Re-reading my last post, I realize I was sounding a little negative.  Since I posted all of that negativity, we’ve had some really great times with H where he was supremely well-behaved, followed by more frustrating times where I could just lock him in his bedroom and drive off into the sunset.  His behavior is variable, even within a given day.  All in all, it was a good summer—incredibly busy, but we did indeed meet all of our goals for Vermont’s shortest season of the year.

Remember back in spring when I detailed my aspirations for the summer?  Well, we did A-OK.  We planted our garden.  We did get sugar snap peas, but they were bitter and fibrous, so we aren’t planning on doing them again.  We planted broccoli, but our plants haven’t yielded any yet (and won’t, at this point).  We planted carrots, and they seem to be doing OK.  So we’ll be attempting those again next year.  I’ve always wanted to grow parsnips (I LOVE them), and they are a little odd, because you plant them in the fall and harvest them in the spring.  So that will be my next garden project.

Oh Holden, how correct you are to give that broccoli plant a doubtful look.  Stupid broccoli plant.

Our other goal for the summer was to enroll H in swimming lessons.  Enroll, we did!  Swim, H did not!  Oh well, there’s always next summer!

I also had a lofty exercise goal for the summer.  And although I only diligently kept track of my exercise for a little over a month, I found that I did the following:

• 2 hours of kayaking
• 8.5 miles of running
• 2 hours of yoga
• 4 miles of walking
• 26 miles of biking
• 10 miles of hiking

So yeah, I would say I reached my fitness goals!  The best part, was when R and I reached the summit of Camel’s Hump for my birthday.  The summit is just over 4,000 feet, so it was my first “over 4.”  We were sweaty and gross for sure:

One of the 5 mile hikes that we did was with Holden, when we were camping at Elmore State Park.  We hiked Mt. Elmore, and Holden did the entire 5 mile trek on his own two feet, except for the last half mile where his little legs just couldn’t carry him anymore.  Here’s my big boy at the summit:

I should also mention here that I climbed this same mountain with Holden when he was only 8 weeks old.  I’m still a little amazed that I was able to do it!

Holden also did a lot of kayaking with us this summer as well:

As for progress on the usability business, that was something I didn’t really work on.  I was supposed to have a meeting with a potential client, but it turns out they are going through hiring and salary freezes, and it just didn’t seem like the right time to work with them.  As for reading professional publications, I didn’t do so well with that.  Although I *did* read four books for pleasure, and I did end up writing and submitting article to a professional journal.  So there.

Potty training?  Don’t get me started.  He does well.  He doesn’t do well.  He does well.  Then he doesn’t.  If it weren’t for preschool, I’d say to hell with it and keep him in diapers.

Our 10-year wedding anniversary was spent in beautiful Rockland, Maine.  We planned to relax and we did.  It was great.

Holden’s birthday came and went, and as a belated present, we took him to Glen, NH to visit Storyland.  He was on his absolute BEST behavior—I mean, seriously, he was a model child for the whole weekend.  AND, we discovered he likes rollercoasters.

My parents visited in June, and we had an AWESOME time.  We took a cruise on Lake Champlain, attended an air show in Warren, VT, toured the Shelburne Museum, cooked out on the grill, and just relaxed.

House projects?  Did I do some.  Um, yes.  I need to upload some pictures of my progress.  Here’s what I did:

• Painted wood paneling in dining room a crisp white
• Painted above wood paneling a warm orange (it’s seriously my favorite color I’ve ever painted)
• I painted ALL of our kitchen cabinets white.  It took forever.  But it does look better.
• I painted Holden’s closet door white
• I refinished the bathroom vanity and medicine cabinet and replaced the old hardware with new
• I learned how to install ceramic tile, and fixed the areas around the kitchen and bathroom windows where our new windows were installed
• I got halfway into replacing our toilet, when I encountered a situation that required a plumber.  So, we were toiletless upstairs for a few days, but now we have a nice, shiny toilet, that actually flushes and doesn’t waste a ton of water.
• We hired a nice guy to replace all 19 of a single pane windows from 1973.  This was literally the only project where I could kick my feet up and relax.

So that was our summer.  We did other things too, but it’s just too much to fit in here!  Now looking at this, I can’t freaking believe how busy we were!  Holy cow!