Needless to say Maya is easily distracted, and after I got all ready to go just – somewhere - with her, she was off doing something else.  We did manage to take a few MUCH smaller trips of course – the grocery store, the park (Maya’s favorite) and Kimball’s (Mama’s favorite!).  The weather was perfect and it was just a great weekend to be in the ‘home’ area.  Nothing got DONE around the house obviously, other than a mow of the lawn…we were just too tired to deal.  But there’s always time for that, this weekend was just about hanging out & seeing family – oh…and attending a wedding. 

Saturday night we left Maya with Grandma & Grandpa Barry and got out – just the 2 of us, to go to a great backyard wedding.  I haven’t really seen Andrew spend lots of time with his friends from high school, and oh what a sight it was.  They’re a great bunch of guys who know how to party.  Needless to say there was lots of dancing – right up my alley!

We had a BBQ with the Barry’s on Monday and Maya got to play with her cousin Sam.  Sam is just 9 months older than Maya…but you would think they were the same age given Maya’s height.  Sam is way ahead in many areas compared to Maya though (listening being the biggest of those – he’s a good listener!).  I’m hoping this is something that will rub off on Maya.  It was so fun to see them together, in the ball pit, the sandbox, running up & down the hill.  We look forward to many more fun times with Sam.

All in all it was a great weekend – I wish we could say we were rejuvenated & refreshed…but we’re not, just not more exhausted than we were before the weekend!

Should you find yourself travelling through or near Bennington for any reason stop in & say hi to the Carmody family – TJ, Patrick, RT and the newest member…Lindsey!  Welcome to the family – there’s no turning back now !  Congrats!  Love to you both!

We had a neat spot in the woods of Bartlett that Andrew had found last minute.  5 bedrooms, plenty of space for Maya to run and not too expensive.  Everyone had a bed…and Maya slept through the night…BRILLIANT!  The good sleep may have been a result of our adventure that day.  Immediately after arrival, we put Maya into the backpack for a 2.5 mile hike to the top of Mt. Crawford.  It was pretty steep in the middle, but we all made it & Maya summited her first White Mountain.  Of course keeping her from running of the cliff at the top was an interesting & not so fun challenge, but we didn’t stay up there long…and snacks will usually keep her sitting for a little while.

I even had a chance to carry Maya some of the way(Actually I got to carry her to the top).  Not without Andrew’s help up the big steps, of course, we wouldn’t have made it without him.  The reason I had to carry Maya was that she was assaulting her father with her little finger nails.  Sort of like when a jockey digs a horse, Maya was wreaking havoc on her father’s neck.   About 10 minutes of the hike went like this:

Andrew: No Maya, No
Maya: Scratch
Andrew:  Owww Maya, No
Maya: Scratch
Andrew:  Maya STOP
Maya: Scratch

You get the idea…pretty annoying for all involved.  It ended with a:

Laura: Just give her to me, why won’t you just let me try to see if I can carry her…thank you!

And finally we made it to the top…just before Maya figured out I had a neck hiding behind that pony tail.  Here’s a little glimpse into the experience!  Looking forward to many more hikes with the Papaya, hopefully with fewer Maya inflicted injuries.

The Beginning

She drew blood!

Everyone’s shocked by the switch!!

The Top!

Note the neck cover!

A little background, our first mattress was a queen-sized, but very old bed from when I first graduated from school, (aka cheap).  It didn’t take long before 2 people on the bed started to make it sag in the middle.  Every night getting in to bed I would say to Andrew – “Hey, you’re in the middle of ‘da bed”.  And he he was.  He would try to roll to the outside, but inevitably we would both end up sliding to the middle of our sloped bed.  It became a running joke.

Fast forward to our new house…and our nice new mattress.  While we no longer sliiiide down to the middle, Andrew still likes to tease me by climbing in first & taking up the middle of ‘da bed.  Resulting in me needing to claim my half.  The other night I was all comfy in bed – when Andrew arrived & told me ‘I’ was in the middle of the bed.  No way!  I was on my half.  This quickly resulted in some pushing and shoving and ultmately, 2 grown married adults were counting the headboard bars to determine exactly where the ‘middle’ was!  Yup, we counted.  We now know exactly where the middle of our bed is – thank goodness for that!   You would think a married couple wouldn’t need to know this, all that snuggling & cuddling…but we do, if you don’t know where the middle is, how do you know when you’re there!?  Of course that night both of us had to be as CLOSE to the middle as possible without going over…just to annoy eachother, but what fun would it be if you didn’t push the limit.

So, that’s just a little insight into some of the randomness that goes on in our house on a daily basis…I couldn’t make it up if I tried.

I will say, she did pretty well.  Not too much fussing…as long as we were paying attention to her.  But we made it.  We listened to lots of kids music, and I discovered one thing about our kids CD that is in the car…it holds Maya’s new favorite song – Ring Around the Rosie.  The song plays twice in a row, music interlude, two more times, music interlude, and two more times.  Every time we heard the musical interlude…Maya started making the ‘more’ sign.  And everytime the song really ended she did it again.  I think we listened to the song itself at least 18 times, on the way there.  Each time we got a gigantic smile and wiggle dancing from the back seat!

Once there we unloaded and headed out to the city.  Subway ride to Columbus Circle, met the fam (Grandma, Grandpa, Erin & Megan were all there), had some lunch and then on to Lincoln Center for a poetry slam.  A stop by Times Square to see the ‘Kissing’ statue, a visit to Toys R Us, walk to Bryant Park for snacks, continue on to Washington Square Park for a NY Pizza Dinner & then home for the night. Not a bad day in the city!  Top it off with an early Sunday Brunch & a walk to Wall Street & through Battery Park to see the Statue to Liberty & you pretty much have the perfect 1st trip to NYC (for a 1 yr old).  Maya was great the whole time!  She skipped naps, and slept okay, but with so much to see she had a GREAT time!  As you can see through some of the pictures.  I was nervous about the trip, but it turned out to be perfect!  Exhausting of course & I was pretty useless the next day, but it was worth it.  We topped off the trip with a stop to visit the Andreopoulos’ and their new little one Alex in Longmeadow.  It was a good stop considering Maya woke early from her nap yet again.  All in all NYC was a success…what’s next?!

Riding the subway

Dancing in Lincoln Center

The girls in Times Square!

1st NY Pizza in Washington Square Park…mmmm,mmmm

Almost home…we can make it!

We were recently the lucky recipients of a piano donation!  Aunt Jane and Uncle Kevin had a piano in their house that they no longer used.  Since Andrew enjoys playing, and they needed an excuse to revamp their living room, we graciously accepted their offer to donate it to us!

So the other day we waited for the movers to show up in the early afternoon, which inevitably ended up being early evening.  Can someone explain to me why it is so difficult for movers to be on time?  Or even give you a reasonable timeframe?  It just seems odd to me that after ‘years of business’, they still struggle with this.  But I digress.  These movers were actually quite lovely, they offered to call a half hour before, so at least we could go out & not feel like we would miss them.  I recommend Piano Movers Inc. if anyone needs to move a piano.

So now we have this great piano in our playroom.  At first Maya was confused why it was in her playroom rather than grandma & grandpa’s…but it wasn’t long before she was up on the bench banging away!  What can I say, the girl likes to make noise.  And of course we support her habit, with the help of friends.  Maya now has a life sized piano, a ‘Maya-sized’ but very real guitar, a drum with other assorted musical toys…and theirs always the pots & pans she has full access to.  With any luck she’ll get some of her dad’s musicality.  I just hope the neighbors don’t mind too much! 

Football season is here!  Which means that I am a single mother for at least 4 hours, if not many more, a week!  Why is it that when the Patriots are on, things that used to get done by my otherwise very helpful husband, suddenly don’t.  As an example – first preseason game last night – came downstairs after putting Maya to bed and the dishes were still in the sink.  Bummer!  Where was the hubby?  On the couch.  Glued to the game…ahhh, it’s the season.  At least it’s only a few hours a week.  Imagine if he was glued to the Red Sox or Celtics for every game?  I’d be in big trouble.  Not that he doesn’t watch both, but the Patriots are priority.

My only saving grace is that Maya also happens to love football!  Maybe it’s because it was always on when she was an infant, or maybe it’s all the cheering, but for some reason it keeps her attention longer than anything else on TV.  Tonight was no different.  She sat in her chair, staring at the TV…and then she started cheering, clapping, making little hand gestures, asking for more.  It was hilarious!  What can I say, she’s a true daddy’s girl.  With the 2 of them so into the Patriots…maybe I should go get a mani/pedi!  Hmm…when do they play again?

I have a love hate relationship with August.  I love that it’s still the lazy days of summer, but I hate that it means I have to fit everything in before the school year starts.  By everything, I mean both work and play.

At work we’re busy getting ready for the return of the students, making sure we have everything they need for a successful job search.  At home I’m busy making sure I’ve seen all my teaacher friends before they go back to school, taking Maya to swim as often as possible, and doing all the necessary summer stuff!

Just in the last few days we’ve been swimming in NH, to a pool party and to visit our friend Maria on the Cape…does this sound like ‘lazy’ days of summer?  Not so much lazy, but they have been fun.  As many of you know Maya doesn’t really do lazy – so to her August is great!  Here’s some proof:

(Maya trying her first lemon on the Cape…mmm…mmm!)

As I said, I have a love hate relationship with August.  It marks the end of the summer, but this year we’re going yo try to squeeze every little bit of fun out of it!  I love summer!

Just get this girl a fruit hat & she’s ready to do a banana commercial!  What?  Your clothes don’t look like this on a random Thursday?  Well they should!