September

Now that Fall is officially upon us, I'm feeling the need to do all sorts of autumnal things. I love the pull towards home that this season brings - fewer weekend trips, football Sundays, the smell of something yummy cooking slowly on a weekend afternoon. And of course, one of the quintessential fall activities - apple picking! Many Maine orchards are suffering from apple shortages this year due to a May frost that nipped blossoms in the bud, but we were able to find one close by at which to pick last Sunday. It was a warm day, and we had so much fun wandering around this scenic hilltop orchard.

"Why do we have to pick apples? Can't we just buy them at the grocery store?"

Ethan picked a whole bag of apples himself, and Adam....well, he ate a lot of apples (or I should say, a lot of apple - he devours the entire fruit, core, stem, seeds, and all).

He wouldn't even stop eating to pose as a sunflower.

"If I look at you already can I get back to devouring my apple in peace?"

This time of year also brings back memories of being a kid, when September meant the start of a new school year. I loved that - the ability to begin with a clean slate, new teacher, whole different set of classmates, so much hope and anticipation for the year ahead. Although Ethan and Adam are in year-round daycare, Ethan just started up preschool again after a summer of more "camp-like" activities. His teachers asked that we list three goals for him for the coming year. This is one of those daunting tasks that first-time parents struggle with - how am I supposed to know what an appropriate goal for a 3-year old is? But we managed to come up with three:

1.) Learn how to get dressed and undressed completely independently (we have been close for awhile, but Ethan still needs help pulling off his shirt, buttoning his shorts, etc.)

2.) Master more letters and numbers (both recognizing and writing)

3.) STOP WHINING

So I am happy to report that we are now three weeks into preschool and tonight, for the first time ever, Ethan got himself completely undressed for bath, and then into his jammies, all by himself. He even got Adam's pants and diaper off (not ideal - not sure we want to encourage that). Check one.

I am also happy to report that Ethan was working on a puzzle this afternoon and called me over to look at what he'd created:

Check two.

Now if only we could make some progress on number three.... but I guess it is only September.

Running on Empty

It's been awhile! Sorry - things got busy with this little race I was preparing for, running, and recovering from. On Friday and Saturday, I joined 11 others in the SharksWithFreakin'LaserBeamsAttachedtoTheirHeads' first running of the Reach The Beach Relay. Collectively, we ran 209 miles in just over 31 hours. Personally, I ran 15 miles - 4 miles beginning at 5:30 PM Friday, another 7 miles beginning at 5 AM Saturday, and a final 4 miles beginning at 2:30 PM Saturday. Between those legs, I napped when I could (hardly at all), supported and cheered on my teammates, drove around and across New Hampshire, used more porta-pottys than I can count, and refueled and hydrated. I was lucky enough to draw the 12th spot in the rotation, meaning that I got to bring our team's baton across the finish line at Hampton Beach. Wow - what an experience. It's hard to describe what this event was like, other than to say it was amazing and life-altering. Here's our team right after the finish:

A few things I learned by participating in RTB 2010:

• New Hampshire is a really beautiful state
• It is possible to actually fall asleep while running. I am pretty certain that I did in fact fall asleep during my second run. I don't remember most of it. And if you look at my pace during that run, it is absolutely flat - I was on auto-pilot.
• Training does work. When I signed up for this crazy adventure back in January, I was running 3.5 miles fairly regularly. By the time the race came around, I was regularly doing 6 or 7 mile runs, and 4 miles seemed like a piece of cake. That being said, nothing can prepare you for the cumulative nature of this kind of event, and the lack of sleep. My last 4 mile leg was not even close to a piece of cake.
• Running in the middle of night, all alone on a quiet, desolate country road is eerie and cool all at the same time.
• Sharing this kind of experience makes for fast friendships.
• Beer goes straight to your head after running 15 miles on no sleep.
• Porta-potties are actually not that bad, especially if you need one and there are no other options.
• It is REALLY COLD in the middle of the night in September in New Hampshire. And adrenaline makes you even colder.
• This sort of event brings out every possible emotion. I was elated, I was depressed. I was proud, I was humbled. I was hot, I was freezing. I was exhausted, I was wired. I was confident, I was self-doubting. The highs were very high, the lows were incredibly low.
• I am competitive and I do like team sports. I have always thought of myself as someone who prefers individual activities (like running and yoga) and is kind of turned off by intense competition. But this race brought out a new side of me. Beforehand, I just wanted finish - that was my goal. But once the race started, and the competitive energy grew, finishing was not enough. Finishing FAST became the new goal. I wanted to be an active contributor for my team. And there is nothing like having a team cheer you on as you struggle through something like this - there is no way I could have done it solo.

A big thanks to my husband for encouraging me to sign up, supporting me through my training, making me egg and cheese sandwiches on Friday morning, driving me to the race start and picking me up at the finish, and parenting solo while I was out running. Thanks also to Katie, Davis, and Oliver for trying really really hard to get to the finish - sorry we were too fast, but it was great celebrating with you afterwards! Thanks to everyone else who sent "good luck" wishes before the race, supportive words during the race, and "congrats" afterwards. Thanks to my munchkins for being good boys for their daddy and inspiring me to run harder and faster - during some of my lowest points, when I needed to dig deep, picturing their little faces got me through. And thanks to my team and our captain for getting me involved in and carrying me through this amazing experience. What a blast!

One Big Family

I rustled up some pictures from our time at the lake with both families last week. Summer gave us one last gasp of HOT and humid weather before Fall swept in on Saturday. And we took advantage by spending lots of time in the lake. Here we are, off to the beach:

Papi swam the boys out to the raft, their first time ever. Ethan has been begging us to let him "swim" out there all summer, like the big kids do. When Mom and Dad wouldn't oblige, he turned his pleas to Papi instead.

We also spent a lot of time on the dock, partaking in our multi-annual custom of "donuts on the dock" on Thursday morning. Someone just could not get enough of the cantaloupe.

Sometimes, it was just too darn hot, even for the beach and dock. So we played cards and read stories on the porch.

And, in typical Magyar tradition, we feasted. A delicious dinner at the Waterford Inne, a fried haddock and garden veggie feast, the most humongous squash ever - all this needed to be burned off with a hike up Mt. Tir'Em.

Ethan made it all the way to the top and all the way back down with a lot of whining but no rides via back or shoulders! This is a short but mighty hike, so we were proud of our little mountain climber. He was pretty proud of himself too.

Adam walked about thirty feet before reaching up and saying "I hold you", which really means "Please hold me". But he sure enjoyed playing in the bear caves at the summit.

This is just a glimpse of the fun we had together - missing are shots of our canoe/kayak trip to Stone's Cove, a brief shuffleboard tournie, and Uncle Paul's entire visit (he overlapped with Noni and Papi for a day or so). I guess we'll just have to do it again next summer, and take some more pictures then. In the meantime, I look forward to the holidays, when we'll get this whole crew together again. Few things make me happier than a big dinner with both our families. How lucky I am that they all seem to enjoy it (and each other) too.

Camping for Dummies

Fall is suddenly in the air! We left for the lake last Wednesday, when it was still very much summer at a sweltering 90 degrees, and returned yesterday to the crisp air and clear blue skies of Maine September. More on our long weekend away later, once I rustle up some photos. In the meantime, some pics from our mini camping adventure last week! Inspired by, but not nearly as brave as the uber-adventurous Doyles, we decided to do a trial camping run in our backyard last Tuesday evening. This involved setting up our tent,

and building a campfire. And what camping trip would be complete without s'mores?! Here are the boys patiently awaiting their treats.

Master Firemaker and Marshmallow-Toaster

"Hmmmm....how can I get at that chocolate...that's really the yummiest part."

After s'mores, we crawled into our cozy tent for stories and kisses goodnight.

One of our little campers was not so happy being tucked into the tent, so he abandoned ship for his crib. The other, however, fell asleep easily all by himself out there.

We left Ethan out there until we were ready for bed, at which point we carried him inside. But I think he would have happily slept out there all night! Maybe, just maybe, we're ready for the real thing?

Squash, Snakes, Sunshine, and Six Years

We had a great weekend at home, the first in a long time. Noni and Papi came for dinner and a sleepover on Saturday night, we got some gardening / yardwork / errands done, and generally enjoyed the fabulous summer weather, which just doesn't quit!

Yesterday, we harvested a few winter squash from an enormous plant that began from a seed in our compost pile and has nearly taken over our garden. We're fairly sure that these are butternut squash, but since the plant came from a wayward seed, we'll just have to wait and see once we cook and eat them. The two fruits we picked yesterday weighed in at over 10 lbs each. We had our boys pose with these "big boys" so you can get an idea of their size. Some were happier than others to oblige.

(Notice the rain boots. Despite the cloudless sky, our little man wore rain boots most of the weekend. They were always on the wrong feet, and he was often sporting his trademark one-shoe-off-one-shoe-on look.)

And the proud farmer with his harvest. Admittedly, Ben's head is pretty small, but these squash are BIG!

Our tomatoes continue to thrive in this sunny weather, and we had to share our treats with Noni and Papi (and taste some of theirs) on Saturday evening.

The other big excitement on Saturday evening was spotting this on our driveway:

Boys will be boys and our two LOVED this snake. It took everything in their little beings not to grab hold of it and have a field day.

And finally, six years ago Saturday Ben and I were doing this:

Saturday's weather was so reminiscent of that hot, humid, sunny day six years ago when we stood in that tiny church, surrounded by everyone important in our lives, supporting us as we took that first step in creating our family. What a wonderful, wild six years it's been.

Rain, Rain, It's OK, You Can Stay Another Day

We're actually enjoying a rare rainy day today, getting stuff done and being cozy. And our grass and garden are happy to get a drink. Of course, little boys need at least a few minutes outside every single day, so we took a rainy walk through the woods this morning.

We had a great weekend at the lake, celebrating Bill and Lisa's wedding. It was a splendid affair, full of little touches to make any bridal magazine editor swoon. Just take a look at the bride's grand entrance... a flotilla of ten canoes coming across the lake, filled with twenty flower girls and their escorts.

Here comes the bride...
We forgot our camera - the above are stolen shots. Hopefully someone got some pictures of our little dancing kings boogying it up on the dance floor. Fun was had by all!

Reentry

Coming back from vacation is rough. And it seems the more relaxing the vacation, the harder the reentry. We are busy digging out from under piles of laundry, backlogged work, vegetables to be picked, and of course, pictures. Here are a few that capture the spirit of our wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating time at the lake together.

Two gardeners in the family = fresh veggies at every meal

How can you not feel relaxed and refreshed when this is the view you wake up to every morning?

Cousin love

Spending every day at the beach turned our timid swimmers into little fish! And speaking of fish...

...there were many attempts but none caught.

We spent lots of time in boats - kayaks (pronounced ki-YAKS by Ethan), canoes, paddleboats, and motorboats.

Our attempt at a family photo

The Brat Pack

Fun on the dock

Storytime

And in case you're wondering, the garden survived our absence (thanks to a mid-week return home by Farmer Ben). Our tomatoes have hit peak production and are coming faster than we can eat them. Anyone need some?

We held a tomato tasting during our vacation, complete with palate cleansers and scorecards. I am happy to report that one our tomatoes took home the blue ribbon.