Catching up with the Raymonds

I am so behind in blogging so this is going to be brief photo-dump style. From my phone, even better. Above photo is of Phoebe scootering through the park, enjoying the last few moments of summer.

The kids didn't start school until after Labor Day, so we enjoyed the heat and free time.

Since we were gone for so long, we visited our favorite local firefighters with treats and artwork.

We saw a play at the park. The kids say so long mostly because we had an enormous amount of popcorn.

We went raspberry picking. 

We went rock climbing.

Phoebe is quite the little climber.

Bruce is also pretty good.

Oliver isn't into it yet. He put the crash pad to good use though.

I ran the Cape Ann 25k race on Labor Day. It was a long hilly course, so I thought it would be good preparation for my hilly fall marathon. I went out hard and ran a faster pace than I should have, then tanked toward the end. The last two miles were painful, but I finished in second place. That week was my highest mileage week for marathon training, so instead of resting afterward I ran a few days where I split my mileage and ran twice a day to recover. I finished out the week with a hilly 22-miler. Ahhhh, marathon training is awesome. After the race, we tried to go to the beach. The parking lots were full and they were crowded, so we went apple picking instead. 

Labor Day was also Scott's birthday, so we celebrated with cheesecake (adorned with the handpicked raspberries from earlier) and presents.

The kids started school on September 8. Bruce was excited to see his friends. Phoebe was excited to be back in kindergarten with the same teachers (last year she was a junior kindergartener). Oliver was not as excited for the start of school. He sure loves his siblings.

Our neighborhood has an awesome block party every year. Phoebe looks forward to riding the same horses. So here she is. She waited all year for this, so she says.

Our 'hood also had a touch-a-truck event. Oliver was in heaven.

A week after the race and 22-miler, I ran a very low-key BYU alumni 5k race. I ran the 4.5 miles there, ran some more, won the 5k, and ran home. The photo above was the view that morning over the Charles River. I love running.

After my run was over, I took the kids to a town family day complete with clowns, rides, and food. 

And kites too!

This is Phoebe playing after school with her best friend. They have a "monkey bar school" where Phoebe teaches her friends some monkey bar skills. They are proud of their calluses.

We went to a Red Sox game because we got tickets through the school. 

The Red Sox aren't having their best year, so we stayed just long enough to have the Fenway Park experience. And then went home and to bed!

We went to the Children's Museum. Phoebe says we have to get the most out of our membership and I agree.

Scott and I went to the Top of the Hub restaurant. It's on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Tower. Someone gave us a gift certificate so we put it to good use! We must have looked cozy at one point because the waiter asked us if it was a special occasion. "A free night," I said. And an awesome babysitter, my neighbor Rebecca.

The view was spectacular. 

We went for a hike on Mount Watatic. 

Summit! (It is not that big.)

I organized another blood drive. This photo is from when I first arrived at the church and was waiting for the Red Cross. My intention was to take a picture later when things were bustling to get a before and after shot, but alas I was so busy I forgot about it later. My kids love blood drives because they get to sit at the snack table and eat junk food for several hours until Scott gets off work. Mmmmm.

Phoebe was sick for a few days and was really unhappy about missing school. We tried to re-enact the awesomeness of kindergarten at home. Props to her teachers. That is a hard job.

On October 3, I ran the New Hampshire Marathon! We drove up the night before and stayed with Ember Smith Stokes, one of my former cross country teammates at BYU. She has three adorable daughters and a century-old

house; it was so good to see her. I miss my team! I'll write more about the marathon soon; it deserves its own post. 

Camp Mom

 I have not been posting much this summer, but it isn't for lack of stuff to post about. It is the lack of time to blog at all. We have been hitting up the local splash parks, modeled above by a hyper Oliver. He took his first step on his "due date birthday" (July 16) at 14 months and just this week started letting go of the couches and walls to finally walk across whole rooms. And now he is everywhere.

 We went to a few outdoor movies at the parks. I think I love going to these as much as the kids. It's like going to a drive-in movie theater minus the cars.

 Bruce signed up for two weeks of summer camp this year. One week was a Lego-building-themed camp through his school; he saw lots of his friends there, played with lots of Legos, and visited the new Legoland nearby. The other week was a youth safety day camp run by the county sheriff. Bruce was a "cadet" for a week and did police training, fire drills, trust exercises, and the like. He got a deluxe tour of a fire station one day and Phoebe was terribly jealous. Pictured above is his graduation on the last day of camp.

 At graduation, we got to eat lunch with the cadets and check out a few emergency vehicles. Phoebe still prefers firetrucks, but this motorcycle is a close second.

 Phoebe learned how to meditate from a neighbor, so does it when she is super-bored - like when picking Bruce up from camp and waiting for him to go potty...

 The rest of the summer was Camp Mom. We did lots of fun stuff, only some of which is properly documented. We went to the Children's Museum...

 ...checked out the snakes...

 ...ate lunch outside and fished for crabs...

 ...and spent some time in the toddler play area. Oliver loved having a space to crawl around in and not get run over by bigger kids.

 Look at those giant teeth. We need to stop breastfeeding. For reals.

 Oliver is still a little behind developmentally, but he is making progress. He just started imitating sounds - "nonono" and "ahhhh-choo" are two favorites. He loves pointing at airplanes and is obsessed with all things that spin. At his 15-month well-baby check-up, he was 19.5 pounds. He is in the 8th percentile for weight, but the 78th percentile for height. I think that's a Raymond thing?

Finally, here is another we crossed off our bucket list: bouncy houses. Check!

 And another must-do on the list: the Arlington Ward campout! Phoebe followed Firefighter Brian around, we all hiked and hunted for bugs, and we got a lot more sleep this year than last.

 Speaking of firefighters, we have been seeing a lot of "our guys" this summer. This is what Phoebe calls our local crew at the firehouse. She makes them art work and they have been hanging it up in their kitchen. There is a "Phoebe corner" at the station.

 She gets the royal treatment.

 And I have to post this: this kid is so funny. Now that he is walking, nothing is safe. More childproofing is needed!

The summer bucket list

At the beginning of the summer, I told Bruce and Phoebe that this summer wouldn't be like the last: we weren't going to go to busy museums or late-night outdoor movies. We had to protect Oliver foremost, and our summer fun would have to come second to that. I told the kids to make a list of the things they really wanted to do this summer and we would do as many things as we could. Here is their list (with a few notes here and there):

1. Go to "Big Slide Park."
2. Eat at Q'doba.
3. Have some playdates.
4. Go to the zoo.
5. Go to Dunkin Donuts (sooo many times).
6. Paint.
7. Go to Wingaersheek Beach.
8. Pick blueberries.
9. Take the train to Maine.
10. Go raspberry picking.
11. Make a pinata (this was my favorite. Phoebe made and decorated a cupcake-shaped pinata, we filled it with candy, and invited a few kids over to break it one afternoon. We will have to do this every summer, and maybe next time I'll actually get pictures of it).
12. Go to an art museum.
13. See a movie in the theater (Monsters University!).
14. Go bowling.
15. Go to Grandma's house.
16. Go to the gym (we went to a bounce house gym and counted it).
17. Go to the "yellow splash park" (pictured below).
18. Make a lemonade stand (pictured above. Phoebe passed out about five glasses of lemonade before she got bored and moved on to other things).
19. Take cookies to firefighters. 
20. See an outdoor movie.

We did pretty well but did not get to #4, 9, 14, or 15. Maybe next summer?

When we weren't in the hospital...

 ...we did have some fun.

 Now that it's ridiculously hot, we head to the splash park every day. Phoebe insists on wearing her swimming cap "to keep the water out of [her] ears."

 Bruce did a week-long community soccer camp in a nearby park. While he played soccer...

 ...Phoebe hung out with her buddies from the neighborhood.

 She also made friends with some EMTs from the fire department. She invited them to her birthday party and was thrilled when she scraped her hand and they slapped a band-aid on it stat.

 We went bouldering and hiking last week.

 Scott used his crash pad that we got him for Father's Day.

We have been saying goodbye to lots of friends lately too. It's that time of year when half of our friends graduate and/or move on to bigger and better things. This is my Argentine sister, Alicia. She came here with her five kids and husband so he could attend a year-long program at Harvard. When I first met her kids, they didn't speak any English at all; I downloaded a translator app on my phone so we could chat. Now the kids are fluent and Alicia picked up more English than I did Spanish. I will miss them.