Isabella Francine Vargas

Welcome to the world! My niece Isabella was born this morning at 8:22AM. 6lbs, 15 oz. She is ALL Borrelli! Can't wait to get my mitts on her!

Glover Day

Today was the annual Glover Day celebration with the Runaway Pond run/walk/bike race. For some interesting history pertaining to the origin of this footrace, please check out the following wiki entry: Runaway Pond. Notice that Ed's late father (Wayne Alexander) is listed as one of the sources. Pretty cool that Wayne Henry made Wikipedia!!!

I have no pictures of the race, as I ran and was in no shape following the run to coherently assess the need for pics of other runners when they crossed the finish line! BUT, we lucked out with the weather, as it was mostly cloudy during the run and cleared nicely for the barbecue at Shadow Lake. One of the most special parts of this day was that ALL of Ed's siblings were present- all eleven of them! Here is a picture of them all (including their mom, Martha). Back row, L-R: Joan, Lisa, Laura, Martha, Mary, Julie. Front row, L-R: Paul, Ed, Martha, Cedric, Wesley, Peter.

The guys with their Mom:
The girls with their Mom:

18 of Martha's 26 grandchildren were present. Here is a photo of everyone who was there (minus Estelle and Lena, who were napping). Back row, L-R: Tyler, Katie, Chelsea, Matt & Elijah, Lillian, Lizzie, Addy, Jacob. Front row, L-R: Anna & Wayne, Alexandra & Heather, Grammie, Rachel, Lauren & Cole. The "extras": Ernest & Cecile, Neal, Alexander, Owen, Grammie, Aimee:There was a picture of the "Outlaws", but Ed was involved in a conversation and didn't snap a picture of us. Hopefully, someone else will post or e-mail one so I can add it in!

Julie and Thomas, all the way from Nice, France:Grinnin' baby boy!

Me and Ed:
Our Family: Matt & Elijah, me, Ed, Tyler, Aimee:

Tyler and Aimee:

Ed's 3 Boys, all looking serious:Visiting in the sun...You can bet there were multiple conversations going on at the same time!

It was truly a perfect Glover Day. Thank you so much to Mary & Danny for hosting a wonderful post-race party!

The Meltdown

Yesterday we had a nice visit with Ed's sister Julie, her husband Thomas, and their girls Estelle and Lena- visiting the U.S. this summer from Nice, France. It's always great to have ANY one-on-one time with anyone in the Alexander family. Usually there are so many people around, all the time, you can't even conduct a civilized conversation.

I took about 5 pictures, none came out very well. In fact there was only one worthy of posting- Thomas engaged in a competitive match of Foosball with Estelle and Elijah.

Today Ed was invited to join Tyler and Matt's fishing party. He left at 6:00AM and returned around 7:00PM. My original plan was to take Elijah to the Sandbar Beach, but we woke to a drizzly gray day. So my friend Sara suggested we meet at the ECHO Science Center in Burlington. I stopped by the Fairfax library for the pass (admission is just $2 with the library pass) and met Sara and her daughter Arianna at 10:00AM.

We had a blast. The kids really enjoyed the different types of turtles and fish- especially the big sturgeon, which are nearly as long as the kids are tall!

They also had a lot of fun at the water table. Everyone got good and wet!

This morning, Elijah absolutely refused to eat breakfast. I packed a few items "just in case," which he ended up eating on the drive into Burlington.

We left ECHO around noon, and Eli was pretty hungry. I figured I'd swing by Dunkin Donuts, since he loves their plain bagels. There's not one nearby with a drive-thru so we had to get out of the car and go inside. To make a long story short, Eli REALLY wanted that bagel by the time we got there. And unfortunately, it was right during the lunch hour, there was quite a line and it was moving very slowly. Within a few minutes he was reduced to a puddle of tears and screeches. Complete and utter meltdown. This is very unusual behavior for him, mostly because we do a pretty good job or planning things out better and warding it off. And there was nothing I could do but continue to wait in line. He was starving. It wasn't an option to leave that building without food. How embarrassing!

As soon as he had a bagel in his hand, he was fine- right back to his happy old self. Here's proof:

Whew!

What's Happened in the Past Month???

You know how sometimes you let the laundry pile up and then you have to spend what feels like an entire day washing, drying and folding? And when that last item is finally put away, you promise yourself, "From now on, I will do one load of laundry every day, fold it and put it right away--laundry will never be such a huge chore again!"

Fast forward to the very next week, when you have 6 loads sitting in the basement again....

Well, blogging's been kind of like that this summer. I started out so strong, posting blog entry after blog entry, really keeping up with our activities.

And then.........

Nothing..........

All quiet for nearly a month! So, you might wonder what the Fairfax Alexanders have been up to since the last blog entry. Or maybe you're not wondering at all...But here goes-

For starters, we've been dodging raindrops, like everyone else suffering through the most bizarre of Vermont summers. With rain almost daily and temperatures some days not even getting out of the 50's, the summer is passing us by without the lovely hot days we've come to relish.

We have discovered indoor play areas to keep Elijah busy some days. Here are some pics from Zachary's Pizza and Family Fun Place. I cringe a bit at the germs that such a place must breed, and I hope you cannot see how dirty the bottom of Elijah's socks are. But hey- when you've got an active toddler, you'll do ANYTHING to get out of the house on a rainy day!

One morning I even resorted to the McDonald's PlayPlace in St. Albans. Believe it or not, it was actually quite a pleasant experience! I sipped coffee while Eli ran rampant with a half-dozen other high-energy kiddos. Whatever it takes :-)

Then along came Independance Day. Rain (of course). Earlier, we caught the Westford Parade and library book sale. In the afternoon, we headed off to Martha and Chris' for a barbecue. Becky, Alexander and Bill also joined us. I apologize for the severe lack of pictures.

Mary with the now-octogenarian, Becky:

I'm pretty sure this is the first time Bill Strong has made it onto my blog:

Elijah's thinking, "Martha's strawberry shortcake or Becky's chocolate cake?"In the end, he chose the chocolate cake. He was very satisfied with his decision!

One day, we visited the Kemmers (in the old brick house across from MMU). Elijah wanted to try out their new zero-radius riding John Deere mower. Dick Kemmer said it cut their mowing time by 1/3. Boy, do we wish we had one of these!

Earlier this month Ed, Elijah and I were supposed to take our first week's vacation at the cottage in Maine. We ended up canceling the trip due to an awful forecast. Elijah requires so much entertainment these days, we weren't sure how we would pass the time in a tiny cottage in the rain.

The following week, however, my Mom and Aunt Nancy were taking their week at the cottage, so Eli and I decided to spend a couple days with them while Ed was at deercamp with the boys. The day we arrived was rainy and COLD. Elijah was not impressed:But the next day brought glorious sun! Elijah worked the beach for most of the morning:We got to spend some nice time with Nana:

Cleaning up a little around the cottage:

The day after we returned from Maine was my birthday. We started off the day with a family bike ride to the bakery in town for breakfast:

Then we played in the sandbox for a while:

Batted around the tetherball a bit:

Ed and I had a babysitter that night and went out for a nice dinner at the Foxfire Inn in Stowe. This is the 3rd year we've been there to celebrate my birthday.

Ed presented me with a beautiful pair of tanzanite earrings. This photo doesn't do them justice at all. They are so beautiful- I love them!

He also gave me Lost: Season 3. We are officially addicted to that show! We Netflixed Season 1 and Matt lent us Season 2. We spend most nights watching episode after episode!
Ed and Elijah building a shoe cabinet for our porch:

Every now and then, I do something without Elijah. RARE, but so necessary! Here's a photo from a Girls' Night Out last week. Left to right: Shannon, Jen, Beth, Christina, Chizuko. Sitting next to me is Jobie.On Friday night we hosted a "Teacher Party" for some of our colleagues. After a dinner of shrimp, chicken and venison kabobs, we played a game called Guesstures. Notice that when teachers are involved, we raise our hands to ask a question.We also listen very quietly and intently to the instructions.

Linda and Ed:

Ed and Jon:
Gail and Kathy:

Dick and Ed:The Ladies:
Finally, today was a beach day! That means not raining, with temperatures nearing 70 (it's all relative, you know!).

Elijah and I went to the SandBar with the Heyer family (Chizuko, Daniel, and their twin 3-year-olds, Brandi and Alicia...don't ask me which is which!)

After a while, my old student Sarah joined us:She played some serious "ball" with Eli!
The girls peek out at the camera while eating their lunch:
And that officially brings you up to speed on our summer vacation so far. From this point forward, I promise to post a blog very couple of days to "stay on top" of things......Yeah, right!