Even this gray cloud (or rather, blazing hot sun) has a silver lining, though: it provides ample excuses to put chores on hold and go find a cool, shady spot, preferably with swimming! Which is exactly what Maddie and I have been doing the past few days. We’ve visited the Bangor Public Library (no swimming there, but lots of AC!); took a day trip to Bar Harbor and swam in the cool, but surprisingly not frigid, Atlantic Ocean at Sand Beach in Acadia; and, today we visited the Field’s Pond Audubon Center Pond for the first time. What a glorious spot!

The Maine Audubon website says that Field’s Pond Audubon Center is located seven miles southeast of Bangor, and features a modern visitor center, an 85-acre pond, and a 192-acre sanctuary with trails winding through field, wetland, forest, and lakeshore. We focused all of our time and energy in and around the 85-acre pond today, but will be sure to visit again to explore more!  It was peaceful and  cool on the smooth-stoned beach at the edge of the pond, and the trees provided ample shade. The water was cool and clear and very gradually deepened, which is perfect for playing children.  We went with our friends Alessandra (mommy’s friend) and her daughters Lily (2 yrs old) and Charlotte (3 months old) and met another couple of friends–another Lily (3 years old) and her mom.  It was a relaxing, cool, beautiful spot, and the perfect escape from this humidity! We will most certainly be back to the Field’s Pond Audubon Center!

Field's Pond Audubon Center: the field we drove through to get to the pond

Field's Pond Audubon Center: the clear, gorgeous pond and the magnificent view from the shore

Maddie loved playing in the rocks on shore. Although not clear in her expression, she had a great time swimming and playing with rocks, sticks, and friends!

Maddie is excited about all her new fluff, too!! She, like most babies, likes the box a whole lot as well!

One of the many great things about Kelly’s Closet is that they often issue “free one-sized cloth diaper” codes to use when you check out with orders over $25 (which, let’s face it–if you’re ordering cloth diapers, chances are good that your order will be over $25). This particular box included two orders, and therefore included TWO new cloth diapers!

The first free one-size diaper I ever received from Kelly’s Closet was a bumGenius 3.0, way back when I was a complete cloth diaper rookie. As novice as I was, I had already tried a bumGenius diaper (it was among the original 5 diapers I ever ordered). No harm, no foul–free fluff is free fluff: always awesome!

The second free one-size diaper was a Flip diaper. After surviving a massive dirty diaper and a long nap with no leaks, I was sold. I ordered a “day trip” box of Flips including 2 covers and 6 organic pre-fold inserts, which you can see arrived in the shipment today. The idea is that you can change the insert and reuse the covers. SWEET!

My order from Kelly’s Closet this time included some tried and true brands that I like a lot (Two Thirsties Duo Wrap covers, a BabyKicks organic fitted, the Flips pack, and a Planet Wise wetbag) and some brand newbies just screaming to be tried. Today, my free one-size diapers were both brands I have never tried but have been meaning to try: Econobum and Kawaii. I also ordered a FuzziBunz since I’ve heard so many good things about them but have not yet tried them.

Three new brands! I can’t wait to try out all of the new fluff, and I will be sure to post reviews of how they fare. Right now they are in the washer starting their pre-use wash, and already, the brands that put their names on their inserts get some extra points (go Econobum, Flips & BabyKicks!). The one down-side of having multiple brands of diapers is figuring out what inserts go with what covers once they are clean! Let the fun begin!

Maddie is digging right in... opening her favorite overnight, her organic BabyKicks!

New to cloth diapering? I would highly recommend you Click here to visit Kelly’s Closet! Tell them Kitty sent you!

* Are you reading this and wondering if there are any recent shopping codes to get a free one-size diaper or other free stuff with your order from Kelly’s Closet? Leave me a comment and I’ll let you know the latest codes! *

Mother Nature works in wondrous ways: I was really bummed at how quickly the summer flew by, but after three consecutive sweltering hot 90+ degree days, I’m definitely looking forward to autumn weather! Woo hah! Bring it on!

(Not that the forecast calls for any cool temps any time soon!) I will fully enjoy the dripping sweaty hot humid days until then. I promise! Thank you, Mother Nature, for the reminder to enjoy each day as it comes!

Through all of my cloth diapering orientation, the people at Kelly’s Closet have been extremely helpful. As the website states,

Simplify your life with cloth diapers at Kelly’s Closet! We have everything you need to make your experience with cloth diapers positive. We specialize in cloth diapers, diaper covers, and many diaper accessories from trusted brands including FuzziBunz®, Kissaluvs, Happy Heinys, Gro Baby, bumGenius!, Thirsties, Econobum, and Flip.Why shop at Kelly’s Closet? Kelly’s Closet is committed to providing high quality products and superior customer service that is unmatched in the cloth diaper industry.

They aren’t kidding! I have sent numerous questions through their customer service page, and I always get a clear, helpful, friendly response really quickly. With their help, I finally found a solution to wet naps and night-time sleep.  Maddie was even soaking through disposable diapers!!! I sent an inquiry to Kelly’s Closet and quickly got a great response suggesting a fitted diaper and cover instead of a pocket diaper for nighttime. I replied, “what’s the difference?”  haha there I am, cloth diapering novice extraordinaire. Patiently, Kelly’s Closet replied with a detailed messages explaining the difference between pocket diapers and fitted diapers, and I was sold.

Wondering what the bulletproof combo is?  I’ve been using a BabyKicks Organic fitted with Joey Bunz insert, plus an additional bumGenius overnight soaker pad, with a Thirsties cover. Phew! It seems like it would be massively huge, but it really isn’t! AND, since we’ve been using that combo, Maddie hasn’t woken up in a puddle since! (and that was over 2 weeks ago)

BabyKicks Organic Fitted... absolutely bulletproof!

I’m absolutely loving cloth diapering!! I’m looking forward to attempting our first hotel vacation with cloth diapers in a couple of weeks when we meet my parents in Boston for 5 days, 4 nights. My goal is to use all cloth diapers.  We’ll see how it goes!  Do any cloth diaperers out there have any suggestions or tips for a successful CDing vacation? I’d love to hear them!

About a month ago we were on the coast on a camping trip in Acadia, and decided to go into Bar Harbor for dinner one night. Usually when we go to Bar Harbor, we go to Geddy’s for dinner, since it’s a classic fav and right in the middle of town. It even has a live webcam of Bar Harbor so that you can check out the sights year-round. It’s good pub food, and certainly has something for everyone (more or less–us anti-fried food vegans have few selections).  This time, though, I thought we should try out some place new. We started walking around and looking at menus and soon discovered why we always went to Geddy’s–there really weren’t many vegetarian options anywhere. That’s when my mother-in-law Sheri mentioned that she vaguely remembered a good place up the street a bit.  She couldn’t remember the name or what type of food there was, but she had gone there a few years prior and remembered it being tasty. We decided we would walk up in the direction of her memories and look at the menu. If it wasn’t any good, we would go to Geddy’s.

That’s what brought us right to the gate of McKays. One look at the menu, paired with the comparable prices and atmosphere and we were hooked. High fives all around–we had found a winner! I loved just about everything about my dinner experience at McKays. The hostess and waiter were both extremely friendly (but sincerely so, not annoyingly so), helpful, and attentive. The food was the best food I’d eaten in quite some time. The price was comparable to all of the other restaurants whose menus we had perused. AND by eating there, we were supporting local and organic farmers!! What’s not to like?

I returned to McKays two nights later when family was visiting and we spent the day in the Bar Harbor area.  The food was fantastic yet again and McKays did not fail to impress. I can’t wait until my next visit to Bar Harbor… another excuse to try something new from the menu!

Going to Bar Harbor on vacation? Live in Maine and looking for a new dig to check out? I suggest McKays Public House Restaurant: 231 Main Street in Bar Harbor. Check it out… and let me know what you think!

Today I went out and harvested 22 – yes, count them… twenty-two! cucumbers, some of which were massive. Garrett was so excited about the bounteous harvest that he scaled a full-on photo shoot of our lovely cukes in our kitchen.

Here are some of my favorites of his glamor shots:

Green juice, cucumber salad, sliced cucumber creations, here we come!… anyone want some cucumbers?

Photo by BagMonster on flickr

Here’s the article as posted on the EcoEtsy blog:

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AB 1998 passed out of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, which means beginning of January 1, 2012, stores will phase out of handing out single use plastic grocery bags in California.

Assembly member and author of the bill, Santa Monica’s Julia Brownley said, “We are taught to reduce, reuse, recycle in that order because we can’t recycle our way to a better world,” Brownley said in a statement. “This bill gets to the root of our litter problem by reducing our use of disposable bags. A statewide ban on single-use bags will persuade shoppers to switch to reusable bags and save Californians some of the $25 million a year spent on cleaning up bag litter.” Of the 19 million single-use bags discarded annually in California, only 5% of them are recycled, said Brownley.  (LAist) The new proposed law will allow sales of recycled paper bags to consumers for five cents if they forget to bring their reusable grocery bags.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he looked forward to signing the bill into law after hearing that AB1998 passed in the Assembly on June 2, 2010.

And the most recent city to look into banning plastic bags since CA started it’s campaign is Portland Oregon. On July 14, 2010, Portland’s mayor Sam Adams pledged to eliminate plastic bags from his city.

Do you want your city or state to start banning plastic bags?

Sign the petition today!

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I am SO excited that this has finally happened!! I almost never accept a plastic bag from any store these days. I bring my reusable bags, or just carry my items out.  I am happy to note that check-out people give me weird looks less and less when I tell them I don’t want a bag, compared to the looks and incredulous glances I got a year ago when I made the decision to never use a plastic bag again.  The way I see it is especially if I carry the items all around the store, why wouldn’t I be able to carry them out to my car after paying for them?

Plus, as noted on the Top Ten List website, plastic bags are #7 of the Top Ten Potential Environmental Disasters, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is #9. Their justification for listing plastic bags on the list is that “This all pervasive material has invaded every part of our lives. These bags are found everywhere and about 10 million of them are disposed of as waste every day. They are not biodegradable and they can take a long time to degenerate. They are clogging our drains and our rivers and our trash sites and are harming our soil and water and air.” I don’t see ANY reason why we should not ban them from our everyday use!! Whoever is still not convinced that plastic bags need to be eliminated from our everyday use should go talk to the Bag Monster (photo above).

Great Pacific Garbage Patch... ick!

For those of you who have not heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it is “a huge swirling mass of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean. Often termed as the world’s largest garbage dump, its size is increasing steadily as it collects more garbage from ships and from land-based sources.” Yuck! According to the Garbage Patch website:

Most of our waste today is comprised of plastic. Plastic, which is made from petroleum, is a material that the Earth cannot digest. Every bit of plastic that has ever been created still exists, except for a small amount that has been incinerated, releasing toxic chemicals.

In the ocean, plastic waste accumulates in swirling seas of debris, where plastic to sea life ratios are 6:1; where birds and mammals are dying of starvation and dehydration with bellies full of plastics; where fish are ingesting toxins at such a rate that soon they will no longer be safe to eat.

The largest of these garbage swills is known as the Pacific Gyre, or The Great Garbage Patch. It is roughly the size of Texas, containing approximately 3.5 million tons of trash. Shoes, toys, bags, pacifiers, wrappers, toothbrushes, and bottles too numerous to count are only part of what can be found in this accidental dump floating midway between Hawaii and San Francisco.

If this isn’t a huge clue that we humans need to change our plastic-consuming ways STAT, then I don’t know what is. Do your piece. Refuse plastic. Use reusable bags. Sign the petition to eradicate the use of plastic bags today!

Kudos to California for taking the lead on this issue and actually getting things done! Rock on!

Here are some great reusable bag options for you in the meantime:

LoveForEarth Tropical Sunset FULL set Reusable Produce bags on Etsy

zJayne Paper or Plastic No THANK YOU Recycled t-shirt bag on Etsy

greeniebeanrecycle Coffee and Conversations UPCYCLED Farmers Market Tote

As I talked to her more, I discovered a few more connections and found that Garrett & I have quite a bit in common with Leslie & Paul. It was so nice to meet such wonderful people so soon after moving up here, and I’m really looking forward to getting to know them better through adventuring, yogaing, and eating delicious and nutritious food!!

On the fourth, they suggested a short hike up Bald Mountain. It was a blazing hot sunny day, which made the breeze on top of the mountain feel gloriously refreshing! The view was spectacular, the hike was short but very steep, and overall it was a perfect day! We even did some yoga on top of the mountain (one of my favorite pasttimes-yoga in the heart of nature!) AND it was Leslie’s idea!!

We also used our new organic Ergo baby carrier for the first time, and as you can see, Maddie loved it. She was able to fall asleep and nap on the way up, and for much of our time on the top of the mountain she snoozed in the shade.

The following are some pictures from the hike. As you can see, it was a gorgeous day for an invigorating hike and breathtaking view!

After a hot and sunny ascent, we reached the top….

What a VIEW!! That one big clearing and building across the lake is the Lucerne Inn, where our friends Andy & Jenny got married. It was really fun to enjoy the view from the other side!

Here are a couple of crows chillin on the cliff’s edge. (For the non-yogis, Leslie and I are doing Bakasana, or crow pose… also called crane pose)

We did some flying, too. This was especially fun for me, since while I have seen partner yoga and acro-yoga before, I’ve never had a chance to do it. It was a ton of fun, especially with such exhiliarating views!

Sooooo much fun! I am definitely looking forward to our next hiking adventure!  Here’s to new heights and new friends!

I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. I am the Lorax, and I’ll yell and I’ll shout, for the fine things on earth that are on their way out! Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

– Dr. Seuss

Please, I implore you… listen to the Lorax!

This morning my husband sent me an article that I just had to share. We have been using raw cacao nibs in fruit smoothies and as a yummy snack for close to a year. While some friends think it tastes like bark, I love it! Now, according to this article from Natural News, it’s not only a delicious answer to my chocolate cravings, but it’s also a “superfood”! Even the Aztecs recognized it as amazing nutritionally–they called it “heart blood”. Yum!

Here’s an excerpt from the article for those who want the specifics:

By increasing the levels of specific neurotransmitters in our brains, cacao can help promote a positive outlook, facilitate rejuvenation, and simply lift our spirits:

- Serotonin - Cacao raises the level of serotonin in the brain and therefore acts as an anti-depressant, promoting an overall sense of well-being.

-Endorphins - These are our natural pain and stress chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Cacao stimulates the secretion of endorphins, which can help to produce a pleasurable feeling.

- Phenylethylamine (PEAs) – PEAs are a natural chemical compound that are also created within the brain and released when we are in love. It acts as a mild mood elevator and an anti-depressant, and it helps increase focus and alertness.

- Anandamide - Anandamide is known as the “bliss chemical” because it is released by the brain when we are feeling happy. Cacao contains both N-acylethanolamines that are believed to temporarily increase the levels of anandamide in the brain and enzyme inhibitors that slow its breakdown. This promotes relaxation for a longer period of time.

For the whole story, visit the full article Raw Cacao: Turn Chocolate Cravings into Super Nutrition.

Chocolate – it’s not just for breakfast anymore!