Technical Difficulties: Please Stand By.

We left our camera in Bethesda after Thanksgiving, and on it were Halloween photos and G-d knows what else. So here's one Halloween photo for now.

We won't get the camera back, most likely, until after the Monkey's sister arrives next month, so any posts that go up between now and then will be very text-heavy. Which is fine, because Monkey likes to say funny and clever things. For example: He was having trouble napping on our last day in Bethesda, and so I went in after he'd been making noise in his crib for 30 minutes. I said to him, "Let's read another book, and then go to sleep." And he said back to me, "Mommy, I want to play."

Minor edit: I guess I should have read my previous posts before putting this up. Didn't remember that I had already posted this photo!

It's been a busy summer.

We had a major computer malfunction just before our August vacation, and sadly, lost about a months' worth of photos. It took quite a bit of time to get the computer back up to snuff, and I'm still not sure it's really 100%. But we bought an external hard drive, finally, and so now we have plenty of storage space for everything.

Part of what we lost were some fun photos from our 4th of July trip to New Jersey, but I do have these (admittedly low-res) photos from my camera phone, including Monkey's first "amusement park" ride, from a fair at the park near Grandma's beach house.




Monkey wasn't too sure about the ride at first, and the operator was about to stop it to take him off because he was crying, but I got him settled down, and by the time it was over, he had enjoyed it so much he didn't want to get off, and cried again.

When we got back from vacation and finally got the computer up again, it was time to start watching political conventions. Matt and I stayed up WAY too late during both the Democratic and Republican conventions, cheering and jeering.

In case you needed a hint about which convention got the cheers and which convention got the jeers, check out these Monkey videos:



(Okay, "Go Bills" isn't terribly relevant to the election, but it's awfully funny!)

I also decided that it was time to make my wedding album. (Almost three years later, with kid #1 approaching two years old, and kid #2 on the way, I'd say it was more than time!) So I've been spending a lot of time on that. In fact, once the conventions were over, I started staying up late to finish the book. But it is nearly done, and anyone who wants a look-see can e-mail me and I'll share the Shutterfly link.

We did, however, take some time to visit with Nana over Labor Day weekend, and the highlight of the weekend was our trip to Edaville USA, for a "Day Out with Thomas." Monkey loved the kiddie rides, the ride on the train (according to him, we rode on Clarabel), and spending time with Nana and his aunts. Check it out!

Martha's Vineyard Monkey

When the dust settled from our synagogue’s silent auction and a weekend on Martha’s Vineyard was still up for grabs, we jumped at the chance to snap it up. The weekend in question was June 6-8, so last week, we headed out for a long weekend of exploring a new island with the Monkey.

We stayed in Aquinnah, the town formerly known as Gay Head, and perhaps the most isolated of the several towns on the island. It was a very different experience from our “usual” of Block Island, where the (one and only) town was a twenty-minute drive from our house. But it was definitely fun to experience a new place.

Friday and Saturday were on the cold side, but we did some exploring. Monkey enjoyed looking at the lighthouse in Aquinnah (“Red light!” “White light!” “Red light!” “White light!”) and digging in the sand. However, he does not like having sand on his hands or feet, making for a unique challenge. He did his digging primarily from the safety of the beach blanket.

Here’s where the story has an interesting twist. On Saturday evening, we decided to drive into the town of Oak Bluffs to grab some dinner. We walked along the water, and then turned into the large green and walked past the gazebo back toward the town.

A minute after passing a group of people near the gazebo, we heard someone shouting “Matt Fried! MATT FRIED!” Turns out we had just walked past Rob, Matthew, and Jess Goldfarb, brothers who Matt knew from his summers on the Connecticut shore. Mind you, these are people he hasn’t seen in close to twenty years, but in their words, he looked “just like Matt Fried. Only grown-up.” We had dinner with them and the others with them, and learned that all three live on Martha’s Vineyard now, and Matthew and Rob run a farm in Edgartown called The FARM Institute, which offers community-supported agriculture and programs for kids ages 2 and up.

Now for the real treat: on Sunday, we met Rob and his wife, Magda, at the farm, and got a tour! [Bad Mommy and Daddy did not think to bring the camera...oops!] We got to see chickens and baby chicks, piglets and a great big momma pig, a cow and her four-day-old calf (already running around, of course), and lots of other animals. Our Monkey most enjoyed chasing around the guinea fowl, listening to the ducks quacking, and watching the bunny hop, hop, hop away from him. Oh yeah, and sitting on the tractors was a big hit, too – he’s still talking about it! It was so fun to reconnect with old friends, and to hear about the really amazing work that they do. Check out their website and see for yourself!