The Fair

I haven't been to the Chittenden County Fair in a decade.  We usually prefer to go to the Addison Country Fair or Tunbridge World's Fair-- they are a just a little more authentic and a tiny bit less "cheesey".  Really, they all have a certain familiarity and it is pretty fun.

          

Going for it on the alligator roller coaster

 Our friend Michael was visiting from Brooklyn and he and his son were looking to do something "different".  He did a little research and found out that there was a Monster Truck Rally at the fair the night we were there.  So we decided to go for it.   I'm really rather speechless about the whole experience...... It was, well, hilarious, ridiculous, and pathetic all at the same time.

Hazen didn't really know what to think.....

First Day of School-- New Neighbor, New Adventures

The most exciting thing happened a few weeks ago!  Cally and I have been talking about how cool it would be to have a friend who lived in the neighborhood behind our house for years.  She imagined being able to walk through Gary and Rose's yard to play with someone other than her brother.  Well, that dream became reality!  Lila Treines and her family moved into a house two houses away from Gary and Rose.  Lila and her dad came by to introduce themselves and the girls became immediate buddies.

It turns out, Lila is in Cally's first grade class, she loves reading, singing, drawing, and fairies.  She brother who is almost a year old, and she's super sweet.  Her dad is a teacher in Burlington and he mom is a day care provider who moonlights as a salesperson at the Gap.

The girls call each other all the time to play and they can walk back and forth between their houses so easily (Rose just requested that they tell her a joke every time they see her.  And, they are pretty good about including Hazen in the fun.

Lila was really nervous about taking the bus to school.  She moved from Winooski, so she didn't take the bus to school and walked.  She decided to walk to our house with her mom and brother and take the bus from the end of our driveway.  When the bus came, our happy-go-lucky lovely little gal lost it!  She cried, she screamed, she clung to her mother, she did not want to get on the bus.  But she did and Cal says she did stop crying pretty quickly.

Later that day, I saw this picture on Jericho Elementary School's Facebook page:

It's so great to see her showing empathy at an early age.  It's so great to have a friend for her who lives so close by.  It's a dream come true!

Dog Days of Summer

After a being on the move for much of late June and July, it has been nice to be home in Vermont.  Because Labor Day is "late" this year, the craziness of Trek was delayed a bit and John was able to spend some time doing some of the things he doesn't usually get to do, like Valley Stage-- a local, family friendly bluegrass festival:

Picnic time with the First kids

         

While John was gearing up for Trek, the kids and I put in some hard time at various pools.  Cally figured out how to make a hammock with a towel on a fence-- a cool place to hang during "adult swim" at Maple Street Pool.

We did manage to get to Circus Smirkus:

We also checked off another item on our summer "bucket list"-- cub bike races at Catamount

Rainbow Bike Race

Before everything started to get really busy, I got to get away with five of my favorite ladies and run the 100on100 relay.  And making it extra special, was celebrating Caroline's 40th birthday!  We ran through heat, humidity, and thunderstorms, but it was such a fun experience.

We met up with the Meyer cousins at Waterbury Reservoir for a fun day of beating the heat:

Underwater "boyagers"

        

Wrestling fun

 Once Trek training gets started, the kids look forward to several events-- their favorite being the dress up bowling night:

Amongst the chaos of Trek training and my school year starting off, we managed to host 8 house guests!  Our good friends Tim, Sophia, Beckett, and Iris passed through the area for a few days with their friends.  The heat was high, but we romped at North Beach and joined John's trek leaders at a BBQ on the beach.

Once John's trek students and leaders were in the woods, we took a deep breath and tried to get our ducks in a row for the start of the school year, no childcare for the kids (Tammy was away), and a drastic change in our "schedule".  I think we were all ready for a little more structure in our lives.  The kids were starting to fight more, they were wanting to see their buddies more, and I was also ready to settle into a routine again (although that usually takes a little while).

We did manage to do one last fun event before the first day of school.  The Cleary's, up the road, had a Pop Up Fire Show to raise funds for a trip to Burning Man in Nevada.  It was certainly an experience:

Quick Tour

Summer isn't over, but once it gets close to August, I get a little bit of the "Sunday Blues".  I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I always think of June as my Friday, July as my Saturday, and August as my Sunday...... And so, we did make the most of the rest of my Saturday upon our return from our "Out West" trip (as the kids are referring to it).  

The kids did a week of Forest Camp.  It is the only camp I signed them up for all summer (because it was one of the only full weeks we were around).  It was a sort of primitive skills camp with days spent walking in the woods, whittling, swimming in a stream, cooking over a fire, and making forts.  The kids loved it!  I don't have a single picture of their experience, but I do have a photo of the hair weaves they got:

I was skeptical about the whittling, as I was a victim of a whittling accident in high school (six stitches later), but the counselors had many expectations and whittling privileges could be taken away (as was the case with Hazey).  In any case, the kids had an amazing week.  They learned a lot, used their imagination, and made cool "agreements" like getting along with everyone and not leaving anyone out. 

Meanwhile, I put a day in at the "office" and got a little time to do some things for myself.  I went to a doctors appointment, caught up with friends, went running, got out for several mountain bike rides, cleaned the house, and did a little soul searching about potentially living abroad (more on that later).  Having a little time to myself was exactly what I needed. 

enjoying a little "me" time at a waterfall

On Friday, we picked the kids up a little early from camp and headed to Whitton  Pond in New Hampshire.  We met up with the Clarke/Munson crew and had a lovely evening up there.

Dinner with Finn, Avery, Ander, and Cleo

Saturday morning, we headed to Hermit Island in Maine.  We booked campsites here months ago because I'd heard it was a great place to visit.  It lived up to it's reputation!

There are only campsites on the "island" and four beaches, hiking trails, and biking all around. Aunt Nif, Uncle Rob, and Will met us after their week in New Hampshire.  And, our friends, the Dormer's from Boston also got a last minute reservation and joined us. We had great beach weather and the kids had a ball together.

Sand kids

Hikers

        

Ping Pong

        

Family

We left Hermit Island on Monday morning.  We "swung" through Boston to drop off so he could grab a bus back to Burlington.  The kids and I continued on to Connecicut so we could get some time in with the grandparents.  First stop was Darien:

Next stop was Farmington to see Nana and Grandpa.  We also got to have dinner with Lynn, Mark, and Chris.

Uncle Mark and Cally

Hazey and his playmate

Goofballs

Family!

Biking on one of the Farmington  Bike Paths

Biker Dude

And we rounded out the week with an impromptu visit to the Krull's house on Lake Champlain.  We had a lovely dinner and even spent the night.

Dylan and Hazey

Future prom dates

Piper and Cally

Swimming on the lake