23-40/70...A Truly Amazing Summer So Far!

We are just a little more than halfway through this incredible summer. Been too busy the last few weeks to blog, so here's a giant "catch up" attempt.

First. let's talk about this weather. I can hardly remember a summer that felt so...well...summery! I LOVE it!

My photos go back to July 9th. Ed was gone for Tyler's bachelor party in Wheelock. Elijah and I decided to take a road trip down to Charlotte to see the Very Merry Theatre's production of "Treasure Island."

Waiting for the show to begin.
We didn't last very long. For starters, they moved the production indoors to a barn, due to the threat of rain. The barn had been occupied by cows. recently. Like earlier that same day. And it was HOT. And...early in the production, one of the character's lines was, "Aye Aye Captain!" That was all Elijah needed to hear. He continuously yelled "Aye Aye Captain!" as loudly as he could. Over and over (and over) again. We left when it was apparent that the rest of the audience no longer found it cute or funny.

The next day, a Saturday, my best friend from college came to visit. Patti is a veterinarian who lives in Manchester, NH with her husband and daughter Ryleigh, with another on the way!

This picture looks like Elijah is proposing-

Later that week, we headed off for our first vacation in Maine. I think I'll post all the Maine pictures after next week, when we take our second trip up there.

On to the highlight of the summer- Tyler and Aimee's wedding weekend! We moved on up to Stuart and Emilie's camp at Shadow Lake. My sister Paula, brother-in-law Jim, and their kids Kyle (6) and Isabella (nearly 1) also joined us. It didn't take long for Elijah and Kyle to become fast friends!Took a walk down to the family Shadow Lake camp...And played lots of Legos.

The Lake was stunning!We saw these loons very single day.

Saturday morning we helped Tyler and Aimee set up for their wedding. Tyler made this arch himself.Katie, Emma, Jasmine, Elijah and Fred walk down the aisle.Aimee and her Dad, Darryl:

A beautiful setting for a beautiful wedding.

Matt, making the Best Man's speech-

Which ended in the presentation of a gift of a canoe!Cutting the wedding pie-The Alexander Clan celebrates again!...But this is what happens when you take off for so many days at the peak of garden harvest time! What a bounty-Wonder what wonderful things the second half of summer will bring!

22/70

Day 22 of our 2010 Summer Vacation...

And the heat wave continues! Thank goodness for air conditioned bedrooms so we can still have diaper dance parties! For over a week, some of my friends and I had planned to take our children hiking today. We're getting kind of tired of just sitting around at beaches and pools this week, so regardless of the weather, we decided to move forth with our idea to hike the trails at Mills Riverside Park. The kids could get some exercise and then look forward to splashing in the river when we were done with the hike. Here's the whole gang, before we began (notice they were still smiling)!

Timothy, Elijah, Matthew, Christina, Anna, Ava, Reese and Quinn:And we were off! If you think everyone looks really whiny and complainy, you are right! Not only was it hot, but the deer flies were utterly ridiculous!!!

Taking a break... After a splash in the river (of which I got no photos because Elijah had a complete meltdown), we sought out some shade for lunch. Everyone was much cooler and much happier!We stopped for creemees on the way home and then spent the rest of the day in the comfort of air conditioned bedrooms! I wouldn't say this hike was the most fun we've ever had- but I'm willing to try it again on a cooler, less buggy day!

I think we'll just find a pool to hang out at tomorrow...

21/70

Day 21 of our 2010 Summer Vacation...

The National Weather Service defines an official heat wave as "3 or more consecutive days of 90+ degree weather." On our 3rd day of such weather, we were here-...at the SandBar State Park. You just have to be able to sit in the shade near the water on a day like this!

The only scary part was a good-sized water snake who swam from the middle of the lake to the shore, terrifying moms with children, before being terrorized by pre-adolescent boys with sticks and sneakers. Ew.

Driving through Milton on the way home, at around 3PM, my car's outside temperature gauge read 97 degrees!

Whew! Thank goodness for A/C units in our bedrooms! Stay healthy and hydrated, everyone!!!

20/70

Day 20 of our 2010 Summer Vacation...

The temperatures might have risen above 90 degrees today, but we barely noticed....Because we were in the World's Best Place on a hot day...Shadow Lake! The water was refreshing, the company was excellent. Doesn't Wayne look as cool as a cucumber? Don;t get me wring, that was some strong sun. The shadow cast over Elijah is Ed holding a towel, which we took turns doing for the last hour we were there. Needless to say, we bought one of those big, tilty beach umbrellas at Aubuchon Hardware on our way home.

Elijah, looking forlornly down at the folks who were staying at the lake after we left.

Please, Mom, can't we stay just a little longer? Of course, he was sound asleep within moments of leaving Stone Shore.

We had a great time with Joanie, Julie, Estelle, Lena, Darlene, Wes, Wayne, Cole and Heather...we didn;t even leave until close to 5PM!!! If only we lived closer, we'd be right back up there tomorrow morning :-)

19/70

Day 19 of our 2010 summer vacation...

This morning, I met my friend and old roommate, Jean, at Mills Riverside Park for a hike. Jean and her husband Dave have 2 children, Kieran (7) and Ayla (5). Jean answered an ad I put in the Burlington Free Press for a roommate back in 1996. We lived together for 2+ years in Essex Center and Underhill. Interestingly, we both ended up settling with our families in the same small town of Fairfax. Strange world!

The hike was perfect for children, really just a series of well-maintained walking and biking trails through the woods. The kids did great, Elijah kept up well. After an hour, we were all wiped out from the heat and the kids spent some time wading in the river. Here's Ayla, Kieran was too busy and too quick to get a good shot of!
Later, we were thwarted with another no-nap day. I'm fearing an end to daily naps, and I don't like it one bit. It was soooo hot, so around 3:30, Elijah and I struck off for the Maple Street Pool in Essex Junction. We couldn't talk Ed into joining us, but Elijah and I spent about 2 hours splashing around and cooling off.

Off to Shadow Lake for the day tomorrow- hope to catch up with some family while we're up there!!!

17-18/70

Days 17 & 18 of our 2010 summer vacation...

What a weekend for Independence Day! Hot, sunny- just soooo summery!!! Yesterday (Saturday) we spend the first part of the day at the Sand Bar State Park.In the evening, we went to a BBQ/Pool Party at Jenn and Casey Gomo's house.

Jenn and Casey have a cornucopia of random animals, which include two 200-pound Bull Mastiff dogs, one 3-legged Border Collie dog, one goat:One cow:And dozens of fowl, including chickens and ducks: This morning, after our walk, Ed and Elijah enjoyed a juice box o the shady tailgate of the truck.Then we headed off to the Richmond parade, which was really fun! It was a beautiful 4th of July, so everyone came out for the parade.

After the parade, we spent some time visiting with all kinds of people. Lots of folks Ed knew from Richmond, parents of some present and past students, and old MMU graduates. It was a great opportunity to catch up so many wonderful people!

The one near-tragedy of the day was the loss of "Mo-Mo" the monkey. "Mo-Mo" is a current coveted favorite, and his disappearance had the potential of being utterly devastating. This was how the conversation went:

Elijah: "Where's Mo-Mo?"

Ed: "Mo-Mo is lost, we can't find him. He fell out of your stroller."

Elijah: "But I love Mo-Mo."

(crackle) this was the sound of my heart breaking a little bit

Ed: "Well, Mommy went out looking for him, we can't find him. But we'll look some more."

Elijah: "But I NEED Mo-Mo."

(snap! crumble!) I am now near tears

I had already backtracked our steps on foot, to no avail. I'd searched our entire walking route, inquired at the store and put a friend or two on the lookout. As we walked up the hill back to our car, I began to feel angry. Why didn't I find him? Who would just pick up a child's toy off the ground and not assume someone would be looking for it? Why would someone just TAKE a baby's stuffed animal?

Once we got to the car, we decided to do another run through town, in search of literally a needle in a haystack.

Truly amazingly, we found "Mo-Mo," propped up on some one's mailbox.

I still can hardly believe it.

With a sigh of relief, we headed off to Chris and Martha's house for a BBQ. In an amazing twist to the "Mo-Mo" story, Martha and Chris had spotted him on the ground on Esplanade Ct, but didn't know he belonged to Elijah. Martha remembers instructing Chris not to run over the child's stuffed animal in the road. That would have been a valuable clue to finding "Mo-Mo" if we hadn't already!

Anyway, it was so hot, we ate and then promptly hit the pool.

Martha had some water wings for Elijah. This was his first time using them and it really didn't take long before he was swimming all over the pool by himself. He was in the pool for nearly 2 hours!

It was a great day!

And, thanks to some one's thoughtful gesture, even a good night!!!