Shaved Head

Jason has talked about shaving his head for a long time.  It is one of those things that you want to do but don't know if it would look good so you never do it.  Well, he finally did it!  I shaved all his hair off with the trimmers last night and then he did the close shave with the razor (I guess he doesn't trust me with an actual blade...hahahah).  I think it looks good although he definitely needs some color on his scalp so that it all blends and doesn't look like he just shaved his head.  He is getting Lasik done today as well and will be off work for a couple of days but when he goes back he will be a changed man...no hair and no glasses!

Weekend in Maine

Its been a while but we finally made it up to Maine again for a weekend.  We lucked out with nice weather which meant the kids could be outside for most of the weekend.  On Saturday Jason and I worked on a list of chores for his mom since she can't do everything (and shouldn't) given she is recovering from her most recent ankle surgery.  We changed over the compost piles, moved a blueberry bush, mowed around the blueberry patch, moved bird baths, watering plantings being readied for the garden etc.  It was nice to be outside doing yard work.  I will say though that the number of bugs in Maine at Jason's parent's house is amazing!  It is all what you get used to because as I was standing there constantly swatting at the thousands of bugs running into me I noticed that Jason's mom didn't even seem to notice.  The black flies were out in force which was unfortunate.  I only got one bite but poor Ali has five or six bites and they are just brutal.  The poor kid had blood dripping from behind her ear and on her scalp and didn't even know it!  Fortunately she is a kid who just keeps on going.  The girls had a blast playing outside.  I'm glad we don't allow them to watch much TV and send them outside to play all the time because it really lets their imaginations run wild and gives them the ability to come up with games to play no matter where they are.  I had to laugh when they gathered up a saw horse out of the barn with a blanket and proceeded to add pipe cleaners to it for a head and tail to make it a "real" horse. Also, note how their braids are sticking out.....strategically placed pipe cleaners in the braids!

Girls Day Out

While Jason worked on a Saturday the girls and I had a beautiful day to enjoy together.  We had a leisurely morning and then decided to really enjoy the weather.  We went for a run (2.17 miles) together before lunch since we had a late breakfast.  After our run and cleaning myself up we headed to a local mini golf place.  It was the first time we had been to this mini golf and it was a lot of fun.  The course wasn't all the challenging but there were a lot of water hazards which seemed strange given there wasn't a lot else going on for challenges.  I decided not to keep score as I really just want the kids to enjoy golf and get better at it before we take them out on a real course.  They are still learning that there is a happy medium between barely hitting the ball and smashing it but we had a good time.  After golf I got the kids hot dogs and an ice cream to share since ice creams are so large here that even a small is big enough for them to share.  After eating outside at the picnic tables and enjoying the sun we headed to Starbucks for my frappucino since I much prefer that to ice cream.   It was a nice day spent with my girls.

Fresh Vegetables

This year Jason and I decided it was time to join in a local farm share.  We love fresh vegetables and joining the farm gives us the ability to eat fresh vegetables that have been grown without the use of pesticides or herbicides. The farm that we joined is also growing on our road and therefore we get to see how the food is grown as well as gives us, as a family, a chance to try a wide variety of vegetables that one or all of us may or may not have eaten before.  I'm excited for the upcoming growing season and the challenge of using all the vegetables that come our way.  My goal will be to waste nothing so I will have to put my canning skills to the test but I love the challenge of canning new items.  I am also low on my jam supplies so instead of trying to find fresh veggies this year I can focus my efforts on finding excellent pick your own strawberry, blueberry and raspberry farms.  We moved here last year in the middle of blueberry season so I know of a couple local farms for blueberries but I will need to hunt out good strawberry farms.  The kids enjoy picking the fruits and they like being on the farms and I like them having to do some work for their food.  They can understand what goes into harvesting food and then they can see how to make their own healthy, pesticide free, chemical free foods.  I will keep you posted on all the yummy veggies we get from our farm share as well as all our fruit picking adventures.  If anyone is interested in buying a share in a farm here are a few farms in the area:

Long Life Farm

Heirloom Harvest Community Farm

Stearns Farm CSA

Run For Your Lives - Zombie 5K

On Saturday Jason and I ran a 5K obstacle course that was inhabited by Zombies who were trying to steal the three flags we each had.  I wasn't sure what to make of this race but Jason was keen to do it so I decided to give it a shot as well.  It was CRAZY!  We started out in a dark tunnel.  When the gun went off we headed out of the tunnel into bright daylight and smoke so we really couldn't see anything while we headed up a very steep high hill.  I can understand why a lot of people walked the hill...it was killer!  By the top I was breathing hard and generally uncomfortable but there is no rest for the weary in a zombie run becuase as you crest the hill there are zombies waiting to steal your flags. We continued to run as best we could given how much mud there was to get through.  We went through the obstacles which to our surprised there were not that many of them.  There were a lot more zombies than we had anticipated though so there was a lot more strategy trying to figure out how to get around them.  I have never seen so much mud before nor have I ever had to run/walk through it.  There were many times when running just wasn't possible when the mud was up above my ankles!  Jason ended up losing all three of his flags which was fortunate for me becuase that gave him the freedom to run block for me against the zombies allowing me to run past them without losing my last flag.  We made it to the final obstacle which was to climb up onto a platform and slide down into a vat of brown slimy water, climb out and head over to the giant slip and slide down the hill (the one we climbed up at the start).  This might sound like fun but in reality it was painful for me and I am left with a nice big bruise on my hip but we made it down the slip and slide into a huge pit of muddy water, climbed out and headed to the finish.  To cross the finish line we had to wriggle under a fence first.  THere were a lot of small rocks on the ground which I figured would really hurt my knees so I decided to keep myself raised up a bit.  That was a bad decision as the fence was electrified and I got a nice zap on my bum that radiated through my body.  I quickly chose the painful rocks and scooted out from under the fence amd we finished together.  I was so cold from being in all the mud and water so we got our change of clothes and got dressed in dry clothes and sat and enjoyed the atmosphere with bands playing, food and drinks (I didn't drink much as I was absolutely forzen to the bone and the thought of any cold beverage was more than I could take).  It was a fun day and we ran the race with Jason's boss and former co-worker so it was a nice group to have together.  We ended up leaving the race around 2:30 but fortunately for us one of the guys stayed becuase I placed 2nd for alive (had flags left) female so I won and award.  You can only collect the award if you are there so it was great that Jason's friend Darin stayed becuase he collected it for me.  I was so excited to have placed in a race!  It is a first for me and very exciting.  So I place 2nd for alive females, 9th for overall females, 14th out of 394 in our wave and 109 overall (men/women alive/dead) out of 6,321 that ran.  As Jason was right next to me he came in 15/384 in our wave and 111/6321 overall.  It was a great race and we had a lot of fun sticking together to complete the race.  I think the next obstacle course I just let Jason have at it though so he can push himself to the limit for his personal best time.  Maybe by skipping a couple of the courses I will forget my bumps and bruises from the Zombie run and be ready to do it all over again.  Either way, on the street or in the woods running is fun and it is fun to do it with a partner.

Gymnastics

The girls have been enjoying gymnastics.  There was a sign up at the gym about tryouts for the prep optional team so I asked about the tryouts.  I didn't want to the girls to miss out on something because I didn't ask so I asked even though I assumed they were not good enough yet to join a team.  I was told that they should try out because if they don't make it onto the team they could potentially make it onto the junior non-competitive team.  I double checked with their current instructor to see if she thought it was a good idea and she also said yes.  It was a BAD idea!!!  The tryouts were not geared toward the younger gymnasts.  It was geared toward the older kids or kids who have previously had experience with doing routines.  Sofia and Ali were lost in the group of 40 kids.  There was no one there helping them to figure out where they should be going or what they should be doing or even what a routine was.  It was painful to sit behind the glass and see my kids so unsure of what they were suppose to do.  By the end all 40 kids lined up and one by one they went through their routines on each apparatus.  Sofia pulled it together and showed her confident self and went for it.  I almost had a heart attack when she put her arms above her head on the high beam and went for a full handstand.  On one hand I was proud of her for having the guts to pull something out that she has never done but on the other hand my heart beat was racing as she fell off the beam!  She didn't get hurt, thankfully, and just kept on going.  Poor Ali on the other hand was painful to watch.  She was the LAST child to go.  She sat there covering her eyes and looked to be doing everything she could to hold herself together while the other kids went.  When it was finally her turn she didn't know what she was suppose to do. (It might have helped if she had watched the first 39 kids)  The coaches didn't really give her guidance and at that point I don't think it would have helped as her confidence was zero by then.  I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could give them both huge hugs and tell them how proud of them I was.  Ali started to cry when she came to me and fortunately we were able to talk it through and she does not want to quit over this experience.  We ended up signing her up for a second class so she can get more time at the gym to get better and she can spend more time at the gym without being on a team.  She was a little worried about going to gymnastics without her sister (Sofia has swimming during Ali's second gymnastics class) and having a male teacher but when she saw me at the end of her first class with her new coach she was beaming and gave me two thumbs up.  She loves Sergy and even thinks he is better than her other coach!  Phew....crisis averted!

5k Foot Pursuit Race

Jason and I along with my brother, Joe, and his wife, Jen, ran the 5K foot pursuit race in Narragansett last Sunday.  It was the perfect day for a race.  It was sunny, not too hot and not too cold.  I was hoping for a personal best time since I have increased my training running pace quite significantly in the last year.  My running partner here is a faster runner than I am and she has continually pushed me to go faster.  I am happy to run with her since I enjoy improving my running and challenging myself.  In any event the gun sounded and we were off and running.  I headed out ahead of Jason initally to clear the crowd but he quickly caught up to me and passed me.  His pace was not much faster than mine however and I had him in my sites for most of the race.  For the final mile stretch I was trying to close the gap between us but I just couldn't catch up.  I knew he would never let me pass him and would have had to try and sneak past him as he kept looking over his shoulder to see where I was.  That was fine though.  I crossed the finish line 7 seconds behind Jason which was a huge accomplishment for me.  I did achieve my personal best 5K race time with a 7:46 per mile pace coming in at 24:04.  I think I can still beat that but I'll enjoy that time until I have the chance to beat myself again!  It was great to run a race with my brother as well.  He pulled in an awesome time himself given he only started running about a week before the race.  I was very surprised to see him cross the finish line  in under 28 minutes!  He and Jen are going to try to stick to a running plan and run a 10K in the fall and a 10 miler next summer.  I'm excited that my brother might get into running as I am and I'm looking forward to running with him in the future.

New sunroom furniture

With summer approaching we finally bought a tv and furniture for the sunroom.  I'm looking forward to enjoying a cool breeze while watching tv this summer.  Finding sunroom furniture is difficult since there aren't that many places that sell it.  A lot of places sell it online but Jason and I wanted to be able to sit on it so see if it would be comfortable.  There were some places nearby that sold sunroom furniture but they were incredibly expensive.  We finally found a place to buy firniture that we could test out in the showroom and wasn't ridiculously expensive.  I still have to put some final decorating touches on the sunroom but it is looking good and the kids and Jason and I have really been enjoying our time out there.

Boston Marathon

This year was the first year that we have watched the Marathon.  For some reason even when Jason and I lived in Boston we never went to the marathon.  I think now that I'm a runner and have run a marathon I have a much greater appreciation for what the runners in the marathon have put in to training and all the hard work it takes to make it to race day and finish.  This year we decided to watch the marathon from about mile 1.5 with the kids.  Before the race came through I had the girls run on the road so that they can say they have run part of the Boston Marathon route.  Who know, maybe they will run it for real when they are older and they will always have this picture as a memory of their first time running on that road. 

The kids wore their running gear to cheer on the runners.  They were a little shy at first but then really started to get into it.  They were giving high fives and cheering loudly for everyone which was awesome.  The runners were great too and at times would line up to give them high fives.  Some even cut across the road to give high fives.  The girls ended up with a pair of sunglasses and a red sox hat that runners gave to them as they passed by.  The kids were occassionally grossed out by some very sweaty high fives but it didn't stop their cheering.  It was a beautiful day to be a spectator but a horrible day for runners.  We were sweaty from standing still so running 26.2 miles must have been brutal.  I went for a 5 mile run once we got home from the race and that was incredibly hot so the runners deserve a lot of respect for finishing that race!

Logan's birthday party

It is nice to be back in the States so that we can actually go to birthday parties for the family.  This is the first birthday that Logan has had that we have even been in the country.  The kids had a great time joining Logan at the Children's Museum for his birthday.  There were enough kids and parents around that I think I only saw Logan for a brief glance a couple times.  Our girls were also running around having a great time.  They were playing with the other kids and with each other.  When I finally caught up with them they were painting each other's faces.  They actually did a great job.  If they ever want to make a few dollars when they are older they can hire themselves out for face painting at birthday parties!  It is hard to believe that the kids are all getting old enough that we don't have to keep track of them 24/7.  They get freedom to enjoy play with the friends and cousins and the adults get to relax a bit...good for everyone.

Easter

This year for Easter we stayed home and kept it low key.  We have been busy and have a lot going on in our lives so decided to not add any stress.  We went to chruch on Saturday night so we could just relax in the morning.  I made cinnoman rolls the night before so that in the morning we could just pop them in the oven.  We woke up in the morning to a not left by the Easter bunny.  The kids followed the yarn around the house to find their Easter baskets.  The Easter Bunny left them candy but also, books and clothing.  I appreciate that the bunny understands there is only so much candy that kids should eat!  Even though usually we would not allow candy before breakfast we made an exception for Easter so the kids were quick to eat up some of the candy.  The video below is what happens after kids have candy before breakfast!  Anyway, we took it easy for the rest of the morning, had salami, cheese, crackers and bread for lunch and headed out to the driving range int he afternoon.  We decided on a simple dinner of take out Chinese food.  After dinner I hid some eggs in the back yard and we let the kids have an Easter Egg hunt.  It was a different but nice way to celebrate Easter.

Museum of Science

After enjoying the Ecotarium we decided to see when the next available date was to get discounted tickets from the library to go to the Museum of Science.  Fortunately for us it was on Good Friday and the kids didn't have school.  We headed into the museum in the morning and spent the entire day there exploring as much as possible.  Jason and the girls had mapped out the key things they wanted to see so that we made sure we didn't miss something "really important".  We saw the dinosaur exhibit, the lightening show, the planeterium, the butterfly garden, geckos, New Enlgnad habitats, natural mysteries and the piano staircase.  You could easily spend multiple days exploring the museum but after spending the entire day there the kids were happy and tired and ready to head home.  I'm glad we went as it has been one of the things on our list of "things to do" and Jason has wanted to go for a long time.  I think it is the prefect age to go the musuem b/c the kids can really understand things and ask questions.  They enjoyed everything so much that I'm not even sure what they would say was their favorite.  I can say though the cutest picture came from the buttefly garden.

Ecotarium

The kids had a day off from school so we decided to bring them to the Ecotarium near us.  We had never heard of it but our town library has discounted passes to many museums in the area and it was available so we took it.  The kids had a great time exploring everything.  They got to see how wind moves even though you can't see it.  They had a fan blowing air onto pinwheels but then they had bif matts that the kids to move to change the direction of the wind and how it was hitting the pinwheels.  It was fun to see them figure out how to direct the air.  They explored different rocks and shells as well as watching a possum.  This was a stroke of luck since we had no idea they had a possum on exhibit but Ali (for some unknown reason) has been fascinated by possums so it was perfect that they had a live one that she could see.  I think one of their favorite things at the ecotarium was the Hurricane simulator.  They stepped inside this booth with Jason and closed the door, hit the button and the wind ramped up to category 1 force winds.  It was great for them to see it since Sofia has a fear of hurricanes.  It is really more a fear of the unknown so having her feel what a hurricane would feel like here (as opposed to the carribean) I think helped her to not worry about hurricanes.  They liked it so much they went in again without Jason.  Overall, a fun day spent as a family.

Gymnastics Party

As I already posted Sofia had her birthday party with our family on her birthday but she also wanted a party with her friends.  I don't think I will continue having two parties every year but given this is our first year back in the States I wanted to give her the opportunity to see her whole family as well as help her solidify friendships.  She decided she wanted to have a party at the gym where she and Ali do gymnastics.  Having done this party now I would do it again in a second.  The kids had an absolute blast and I had to nothing except take pictures! No set up, no clean up, no entertaining, kids get exercise and everyone is happy.  I can't ask for much more than that.  They had the entire gym to themselves and two instructors to lead them around to each area for different games.  Sofia invited all the girls in her class as well as friends she has met since moving here.  Here is a pic of Sofia and all her friends at the party.

Science Fair

The entire second grade at Sofia's school had a science fair back in March (yes I'm behind on my blogging).  There were three days of the science fair so that each class would have an opportunity to show off their projects.  Sofia's project was to grow stalactites. Jason and Sofia worked on the project together and had it set up about a month ahead of the fair since it would, in theory, take that long to grow the stalactites.  They may have put in a little too much baking soda as they didn't end of forming stalactites but instead formed stalagmites.  We had a rush at the end of the project to pull the information board together since I did not realize her project had to be in school a day before the science fair.  Originally we were going to have Sofia hand write out all her information on the poster board but given our loss of a day I had her just write everything onto paper and I typed it up to make it neat.  She did a good job and then during the science fair did a good job of explaining her experiment to her friends and teacher.