particularly proud of this big guy:
It was sunny (the weather, checked obsessively before we do anything, accurately said we could expect downpours midafternoon) so we drove over the Appalachian Gap to Huntington, home of the Birds of Vermont Museum. I have a great fondness for this place, which can be found deep in the woods off a country highway. Bob Spear, now 88 years old, has painstakingly carved and painted over 470 birds, displaying them in carefully created representations of their native habitats. He is there most days, along with his soft-spoken daughter and grandchildren who work the front desk. It is an incredibly peaceful place, dark and cool with the type of New Age music that has birdsongs as one of the instruments playing over the sound system. When we were there last summer, Bob was working on a turkey:
We were delighted to discover today that it is finished and now sits in all its resplendent Thanksgiving glory in a glass case.
The boys grew tired of looking at the carvings before the adults and so we went down to the viewing area where you can look through binoculars at their variety of feeders.
The boys also read books and Tommy drew this picture of “Little Chick” in one of the squares of the mural young visitors are invited to contribute to.
Then it was out into the woods for a damp and piney stroll. Teddy insisted on holding Tim’s hand. Let’s hear it for uncles and aunts!
I've taken with my children and those I want to take. Explore and you'll find family travel tips, information about vacation destinations, and lots of stories about our adventures! 
