Wonderful camping trip this weekend. Mary lost her front, top tooth in a marshmallow. The kids (and us, too) actually managed to go through a whole bag of marshmallows, a huge bar of chocolate, and nearly a full box of graham crackers. S'mores for dinner? Just about. :) They were yummy, though.

The next morning Nathan took all the kids up to Patriarch Hill. I stayed behind and packed up the cabin/car. I restocked all the wood, too. Gotta love those handcarts... and having a cabin downhill from the woodpile. :)

Fri afternoon, before we got the the campsite, we stopped in Lebanon and went shopping at LISTEN (yay! all the kids have clothes again! And Nathan found a pair of brand new, custom made shoes for $5. They fit him perfectly and when he got home he found they were English made and cost over $400. Now, he too, appreciates the full wonder and beauty of LISTEN. Somehow the craft day sale and 10 cent day only gave him a partial appreciation.) We also went to the Co-op and did some essentials (and a few non-essentials) there. It was pouring on us the whole time, by the way. The rain stopped about halfway to Sharon, VT and we never saw a drop after that.

The wind was horrendous, though. :) Joseph and I shared a bed, Mary crawled in with Daddy, and Lil'Nathan was left to fend for himself on the top bunk... under the window. Just as a note: You can never have too many blankets when camping in VT in September. We did not have enough. Oops.

Saturday, after we left VT, we got some apples (1 1/2 bushels) and some squash (1 bu). It was fun b/c this time if we can't can it all (or in the case of the squash, soup it all) before it goes bad we can... drum roll, please... freeze it! Yup, we are now the happy owners of a small chest freezer. I've been hoping and looking for one for about three years, but Nathan was always reluctant. Then, on Wed, we received 30 lbs of Alaskan cod and halibut from my aunt in Anchorage and Nathan suddenly saw the need. ;)

But I have to admit, the highlight of the weekend for me was visiting Kelly, my favorite midwife up in Lebanon. I had called her in the morning before we left, with a couple of questions and to ask if I could drop off some baby hats for the hospital. She remembered us and asked us to come by. While we were there, she found our baby's heartbeat--which the midwife here in Cambridge was unable to do the night before. Nice and strong, and she found it on the first try. (My stress level about it went way down after I spoke with her on the phone, but I've had no fears or worries since visiting. Oh, how I wish I could go up there to have this baby!)

So, yes, we are pregnant again... and we are having trouble finding a good place to have the baby. MA isn't too alternative birth friendly insurance wise, and as a result, many of the hospitals have nice brochures and say pretty things, but when it comes to practice, there is a lot of interventions and "just in case" procedures. Continuous fetal monitoring?... sorry, don't think so. Hep Lock?... not going there again. The C-section rates here are among the highest in the nation, and even the birth centers (2) have a 50% rate of transfer to the hospital. I'm seriously considering a homebirth. (If she read that, I'm sure my mother just fainted.)