August - Get Rid of It?

It's been a rough August. On Slate, an annually recycled piece encourages us to just get rid of the month. After a very busy and fun July, I have to admit that this month has been kind of a drag.

We attempted the Southwick Zoo in Mendon the first day of the month, but left after only a couple of hours because all four of us weren't feeling all that well. I took just ONE picture on that excursion, when normally I'd have taken many, so that's a strong indicator of how we were all feeling.

The following weekend was quiet - we attended the new Family Service at Temple Emanuel, which Marc and I are helping out with (but really, it's all rock star Pam). On Sunday Newton had an event where they closed the streets to traffic near Crystal Lake, and we had a great time, with Marc and Hannah on their bikes, and me pushing Max in the stroller.

Unfortunately, that ended up straining my back muscles too much, and I have been in pain for about two weeks now. Definitely nowhere near the level of pain I experienced last winter, but not insignificant either. I've been trying to take it easy since then, and now I know that pushing the stroller is a bit too much for me, but it's still very disappointing.

Fillis and John came over to hang out with us the next weekend, and it was great to see them when we didn't have a big event to attend. Marc and I took the kids to buy new sneakers - specifically to the Sketchers store. Sketchers advertises CONSTANTLY on the channels the kids watch, and it is one of the few brands that Max can proudly identify (even if he can't quite pronounce it). Max chose some totally obnoxious light-up shoes that look like flames are emerging from the toes (he loves them) and Hannah got her first pair with laces. Another fun milestone to pass.

Max also got to spend a day with Fillis and John on his own, and he had a great time going to the beach and riding in a boat. Hannah had her second and final Arts Nite of the summer; this time she played the part of a duchess and said "do drop in for tea sometime" in her best British accent, wearing a very fancy red dress.

This past weekend wasn't all that fun. Our dishwasher stopped working on Saturday, after just 3 years in use. We are awaiting a repair person, and we'll see what happens with that. It's an LG, and I've use the #LifeIsNotGood hash tag on Twitter to describe the situation. We're also attempting potty training with Max. As Marc said, if potty training were similar to getting your driver's license, Max could easily pass the written test, but he's not ready for the open road.

Camp is now over, and Hannah's in an extra week at the JCC for "vacation camp," which thankfully is going very well. This weekend we'll be packing up for our annual road trip to Ohio to see my parents. We leave on Tuesday, and will be spending the night in Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side (yay for our new passports!). Then we'll have three days in Ohio, and we're hoping for good weather so we can check out the zoo and the air show. After the drive home, Hannah will have Labor Day to rest at home and purchase any last minute school supplies, as she will start first grade on Tuesday. Max doesn't go back to the JCC until September 13 due to Rosh Hashanah.

So even though August wasn't the greatest month, I guess there was still plenty to write about. I'm very excited for September though - I love fall and we have so many exciting plans ahead of us.

July Rolls Along

Highlights from the past few weeks:

- Hannah started camp at the JCC, meaning Marc gets the honor of both dropping off and picking up the kids each day (yay for me getting to work early! SUCH a difference in my day). She's enjoyed camp, but has been very tired and often cranky. Her first Arts Nite of the summer was this week, and not only was she a "star" in her group's show, but she made some lovely artwork as well. We stayed to watch the Upper Camp's production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and I was incredibly impressed.
- Over Fourth of July weekend Marc and I left the kids with Fillis and John (thanks again!) and had a great time. We saw a movie, ate out at a few restaurants, and tackled some big home projects: painting our dining room and hanging a bunch of pictures along our staircase. Both projects came out beautifully, and I'm so thrilled to have them done. The kids had a great time away too.
- We had some fun dinners catching up with the Weitzman, Falkenstein and Tarr families. I love how summer makes things seem simpler and getting together for dinner, even on a weeknight, is easier.
- I had multiple cavities filled. Since they were in different parts of my mouth, I had to do it in shifts, and one of the three experiences was totally awful. I am so relieved to have that behind me, and am hoping for a stretch of time without any major medical interventions (PLEASE).
- Marc's parents spent some time on Cape Cod and we joined them for a day on the beach and around Hyannis. At first Hannah was scared of the water, so I had about an hour of swimming and floating to myself, which was so relaxing. Marc and I got very sunburned though, but his body deals with it better than mine it seems. He's gotten a tan while I'm still peeling and as pale as ever.
- Max had his turn as Shabbat Helper for the Room E Elephants. He did a great job with the songs and prayers, including saying his "Shabbat feeling" was over on the table where the candles and kiddush cup were (you're supposed to say a body part, as in, "I've got that Shabbat feeling here in my heart").

And now we're in the middle of Julie and Mike's wedding weekend festivities. Last night we had a lovely Shabbat service and dinner, and this morning we're going to the aufruf. Marc will be chanting Torah and Hannah can't wait to throw candy at the bride and groom. Tonight I'm having a mini-reunion with some of my Brandeis pals, and tomorrow is the big day. I'm so happy to be included in all of these wonderful events, and absolutely thrilled for Julie and Mike. I never imagined the first friend I made at Brandeis would still be my best friend fourteen years later, and I feel very blessed to have them both in our lives.

An Hour's Drive

We recently went to two places about an hour's drive from Newton for some family fun.

We did our annual summer trip to the Mendon Drive-In on a recent Saturday night to see Toy Story 3. Marc and I have been going there for many years now, and it's a great evening. For $20/car, you can see two movies, usually a more kid-friendly one first, followed by one for the adults. They start letting in cars at 6:30 on the weekends, but the movie doesn't start until it gets dark. Fortunately, if you arrive early, you can hit their great snack bar for a dinner of junk food (we recommend the jalapeno poppers) and ice cream. Families spill out from their cars and kids run around playing catch and soccer until it's time to use your car's radio to tune in to the movie. We were excited to take our new car there for the first time, and both Max and Hannah surprised us and stayed up until the movie ended at nearly 11.

This past Sunday we traveled to Edaville USA in Carver for the "Day Out with Thomas" event. Max was really excited, and knew that it was the day to ride Thomas as soon as he woke up that morning. We arrived right as the park opened at 9, but I was a bit sad to see that it was a pretty run-down place. The rides were just okay, and while Hannah had a reasonably good time, Max was upset that we didn't get a turn to ride Thomas until our ticketed time at 10:50. We rode the train for about twenty minutes with a Thomas soundtrack accompanying the plywood animals that decorated the path. Then we had lunch and left, getting home by 1 pm. I was a bit surprised by what was a pretty lackluster experience, but it did inspire Max to play with a wooden train set that he'd largely ignored. I'm glad we went, but it definitely didn't live up to my expectations.

A 20 Minute Drive Makes Me 10 Years Older

This past weekend was my 10 year Brandeis University reunion. While I debated whether or not I should go, since many of my closest friends wouldn't be able to attend, I felt compelled to be there. I live less than 20 minutes from campus, and had no other major plans for the day, so I couldn't justify sitting at home instead.

I signed up for the Saturday daytime events, and drove to campus by myself early that morning. And I missed the turn off of Route 30. I can't tell you how many times I've been through that intersection, and it made me laugh. But, in my defense, it was my first time actually being the driver on that route, since I didn't have a car back then. Pulling up to the half-circle driveway was surreal. The campus volunteers pointing out the parking lot were SO YOUNG, and how could I possibly be older than them? It was a similar set up to our first day on campus, when you spent time waiting in the parking lot until there was room for your car near the dorm, and while I didn't feel quite as excited as I did in 1996, I did feel like I was home.

The day went by quickly. I picked up my registration materials in the room where we used to hold weekly Shabbat dinners, big enough to accommodate a crowd of 400, but now feeling so small. I attended a lecture on health care featuring two of my old professors in one of the new buildings on campus, realizing I can't remember what the building was that used to be there (though I think it might have been where BEMCo, the Brandeis Emergency Medial Corps, of which I was a member, albeit a very fractional one, was). Marc and the kids arrived after going to services, and it was raining, so the BBQ that should have been outdoors was held under a big tent. We all got fairly wet, but the kids enjoyed the bouncy house, Build-a-Bear craft and balloon animals. We waited around until the class photo, and it was amazing to see how many of us were actually there. I took some photos of the kids by the Justice Brandeis statue (hello, admissions applications of 2021 and 2025!), and then Hannah and I took a quick tour of the library and the old student center before arriving at the Castle. I was lucky enough to live there sophomore year, but was a bit sad to see that living conditions hadn't improved at all for all of the students since then. We had our ice cream sundaes and I had a few conversations, but the highlights were getting to see old friends Carl and Arye. Hannah and I walked back across campus and spent a little time in the troubled Rose Art Museum before heading home.

It was a great day, and I'm glad I went. Looking back now, my time at Brandeis went by in the blink of an eye, and it was fun to revisit the person I used to be then.

An Event A Day

The past few weeks have been quite eventful, but a lot of fun. Here's the run down since my last post:

June 4: both kids stayed home from school with mild illnesses
June 5: we took the kids to apply for passports, and I attend Julie's bachelorette party at King's that evening
June 6: Marc attended Sarah and Josh's wedding in New Jersey, Hannah and I went to Julie's bridal shower and Max did his first solo baby-sitting stint
June 7: JCC daycare end-of-the-year picnic
June 8: I had a cavity filling that filled me with dread
June 9: parent-teacher conference for Max (and Grandma Susan's birthday!)
June 10: end-of-the-year class party for Max and I had dinner with Stephanie and Ana at The Local (and I had a fantastic time!)
June 11: Marc attended Hannah's end-of-the-year class party
June 12: my Brandeis reunion (see the next post for more details), Max had a birthday party
June 13: both kids had birthday parties

Which brings me up to yesterday, June 14, a strikingly normal day! The next few weeks are busy, but not in quite the same way.

Thanks for all of your suggestions on places where Marc and I should try to get away - we're keeping them in mind, but it looks like we'll be spending our next kid-free weekend getting some things done around the house. Staycation it is!

Back To Life - And Maybe an Escape From It?

It's been a while since I've updated things here, and that's honestly a good thing, since it means I've been back to my normal, busy life. My back is doing very well. There are little twinges here and there, and technically I'm still healing from the surgery, but I'm doing really great. I went back to work on April 26, and it's been incredibly busy there (which is definitely a good thing). While I still don't love my commute, I am happy to be back in the office.

May was a really busy month for us. It began with a bit of a crisis here in greater Boston, with what became known as the Aquapocalypse, as we were under a boil water order for a few days. We escaped to Connecticut for part of that time to celebrate my niece and nephew's first birthday, and we all enjoyed their party very much. Max attended two of his classmates' second birthday parties, and Hannah had two religious school assemblies, a Spanish class party, a school fair and a class picnic as well as a field trip to the zoo (which I chaperoned and thoroughly enjoyed). Marc chanted Torah for the first time on the holiday of Shavuot and also was elected to our synagogue's Board of Trustees. We had friends over for Shabbat dinner one week and another family over for a BBQ the following week. I saw "Babies" and "Sex and the City 2" with friends and enjoyed the time out on my own. We bought a few new things for the house, and most importantly, after about two years of discussing it, we finally bought a new car. It seems like every day has had a big event, but it will be nothing compared to the month of June with all of its end-of-the-school-year celebrations and transitions to camp and new daycare classrooms, events for Julie's wedding and my 10-year college reunion.

And all of this has gotten Marc and I thinking that we really need to take a break, just for the two of us. We tried to do this last December, but our one night away wasn't enough, especially because my back bothered me for most of that time. But where should we go? Should we use part of that precious time to fly somewhere new, or have a staycation on our own? What would you do if you could get some time away? Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

Ah, Scheduling!

My calendar stresses me out.

This is something I say fairly often. It could be the millions of birthday parties and playdates, but really, I'm okay with all that. It is the constant juggling of our work, school and daycare schedules that totally pushes me over the edge. If you want to have any vacation time as a full-time employee and parent to say, actually take a vacation, you must be extremely careful about juggling who is going to be where when. Thankfully, we have Bright Horizons Back-up Solutions, of which I've written previously, and wonderful extended family members who always can help with a day here and there. But it is the scheduling of all this that drives me absolutely insane.

So I'm sitting here filling in the our Google calendar (G-d bless the Google calendar) with the dates for Max's daycare next year, and I had to share this phenomenon with you, by posting the email I just sent my husband, who is working at our other computer downstairs (I'm even spelling out our usual acronyms for you, and putting in a bit more description). Enjoy the chaos.

Subj: end of summer

I'm putting everything from the Early Learning Center (ELC) in the Google calendar and just feel like emailing you this instead of interrupting your work. Plus I'm not sure I could say this all out loud.

ELC is open for full year kids (Max attends full year) during the week after Kaleidoscope (Hannah's camp) ends. It might make sense for Hannah to do the vacation camp program this year for that week because...

The following week, the JCC is open for FY kids on Monday and Tuesday. So if we're going to go away we might want to wait until Wednesday, 9/1, to leave and Hannah can come to Bright Horizons on Monday and Tuesday because...

Once Hannah goes back to school the day after Labor Day (assuming that remains the same), Max is still off that Tuesday. On Wednesday is the ELC Open House, not that we'd definitely need to attend, BUT...

There's still no school that day because it's Erev Rosh Hashanah. And that means he effectively has no school all week.

And if we were to take off all of those days, we will have no vacation time left to go to Paris (which we are hoping to do at year end).

Gotta love the end of summer.