Welcoming Fall

We celebrated the formal arrival of the fall season with the following (all in the space of 4 days):
 1. Power Outage (two) - have to install the transfer switch, $700 and buy new generator, $500
 2. Fallen tree limb precariously balancing over the power, cable and telephone wires - emergency tree removal, $600
 3. Bent front wheel - hit it on a pothole, had to be replaced, $350
 4. Leaky skylight - for now, I just threw some blue tarp over it.

For tonight and all day tomorrow, they promise "heavy, drenching rain, 2-4 inches and gusty wind". Joy.

Max Runs his First Race

Max's afterschool activity this quarter is cross-country and this Thursday was his first race - about 1.5 miles on the trails in Waveny Park. He finished in the middle of his middle-school field, which is great, especially provided that he is one of the youngest in the group.

Max Invents Rifle for "Lefties"

Max designed a rifle (well, a Lego rifle) with the bolt action that swings over the barrel to work for "lefties" like himself. Said, happen by accident - true invention.

Homebrew

Dad made his first clam chowder. See more in our "sister" blog here.

Facebook "Invite"

BASE jumps at Martha's Vineyard

The wind at the South Beach was too strong for any swimming or sunbathing, but Max and Leon braved the dunes (before got yelled at by the environmentally minded coastguard) and engaged in a little parkour competition.

See more (but less dramatic) parkour pictures here.

Last day at Martha's Vineyard

We really tried to make the last day of our stay at the island last, moving from town to town, visiting beaches, shopping and eating along the way.

See more pictures at the back of this updated album here.

After Earl

The preparation for the hurricane Earl were well organized (we were getting regular updates via the house phone), though the road closure curfew kept on changing, and we ended up wasting a good part of Friday couped up at the house watching old DVDs (the Dish lost signal about 8 hours before the storm arrived). The hurricane turned out to be not much more than lots of rain. The morning after, our motorboat had rainwater up to the brims (or whatever it is called on the boat), but the sandy soil was mostly dry and very much driveable. The wind was not that strong, though the waves on the pond were quite high, with enough white heads to make the boat ride to the beach challenging and scary at times. After some struggle, soaked to the bone we made it to the beach. There the ocean waves were high and unruly, coming seemingly from every direction at once. On the beach, we ran into Muneys who came for some wave watching.

Tomorrow morning, we are packing up and leaving this place. The new school year, the last for Leon, starts on Tuesday.

See more pictures here.

Before Earl

This year we are vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, in a beautiful secluded spot on Edgartown Great Pond here. The house is located at the end of a mile-long unpaved sandy driveway (which, turns out, is quite challenging to navigate on a roadbike). The house came with a fleet of kayaks, a motor boat and a sail boat (non-functioning). 20 minutes on a motor boat gets you to a deserted beach. At times, we were the only ones there for miles in each direction, but the waves on this ocean facing beach were rather harsh, so for swimming we drove to a state beach, protected from the ocean by a smaller island Chappaquiddick (the name is the source of non-stop amusement for Max).

So far, before the hurricane Earl arrival, the weather is great and the water is warm. Plenty of swimming, biking (Leon circled and criss-crossed the island and Dad managed to brave the sandy road once too), fishing (yes, fishing!) and crabbing (oh, yeah, the best crabs ever, including what we had in Maryland).

Leon's friend Matt is around this week too (their house is also on the pond, but the next cove over), so Leon went there by the boat and by the bike a couple of times.

See some selected pictures here.