The grass at Castle Hill

This last week has been another busy one. Avonlea Jane is cutting tooth #3, but none of them have come in further than breaking the surface. So, she has three very sharp little peaks above her gums. This week was also my last official class session, and now I just need to get through finals this coming week. I am confident I will survive.

In the past week or so Avonlea Jane has also started babbling more. When she's been upset, we've heard a lot of "mamamamamama!" I know she doesn't associate that vocalization with me yet, but it is endearing none the less. She has also been exploring "B" and "L" sounds.

(Top of the blog: Avonlea Jane enjoying the warm weather. Above: Daddy/Baby nap time. Don't ask me how they got into this position.)

This weekend we took advantage of the sunshine and went to visit Crane Estate on Castle Hill, which is part of the same estate as Crane Beach, where we took Avonlea Jane last week. We had yet to visit the manor, and this weekend was an open house where children were welcome. The whole property was quite impressive, and we could understand why it has been used as the backdrop for so many movies (most recently The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past).

The front of the house

The front view

View from the side of the house

This is one the guest rooms in the house. Many of the rooms don't feature furniture, and what is presented are recreations of the Crane family's furnishings, as the house was donated to The Trustees without its contents. The Cranes assumed as a land preservation organization, The Trustees would reserve the land and the beach but tear down the house.

The view from the back of the house

The back of the house

The Great Lawn, facing the house from the back--a bit of a walk

The grounds were so nice that we took Avonlea Jane for a walk, where she touched grass for the first time.

On the way home we stopped by a small park to let Avonlea Jane swing for a while. Her first time in a swing was on Friday during a playdate. She was okay with being in the swing until the wind started to blow and then she was a little frightened. So, we decided to try it again on Saturday when there wasn't a wind, and she was quite content.

Even Daddy couldn't resist playing on the playground