the other night, i woke up and something felt weird. i was lying on my stomach, and finally came to the realization that Carter had draped himself over me, like a blanket, and was sound asleep with his head in the nape of my neck. this was a conundrum. very endearing, but how was i to move? i had to, becasue my arms were asleep. i slooooooowly unearthed myself, like a giant spatula.

he has caught ava's cold. i can only remember one other time of illness for him, when he was 8 months. he is really really stuffed up. and he has this odd rash on his cheek--sort of like his sinuses are mapping themselves for me. but he is in good spirits. just gooey.

nevertheless, we went to octoberfest at whiteface today. pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel. pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel. pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel. pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel. pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel. pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel. pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel...

oh, a jumpy thing...woooo hooo! oh, a maze made out of hay bales....

it was upon exiting said maze that ava managed to misjudge the distance between her forehead and the huge plywood entrance that you had to duck under and WHACK! it was a massive thump. she never cries in public, and she immediately sobbed. the mark on her head is impressive. i expect it will be blue and green and yellow soon. we all crumpled into a little ball of crying and comforting, with carter rubbing ava's back and giving her a kiss, while i held her and tried to see the extent of the damage.

fortunately, she recovered, and off we went to the pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel, pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel, pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel, pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel, pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel, pony ride, teeny tiny ferris wheel....

finally we went on the gondola. carter did not like up, but he did like down.

we left at 6:15, home by 7:15, asleep by 8:15. i am getting a LOT better at the evening routine. though feeding them cheese and yogurt smoothies and whole wheat mini-bagels in the car cuts down on the kitchen chores considerably.

as i write this, ambulances and fire trucks are zooming by the house, a very unusual thing on this road, particularly after labor day, and especially at this hour. and to top it off, they are using their sirens, making it particularly unusual--they almost never turn those on after dark. huh. very distracting.

last night the power went out. i was out in the woodshed rummaging around for kindling and wood when the flashlight died. both kids were waiting for me in the dark dark house, noses pressed against the glass, monitoring the movement of the little beam of light. when it went out, i am sure they were terrified, but they were remarkably composed. i picked my way back to the house through the utter monsoon, told them that i was going to turn on the car for light, and everything was ok. and they were fine. i managed to start a fire in the dark, we curled up by the hearth, and they fell asleep. when the lights went on, i eventually moved them back to their bed, but reluctantly. it was cozy. there is a picture at the end of The Runaway Bunny -- where the mama bunny and the little bunny are curled up in their nice warm den--and i have often coveted the coziness in that picture--last night, i felt like the mama bunny.