Hedge Maze, Pumpkins and Patriots

This year Jason and I did not feel like picking apples.  It is expensive and it takes all of ten minutes to pick the amount of apples we want.  The kids don't want to leave after ten minutes so the "fun" times quickly can turn into whining.  We decided we would still go to the orchard and enjoy the fall activities but instead of picking apples we went to an orchard that also had a hedge maze.  The maze was1.5 miles in length, consist of 3,000 arborvitae, 6 bridges and a lookout gazebo.  It was fun to walk around the maze.  At first we tried it without using the map but as you can imagine we didn't get very far without ending back at where we started.  Once we did that I started to lead the way by using the map.  I then gave the map over to Sofia so she could figure out where we should go.  It was nice little map reading skill session and she didn't even know it!  Ali really wasn't interested in reading the map.  She wanted to lead the way with me telling her which direction to go in.  That was fine with me.  It was suppose to be fun after all.  After finding all six bridges we worked our way out of the maze.  The orchard also sold pumpkins so the girls took their time deciding on the perfect pumpkin.  We bought two big pumpkins and a small pumpkin that Ali has to take to school.  After eating all six apple cider donuts we had purchased before entering the maze the girls wanted more donuts.  We decided against that but did go back to the farm store for some delicious cider and we bought a bag of apples.  Nice fresh picked apples without the whining. :) 



It was a beautiful fall afternoon so once we were finished at the orchard we wanted to sit outside for lunch.  Since it was the middle of the Patriots game and they were playing at the Jets we decided to head over to Patriot Place.  We sat outside at CBS Scene and had lunch while watching the game on the big screen.  It was a lot of fun except, of course, the game was not a good game.  We headed home and listened to the game on the radio and then caught the end of the game on TV at home. 

Once the game was over it was pumpkin carving time.  Jason got everything prepped for carving and cut the tops off the pumpkins and then let the girls have at it.  This was the first year they really did not require our assistance.  The designed their pumpkins themselves and then cut them out with little pumpkin carving saws.  They did a great job!

I Am A Student

I went to Sofia's All School Meeting last week.  It was her first All School Meeting at her new school so I was looking forward to see how it changes from the 2/3 grade school to the 4/5 grade school.  It is hard to pinpoint the differences but there are differences.  It seems the change from 2/3 to 4/5 is more in the child interaction.  It is less grabby/squealy and more heads bent towards each other whispering.  Maybe they are finally learning the art of the whisper.  For this first meeting Sofia's class was performing a song.  One of the kids in Sofia's class had taken the Katy Perry song "Roar" and changed the lyrics.  The teacher heard it and thought it was a great idea so then the rest of the class joined in to rewrite all the lyrics from the song.  They did a great job.  Here is the video.

Ali's gymnastics

Ali has been working hard at the gym.  She is working on the floor routine and the beam routine.  She is getting stronger every day.  Her handstands are improving and her flexibility is getting better.  She needed her flexibility to get better in order to do her back handsprings properly.  I couldn't believe it when I saw her do a back walkover on the beam (with a spot).  She has worked hard to bring her arms in to her ears and it shows how much she has worked because she has them close enough to do it on the beam. Here is a video of her practicing it at home.

Skype and Ali's BFF

When we left Prague Ali had to say good-bye to her best friend, Cianna.  Fortunately, Cianna was moving to Australia which made the separation easier but it was quite sad because they were so close.  I assumed though that as with most young friendships time and space wither away memories and friends continue on their separate ways.  Ali and Cianna have not do so however.  They both continue to write letters to each other and as a bad mother I sometimes don't mail them.  I kind of assumed that Cianna would have moved on to other friends.  I emailed with my friend Elizabeth, Cianna's mom, only to find out that Cianna had written about eight letters to Ali that Elizabeth hadn't sent. So while they have both made new friends and have new BFFs they have maintained their bond.  We both felt pretty bad and set up a time for the girls to Skype.  Again I thought it would be a quick call because what do two little girls have to say to each other when their daily lives don't intersect??  I was wrong..they stayed on Skype for TWO hours and only ended it because I had to put Ali to bed.  We ended the call with a promise that they would talk the next day and sure enough another two hour Skype call!  It is a challenge to find the time for them to talk because Perth, Australia is a 12 hour time difference from here but I will have to make sure I give Ali the time to talk with her BFF!

Camping and the Fryeburg Fair

We headed up to Fryeburg to go to the Fryeburg Fair.  The kids really enjoy the fair and it is fun to see them enjoy all the rides, games, animals etc.  They love going in the little red school house as well.  I have probably blogged about the school house in previous years but it was the school that Jason's grandmother attended and it was on their land.  His grandmother donated the school house to the fair so now everybody can enjoy that piece of history.  I think it is a good way to keep the girls connected to their history and their great grandmother. 
Grammie (as I call her) was an awesome lady.  Always kind and always genuinely seemed to be interested in what we had to say.  The girls think it is fun to sit at the desks in the school house and write on the mini chalkboards at each seat.  We looked again for Clementine the draft horse but we didn't see her this year and we walked through four draft horse barns looking for her.  We took the kids on Monday so we could see some of the woodsman day activities but we misjudged the excitement.  The start of the day was pretty boring and all the seats in the grandstand were filled by 8:30AM so it was hard for the kids to see unless they were on our shoulders.  At 48lbs Ali gets to be heavy after a while!  Next year if we attend on woodsman's day we will  have to see if there is a list of events so we could see only the ones we wanted to watch rather than trying to randomly guess when they might be doing something exciting.  We also messed up our days for the pig scramble and the sheep dog trials.  We thought they were on the same day as the Woodman's day but they weren't so next year we will have to try to get that right.  I think the kids would really enjoy watching the sheepdog trials.

In addition to the fair Jason and the girls camped out.  Given my hip and the fact that I had the implant done only a couple days before I decided it probably wasn't a good idea for me to sleep in the tent but the kids had a blast.  I went out to the tent to get them settled in and we played a few hands of cards before I said good night.  Jason says they played a little more and then it was lights out.  Some animal must have come in front of the barns because it turned on the motion sensor light.  That made Ali a little nervous because it sent a lot of shadows over the tent.  Then they had the excitement of hearing the deer come out of the woods and start eating apples right next to the tent.  After all that excitement the girls fell to sleep and slept through the night.  Jason in is advanced years woke up every couple hours with a sore shoulder...sore back...etc.  Camping is definitely much easier when you are young!  In the morning they woke up to a thick fog which made the kids feel like they were in the middle of nowhere and they loved that.  Jason started the backpacking/camping stove to heat up water and they enjoyed oatmeal and hot chocolate while sitting on a rock.  It was a good time had by all.

Family Game Night

When the girls started school this year our lives got VERY busy.  They have activities every night of the week except Thursday night.  It is important for us to have family time though so we have adjusted our schedule to accommodate all the activities.  I make a full breakfast every morning so we can be together as a family.  Jason and the girls eat while I get lunches and backpacks prepared.  They eat at the kitchen island though so even though I am not having breakfast I am part of the conversations.  Mondays and Tuesdays the girls usually eat dinner separately.  Sofia eats her dinner on the road between soccer and swimming and Ali when she gets home from the gym.  Tuesday is also a split dinner with Sofia before practice and Ali after practice.  Wednesday we generally eat as a family but it is a late dinner at 8pm so there isn't a long relaxing chit chatty meal.  Thursday however is family game night.  There are no activities to go to and the kids can take the bus home from school.  They complete any homework and then play with each other until Jason comes home.  We order pizza and play a game.  Each week we take turns on who gets to choose the game.  So far we have played, Sorry!, Parcheesi, Monopoly and Scattergories.  It is really a lot of fun.  The girls are at an age now that they can play the games on their own once the directions have been explained.  We knew they could play Sorry! and Parcheesi (just a more complicated version of Sorry!) but we weren't sure how Monopoly or Scattergories would turn out.  They absolutely loved Monopoly.  It was great because they have to think about what to buy and how much money they have.  They have to figure out how to pay people rent and count the rent they collect and give correct change.  It is really great for their math skills.  We played Scattergories last night and we thought they would bag it after two turns but we ended up playing 9 rounds.  They had a lot of blank spaces but it didn't seem to bother them.  The fun part of the game is seeing what people come up with and I was surprised at some of the answers the girls had because they were words that had never crossed my mind.  At times they were in categories in which I didn't have an answer.  Next week it is back to Ali's choice....last I heard she was going to choose Monopoly again but we will have to wait and see.

Tooth Implant

So I thought having the hip surgery wasn't enough so I signed on for a tooth implant!  Just kidding!  I would not have done it if I didn't have to.  My previous bridge which was done by a total hack had decay under one of the crowns and had to come off.  It didn't make sense to do a new bridge so I had the implant done.  It was a much larger process than I had anticipated but the swelling and pain have reduced a lot.  I did wake up this morning with my mouth a bloody mess so I went to the dentist.  The dentist said it was fine but that I have managed to dislodge the clot in my sleep.  Who know....I was just glad it wasn't some horrible problem. I go back in next week to have the stitches taken out.

Now, we are up to date and I will try to post more regularly going forward.

Activities

With the start of school comes the start of all the after school activities.  The girls are once again chock full.  Ali is at the gym 4 nights a week and Sofia has swimming 4 times a week and will occassionaly by 5 times a week.  Sofia also has soccer practice twice a week and a game on the weekend.  She also has piano lesson once a week.  Fitting everything in is a bit of a struggle but I have managed to make a schedule that works.  It isn't ideal but I can't complain.  Due to the kids bus schedules and the fact that they get out of school at different times I have to pick the kids up from school four days a week.  In a way this is good becuase it means Ali gets her homework done in the car while we wait for Sofia to get out of school.  Being in the car means she has nothing to distract her from her work so she gets it done quicker than she would if she were doing it at home in the kitchen.  It gives her quiet time to read her book as well so I make sure she gets in her twenty minutes of required reading a day.  Once we pick Sofia up from school I drive Ali over to the gym which gives Sofia time to do her homework before I drive her to her practices.  The only times she has to wait to do her homework is when she has homework that has to be done on the computer.  So while it is a lot of work for me and leaves me in my car from 2:15 until about 7 - 7: 45, it gives the kids a very structured way to get all their responsibilities taken care of.

Now that the kids are in school and I have been cleared by my doctor to start riding the stationary bike and using the elliptical runner I have joined a gym.  I hate going to the gym as I would rather just put on my running sneakers and go for a run I know I can't do that yet.  The exciting news is that the doctor said he will probably start me running at the eight month mark.  My hip wasn't as bad as he thought it was so he expects me to tart running.  In order to get ot the that point I need to put in the work at thy gym.  I started at 5 minutes and have built up to 15 minutes on the bike and 15 minutes on the elliptical.  Slow and steady I will get back to where I want to be.  I just keep telling myself that this is rehab so I don't push it too hard.

1st Day of School

It is hard to believe another school year is upon us.  Sofia entered forth grade this year which meant she changed schools and now has a LOCKER!!  This is a big step and a locker is soooooo exciting.  Of course they can't lock their lockers and the only thing in the locker is their backpack and jacket but it is still very exciting.  I bought Sofia a mirror and a pencil holder for her locker along with a couple magnets.  This year Sofia moved up with one girl from her class and knew a couple of the other girls from her switch class last year as well as from soccer so at least she wasn't starting with completely unknown kids.  She was disappointed to not be with her friends though.  Once she started everything was great.  She likes the kids in her class and she LOVES her teacher.  I went to curriculum night and I have to say I have never seen a teacher so pumped to be a teacher.  She is the type of person who should be a teacher.  She clearly has a passion for teaching and for kids and this isn't just a job that gets summers off.  From everything I hear from other parents her teacher is probably one of the best in the school system.

Ali entered third grade and moved up with two girls from her previous class.  She knew some other kids in the class as well so while her best friend wasn't in her class she was comfortable.  Her teacher seems nice and from what Ali tells me she is a good mix of hard work and nice.  If you work hard and do what you are suppose to do then she is nice.  I like that.  So far Ali has had consistent homework which is a relief since she didn't get that last year.  She knows she needs to complete it because her teacher expects her to and her teacher expects her to be responsible for maintaining her workload.  I do like that this teacher is teaching the kids personal responsibility.  Hopefully the year continues to go well.

Summer Re-cap: August

August was another month full of activities.  I was still on crutches but finally decided to use one of the old people ride on carts at Target.  It was hysterical.  It was so slow that Sofia was laughing becuase she had to slow her walk pace to stay with me.  The reverse beeping was so loud I did everything to not go in reverse.  Sofia and I had a good time with it.  It did make life much easier and I probably should have taken advantage of it sooner.  Oh well!

The beginning of the month meant it was time to head to Beach Week!  The kids LOVE beach week.  They love being at the beach and the love playing with their cousins.  Unfortunately a lot of the family just stay at the pool at the rental but as Sofia said, "It isn't pool week!" so we head to the beach.  Half of the kids cousins are at the beach though so they have a blast building sand castles and playing in the water.  We enjoyed all the things the beach has to offer...swimming in the ocean, dough boys, Del's, dinner with family, and seafood dinners sitting by the ocean.  The kids were finally at an age that the adults (my brothers and spouses and Jason and I) were able to go out for a nice dinner together.  It was fun to have an adults only (no kids no parent) dinner.  I think that is the first time we have ever done that.  It is also nice that the kids are old enough to stand in line at the clam shack for 45 minutes and not whine so we tried out a new clam shack and sat on the pier for dinner...fish and chips, fried clams and chowder.  We had one day when the weather was not perfect beach weather and it happen to be the day we all (my mom, my brother and his family and us) went to Mystic Aquarium with Auntie Carlene.  The girls love the aquarium and so do I.  The animals are so fun to watch.  We went into the bird exhibit and fed the birds too which everyone enjoyed and noone got pooped on which made it even better!  The kids were sad to have beach week come to an end.

Following beach week the girls got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend because Jason and I headed up to Vermont.  Jason was scheduled to run the Tough Mudder.  I was also scheduled to run it but the whole hip surgery thing got int he way!  We drove up and met up with my friend Aaron from high school along with his wife, Carley, and another couple.  Carley was signed up to run with Jason as was Carley's friend.  It had come about at my high school reunion when I met Carley for the first time.  She was excited to run that kind of race so I encouraged her to join our team.  She did and then our team dwindled to Jason and two women.  Jason and Carley did great.  Carley's friend ended up bailing on the race after the first obstacle but Jason and Carley stuck with it and completed the 11 mile race in just over four hours.  It was a tough race up and down Mount Snow 4 or 5 times.  It was good course for spectators if you weren't all gimped out like me.  Aaron walked up and down the mountain seeing Jason and Carley at multiple obstacles.  I however laid on a picnic table at the base seeing how long it took for clouds to pass overhead.  Needless to say I was VERY bored.  I eventually made my way over the finish and watch people finish for 2 hours.  At least it gave me something to do.  We hung around the base area for a little bit and then headed back to the Condo.  It was a fun weekend.  Maybe in a couple years I will sign up again and actually get to run it.

Ali continued going to the gym three hours a day four days a week throughout August.  I find it amazing that she loves gymnastics so much that she wants to be there for so long.  She says it doesn't feel that long so I guess she really is enjoying it.  She has improved drastically since joining this gym.  The coaching is top notch and they expect a lot from the girls.  They don't want sloppy work.  They want perfection and expect every girl to strive for that goal.  They would rather the girls perfect 4 skills than have 10 sloppy skills.  The conditioning work they have the girls do is awesome.  The gym recognizes if you are going to do all these skills you need the muscle strength and stamina to complete them.  They make sure the girls are strong in every area of their bodies.  The coaches do it with out being mean and nasty too.  Don't get me wrong, there are days when coaches can be grumpy but overall Ali loves the coaches.  They push you and expect you to work hard but if you are giving 100% then the coaches are funny and nice. They don't put the girls down either.  One day I say to Ali, "oh that is your bad leg right?" to which she responded, "no, its my good leg."  I said, "oh I thought the other one was your good leg." 

She said, "No, This is my better leg."  So even in the words the coaches use with the kids they are encouraging.
You don't have a "bad" leg you only have a good leg and a better leg.  In truth it is the reality.  If you took these girls' "good" leg and compared it to kids outside the gym it would be amazing.
Ali has also made good friends with the girls on the team especially her friend Paigie.  She loves seeing Paigie at the gym and fortunately Paigie and Ali have the same recess at school
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In addition to gymnastics Ali also went to golf camp this summer for a week along with Sofia.  Ali only stayed at golf for a half day but Sofia loved it the first day and begged to stay full days.  I was happy she was enjoying golf so even though they were full the coach seemed to enjoy Sofia and allowed her to stay full days.  Sofia made friends with two other girls in her group her were thirteen years old.  They were very nice to her and Sofia loves being with the older kids.  One day I picked Ali up at lunch time and one of the kids yelled out to me that Sofia fell off the cart.  I of course came to immediate attention and got concerned and got to Sofia.  The two thirteen year olds jumped up quickly to assure me that Sofia didn't do anything wrong and that she was fine.  It made me smile that these two girls felt they needed to protect Sofia.  Apparently when the cart was being driven around a corner going downhill Sofia saw that her club was going to fall out of the cart and went to reach for it.  Of course that was a horrible idea and she quickly went tumbling out of the cart.  She landed half on the grass and half on pavement.  Her fingers, arms and knees were scraped up and she had a bump on her head from where her head hit the pavement.  She assured me she was fine and she wanted to stay for the rest of the day.  She seemed ok so I left her and came back to pick her up at the end of the day.  When I arrived I made a joke to the coach about keeping her out of harms way only to find out that Sofia had been hit in the head by a driver.  This was totally Sofia's fault as she walked behind another player during their back swing but she had a huge welt on her head.  She managed to be ok with it and learned a lesson the hard way.  I asked her if she had fun even with of all her mishaps that day and I couldn't help but laugh out loud when she responds, "oh yeah totes mom".  I guess the thirteen year olds were rubbing off on Sofia!  She is hoping to join a league next year so she can start playing more often.

The final item on the to do list for August were haircuts.  The girls love going to the salon.  They like how Brianna cuts their hair and they love they she always straightens their hair for them.  I can't blame them. Curly hair blown straight is always so soft and smooth and feels so nice.  It didn't last long in the humidity of August but it was fun while it lasted!

Summer Re-cap: July

Ok, so the blog has been getting less attention as of late....ok it has been getting no attention.  Life has been hurtling by at the speed of light and the blog has not been my top priority.  We shall see if I can manage to keep it going this year now that we have settled back into school routines.

My last post left you at my two week post-op recovery so we will move ahead from there.  I started driving and life started to return to normal.  Normal meaning I drive the kids everywhere they need to be.  I still had to have Sofia with me at the grocery store to push the cart (have you tried pushing a cart while on crutches??), I still had to have Jason and the girls carry things for me and I will still slow, sore and tired.  Life moves on though and we still made the best of it.

The girls participated in their first triathlon at MIT.  It included a 100 yard swim, 3 mile bike, and a 1/2 mile run.  It was such a well run event and the girls had a fabulous time.  Oddly the place where they both could have greatly improved was the bike portion of the race.  I would think this is the easiest portion for most kids however the girls don't ride their bikes all that much.  This year in particular since I wasn't running it meant they weren't riding their bikes.  Last year I would have them ride on the bike path while I ran but this year they only got in one bike ride before the race.  Here are there stats for the junior division (age 6-10):









Sofia                                            Place       Swim Rank      Bike Rank      Run Rank
Overall                                          100              23                    217               82
Age group (66 - 9 year old girls)     13                 2                      28               12

Ali                                                Place       Swim Rank      Bike Rank      Run Rank
Overall                                          270              344                    291               112
Age group (41 - 8 year old girls)     17                 26                      19                  5

They had such a fun time that the first thing Sofia said after crossing the finish line was she wanted to do another one!.  We are very proud of the girls for trying something new and for putting their best effort out there.

We finished up July with going to my cousin's wedding.  The girls love weddings.  What is more awesome than a beautiful bride??  The wedding that the girls remember though is the wedding we went to in Slovakia which was so far beyond what would be considered a normal wedding here.  We toned down their expectations of the wedding but in the end all that mattered was the beautiful bride :).  I had to laugh during the ceremony though (not out loud) because I could see that the girls were perplexed by the mass.  While I can still mouth the words along with the priest our girls have not been brought up Catholic and they are used to a Presbyterian church service.  They didn't really get the sit,stand, kneel approach and when the alter boy rang the bell they were completely baffled. It was strange for me to see something that seemed so normal because it was all I ever knew as a child seen through the eyes of someone else.  Why do they ring the bell?? I don't know. I just accepted it as part of the the service and never questioned it.  So I gave them the perfectly acceptable parental answer, "I don't know.  It's just the way they do it."  Fortunately the kids accept that reasoning and just continued to take it all in.  The reception was fun and the kids had fun playing with their cousin Bella.  They were sad to leave the reception but my hip had had enough and we headed home.  Since the kids did not love the cake though we stopped for dunkin donuts on the way home.  I have to agree that a donut is often better than wedding cake. :)

Two Week Post Op

I had my two week check up last Monday.  I was hoping the doctor would tell me I was doing so well and that because things were better in my hip then he thought that I would be able to ditch my crutches.  Unfortunately for me that was not the case.  His response to my question was , "6 weeks and not one day less.".  So then I started to ask him questions about what I could do but before I even finished my questions he interrupted with, "don't even ask me.  You can't do anything."  That makes him sound mean but it was actually quite funny.  He told me he already spoke to Jason on the day of the surgery and told him that he was going to have to hold me back.  It made me laugh because he doesn't even know me yet he seems to know me quite well.  Sitting around doing nothing is driving me bonkers.  I can already see my right thigh starting to atrophy.  I do get though that in order to heal properly and get back to activity I need to just chill and let my body heal. If I try to do to much I am just going to make my recovery even longer.

Anyway, my stitches are out and I'm waiting for the steri strips to fall off.  I have been cleared to drive and now I can go in a pool/lake/ocean if I want.  I can't actually swim yet but I can just go in and stand to cool off. I go back to the doctor in 5 weeks from today and then maybe he will clear me to start riding a stationary bike for a short amount of time.  I will definitely get clarity on what that means so that I will have an exact number so that I don't overdo it.  I have my good days and my bad days.  My pain is minimal at this point but there is just a general discomfort and achy-ness.  I can sit up/bend at 90 degrees but sitting on hard surfaces is difficult.  I can't just move my leg the way I want so I can't get up and down and do anything I want.  The other main issue is how quickly I become exhausted.  I get that my body is using its energy to heal my hip but it is still shocking to me how tired I get.  I trimmed watson's hair yesterday and bathed him and then had to lie down for the rest of the afternoon.  I was so tired I couldn't even think straight.  My bad days are generally at night when I'm tired and become overwhelmed with how long it will be before I'm recovered so my "bad" days are more mentally bad than physically bad.

I'll keep you posted along my journey.  Hopefully things continue to improve with no set backs.

Trip to Grammie and Grandpa's house

The girls finished up school and had a couple days off before they headed off to Maine to spend time with Grammie and Grandpa over the 4th of July.  They had a fantastic time.  Ali had a slight fever one day but it was short lived thankfully.  Sofia headed into a bead shop with her Grammie to make jewelry.  She made a couple bracelets and a couple rings and did a nice job on them.  I will have to find some place local to bring the girls again this summer since she really seemed to enjoy it.  They went to a local farm to try to pick strawberries but the field was already picked over for the day but they did manage to get funky tie-dye t-shirts from the farm.  I think the highlight for them was going to the lake.  Grammie and Grandpa have a friend with a house on a lake and they spent one afternoon there.  Fortunately Grammie and Grandpa's friends had their grand kids for a visit as well so the girls had kids their age to play with.  Sofia made good friends with Grace (age 12) and Ali played with the younger boy.  They went out on a boat and jumped in the water and swam to a floating dock.  They definitely had fun.

While the kids were away Jason and I did not do much.  We did manage to get out to eat a couple times which was nice and we took a drive to Rockport, MA.  We had never been to Rockport before and I had heard it was suppose to be a cute village.  It was really cute.  We spent a couple hours just walking up/down one road since I'm quite slow on my crutches but it was nice to finally be out of the house.  We then went to Lat 43 restaurant in Gloucester which is one of my favorite restaurants.  The seafood is so fresh and I love sitting outside right on the harbor. We sent Sofia a picture so she could see where we were eating and she wants to go so I'm sure we will be back there again a few times this summer.

Piano Recital

Sofia had her second piano recital on June 28th.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to go but I did manage to get there which was nice.  Jason captured her playing (image is blurry).  She had a couple errors but overall played great.

Surgery

The day finally came for my hip surgery.  I had prepared everything as much as possible.  Schedules written out, meals prepped and put in freezer, laundry done, house clean...everything I could think of to make life a little easier once I was out of commission.  When the hospital called me on Friday to tell me the time of my surgery was the first time it was REAL.  I felt sick with worry.  What if it went horribly wrong? Was my leg going to be hideously bruised and ugly? How long was it going to really hurt? What if it was worse than they thought? On and on my scary thoughts rolled.  My surgery was scheduled for 7AM, the first of the day.  I needed to be there by 6:00AM to get all prepped.  My friend Margaret is awesome and arrived at my house at 5:15AM so she could be there to get my kids up, fed and off to school for me.  At this point most of my fear had subsided and I just wanted to get it over with.  The nurses were very nice and got me ready.  They gave me some drugs and put the IV in and the Doctor came and asked me some questions.  Jason asked him some questions and gave him his mobile number and was sent out to the waiting room.  The next thing I remember was someone telling me to open my eyes and wake up.  It was so strange.  I did open my eyes and somehow got dressed and wheeled in a wheel chair out to our car.  When my mom asked me days later how I got dressed after the surgery I realized that I had no idea.  I guess I was functioning while completely drugged.  I don't really remember getting out of the building or how I got in the car either.  I don't remember much of anything about the day of surgery.

Since the day after surgery I remember most of what has gone on but to be honest now that I'm off the narcotics I can look back and say I was not all there while on them.  The doctor did say that it was better in my hip than he thought it would be.  He did not have to shave the bone at all.  The labrum was in pretty good shape so he repaired it without any problems.  They gave me crutches and said to use them and walk flat footed weight bearing as tolerated.  I would say that I have not had sharp pains but general achey-ness.  I can put a fair amount of weight on my right leg without any issue.  My knee and quad or very stiff I assume from the traction used on my leg.  My heels get pressure sores on them from not moving in bed so I'm finding ways to keep them off the couch and sheets to let those irritated spots heal.  I'm off the pain meds completely now and only take Tylenol when needed.  Sleeping is more frustrating now that I'm off the pain meds and I have started sleeping on my good side with a pillow between my legs but overall I'm not sleeping well because I don't have the freedom to move around.

So, 8 days after surgery I'm doing pretty well.  I had six incisions with five of them being stitched.  They are itchy now.  My legs is achey but overall not bad.  I'm off drugs.  I'm sooooooo bored! I still can't drive and I'm slow to get around.  I tire pretty quickly and I'm getting frustrated that this won't just be better in 2 weeks!  I'm not good with just sitting and doing nothing.

Poetry Reading

Ali's class worked on poetry this year.  They spent time writing a lot of poetry and Ali really seemed to enjoy it.  Her teacher held a poetry reading in class.  Ali read one poem that she wrote by herself and one poem she read with her friend Maggie that they had written together.  It was very cute.  Ali was super nervous about getting up in front of everyone to read her poem but she did it.  The first video is a little hard to hear but enjoy...

Happy 8th Birthday Ali!

Ali turned 8!  How can she possibly be eight years old??  So weird that my babies are growing up!

Ali has been deciding what to do to celebrate her birthday since she finished her 7th birthday party.  The options kept changing and I just listened at all the options she put out there and waited.  As her birthday approached I needed a decision.  She asked if she could have a sleepover.  I told her she could but only with two friends.  There was no way I was having 5 or more girls sleeping over.  I really didn't think she would do it with only two kids but she did.  She was so excited to invite her two best friends, Maggie and Paigie.  The sleepover went great.  The girls all played well together.  We had pizza, painted nails, ate cake, watched a movie and had popcorn before the girls headed up to bed.



Surprisingly they only stayed up until about 10:30.  They woke up around 6:15 but kept the house rule and stayed in their room until 7AM.  As Ali requested I made my cinnamon rolls for breakfast so the girls were happy.  I even made the really big ones as Ali requested.  Paigie and Maggie had to have the rest of their wrapped up to take home they were so big!

After breakfast and getting dressed we headed outside for more playtime.  The girls and I had some handstand contests and then Jason broke out boochie.  The girls and Jason played boochie until parents arrived.  It was a great birthday for Ali and the easiest party for me.

Happy 40th Jason

This year Jason turned 40!!  It is hard to believe but he is 40!  I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate and he wasn't really into having a party.  He didn't seem to be that bothered by turning 40.  I felt that it needed to have some kind of significance though so I tried to find something to make it stand out.  I found a company that would give him the option of driving either a Ferrari or Lamborghini around a track at Gillette.  That seemed like a good gift and I was right.  He was very happy to get that present.  He will get seven laps while being video taped.  He will have his drive at the end of August.  I will definitely post again once he has his chance to drive.

Sporting Activities

Not only did we see professional sports games the girls continued all their sporty activities.  Sofia had swim practice as usual and another swim meet.  Her swim meet happen to fall on Father's day so Jason got to celebrate Father's Day a day early with the Paw Sox game.  Ali continues loving gymnastics and is constantly getting better.  I lucked out and finally found a gym bar on craig's list and was fast enough to get it.  Of course it meant I have to drive to Connecticut to pick it up but less than half price was worth it!

While the marathon fitness challenge is over for the girls school the kids still wanted to run the Timlin 5K race.  I couldn't run it with them and with Jason's calf strain he couldn't run it either but they decided to run it on their own.  I can't believe my babies are able to run a 5K race by themselves!  They found a friend to stand with in the start line along with Jason and I went about a mile down the course to snap pictures.  The friend was planning on running a slower pace so I was curious if the girls would slow down or if they would stay on their own target.  I'm happy to say that they raced their own race.  They did awesome and beat their time from last year by 3 minutes.
Ali had some lace issues (they kept coming untied even with double knots) and her feet also started to cramp at mile 2.  I guess she was right when she told me her shoes were too small.  Oops!  They did great and had a lot of fun.

Here they are after the finish line all hot and sweaty and proud to have completed it on their own!  My girlfriend was watching the race with her daughter and has inspired her daughter to want to run the race with them next year.  I'm so proud of my babies!!

Pro Sports Games

The town soccer gets tickets for the New England Revolution but we had never gone.  This summer we decided to go to a game.  It was fun to go and sit with people from our town and it was fun for all of us to see our first professional soccer game.  The Revolution play at Gilette so the girls and I had our first trip to the stadium.  I must say the field looks much bigger on tv then it does in person.  We had the perfect weather for the soccer game and the girls had fun between watching the game and hanging out with their friends.

For Father's Day I decided to get tickets for the Paw Sox.  The girls had their change to go to their first professional baseball game.  I haven't been to McCoy Stadium since I was a kid but it really is a lot of fun.  The park is small and all the seats are good so the girls really had a nice view of the field.  I was very watchful as I remember my friend getting hit in the eye with a ball when we were kids so I kept reminding the girls to watching the ball.  I was thinking of ways to have the girls focus on the hitter and started to discuss how most players do something every time they hit.  Sofia was very quick to pick up on it and was quicker than me to pick up on one of the players.  She thought it was funny that they do it so it kept her interested.  Just at the end of the game a ball came our way.  Fortunately for us but unfortunately for the lady two seats down, the ball hit her in the eye! The upside is that the kids will definitely listen when I tell them to keep their eye on the ball now.  Even with the rather tough ending we all had a great night at the ball park.

Crazy June

June has been crazy!  I read a very funny blog post  HERE. It gave me a good laugh and made me feel not quite so inept.  I figure it gave me a free ride to slack on my blog as well. HAHA.  Anyway, here we go....

Bee Model - Why do kids have to build a model as a project?  Couldn't they just draw a bee and label it?  What about good old fashion memorization?  Oh well...as in the blog above I am the daily grind and Jason is the project person.  He enjoys the projects and really has fun with the kids putting the projects together.  He allows the kids to really do the project.  I on the other hand, hate projects and when I have to be involved my only goal is to get it done as fast as possible.  I recognize that that is not always in line with the kids learning so Jason does the projects.  Sofia has to make a model of a bee.  I bought the craft items that Jason listed and then washed my hands of it until the last moment when the glue gun was required.  As Jason had never used a glue gun I figured I would be helpful and take on the 3rd degree burn on my finger instead!  Don't worry Sofia had an awesome bee and my finger is almost healed 3 weeks later!

Water Slide - We haven't had a ton of nice days this June but when we had a nice sunny day the girls made the best of it.  The kids can really have fun doing anything and I'm always so happy when I see their imaginations as work.  They really love playing with the hose and under Jason's supervision they decided to make a water slide.  I decided to see where it led.  Fortunately no one got hurt but gotta love the dangers of a red-neck slide.

Yam Scram & Vermont City Marathon

This past weekend we headed up to Vermont.  Jason had been training for the Vermont City Marathon and the weekend had arrived.  I think he was ready to just get the race underway.  When Jason signed up for the race we saw that there was a kids race.  The kids could choose to run a 1/2 mile, 1 mile or 2 mile race.  The girls immediately opted for the 2 mile race.  The timing of the race was perfect becuase they were working on their marathon fitness challenge for school and were running just over 3 miles a week.  We drove up to Vermont and it was cold, windy and rainy.  Not quite the weekend we had envisioned. 

On Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed down to the kids race which started at 8:30am.  We weren't quite sure how it would all work but the race was very well organized.  The kids ran four loops in waterfront park and then were funneled into a shoot into a tent.  They had to wait there until a parent with the corresponding bib number showed up to claim them.  It was a nice way for parents and kids to not have to worry about meeting up.  Despite the cold and rain the girls did great.  They stayed together and ran a very steady 10 minute mile pace.  They didn't get bothered by some kids coming out of the start really fast and they never walked.  It was fun to cheer them on in their first solo race with out a parent.  After the race they got their medal and goody bags and we headed back to the hotel to hang out in the pool.

On Sunday we got up bright and early again to head to the start of Jason's marathon.  It was again cold, rainy and windy.  I bundled the girls up as best I could but it was still cold.  We stayed with Jason until right before the start but then headed to our spot to watch him run past.  Fortunately two runners gave up their trash bags early and I ended up putting them on the girls and that helped them stay warm.  We watched Jason run by and then headed into a cafe for hot chocolate/cappucino.  Just before Jason was going to run by again I popped outside to cheer him on.  The girls finished up their hot chocolate and we headed to our next viewing point.  The nice thing about the Vermont City Marathon is that is crosses the city center 4 times.  We watched jason run by at mile 15 and gave high fives and cheered him on.  After that we made our way to the finish area.  I knew he was on pace for a 3hr 40min finish.  We waited and waited.  When the 4 hour pacer came through the finish I knew something had to have gone very wrong.  I hoped it was not so bad that he could finish.  I was happy to see him round the bend and finish at 4 hours 6 minutes.  I was sad for him becuase having something go wrong in a race that you have spent so much time and energy training for is a big dissappointment but it would have been evern worse to not finish.  It turns out he strained his calf muscle so had to jog/walk his last 7 miles.  He stopped into a medical tent to have it checked out along the course and wasn't sure if he could make it to the finish but he did and that is something to be proud of.  I know the feeling of not getting the time you anticipated.  It is not a good feeling and while everyone can say "oh it is still a great time. You should be proud." I know it doesn't make a difference until you can get back on course and reach the goal you set for yourself.  I'm waiting to see what marathon he will choose next.  Will it be a new course or will we be back in Vermont next year?

Loosing Teeth

Ali has been waiting FOREVER to lose some teeth.  She had the dentist pop out her first loose tooth at her cleaning appointment in February because the tooth was so loose.  She has been waiting ever since for more teeth to fall out.  This month it has finally happened....a month before her 8th birthday she has finally started to loose teeth.  One of her bottom teeth was very loose.  One night she went to bed but came downstairs because her tooth was hurting so much when she was sucking her thumb.  We told her there wasn't much we could do about it.  She could either stop sucking her thumb to fall asleep or she could pull her tooth out.  She opted for pulling it out.  She sat with us and wiggled her tooth back and forth until it came out.  It was pretty gross and I could really watch her do it but she managed it and was so happy to have it out I don't think she cared that it hurt a little bit.  She was happy to be able to suck her thumb to go to sleep and was super excited for the tooth fairy.  Last week her top tooth was very loose.  Sofia accidentally popped Ali in the face which continued to make it loose.  She went to bed and woke up in the morning with another tooth gone.  This time she had to write a note to the tooth fairy since we assume she swallowed her tooth because we couldn't find it.  Her other front tooth is loose now.  Pretty soon Ali will have to start eating with her gums!

Colonial Craft Day

In third grade the kids have a "Colonial Craft Day".  They dress up in colonial clothing and spend the day (it is held on a half day of school) making colonial crafts...braided rugs, straw dolls and other crafts of the time period.  My friend let Sofia borrow an entire colonial outfit so that I did not have to make a bonnet.  Sofia was excited to have an entire outfit.  She had a playdate after school with her friend Olivia and they continue their Colonial times.  They sat outside at her friend's house and had decaf green tea and continued their pretend play. 

Swim Meet

Sofia had her first swim meet with her new team in the beginning of May.  This swim season is the Long Course season which means the kids swim in 50 meter pools rather than 25 yard pools.  It would seem like it wouldn't matter because 50 meters is the same whether you swim it straight or do a flip turn and swim a lap.  it is not the same.  When you see the 50 meter pool is is HUGE!  The kids also don't get that quick break and push off the wall half way through their fifty.  This is also the first time Sofia has raced anything longer than 25 yards.  It is definitely an adjustment.  Her races are in the 12 and under category so she is racing against older kids as well.  I think it is a good thing though because it forces her to think about her own personal best times rather than comparing herself to everyone in the race.  She has entered a new world of swimming when she stepped out of rec swim and into club swimming.  These kids are fast!  She has to really focus on her strokes to break bad form and relearn the proper form being taught to her by her coaches.  Practices are times to push yourself and learn how to be better.  She does not leave the pool with loads of energy these days as her coaches work the kids hard.  She still enjoys swimming though even when they push her to the point where she is actually tired.  She is making some good friends within her group as well as the two levels above her.  She has one day a week where she is in the pool with the group one level above and one day a week when she is in the pool with the group that is two levels above.  She has a lot of fun with the older kids and gets to see how fast she can become if she works hard.  The coaches really create good team spirit and have the groups combine for relay races.  It is fun to hear the kids cheer each other on.  Sometimes I worry that it will be too much for her but she never seems to get sick of swimming.  She leaves the pool happy after every practice and swim meet even when she is tired.  Her coaches are good to her and only ask her to do what they know she is capable of doing.  They encourage and grow the kids on the team.  I keep my worry to myself and watch my baby grow up doing what she loves.

Dinner Cruise

One of our friends turned 40 recently and celebrated with a Boston Harbor dinner cruise.  Jason and I sent the kids with my parents for the night so we did not have to worry about getting back for a babysitter or waking up early with the kids the next morning.  The cruise was fun.  We boarded the boat along with some high school prom.  They were on a different deck than us but it was fun to see them all dressed up.  Of course we got a couple looks as "the old people" but that is fine with me.  The insecurity of prom is not something I would want to repeat unless of course I could repeat it with all the knowledge I have gained since then.  Anyway, dinner was nice and then went up on deck to look at the city from the water.  It was too cold to stay out there for very long so we headed back in for some dancing.  It has been a long time since I have been dancing.  There was another party there as well with adults who were about our age.  There was some old school music played and they broke out in dance moves I remember from high school.  I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who stills remembers the moves.  After the cruise we headed back in the limo to our friends house where a few of us hung out until 4AM.  I haven't been up that late in ages!  Jason spent a lot of his time playing darts but I played ping pong for about 2 hours straight.  I had no idea I had any skill at ping pong.  When I told my dad I was surprised he responded with, "I'm not surprised.  You played it all the time when you were little.".  I remember having a ping pong table but I emember being horrible at it and my brothers ALWAYS creamed me so I didn't end up playing very much.  I guess my defeats stuck with me longer than the knowledge of my ability.  I am glad I had those formative years becuase ping pong was so much fun!  I did play darts for a little bit but there was no surprise there...I wasn't very good.  All in all it was a great night.  We crawled into bed and went to sleep happy and didn'
t have to wake up at 7AM which made it even sweeter!

Round off Back Handspring

Ali has been working on her back handspring as well as making the connection between her round off and back handspring.  Today she trained with the head coach and she got it!  She still needs to work on it but she completed it!  The video isn't the best because I was so far away but you can still see it.

Hip update

I do not have good news to report on my hip.  I haven't quite digested it all yet so bare with me.  I saw the doctor on Monday.  My expectation was he was say to have surgery then rehab and then back to normal activity.  Well, he did say surgery and then 6 months of no real activity and NO MORE RUNNING!  He said if I wanted to run it would be a 2 mile maximum.  This is awful news to me as most of you know I love running.  He said that if I was planning on running after the surgery then there was no point in doing the surgery because I would just end up needed a total hip replacement. I was in such shock I couldn't think of any questions.  I had Sofia with me in the room as well and while I was trying to be brave and not cry for what I was losing so that Sofia wouldn't be worried she broke down in tears because she felt bad for me.  It was very sweet and I guess was a good distraction for me so that I held it together.  On Tuesday I sent an email off to the Doctor's assistant with a bunch of questions that I couldn't think off after hearing the shocking news.  I received more unexpected information.  I thought I would be on crutches for 2 weeks.  I was wrong.  His PA called me back and told me to expect to be on crutches for 6 weeks and I won't be able to drive for 4 weeks!  I have worked on shifting schedules and finding friends to drive the kids around for the beginning of summer as my surgery is scheduled for June 24th.  I'm feeling a little better emotionally and can now talk about it without choking up.  It will be an adjustment but I will just have to find another sport to enjoy.  Such is life! :)

Kirsty's visit

My girlfriend from Prague sent me an email asking if I wanted a visitor to which I of course responded "YES!".  She booked her flight and arrive on April 17th.  I was so excited and happy to know she was coming.  Kirsty is one of the first people I met in Prague and has been such a great friend.  I was excited for her to come and show her around New England as she had never been to this area before.  As when I would come back to the States I would shop, when Kirsty came we also shopped.  Clothing is so much cheaper her especially with the outlets that is just makes sense to buy things here (although I do miss Promod and Vero Moda in Prague).






Between shopping and toting the kids around to all their activities we managed to bring Kirsty up to the white mountains.  We had to share Polly's Pancake Parlor with her as well as Fraconia Notch.
We did a short hike a mile up a trail to lo
ok at some waterfalls and then headed back down.  The mountain still had snow on it though so going up any further without proper footwear was not advised.  It was beautiful to just walk in the woods and see the waterfall though.  We headed back home with a stop in at the Tilton dinner for another slice of Americana...milkshakes, cheesy fries and fried pickles.  It is fun to have guests because then we can eat the crazy american foods we almost never indulge in.  We had never even had fried pickles before.  I will admit they were pretty good although I can't ever

see ordering them again.

I then took Kirsty down to RI while the kids were in school.  I love RI and love to share it with people.  The beaches are just amazing and the sand is like powder so I took Kirsty down to Sand Hill Cove, Gallilee, Iggy's Chowder House, out on the rocks off Ocean Drive and Narraganset Pier.  After a tour of the shore we headed into Johnston to D. Palmieri's bakery because there is no way to describe bakery pizza to an outsider.  They have to tast it for themselves to understand just how delicious it is!  After picking up bakery pizza it was off to Smithfield to show her the neighborhood I grew up in but more importantly we went to Del's.  Again there is no way to accurately describe Del's.  She just had to have it and she loved it.  How could you not!

As a final night of sharing our area we took Kirsty into the North End for dinner at Giacomo's.  It was worth the wait as usual.  The dinner is excellent.  After dinner we went to get cannolis but along the way we saw a fireman responding to a call and we started to talk to him.  He believed that Modern pastry was the better cannoli where as Jason and I have always gone to Mike's pastry.  We decided to finally give Modern a try.  After taking a bite I headed to Mike's to get some cannoli.  Kirsty preferred Modern pastry and Jason and I agree that the shell at Modern is better but we like the filling at Mike's pastry better.  Either way they are both delicious   It was beautiful night in the city and a great way to end Kirsty's trip.

Athletics

The girls are busy as ever with all their athletic activities.  Sofia started with a new swim team at the beginning of April.  The team is awesome.  The coaches are fantastic.  They work the kids hard and expect the kids to give full effort.  The coaches are engaged with the kids and truly want the kids to improve.  Sofia has had more coaching in the last month than she has had in the last year and a half.  Her new team incorporates dry land training along with the swim training.  Some days it is shoulder work, push ups, squats, lunges and some days it is a mile and a half run before getting int he pool to swim for an hour.  The kids in the program are very nice and Sofia is already friends with her team mates.  She has her first swim meet with this team on Friday night.  It will be her first 50 meter race in a 50 meter pool.  She is scheduled for a 50 freestyle, 50 breast and a 100 back.  Unfortunately I can't be there for the meet but Jason will be so I will let you know how she does.

Sofia also started Softball at the beginning of April.  Her coach is impressed with her arm.  She told me she has one of the best arms on the team which is surprising since this is her first year playing softball.  The problem with softball from a spectator view is that it is painful to watch as ground balls roll past the kids.  Unlike soccer you can't fudge your way through beginner softball.  If you miss a grounder or don't catch a pass it is glaringly obvious.  I will say though that the kids have already started to improve from the beginning of the season.  Jason is working with Sofia in the back yard on her hitting since she either checks her swing into this wimpy swing or she goes big and lets the bat fly out of her hands.  She needs to learn the art of big strong swing with an easy drop of the bat.

The girls school also has a program called "The Marathon Fitness Challenge" in which the kids get a shirt of they rund 13.1 in 8 weeks and a medal if they complete a full 26.2 distance.  Sofia did the 13.1 last year and it was a struggle.  This year I told the girls I would find the time in the schedule to run with them but that I was not going to fight them over it.  For the most part they have been doing great.  We have been running 2.3 miles after school on Tuesdays and then getting in another 1.5 miles during the week.  For Sofia that is usually at swim practice so that leaves the weekend for Ali to run with me.  The girl
s are on track to meet their goal.  They have also signed up for a 2 mile race on memorial day weekend.  They had the option to complete a 1/2 mile, 1 mile or 2 mile race and they opted for the two miler.  The two mile race is no parents allowed to run with the kids so it will be their first solo run.  They have agreed on their own to run together and to encourage each other if the other one tires during the race.

The two mile race is in Vermont on the same weekend Jason is running his first marathon.  The girls are excited to be involved in the marathon weekend activities.  Jason has been training and is now on his taper so things are winding down.  Hopefully the race goes well for him as we is currently struggling with a tight calf and a rotator cuff tendinitis.  (Sucks to be getting old!)  I assume he will beat my time so I joke with him that in order to make all things equal he has to run faster than my time to really beat me as he is a guy.  We have a debate going about weather the difference should be the boston marathon qaulifying time difference or the difference between the elite male/female winners.  It is all in good fun though and I'm sure he will do great!

Swim Banquet

Sofia's swim team had an end of year banquet. Sofia had a blast with her friends.  When we arrived we walked in together but she quickly shooed me over to a table with parents so that she could sit alone with her friends.  It was very cute and hard to believe.  The kids talked and ran around until dinner was served and then they were on the dance floor.  One of the older kids on the team was Dj-ing the banquet and he wanted to shoot a harlem shake video.  While it took forever to get it all sorted out the end result made me laugh.  Sofia really busted out the moves.  It is great to see her being herself and being silly even in front of parents and older kids. You can see her in the bottom right (in the front) of this video.




At the end of the night the coaches gave out the trophies to all the kids as well as all the ribbons the kids won over the course of the season.  Sofia took in quite a haul of ribbons.

Second Grade Science Fair

This year Ali had her turn to participate in the second grade science fair.  Thanks to the handy book Sofia received from Auntie Carlene last year we were able to find a fairly straightforward experiment for Ali to complete.  I mainly let Jason take on the job of science fair.  I tend to want to just get the job done but he is very good at explaining the process and letting the kids work their way through the problems.

Ali decided she wanted to grow crystals.  It didn't require a lot of materials and did not require me to tote containers of water into school so I was happy with the choice.  I have to admit the project was pretty cool and Ali was able to discover what made crystals grow big or small and if they developed quickly or not.  She hand wrote all her notes which I thought was great and I agreed to type them up since they needed to be written quite large to fill the display board.  She writes more neatly than Sofia did at that age (and neater than Sofia now too!) so it was easy to follow her notes.

Vermont Ski Weekend

Last weekend we headed up to Vermont to ski with Jason's brother Matt and family.  The kids were really looking forward to skiing with their cousins and just being able to play with them.  The weekend started off a little dicey wince the 6 inches of snow that we were suppose to get in the early AM Friday tunred into 16 inches that didn't stop coming down until mid afternoon.  I waited until about 2pm and then decided I needed to brave the roads to get Watson down to my parents.  Fortunately my Mom met me at the mall so I didn't have to drive all the way to their house.  Half way to the mall the snow had stopped and the highway was just wet.  It is amazing the difference a short distance can make in a snow storm.  By the time I was heading back home even the highway near us had cleared to just wet pavement so it made for a much easier drive.  The roads in our town were not great but that wasn't a problem.  We ended up hitting the road for VT around 5pm and made good time with no traffic and it only took us anout two and a half hours.  We arrived at the house about 5 minutes before Matt and Jodi so timing ended up being perfect.  The kids played and we all relaxed and chatted.

Saturday we headed over to Magic Mountain to ski.  Jason and I had never skied there before so did not know what to expect but it was a fun mountain.  They only groom about half the mountain so there was a lot of bumps on the trails.  We took the kids down a couple easy trails to start but then moved them up to black diamonds.  Since we don't really know the mountain we took a narrow double black down the mountain with the kids which was not bumped up and the loved it.  They made nice quick turns and cruised down the trail.  This is where knowing a mountain has advantages.  I didn't know that this trail would dump us out onto another double black trail that the kids had been eyeing from the lift saying, "I'm not doing that" to which I replied, "no we wouldn't do that one...it has too many rocks and probably too technical for you right now."  Well, such is life when skiing....ski the trail you end up on because there really is no other choice.  The girls did great and skied down it quite a way until there was a significantly steeper section with a number of bare rocks showing.  Jason talked Sofia off the ledge and explained to her how to do it but then skied very fast to "show" her.  I could see that this did not work so I asked her if she wanted me to show her the way.  She did so we took one turn at a time through the rocks and she did great.  Ali followed suit and fell right at the bottom.  Not a major fall just a "I'm scared so I'll sit" type of fall.  She started to cry but then I pointed out that she only fell on this tiny section after she had already done all the hard work.  She looked up the mountain and smiled as she realized she had conquered the trail that looked so difficult from the lift.

Sunday we skied at Stratton which is a completely different mountain than Magic.  It has wide trails and is nicely groomed.  Sofia was a little nervous because in her mind a "bigger" mountain must be more difficult.  We assured her that there was going to be nothing at Stratton that would be any more difficult than what she had skied at Magic.  She lightened up after that and started to have fun.  She was zipping down the mountain with ease.  The mountain has a nice mix of moguls in with groomed terrain so we could hit the moguls and the kids could go groomed or they could jump in and out of the moguls as they wished.  The weather was so perfect for the whole weekend.  It was sunny blue skies and in the 30's!  We sat outside in the sun to eat lunch.  Ski days don't get much better than that! Sunday was a day of falls though.  Every one of had a fall at some point in the day.  Nothing major but falls non the less.  We always joke around that if you don't have a fall you aren't skiing hard enough so I guess we were all skiing hard!  I went almost the whole day but right near the end I caught an edge.  I was going to snow Matt but then decided to be nice and let up on my speed a little.  As soon as I did I caught and edge which flipped me back to whack the back of my head ( thank God for helmets) on the ground, spun me around and sent me down the mountain.  Of course the whole family was standing on the ridge and just backed up assuming I was going to stop but I went over the ridge (not a big dangerous ridge just a natural roll in the hill).  Unfortunately for Sofia she was not on the ridge but just on the other side of it.  Fortunately by the time I crashed into her I wasn't going very fast!  The kids did not want the day to end.  Sofia started to complain when I told her we had two runs left.  I then had to explain that we had only two runs left because that was all we could fit in before the lifts closed for the day.  It was such a perfect day.  The kids can finally ski fast enough and in control for me to follow behind at a normal speed.  It was the first day we skied until the lifts closed.  The only complaint being that the mountain should stay open longer! :)