East Coast Blog Post, Week 1

Hey Family and Friends!

Whoa, what a whirlwind!  Things have been pretty calm around the farm since our last update.  We started a few projects around the farm (an orchard, and the mudroom), but we hadn’t had a chance to get to a finished point, and so haven’t been ready to present them!  But these last few weeks have been full of fun and activity, and many of you!  We’ve had a great (and exhausting!) time!

Harrison, Becca and Cora

We started out from Michigan after work on Friday, July 17^th.  We overnighted on the way, and arrived at the home of our dear friends Mike, Becca, and now Cora Bubb on Saturday late afternoon.  It is absolutely crazy, but Becca and Justine both had our babies on the same date, November 20^th, 2014. Cora was born around 10:20 am, and Harrison was born at 12:30 pm.  It was so much fun to be able to experience the babies together!  The idea of a village co-parenting all of the children who live there sounds wonderful, and we were thrilled to have Mike and Becca be our village for a few days and to share the experiences of raising babies together.  Partially because of the heat, and partially because we wanted to eek every moment of friendship out of the trip, we spent a lot of time at Mike and Becca’s just spending time together, playing games and sharing. 

Harrison and Cora's Eight Month Picture

Monday, while the Bubb’s were at work (and daycare), we hopped in the car to make the trip up to Montgomery, New York to visit Nate’s sister Laurel and her partner Kevin at Windfall Farms.  We arrived in the late morning, and the day was already heating up!  But that didn’t stop us from taking a golf-cart tour of the farm.  It’s awesome, using the full breadth of the word.  The farm is owned by Morris, and he and a handful of other staff live and work there.  The farm specializes in microgreens and edible flowers, which they harvest and sell at farmers markets in New York City.  Over the years, many people have come and gone from the farm and each left their own unique signature by starting their own new projects.  There are rows and rows of vegetables and fruits, beds of edible flowers, greenhouses for microgreens that heat themselves with hot water in the winter, a sugar shack for maple sugar, and so so much more.  

View from the main house of Windfall Farms

We actually ended up lending a hand bottling maple syrup for sale in the city.  We also had lunch there, which was possibly the most healthy and the most delicious lunch we’ve ever had.  We were sent off with warm hugs, blueberry jams, garlic, onions, and some beautiful maple syrup.  Thanks Laurel and Kevin for taking a day off of work to share with us!

Nate and Harrison have a creative farm nap

Visiting the Bubbs wouldn’t be complete without a trek into Philly.  We headed into the city and found parking (thanks Becca!), and went to Reading Terminal Station for lunch.  We were amazed by all of the different options, but settled on Indian for lunch and grabbed some dessert before heading to Becca's office to show off babies to her co-workers.  After that we trekked to the Franklin Institute science museum to meet up with Mike.  We’re not sure quite how much Harrison and Cora got out of the exhibits, but they had fun cruising around and loved watching things with a lot of movement.  It was a wonderful last day in Pennsylvania.

The men and their babies!

Next, on to Annapolis to visit Alister and Joan Bell and for Justine to attend a friend’s bachelorette party in DC!  Harrison had a tough drive to the house, but once he got out of the car he was back to his cheerful self and he charmed the adults, although their Papillon Cricket wasn’t as impressed.  We took the baby on a walk down to the Saefern boat dock, then dropped Justine off at the train.  The rest of the family enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Joan, and Alister and Joan held and played with Harrison and told him all about the Tour d’France.  Justine joined her friends at Founding Farmers, just down the street from the White House, and then all the girls went to a Latin club to dance the night away!  They were even asked to dance by a congressman, which Justine is now convinced happens all the time in DC!  Joan and Nate were wonderful to drive into the city late to pick Justine up (she wasn’t ready to spend the night apart from Harrison), and all slept well and spent some time the next morning visiting.  We watched Harrison put one of his toys in a place that he couldn’t see into and the retrieve it a number of times.  This doesn’t sound that exciting, but to us it was enchanting.

Nate, Harrison, and a dinosaur made of Lego

Seven days, seven states (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and DC).  Harrison is such a trooper, and we’ve tried to keep the driving days short to keep him from getting too frustrated.  We’ve had a wonderful time visiting so many friends, and can’t wait to see everyone again soon!

Look for week 2 soon!

Love!

-Justine, Nate and Harrison

Baby love!  My baby love!