November 5th and 6th

Whoops. A day late. 

Yesterday I was thankful for the perfect fall we have had. People have said the colors haven't been as beautiful this year because of the warm weather but because it has been so warm we have been able to be outside exercising and playing almost every day! I need to remember this gift when the nasty of winter sets in. 

Which is part of the reason I said I was thankful because today it's kind-of gross out there...

Today I am thankful for a body that works. It may not be the size I want, I might be missing a tooth here or there, and I might be as blind as a bat. But I feel great. I'm healthy. Eric's healthy. And my baby's healthy. We have a lot to be thankful for. 

November 4, 2014

Today I voted which made me very thankful to live in America.

I think I take it for granted too often that, yes there may be a pothole, but the road is paved and I have clear running water and lights that come on when I want them to.

Pictures from our Jersey 4th of July

November 3, 2014

Today I am thankful for a job that I can do from my home.

I don't know if I have found the perfect balance of mom time and teacher time but I do know that my house doesn't feel right when Claire isn't here!

Plus, what job lets you do this when you have a 30 minute break?

November 2nd

Day Two

Today I'm thankful for Eric. 

Even when I'm crazy, he loves me.
I'm one lucky lady!

November 1st

To get ready for Thanksgiving and to focus on what we have more than what we want or need we are posting everyday until Turkey Day. 

Today we are thankful for Claire. 

I can't even remember what life was like before her. 

Running Buddy

One or two times a week when I can't get up in time to go to the gym before Eric needs to leave for work I take Claire for a run. We have the routine down: grab a diaper, wipes, a blankey, a drink, grapes, an extra "surprise" snack (which is usually a string cheese or a granola bar), a couple books, and a toy. Maybe a hoody. Oh, and Claire of course. 

Lately when she sees me packing our supplies she gets pretty excited and starts barking out instructions so hopefully that means she enjoys it.

This is what she looks like:

And yes, that is Cinderella. When she isn't leafing through her reading material she is leaning forward with both hands grabbing the sides of the stroller, waving at other runners or growling a hello to every puppy we see. 

The Arlington Reservoir

One of my students introduced us to this gem which is a short five minutes from our house. As an Arlington resident we could buy a summer pass to the "Res." It's great. It is a sloping beach of chlorinated water with bathrooms, life guards, and a snack bar. Oh, and a toddler area, a spray feature, and a great playground. As expected, our water baby loved it. 

After we were introduced to this little slice of awesome, another student family that was headed out of town for the rest of the summer GAVE us their passes so we could go whenever we wanted without buying a pass. Yeah for summer! 

We're already planning to buy passes next year. 

Ward Campout

That's right. I made Eric go to our Ward Campout.

Every year the ward congregates at Camp Joseph which flanks the Joseph Smith Birthplace in Sharon Vermont. I was amazed at how many families went--in the pouring rain. There were almost 25 of them. Some stayed for 4 nights (!), but we only went for one.

The view as we drove into Sharon...oh dear.
Time to stop at Walmart and buy a canopy...

Claire loves our new tent. She treats it like a bounce house (not that she knows what that is yet), running into walls and bouncing back off of them. My favorite picture from the trip was of her wandering aimlessly around the meadow with an empty Pepsi can clutched between her hands. Even when she'd trip she would not let go of that can to catch herself or to help get back up. Priceless...I wished I'd actually had a camera so you could see it. 

She also loves fire. This is not good. That might be because of Eric's lighter fluid but we might have a little pyro on our hands.

We did a little dutch oven, went on a hike, made some new friends. And Claire slept like a champ. It was awesome, even in the rain.

Wingaersheek Beach

Today we headed to the lovely Wingaersheek Beach--about an hour from our house.
What can I say? She loved it. Every minute. And because she loved it, I loved it.

It was warm, but not crazy hot like yesterday (when it was also super humid-yuck) and, I don't know why, but there were some great rolling waves. Hopefully we'll have a few more days to head out that way.

Look at that sky!

Breakheart Reservation

Over near my parents' home is this great reservoir. It has two loops of very hilly walking paths--if you do both it's about 5 miles around. Mary, Emily and I took a picnic and wore our exercise clothes so we could walk and then take a dip in the water. It was awesome. The path was mostly shaded and there were tons of people and, Claire's favorite, doggies. I wish we had on video what Claire thinks a doggie says. Every time we pass one she drops her voice into a pretty fabulous growl.

 

After muscling our way through the hills which really were way bigger than I thought they'd be (something about Massachusetts being flat and what they call mountains being more like Utah hills...), we headed to the reservoir. It was awesome and Claire loved it.

 

At first Claire didn't want to put her feet in.

Obviously she wasn't nervous for long...

"Swing me Mom!"

I wish you could hear her roaring as she splashed her hands into the water.

Mom Fail

At least we have some darling pictures...(and thankfully her dress came out clean!)

 

Victory!

Love that face

 

July 4, 2014: New Jersey

On a whim we decided to head down to Jersey for the 4th. Since Eric didn't have to work Thursday and I only had to work Wednesday morning it was going to be a perfect really long weekend to visit the Birds. While there were some difficulties making our reservation and a miscommunication about how many Birdies were actually in town, they made room for us and welcomed us with open arms.

Eric got to get his jet ski and motorcycle fix while Claire got all the pool and tramp time she could handle. They were both in heaven.

Thursday was bikes and pool (I went running while Eric rode) and then we just bummed around.

 

Friday there was major rain in the morning which we worried would ruin the fireworks--but it all cleared out by noonish. Randomly Hayley and the kids were here visiting her family in Cape May so we met up for breakfast and got to have some cousin time. They are all getting so big! I forget that while my baby is getting bigger and bigger everyone else's babies are doing the same. Everyone just needs to stop growing for a minute! Or at least slow down...We met at a local diner and then made a surf shop stop. It was great to see them.

 

When we got back to the Bird's Nest Claire went down for a nap to prep for a night of fun, food, and her first FIREWORKS!!! After some more pool time and dinner we headed over to the neighborhood park. It was perfectly American. Claire got to go on a bike ride, all the kiddoes/adults who think they are kiddoes played soccer and there was a band playing in the background. I loved it. I was nervous Claire would hate fireworks, but no worries. She loved, even oohing and ahhing at all the right times.

 

Paying homage to the World Cup (even though our teams didn't win...)

 

Saturday was more fun, including a boardwalk walk, pizza, ice cream, and WONDERLAND.

 

Claire enjoying her first Mack and Manco's.
They must put something in their sauce because it is addictive.

If it looks like Claire is trying to ditch Eric it's because she is.
She didn't turn around once in her 10 minute jaunt down the boardwalk...

We couldn't get Oliver to smile but the rest of the picture worked.

The Carousel at WONDERLAND.
She lost a shoe...but then we found it.

My favorite part of this ride was watching Ashton put his arm around Claire to either assure her everything was ok or to hold in the boat. I'm not sure which...

We left exhausted and all played out. A perfect vacation. We've already made our next reservation.
Thanks to the Birds for a wonderful weekend!