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!