September 1st - A.K.A. - The Long Overdue Post

Warning:  This post is exceedingly long and contains a picture overload

because I have been a serious blog slacker this summer

 and now somehow think I can cram it all into one post :-)  

I woke up this morning, walked into the kitchen right past my calendar 

and lone behold it's September;

I knew it was coming, the signs are all around - 

preparing for back to school, leaves changing and falling, 40 degree mornings;

 but after a summer away from my blog I'd be remiss if I didn't at least 

bring you up to speed on what we've been doing all summer - 

which is apparently just about over according to my calendar!

Summer Recap

1.  The kids finished school right after my last post, which was Father's Day, ahem

2. My garden produced plenty of good stuff for eating, but not much for canning 

because 1/4 of it was torn up by all the excavation and

I did little to no weeding this summer  -

in part because I wasn't on the farm for much of July 

and in part because it's been a crazy busy last few weeks (keep reading)

3.  Our new addition is weather tight, 

has a roof, windows, garage doors, insulation and some drywall

we also have a new larger driveway and hope to have a second bathroom soon

if the stars are properly aligned...

4.  Nikki has competed in 5 horse shows this summer and has 12 ribbons

she is jumping her horse 2' 6" at the canter -she is fearless - I love that!

5.  I started riding and jumped my horse for the first time yesterday - 

I think I like jumping :-)

6.  My iMac died again, after a month without it, I got it fixed for the kids 

but bought myself a new one in protest of the old one - 

thank goodness for backup drives...

7.  Cole got his first concussion and has had acupuncture twice, keep reading to find out why

8.  We finally bought a big tractor to help out on the homestead 

(more on that in another post)

9.  Nikki is now a 4th grader and Cole a 6th grader - they're growing up too fast

10.  Our spring hens starting laying eggs and two of my best hens were 

eaten by a fox in broad daylight last Saturday - nasty fox!

11.  I didn't make dinner last Friday and instead we went out on the boat until sunset

it was a beautiful day - the calm before the storm 

12. We survived IRENE but the storm resulted in a small hillside collapse out front 

and then George and I spending two hours in the pouring rain stacking

 fieldstone to try to prevent further collapse

13.   Cole is ready to get back to swim team after doctor's orders to sit out for the last month+

14.  I read three novels this summer and spent more time knitting than usual

I have big plans for fall knitting and sewing 

I'm determined to make time for more of that

15.  My husband stayed home to deal with the build for a few weeks because

 I left at the beginning of July, with both kids, and flew to 

Charles De Gaulle Airport in France

then took another plane and landed here

 Then we boarded a bus driven by one crazy Italian bus driver named Vincenzo 

(seriously how do they learn to drive up all those switchbacks at such high speed - 

thank goodness darkness came after the 2nd switchback)

  and drove 4 hours out of Switzerland back into France 

through lots of tunnels like this

 with lovely views like this

what's not to love about the French and Swiss cows

and finally arrived nearly 24 hours after we left New Hampshire here

Les Deux Alpes, France

After we unloaded all the suitcases, backpacks and Skis, yes I said Skis

the kids were up the next day and off to training camp  at 6:30 am  -here

Summer Alpine Ski Racing Camp on the Glacier at  Les Deux Alpes

The glacier is at 3600 meters so the altitude takes some getting used to but the views made 

a bit of altitude sickness worth it (okay, the kids were fine it was just me :-)

Cole is in red and Nikki in Pink - 

they trained everyday for the few weeks we were in France from 

6:30am - 1pm, then had lunch and then an afternoon training activity

Skiing in July was so much fun - 

I really enjoyed the mild weather and the conditions were great on the glacier

The kids put in lots of hours training and had a great time they both

made so many new friends and can't wait to go again next year!

In the afternoons they had a different activity each day, zip lining, luge, mountain biking, hiking, paintball (one of Cole's favorites :-), soccer, swimming, archery, rock climbing and white water rafting.  Since we were there for most of the month of July I have too many pictures to share in one post but here are a few of the activity highlights.

Nikki went to this bakery down the street from our hotel nearly everyday with a few of the girls.  She realized that for under a Euro she could buy most anything, french bread, croissants, cookies - it was all really good

2 days before we left, unfortunately, Cole had a little ski accident, cracked his helmet, 

blacked out, scraped his face and got a nasty concussion - 

I was up skiing that day so after he came to and was examined by a 

Sports Medicine Doctor (one of the parents at camp - thank goodness for that)

we rode the Gondola down (about a 20 minute ride)

 This is him along with another boy (who also had a little crash that same day)

Here's the crack up the side of his helmet - 

if there ever was an ad for helmets saving kids lives, this could be it!

 Here he is the day before we left France - okay, don't judge, I know, Pizza, soda - 

A kid with a concussion that finally could remember what street we lived on after a day of forgetting things he should know get's to eat whatever he wants!

Cole and Nikki walking back to our hotel on the last day

Cole is mostly recovered now and has had great care down at Boston Children's Hospital - 

I must admit I haven't enjoyed the 2+ hour drive (each way) multiple times over the last month, but the care at the Sport's Medicine Clinic is excellent and makes the drive worth it! 

Boys and accidents seem to go hand in hand, despite it all he is excited to get back to skiing soon 

and is hoping to attend the fall training camp out West in November.  

For me the time away from the craziness of the build project was a wonderful refresher

The skiing, hiking, biking and all that was great too 

but truly I could just spend hours soaking up the scenery.  

 It had been 5 years since our last visit to France and Switzerland 

but I was happy to see not much had changed. 

It was lovely in every way.

Back with more on our build project and current stuff next week, 

Until then Wishing you a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

-Erin