Summer 2011 (Days 4 & 5)

I don't seem to be able to remember my camera lately, so no new pictures to post.
We're getting into the groove of summer vacation, and the weather has been very helpful!

Yesterday our friends Beth and Dianna (age 4) came over for lunch, after which we went for a bike ride on the rec path and landed back at Beth's house for some swimming (it was hot!). Elijah was so tired, he fell asleep on the couch at 6:15 PM and once we moved him to his bed, he slept straight through until after 6:00 AM! He woke up a bit edgy, but we didn't think too much of it.

Today we had plans to meet a bunch of friends- Liz, with Reese (7) and Quinn (4); Mary, with Tyler (8) and Ava (6); and Selena with Catherine (9), Anna (7), Matthew (6) and Luke (2) for a hike. It was a much cooler day than yesterday and actually quite nice for a hike (which is actually more like a walk along a loop in the wooded area of a local park). Elijah was absolutely miserable throughout the entire hike. In fact, I couldn't wait for it to be over, it was NOT fun for me at all-- he was whiny and complainy and just plain horrible. After lunch, the rest of the gang stayed to swim in the river, but we blasted out of there. When we got home, Elijah was so lethargic that we took his temperature and realized he had a fever-- no wonder he was so awful during the hike, poor guy!!! It's been very low-grade, but just enough to make him uncomfortable. Oh well, better luck next time! He took a 3+ hour nap and seems to be feeling better this evening :-)

Summer 2011 (Days 2 & 3)

This weekend was our annual Whitman Family Thanksgiving in Maine celebration. We arrived around 1PM on Saturday and brought some slightly nicer weather with us. Not quite swimming weather, but nice enough to hang out down at the beach and build some sandcastles. Meanwhile, nothing but pure cuteness up in the cottage!Uncle George...supervising the turkey fryer or snoozing? I'll never tell...

Taking fishing lessons from Cousin Brandon~

While Cousin Sarah caught at least 3 perch!

Later that night, an intense game of Scattergories, followed by some cut-throat Yahtzee.
It was great to be back, and we're looking forward to heading back up there for our vacation week of July 11th!!!

Today we arrived home around 2:30 PM and then Elijah and I attempted to dodge some rain showers to go for a bike ride (we failed and got soaked). Since we were wet anyway, we headed off to the River Berry Farm and picked some strawberries in the rain!

Summer 2011 (Day 1)

It was a rainy and blustery first day of summer break- the temps only reached 65 degrees and it was rainy most of the day. Ed tweaked his back, so he's dealing with that pain, Elijah was stir-crazy and we were all kind of out of sorts. Finally, we seized a break in the showers to literally "go fly a kite." It was kind of windy and the rec path has lovely open fields, perfect for kite flying!

After that, Elijah rode his bike some. The exercise was good for us all! Tomorrow we head to Maine for my family's annual "Thankgiving in Maine" celebration!

Scott Keith: "Next time Sandy wants something, check with Paul first."

So the trampoline is a big hit. Elijah enjoys having a good "jump" any time he can :-)

This past weekend, Ed was peaking with Paul on the phone. Paul, somewhat dismayed at the news of the trampoline, said, "Trampolines, swimming pools and pit bulls are the 3 biggest liabilities for a homeowner. You should call your insurance agent." You know Paul, he's kind of like Mr. Safety. But Ed did take his advice and called up Scott Keith, whose response was, "Paul's right. Get rid of the trampoline. And the next time Sandy wants something, check with Paul first."

Really though, I guess insurance companies are very wary of trampolines, even ones with the safety enclosures, like ours. I guess most of the injuries occur when multiple children are jumping together. But since 99.9% of the time Elijah is jumping alone, we're not too worried about it.

In non-trampoline-related news, we've got some fun plans coming up in the next few days. I have tomorrow off of work (personal days, use 'em or 'lose" 'em). Thursday evening, Eric and Barbara Burnham are coming for dinner. You might know Eric, he is Ed's great childhood friend. They live in AZ, but Ed and Eric reconnected a few years back when Eric's Dad passed away and they spent some time here in VT. Since then, we look forward to their annual visit, although they didn't make it to VT last year, so it's been a while. We are SO thrilled to see them!!!

I am excited for the upcoming marathon weekend. Tyler and Matt are splitting the distance, as are Kate and her sister. I can't wait to see Aimee, since I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't seen her in person since before she announced her pregnancy!!!
My friends and I are just running a 5-person relay team, nothing too intimidating. Afterwards, we are hosting the post-marathon BBQ at our house.

The following weekend, my friend Liz and I are running in the Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Quechee. Three of us were ecstatic to win spots in this race back in December, as it is one of those races that fills its maximum registration within minutes. Unfortunately, our third partner Mary was diagnosed with tendonitis last week and has been warned by both her doctor and physical therapist against running such a long distance, so she has dropped out. It's such a shame, as we've all worked so hard and are all feeling very ready for this race. We'll miss Mary, but maybe we'll have an extra-excellent run in her honor!

School seems to be dragging on forever. SO many "snow" days this year! But if our calculations are correct, we have officially dropped below 20 days remaining. Summer cannot come quickly enough!

p.s. It might seem somewhat unbelievable, but Zoe busted through ANOTHER screen and ended up back on the roof Saturday evening. Elijah was up in bed, when suddenly he started yelling in earnest, "MOM! MOM! HELP!" Ed went running upstairs, where Elijah proclaimed, "Zoe's on the roof again!" She came back in quite easily, but sometimes I wonder if she has a screw loose. Only our dog...

Trampoline!

Sorry it's been so long since the last post!

Here's a photo of the world's worst dog- looking as guilty as ever. Last Thursday, Zoe chewed through our (2nd story) bedroom screen and got out onto the porch roof, where she proceeded to try to commit suicide by jumping to the ground. She only managed to dislocate her shoulder and landed herself at the dreaded veterinarian's office! She made an amazing comeback, though, and within a week was walking perfectly without even a limp!

This is what Ed worked on all morning. My Mom gave us some money as a gift from the sale of her childhood home, so we decided one of the things we wanted to use it for was a trampoline for Elijah.After several hours of asking, "Daddy, is my trampoline ready yet?" Elijah FINALLY got to climb aboard.The finished product. Notice that Zoe has also found a way to enjoy the new trampoline! With on-and-off rain, we didn't get nearly as much done as we had hoped. Here's tomorrow's Big Job:Finally, I'll leave you with a grainy but cute video of ONE EXCITED BOY.

Right now, Ed and Elijah are upstairs in bed watching the Preakness Horse race. I just overheard Elijah say, "I wish I was on my trampoline!"

Spring Has Sprung

This weekend was beautiful! Two sunny days, in the 60's to nearly 70 degrees. Just heaven for springtime in Vermont!

The Alexander household is officially healthy- we even ALL went to our respective schools on Friday! While we enjoyed some spectacular outside time this weekend, which included a 7-hour stint today where Elijah barely stepped into the house, I never thought to grab my camera. The following action shots are from a rare healthy-ish moment last week, when Elijah and I headed through the woods to check on "our" frog eggs in a vernal pool. He reminds me of Cole, with his boots on the wrong feet!

Nope- they haven't hatched yet!
Ahhh....Daddy Time! I started today (Sunday) with a long run with Liz (a bit too long, if you ask my toes tonight), while Ed and Elijah dragged out the old lawnmower and mowed some of the yard. Then I took Elijah off to the rec path to ride his bike while Ed rototilled the garden! We topped off this summery day with lobsters for dinner, a nice long walk with my girlfriend Heather, and a bowl of ice cream. Perfect, if you ask me!

Easter

Just some photos from our day:

Crazy bed-head! Off to start our treasure hunt! All in all, it was a lovely, relaxing day. We sadly had to cancel all our weekend plans due to our family's illnesses, including our Easter meal with friends Beth, Jim and Dianna. But we made the most of our small Easter together.

We are all generally feeling better today and are hoping to all be able to go to our respective schools tomorrow! 8 more weeks until Summer Vacation!