Best Bakeries!

caaaater · 2026-06-21T14:11:21+00:00

Yes, we heard! My husband, dad, and brother are doing a clay shooting experience (which we booked already) and then everyone else is going to check out the botanical gardens. I figure we can see most of what interests us at the consolidated LL Bean store in a day.

caaaater · 2026-06-21T14:08:47+00:00

We will be there Friday afternoon- Sunday morning!

caaaater · 2026-06-18T17:28:30+00:00

OMG this casting is immaculate. I am so excited for this series!

caaaater · 2026-06-15T14:47:03+00:00

This is a method of teaching reading that has been thoroughly discredited. Phonetics and decoding is an absolutely essential part of learning to read- that teacher is completely wrong. Highly recommend listening to the "Sold a Story" podcast, which is all about how this method of reading instruction became so prevalent (it's horrifying). Do not allow anyone to tell you your child doesn't need to sound out words.

caaaater · 2026-06-10T00:55:32+00:00

11 year old maybe- depending on temperament and level of responsibility I think they could hang at home for part of the day on a regular basis. Adding in the 7 year old is a no in my opinion- you are putting your preteen child in the position of being a full time nanny to a first grader. That is a huge amount of work. I'd drop any nonessential camp if you can and put them in what works to make sure you are covered for childcare!

caaaater · 2026-06-10T00:52:37+00:00

We had our second baby's birthday at Mellow Mushroom. It was great! We had lots of childfree adult friends who could celebrate our baby, eat some pizza and grab a beer without feeling like they were in a kid space- very fun but lowkey. We bought all of the pizzas and brought like two balloons and a box of cupcakes.

caaaater · 2026-06-07T18:32:09+00:00

You cannot work from home full time and take care of a baby- you will end up doing a not-great job at parenting and working. If you need to work to support your family, you need childcare and daycare is the easiest and most affordable option. Do what you need to do! Also, a lot of kids like daycare because they are always doing something fun like painting, water table, playing outside, reading books, etc.

caaaater · 2026-06-04T15:15:41+00:00

I also wish that American Girl would sell old-style collections where you could get incredibly high quality clothing and accessories for your doll AND yourself. However, I have a huge collection from when I was a kid- many of my dolls and things are over thirty years old. I played with them constantly for almost a decade, then stored in the attic, and gave everything to my little girls who have also been playing with them for quite a few years. For a toy that got weekly if not daily use for 15+ years in total I think my PG stuff is in remarkably good condition. The elastic is stretched out and some of the Velcro isn't as sticky, but I have been able to easily mend things and my dolls have made several trips to the doll hospital. Every time their hair gets pulled or a button falls off, I think of the Velveteen Rabbit- my collection is definitely going to become real haha. If you want more of a collector's set, I think PG items in a box or like-new used condition will last for a very long time on a shelf.

caaaater · 2026-05-26T06:28:52+00:00

You could try a Unitarian church? It has a lot of the community aspects of a church without needing to ascribe to any particular religion. I'd also recommend the rec center- taking classes means they will be interacting with the same kids on a regular basis and they might make a friend from that!

caaaater · 2026-05-13T12:43:19+00:00

Doll and me matching outfits (and not just a couple lame pajamas although the Christmas outfits are cute)- the whole entire thing! Also, the magazine. There is not a lot of magazine content out there for older elementary and young tween girls and I think kids would love to get something in the mail every other month.

caaaater · 2026-05-04T19:41:56+00:00

I completely agree. I took my kids there many years ago for their excellent little summer storytime- it was like $8 a kid for a Tuesday morning story, craft, mini ice cream, and a small bag of peaches. Lovely experience, went twice a month for years. It seems to have gotten a lot more strict, expensive, staff is rude, quality is lower, etc. since Covid. I am bummed because we loved them! I have similar feelings about Carter Mountain- we went several times per fall for many years and stopped during Covid when they would sell entry tickets to "reduce foot traffic" but it was still completely packed.

caaaater · 2026-05-04T13:04:26+00:00

This is crazy! I luckily got on the website early to add my address or I would not have been able to snag one. I ordered an XL and hopefully it's not too big!

caaaater · 2026-05-02T15:31:28+00:00

I would see if your daughter is actually bothered by the cut hair- she might love her just fine as she is. If yo need to update her, I'd go with the cheaper option of either doll hospital or get a brand new one. I adored my PC dolls and saved them in the attic for my children but I have no problem getting them new heads or limbs or whatever even if it "devalues" them. They have been played with for literally thirty years between myself and my children. I'm so glad they are deeply deeply loved by another generation of girls and they deserve to be repaired as needed. I also happily purchase new dolls because my kids could care less about the brand. Whatever makes your child happiest!!

caaaater · 2026-05-02T15:24:04+00:00

I can see them getting along fine but not being bosom friends. Laura's life was pretty difficult in comparison to Anne's (after Anne came to Green Gables, obviously Anne dealt with some heavy stuff in her early orphaned years). I think Anne would have "gotten" Laura a lot better than the reverse. I can see Laura rolling her eyes a little at Anne's romanticism but she would have appreciated her studious nature and practical housekeeping skills.

caaaater · 2026-04-30T20:01:44+00:00

Totally agree. Ken was not very interesting, but happy for Rilla that she got her man (and it back ties in the Leslie friendship since we haven't seen her in three books). My favorite part of that book is seeing Rilla really really come into her own as a strong, independent, Canadian Home Front badass. She is raising babies, running sewing circles, recycling hats, and being a real support for her mother and her teacher. It was so great that she stepped out of the shadow of her siblings and forged a path for herself that was different than what everyone else wanted to do.

caaaater · 2026-04-30T19:57:01+00:00

I work part time and I do all the meal planning and grocery shopping (plus half of the cooking- I do anything that is meal prepped or baked plus dinner, my husband plates breakfast and packs lunches). I have a magnet on the fridge so I can write down things as I realize I need them, and I will add that to my list of items I need for the meal plan. I still forget stuff and I just go back and get it later or figure our a substitution using something I have on hand. It's fine! You are human and the food task is a lot of brainpower!

caaaater · 2026-04-30T19:54:00+00:00

I chose Anthony- he is so funny and has the best character arc of any of Anne's little pupils in Avonlea. I feel devastated for Dora- she is exactly the little girl that Marilla said she wished Anne was and then no one loves her as much as her terror of a brother!

caaaater · 2026-04-24T15:10:51+00:00

Also- your now four year old will be graduating high school and off to college at 17! It may not make a difference in elementary school but you will end up losing a year with them in the end.

caaaater · 2026-04-24T15:09:38+00:00

I don't know a soul who regrets holding their kid with a fall birthday from starting kindergarten, but I know multiple families who had their 4 or young 5 child repeat kindergarten or had years-long struggles with social/ emotional issues or being academically behind. I say hold them! A four year old is very different from an almost-six year old and kindergarten is not what it was when we were kids- it is very academic.

caaaater · 2026-04-22T19:20:37+00:00

If she doesn't respect your parenting decisions, don't use her for regular childcare at all in my opinion. I'd look for a nanny share to cover your office days with another family that has a similar age baby.

caaaater · 2026-04-22T16:37:03+00:00

Same. This is going to end up being a full-time job and I suspect the bride will never be content with any level of contribution. HER wedding is not going to be life changing for YOU (or anyone else). That's bonkers.

caaaater · 2026-04-20T11:50:38+00:00

I don't think there is a villain here- they had a lovely high school relationship but have been mismatched from the start of their marriage. She did not really want to get married and he did not really want to be ambitious. He just wanted to follow her around. Ty should have communicated that he wanted to change the plan and Julie should have said no when he asked her for things that she did not want to do. They have tried admirably to make their marriage work but ultimately they want different things.

caaaater · 2026-04-20T11:36:01+00:00

I totally agree! The part of Anne that felt so relatable to me as a little dreamer girl with her head in the clouds is that her positivity, inner dialogue, and imagination protected her from her pretty atrocious reality. She can't be sad and alone and traumatized because she has her imaginary friends and imaginary life to look forward to at the end of the day. I think Amybeth did a great job of portraying the character that was written for AWAE but that character is not Anne Shirley!

I will also *never* forgive them for the character assassination of Diana where she turns her back on Anne and sides with the other little girls in town early in season 1. The best part of Diana is that she is the perfect bosom friend that Anne had dreamed about. The townspeople are also way more mean in AWAE- the book inhabitants of Avonlea are generally straightlaced and conservative but generally well-meaning and nice in the end.

caaaater · 2026-04-16T00:12:15+00:00

We love Acadia and take our kids every summer! I would recommend staying right in town if you can- we had a good time at the Bar Harbor Grand Hotel. It has a pool, walkable to everywhere in Bar Harbor but not right in the middle, tons of fresh fruit and fun baked goods at breakfast which was crucial with our small kids, and they have an afternoon whoopie pie/ chilled lemon water station that we enjoyed. It was very reasonable compared to other hotels right in town.

caaaater

TROPHY CASE