First Communion

Marty's First Communion

Opening Procession

Marty joined the big guy club this weekend, receiving his first holy communion.  He was so excited and proud.  And he looked SO handsome, navy suit and white tie with gold cross.  My oh my. 

Nana was SO happy

Cyclo-bear

Cyclo-bear

Marty got an early birthday present, his first geared bike.  Here is his review.  Happy b-day bud bud.

Happy New Year 2012

Happy 2012 to all from Marty and Thom!

CycloCross is AWESOME

Today Marty and Thomas added to the list of things they have done that their parents have not. We brought them up to Gloucester Stage Fort Park for the Grand Prix of CycloCross. Thomas was in the second kids race, the 5-6 year olds. Marty was in the third race, 7-8 year olds. They did great, mad competitors, smiling all the way. Way to go boys! Allez!

Take Your Kid Mountain Biking Day

New England Mountain Bike Association hosted a kids ride in the Fells.
In the mud, a whoopee-dee-whoop, mad skills, dual slalom.
Check out Tom's crazy helmet head. And Marty in the deep mud.

Back to School

After the fastest summer on record, Marty and Thomas were geared up
and ready for back to school. Oh yeah, Thomas is off to Kindergarten.
He's in with the "big guys". And yes, Marty wore his spy hat.

Happy Birthday Marty, take 7

Today Martin turned 7 years old. Wowzers. He was up early, ready for some presents. The rest of us were pretty tired, but Tom gave Marty his present first (Pentago). An MP3 player loaded with the Star Wars theme, mechanical pencils, Lego Star Wars for the Wii, and a Lego City Space Shuttle built before school. It was a beautiful May day, warm and sunny. A card and a call from Nana at breakfast. I surprised him with a cake in his lunch box, and a sushi lunch (California rolls, with fake grass and soy sauce included). After school a few more pressies, including the Lego X-Wing! and an Obi Wan figure with battle action. And Kid Pix. For dinner, Marty's choice was to head in to the North End for some pizza, where we met up with Auntie Paula. Pizzaria Regina with the pitcher of root beer. Cafe Paradiso for gelato and a chocolate cannoli with a birthday candle. Wide smiles. A Lego Wampa cave. What a day!

Tales of Tales of the Night

It looks like a postcard for Halloween, but here are the boys going in to Tales of the Night at Drumlin Farm. We met up with Liam and Jennifer and Molly, our protective Mummy for the evening, and also Karin and Gabe and Haze and May and Mike. A few spooky stories, a super scary haunted hayride, the paths all beautifully lit, jack o'lanterns everywhere, owls in the barn, Miss Rina in the pig house, Paula and the Big Bad Wolf, spider cider and witch's brew, a big bright moon. A home run of a Halloween kick off.

Tennis Anyone?

Marty started tennis lessons today through the Recreation Department. Look at him all decked out with the sweat bands. He was the only one in class who brought his own racquet which we purchased over the weekend in Belmont. It's the lightest racquet I've ever held.

Marty enjoyed class very much. His hand-eye coordination is pretty good. It's too bad it's over on the other side of Pizzi farm from us, but not too bad to get to I guess.

A is for Apples

A is for Autumn. A is for apples. A great combination. After lunch out at the airport in Stow, we headed for Honey Pot to pick up some gorgeous Honey Gold. We had a terrific time in the hedge maze there, but the kids preferred the tunnels, which they crawled through a number of times. They let me know that it's much lass scary once you know you can get out!

We just had time to get some candy apples and then a little rain shower sent us on our way home. A great start to the season.

Bike Ride to Concord

Marty and I had an excellent ride this morning. We dropped Thomas off at school (no school for Marty due to Jewish New Year) and headed straight for the Battle Road bike path. We parked at the Visitor's Center on 2A and rode toward 128, to the end of the path at Fiske Hill. Neither of us wiped out this year, and there were a lot fewer leaves on the ground. We felt ambitious, so we drove past the car and all the way into Concord. It's some tricky riding, on and off the boardwalks there, but Marty loves riding on the dirt. We stopped for a quick snack at the cafe in town and then had to hurry back to the car. We even met up with an old Kestrel friend en route, but had to scurry off. We mixed it up with some roads and trail on the way back, trying to save time. Marty seemed unsure if he'd make it, going that fast, but he passed me on the last hill near the Paul Revere Capture sight, and we were back to pick up Thomas with time to spare. 12.33 miles in about 90 minutes. Marty did so great! Way to go little man!

First Day of First Grade

Here is Marty ready to go back to school. He's heading off to Mrs. Meuse's class, excited to be up on the second floor, like one of the big guys, lining up on the opposite side of the school from last year. A sunny warm day for school.

Tom's along for support. No more stroller going to school for him.

Summer Rides

Marty has been doing great on his bike this summer. First, he managed to ride all the way up the Fiske Ave hill and onto Villa Street. That is a tough climb. Yesterday, he rode all the way to Waltham Community Fields. Those are the hills over near Bentley. Steeve calculated 300 feet of climbing on the round trip. They also made a stop at the Waltham Farmer's market.

Way to go Marty. Allez!

Martin turns 6

Happy birthday Marty! Here he is with his Millennium Falcon cake and brand new Star Wars old school t-shirt. Yes, at 6 he was finally allowed to see Star Wars, and now life is all blasters and shooting and light sabers and fighting. As long as it's to save the galaxy and not just to torment your brother then I'm okay with it. Airplane fascination continues, and Lego brain as well.
The stats: Marty is 50.75" and 53.8 pounds ... so he grew over 3 inches in the last year, and as his doctor pointed out "kids just don't do that". His BMI is 14. That's awesome.


And here is a close-up of that Millennium Falcon cake. Yeah, I did that.

PMC kids ride 2010

Allez Marty! Allez Thom! The boys lined up for another year of riding for the cause, and they did great! A beautiful day, no rain this year, and this time in May and in the afternoon. Thom rode 3 whole laps (2.4 miles) and Marty repeated last year's epic 10 lap total (8 miles). Look at those skinny legs! Andy Schleck has nothing on this kid :)

Loose Tooth Comes Out

After a week and a half of wiggling, the loose tooth came out cleanly after dinner. Now Marty has a nice jack o'lantern smile. Way to go, big boy!

This is Playoff Hockey

Marty got to play some playoff hockey for the Chicago Blackhawks. Games on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Mostly playing defense, and learning so much.
Two two-minute shifts per period.
Send it up the boards!
Marty even got an assist, his first playoff point!
WYH did a great job with the tournament, too. The kids had a lot of fun and got to play a lot of hockey.

Future Olympian?

When Steeve got home the other night, Marty announced that we need a half pipe in the backyard. He's never had a lesson, he's just been watching the winter Olympics.

First Day of Kindergarten

Marty woke up at 5:30 am to tell me that he was "too excited to sleep!" Today is his first day of kindergarten. Do you like the shirt? He picked it out all by himself. And the lunchbox, too. The blue bag is a small present for his new teacher, Mrs. Levenson. We met her yesterday at the school's last summer playdate. It was a perfect morning for walking to school. Sunny and 60 degrees. We made great time and Marty was the first in line when the teachers came out. He knew right where to line up. His friend Gordon Pratt lined up right behind him, so he wasn't alone. Marty is psyched to know people in his class already and promised me this morning he would tell me all about his first day when he gets home this afternoon.

That's soon. I better go wake up Thomas ;)

In a related story, Tom is also very excited to go to school. So we snuck out to Drumlin Farm for a quick tractor ride. Tom starts on Tuesday. Check back for those pictures, too.

Martin turns 5

Another year has passed by so quickly. The stats: 47.25" and 49 lbs. I just keep shaking my head, he's just so grown up. Now entering a Lego fascination. He loves his new bike, with kickstand and red bell. He's even got a skateboard and Tony Hawk helmet. And baby, I love you through and through.