Summer Open Triathlon

Well, I've got the first triathlon under the season under my belt and it went really well. The Summer Open is a sprint with a 750 meter swim, 12 mile bike and 5k run. I was ridiculously nervous about the race all week. Mostly about the water, I heard it was cold and hadn't been in open water since last September. I kept having flashbacks to my first open swim last year, where I got about 100 meters out and hyperventilated and almost didn't even do the workout.

But the swim went remarkably well. It was cold, but not unbearably cold. I stayed very conservative and even though I didn't swim as fast as I can, I had no moments of panic and came out of the water feeling great:



Here's me in the left in the wetsuit running into transition 1. Right before I ran past my bike, twice. I think I confused myself with changing my towel, I was looking for purple and should have been looking for blue:



And coming back on the bike. I rocked on the bike, and most of it has to be the new bike with aerobars. My average speed went up 3 miles per hour from last race. This was also a coed race, and I had fun picking off a lot of guys out on the course:



Starting off on the run. I did a bit better than expected, especially since my last timed run was the Panicking Poultry last year that did NOT go well:



And sprinting for the finish:



Woot!



My final time was 1:22, which was 2 minutes faster than the same course last year (which also was a mis-measured shorter course.) And I also beat 44/164 guys. Or as Jeremy said, I girled them.

May 14, 2009

Wow, I really haven't updated in a while, have I?

Lots has happened in the last two weeks. Alex finally lost his first tooth. He was lucky enough to pull it at school, resulting in a tooth necklace and a special trip to the health room.



And Mother's day was Sunday. We had our traditional Mexican fiesta at Becky's new house. It was too much fun:



And on mother's day we took some new portraits for mom:





And some random bullets:

- Jeremy is messing around with bikes, leaving the bike he normally takes Adam to school on without brakes or shifters. So the past two days Adam has ridden his own bike to school and he thinks he's the bomb. He really is too cute riding his little 12" bike with his backpack.

- Alex's reading has been so neat to watch this year. He read Oh Say Can You Say last night, the whole thing.

- Ariel had another play date with Peyton today. They went to the dinosaur park. I went for a run.

- My first triathlon is Sunday, I'm starting to stress. It's only a sprint, but it is in open water, of dubious temperature. I do have a wet suit, but there's nothing you can do for a the face. At least the water experience should be over in 15 minutes or less.

And for other pictures and random updates, it's probably best to check facebook. Because it's just so much easier to do stuff over there.

April 29 - May 1

Funny how when one goes on vacation, one comes home to more than one left. Or something. Either way, I've been just too busy to blog this week, after coming home back from Maryland (more on that in a different post).

Wednesday - Ariel had school. I don't believe anything more exciting happened. Oh wait, I put canned pears in her lunch because as a good, responsible mother/babysitter I try to have at least one piece of produce in lunches. Even if it's just for show. And low and behold, she ate the pears. I should give her more credit.

Thursday - Ariel had her special drop off play date with Peyton (aka, my free babysitting scam). I got in a nice run (it really was hard to run at sea level with humidity, this run was fine!) and a quick grocery store trip. I picked up Ariel after I picked up Adam. They played a bit after lunch before Ariel took her nap.

Friday - I got Ariel a make up day for missing school on Monday. Adam had Kindergarten preview at 10:30 and I figured it would be more pleasant for everyone if Ariel was also not attending. And I was probably right, the preview had separate rooms for the kids and parents. I, as a parent, was pretty bored being that I'm a near expert on kindergarten. Except I did learn that I need to actually register Mr. Adam, I'll get on that. Soon. I crammed in a chiropractor appointment in before picking up Ariel, who had a so-so day at school (and did not eat her decorative strawberries). Her cough seems to have returned... or is it the swine flu. Is it???

April 22, 2009

Today was quite the day, and I think you'll thank me for no pictures. Our adventures actually started last night, when on the way to bed I discovered Dexter puked all over the family room. Discovered by stepping in it and tracking it across the carpet. Jeremy and I did a quick clean up last night, which apparently was not good enough. By this morning, our ant colony had found the mother spot and was chowing down. Barf. So it addition to my regular morning chores of making breakfast and packing lunches, I also got to clean the carpet. And another additional chore - giving Ariel a bath. Her hair was so bad that we had to spend an addition 5 minutes in the tub combing it with conditioner and a wide toothed comb. But she did not curse me today. And Becky, I think the messy ponytail is good for one day, max.

So Ariel went to school and presumably had a good time. I enjoyed my child free time with yet another private lesson. We started out with swimming and I had the honor of swimming in the lane next to Olympian Matt Reed. He had back muscles where I didn't know muscles existed. But I couldn't ogle too long, my coach was busy making me work. We even had some time after wards to check in with my run. And that ate up my 2 hours and then it was time to get Adam.

My real workout today was supposed to be a bike ride so I packed Adam lunch again and hitched up the trailer. It was a GORGEOUS day here in Boulder and I'm glad I still went for a ride.

When Ariel got home, she was pretty wiped and went down for a nap without a peep. I think I'm finally getting the pack-n-play out of the room (did I mention that she can put herself in and out of it for nap?) so she'll nap in Adam's bed. It's not like Adam uses it anyway, he's been sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag for near 20 months now. And then we'll have room for a new bookcase for the kid's books.

And I've been coughing ever since last night's track workout. I was blaming it on exercise induced asthma, but now that it's 26 hours later, I may have to concede that I have caught the plague. Damn you plague!

April 20, 2009

So I did manage to survive the crazy weather here this weekend. It rained here most of Saturday, which managed to pack down and help melt the 10" of snow we got Friday. I did my workouts at Flatirons Athletic Club, which is only worth mentioning because both my swim and run went well, but not really that well. In my swim, I was timing my 50 yard sets and thinking I was really rocking. I had knocked off about 5 seconds and was swimming at my goal time. I was feeling really cool until I got out of the pool and noticed the sign posted that the pool was actually only 23 yards long. Seriously? Why would you build a pool 2 yards short of standard? And when I did the math (because I'm geeky like that) it turned out that I was swimming on the pace I always do.

And THEN, it happened again. I ran on the indoor track and was feeling pretty good again, until I read the sign that said it was 8 *1/2* laps per mile. Seems to me they could have build the club sightly bigger and ended up with a pool AND a track that made sense. Ah well, it was a free workout because of a coupon so I shouldn't complain too much. It's just that my ego is bruised.

And then Sunday I did my bike ride and run in the afternoon and the snow was mostly off the dry streets and it was about 65 degs. I did my run in shorts and a tank top. Look back at the picture of my street from Friday, and then here it is 48 hours later:



And onto Monday, my boring day of chores. I dropped Ariel off at school, then got to go to the chiropractor's office. Then I came home and washed the dining room floor since our annual ant invasion is in full force. Next it was time to pick up Adam and then on to the grocery store, where I did manage to buy 4 dinners AND toilet paper. We picked up Ariel, and then while she napped I folded laundry and cleaned both bathrooms. FUN TIMES. And now I'm back in the position that if I have a free moment I should work on cleaning the boys' but I have a feeling I'll just procrastinate like usual.

April 16, 17, 2009

Thursday was pretty non-eventful around here. I did my swim workout in the morning, then Ariel and I did some errands. I went to the bird store and got a new bird feeder - it was pricey but it's squirrel and grackle proof. It should pay for itself in seed savings, in, uh, about 5 years.



Then we went to Pearl to pick up my new glasses. My new glasses are SO different that no one noticed them at all. And, oh yeah, did I mention we DO have vision insurance, but we went out of network so now we have to fill out a bunch of dumb paperwork. Oops.

Ariel and Adam played "Turn the living couch into a giant mess" in the afternoon and then Ariel took a long nap. Grandpa came to pick her up.

And Friday - just to prove my hardcore-ness I ran 3 miles in before Jeremy left for work. It was just starting to snow and hardly slippery at all. But it was wet. Then Ariel and I went to my chiropractor appointment. They have a nice little kid area and the office manage played with Ariel during my adjustment, it was almost like free babysitting.

It got more serious about snowing in the afternoon. Here's my poor snow crab tree - not sure if it will get to bloom this year:



Looking down my street:



My house:



As soon as Alex got home, I sent the boys outside:



They built a snowman:





Start them young....



Alex made a pretty good go at it, this has got to be the heaviest snow I've ever shoveled.

April 15, 2009

As today is the second to last day of passover, there was not preschool for Ariel. And no, I have no idea what the significance of the second to last day of passover is, but there you go. Ellen did go sing and the synagogue this morning, so there's something to it.

Anyway, since Ariel didn't have school, Dad very very kindly watched her this morning so I could go on a bike ride. First I rode to the chiropractor's office for an adjustment (and learned that he's on a sorta rival bike team that came from a split in our team) and then I rode the Haystack Mountain time trial bike course. If it doesn't snow on Friday, I'm going to do my first ever official bike race on Saturday. I felt good about the ride today, I went hard but not race hard and finished with a decent time for early spring/not in shape yet riding.

When I got back at 10:40, Ariel was here waiting for me. We picked up Adam from school, then went to the grocery store. Ariel and Adam played until about 1:45 when Ariel went down for her nap.

And here are some pictures for you. It took a while, but the goldfinches finally found our feeder. Well, they found it a few months ago, but I put it up way back in September.



You can tell the yellow male on the left is molting into his bright yellow feathers for the summer:



And in kid news, Adam came home from his Montessori school yesterday and announced, "I can tie shoes now." And he sat down and did it. I'm VERY impressed and VERY happy, as I recall it being a frustrating process to teach Alex. And here Adam is:

April 13, 2008

Egads, I guess I'd better blog about today before I forget it all. It was a LONG day. Ariel went to school, then I had my first chiropractic adjustment. Let me tell you, this chiropractor stuff is weird. The doctor did muscle testing, again confirming that my half (mostly the back half) of my right leg is weak (and yay, pretty much the same assessment as the physical therapist). Then he did the adjustment (really weird, and crackly) and then the muscles had strength. He's not sure how long the adjustment will last, and I have other things that need help too so I'll have lots of appointments. Anyway, between this and working on my running form, I'm actually hopeful I can make it through this season without getting injured again. And maybe, maybe, work on getting faster.

Next, I picked up Adam, the retrieved Ariel. We came home and Ariel had some mac & cheese and then went down for a nap. She was acting very tired and I was very bummed to have to wake her to go to Alex's 3:15 well check doctor's appointment (remember the whole booster shot fiasco from last week?) And no, she was not happy to be woken. And then when we got to the doctor's, they said our appointment was at 2:30. Which makes NO sense, I was pretty emphatic that Alex's school was not over until 2:40 and I could maybe understand if I had written 3:30 down. Anyway, I kinda threw a fit and short story is, the doctor did not see him and we don't need to rebook for another day.

When we got home, the kids wanted to play in the backyard but Alex was telling Adam and Ariel that they weren't allowed. I got that straightened out, then the next thing I heard, Alex was screaming like he got his eye poked out by one of the 6' long sticks they play with. No. Turns out Adam was threatening to throw a trowel at Alex and Alex was hysterical. Both boys ended up in their rooms and Alex cried until it was time to go to swimming. He even threatened to not go swimming, but I told him that I pay $18 for every class, so he could go, or pay me $18. And that put an end to his bluff.

Anyway, it was a very screamy afternoon and it kinda stressed me out. But except for Ariel having an abbrieviated nap, I think she had a pretty good day. Except, she does not like matzah.

April 9, 2009

Another challenging day in a Day in the Life of Ariel's caretaker. After my morning swim workout, I drove Ariel to Peyton's house for a play date. Peyton's nanny assured me I didn't need to stick around, so I went for a run. I tried to put my running lesson to good use, but it was hard. Maybe because this was the third day of running, and Tuesday hill workout was pretty hard. Or maybe because I wasn't magically cured yet. I did bring my mile time down, but I also felt like I was working harder than I usually do. I ran on the South Boulder Trail and ran into cows. Literally. At least there weren't any mauradering cows.



After my run, I still had lots of time so I made it to the grocery store. The passover section was completely picked over so I only got two boxes of matzah and then I had to get matzah meal in the regular kosher section and it was NOT kosher-for-passover. Don't tell the kids. And, I now I have more toliet paper than the two rolls that were already being used. Phew.

I picked up Adam, then we drove back to Superior for Ariel. She had a fabulous time playing dress up. It was a bit akward at the end when Peyton's mom, who works from home, stepped out to say hi. "Uh, hi Peyton's mom, thanks for picking up the 3 hour babysitting tab for me?" But she seemed cool. I guess it's nice to have play dates for your daughter arrainged by your nanny.

Adam and Ariel played for a bit and then Ariel went down for a nap after 2:00. I'm not sure she ever really slept, but she was quiet.

April 8, 2009

Holy busy day here. Ariel had school, and while she was in school I had a private lesson with a triathlon coach. Last week I met with this coach and worked on my swimming. While we were working on that, we got to talking about running, and how frustrated I am. So we met today to work on that. She seems to think I have a fair amount wrong with my form, and when we get that fixed, I will fix the stuff I was working on in physical therapy (and now chiropractory - not using the right muscles and muscle imbalences) and also will be faster. Sounds good to me, if I can get get it to stick. The gist of it is, the more you lean correctly, the more gravity does. But if you have been running wrong your whole life, then it's hard to retrain muscles. And your brain, brains are proving very hard to retrain.

My running lesson took all my morning, so after I picked up Adam I packed him a lunch and put him in the trailer and rode around on the bike paths for 80 minutes. He did fine while he was eating, but I got to hear a lot about how boring it was to just sit there for so long. Poor, poor guy, such hard work.

We got back in time for Ellen to drop off Ariel (she had another accident at school, Ellen said it was "deliberate.") I tried Ariel on her second lunch but she wasn't hungry so she went right down for a nap.

I woke Ariel up at 4:30 to go to our Passover Seder. Ariel was not happy about being awake and cried most of the car ride. Our crazy seder proceeded normally, with the exception that Jeremy didn't come because his of his track bike class.

And onto pictures (uploaded so fast, it's practically in real time).

Dad wanted a picture of all 4 kids:



The seder plate:



Ariel was in quite the mood:



The seder table:



Drops of wine for each plague:



After dinner, when the crazies started:



Grannie Shirley and Alex:



"If you don't stop that running around, someone is going to get hurt!"



Laura and Hannah:

April 6, 2009

Apparently there has been some grumbling about whether or not I was ever going to update this blog again. Frankly, I didn't know that anyone cared. In fact, if you do care, you should comment so I know and then I'll put *extra* effort into blogging.

I will blog about today, then try and go back and catch up a little on the last two weeks. Let's see, since moving, Ariel has been getting to our house a bit later, around 7:30. She had oatmeal for breakfast, then she took a bath because there was no way I could comb her hair dry. As it was, she still had a gigantic knot and spent the last 5 minutes yelling at me, "You are TRYING to hurt me."

I dropped Ariel off at school and then had a morning of super fun errands. I went to Pearl Vision to get new glasses and learned they won't just give you new glasses without a new prescription, ie a optometry appointment. So I picked out new frames and had an appointment for a noon eye check. Next I ran home and had a message from Alex's doctor saying there was a problem with today's appointment... backtracking... on Friday he came home from school notifying us he was one booster shot short and he had to get one by Monday. I made an appointment for Monday but then the doctor said they wouldn't give a booster without a well check. Well, he had a well check with Dr. Roy last November (Them: well, why don't you get the booster from him? Me: Uh, he's out of my network and I don't want to pay $100). So then we tried to set up a well check and they only had morning appointments. ARGH. Finally they agreed to give him the booster today and see him next Monday afternoon for a well check.

Next, I got a hair cut. Just a stacked bob, and my bangs are only 1" from being back to hair. No more bangs. Ever!

And by that time it was time to pick up Adam. I grabbed him a bagel lunch, then he came with me to the eye doctor's. I had my exam (no prescription change) and then had to pay for my glasses. Now, this is the first year we haven't had vision insurance and I have never had to pay for glasses before. Holy. Cow. Between the exam and glasses, I paid over $500. Makes Jeremy's LASIK seem down right reasonable.

And then, it was time to pick up Ariel. When we got to her school, all the kids were doing a sedar. It looked pretty serious.

And on the way home, we got the car washed and I tried to pick up Alex's winter coat, which is getting the zipper fixed AGAIN (but at least this time, it's for free). Yeah, it broke while skiing. The tailor still hadn't fixed it, he had some sort of problem he's going to sort out in the next few days. And then we got to go home for a bit. About 20 minutes.

After picking up Alex and having a quick snack (all the kids had eggs again) we went to Alex's doctor's appointment. He got his booster (and may have screamed like a little girl) and then we all went out for ice cream.

Ariel chose a chocolate cone:



And we got home at 4:20 and then Becky came at 4:30. That was my day and of all that stuff I did, it was only a tiny fraction of my major to-do list that is beginning to stress me out.

Recap: March 30 - April 3

This was not the best week, I started getting sick on Spring Break, but felt pretty bad by Monday. Tuesday was worse and Wednesday was downright horrible. Ariel didn't get the most hands on care ever, but neither did my own kids.

Monday - Ariel went to school. Had an accident. And caused a minor stirring by saying, "Damn it." I wasn't sure what was the proper response to her teacher, "I've heard her say shit too?"

Wednesday - I was feeling so crappy that I begged Jeremy to take Ariel to school (which he did, so please subtract $5 from my paycheck for the early fee). And then I went back to bed. Ellen picked up Ariel from school and then Ariel went down for a nap so I really didn't see much of her that day. Which is good because for having a cold with no fever, I felt like complete crap.

Thursday - We went to Lilianna's for a playdate.

Friday - Jeremy had LASIK. Before his appointment I bribed him to watch Ariel while I took a bike ride. Then we drove him to his appointment (then went to the store and then picked up Adam), then came and picked him up 2 hours later. The surgery went well, he can see but his eyes are still a bit irritated 4 days later.

And our new thing this week - Adam was telling me about a new work at his school. They get a hard boiled egg, peel it, then use an egg slicer. They can either eat the egg or serve it to their classmates. I had no idea he would eat hard boiled eggs (the kids haven't like them in the past, or at least wouldn't eat the yolk). Since Adam's primary caloric intake is cereal, mac & cheese, cheddar bunnies or other simple starches, I jumped on the chance to get him to eat protein. So I got our own egg cutter out, boiled a bunch of eggs and showed Adam where there were. And he went nuts. And Alex went nuts. And even Ariel had to get in on it. For the first week, Adam and Alex were having about 3 eggs a day, and I have no idea how many Adam is really eating at school. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but it's nice to time this with Easter.

Spring Break

We had an awesome Spring Break in Breckenridge. We all went up Sunday night after Hannah's birthday party and were set to ski on Monday. The first day, we all went out, me, Jeremy, Grammie, Adam and Alex. Alex was a bit hesitant because on the last day of ski school Jeremy took him on one last run and Alex fell on his face. But Alex warmed up after a few runs. And Adam showed us that he was pretty solid on greens so we took him on a blue at the end and he was fine.

On Tuesday, Jeremy and I got to go by ourselves in the morning and then took the boys out in the afternoon. They had a great time on Peak 7, Adam racked up more blue runs. Then Jeremy had to go back home to go to work :(

On Thursday (remember that day it snowed two feet in Boulder?) I went out by myself and had one of the best days ever. There was about 8" of powder and the snow kept falling. I started at 8:30 and didn't quit until 3:00. I had one run up in Imperial Bowl where it was so cloudy and snowy that I couldn't tell which was was up, it was very surreal. So I stayed lower in the trees after that. And at the end of the day, I completed my long time goal of skiing from the top of Imperial Chair (notice I didn't say the top of Peak 8, the 500 ft hike was closed) all the way into town. That's one long run!

And on Friday, Grammie and I took the boys out again. We went to Peak 7. Adam was getting pretty solid on the blues, but Alex is still much faster so it's good to have two adults. I think Alex had to wait about 5 minutes for Adam at the bottom of each run. And at the end of the day, we took Grammie over to the little half pipe so she and Adam could check it out.



The sun finally came out (the lift on Peak 7):



Adam and I on the lift:



Adam and Alex on the gondola:



We had been trading cars back and forth to minimize driving (trust me - complicated and boring) but since Ellen wasn't able to come up due to the snow, Jeremy came back up Friday night and we went to Beaver Creek on Saturday. We had a good day until Jeremy did something to his ankle and had trouble turning. So we quit earlier than I would have liked, but still had one awesome week of skiing (and snowboarding):

Hannah's 2nd Birthday

Little Miss Hannah had her second birthday party at Grandma's house:



A Mickey Mouse cake by Grandma:



And lots of doll presents!



Ariel noticed she was not the center of attention:

March 13, 2009

Ariel and I had a very quiet morning. We started out with a spa day for Ariel. She got a bath, her hair done and pink on her toes and fingers:



Then I spent the morning cleaning the house and Ariel spent the morning pulling out toys all over the house. It was a little two steps forward and one step back but it kept her amused.

Ariel and Adam did not play as well as yesterday when Adam got home from school, resulting in Ariel going down for an early nap. And an early pick up and the boys with Grammie this weekend meant that I got to enjoy an afternoon bike ride. The temperature was almost 50!

March 12, 2009

I'm still doing swim practice on Thursday mornings. Today was the last practice of the first 8 week session of the year and we finished up with a 1500 yard time trial. And I'm very pleased with my results, I've been working pretty hard on my swimming since October and I'm seeing some nice improvements. That discipline shouldn't be a problem in my triathlons, running is still a whole other game though.

After I got home and ate my second breakfast and showered, Ariel and I went to Lilianna's house. The girls played fine together, Lilianna showed Ariel how to play broom ball (uh, hit a plastic ball with a broom. again.).

Ariel and Adam played an extremely elaborate game when we got home from picking up Adam. At first Adam wanted to play Indiana Jones and told Ariel she could be Marion since Marion is a girl. Then Ariel wanted to play with Baby so they became Mommy and Daddy. Adam kept insisting that Ariel feed Baby (Baby never got a name, even though at some point Adam decided his name was John and Ariel was Mrs) with the nummie in her belly. Adam also insisted Ariel had babies in her belly, anywhere from 3 to 100. Then they played The Darkest Night which involved tucking everyone into bed and wishing for candy on falling stars.




The game kept morphing, at some point Adam decided he was not the Daddy but rather Daddy's brother, aka Baby's Uncle and he was just visiting. I think that was the most surprising of all, as most of you know Jeremy does not have a brother to be an uncle in that way. Then they found Adam's piggy bank and had several money related games and kept saying they were rich (again, not something I thought we talked about around here). And oh yeah, Adam kept interjecting that he was born in India and used to speak Indian but he doesn't anymore. Ariel didn't contribute much to the flow of the game (there was one small bout of "oh, there's a monster"), but she was happy to go along for the ride. It may have been the longest they have played together without any altercations.

And I was also wondering why Ariel has been declaring for the past two days that Hannah is her sister?

March 11, 2009

Well, Ariel had a pretty boring day at school and taking a nap, so I'll have to find other ways to entertain you. First off, I took a bike ride this morning, even though it was 22 degrees when I left. But I put on half my ski gear and was fine. My left hand got a bit cold. And it was 27 degrees when I got home.

Jeremy has been taking classes at the new velodrome and wanted us to come by and watch him ride. It's something, the track is 45 degrees and we saw another guy wipe out. Jeremy's having a lot of fun with this, I don't think it's something I'm interesting in at the moment.

March 9, 2009

"Everybody wins!"

So said Ariel today when she informed me that her Mommy told her she was going to preschool today. Yes indeed, everybody wins.

We had a week long Ariel break hoping to stop the spread of the plague. Not much happened last week, other than Alex being sick. And I had lots of free time.

Ariel showed up in her Halloween princess costume to celebrate Purim:





When I dropped Ariel off at school, we saw a pirate and a giraffe too. They made hamantashen and probably had some other Purim fun too. Speaking of, Jeremy of all people took our kids to the Purim Carnival yesterday. Neither one of us thinks it's particularly fun but Jeremy did that and then I took Adam to a birthday party at the bowling alley. Everybody wins.

Parent's Visiting Night

Twice a year, Adam's school has Parent's Visiting Night, a night that all the kids can show their parents all the Montessori work they do. Adam still likes the practical life work like beading and puzzles, but he's doing some more advanced work too, like the Movable Alphabet.

He found a picture of a cat and wanted to write, "Abby runs around and around." We helped him find the letters, then he copied the letters onto paper and drew a picture.





Now that we've seen how his does this, maybe we can better decipher the other work he brings home to us. He's getting good at writing letters, but their orientation, order, spacing, logic, etc is still very much open to interpretation.




And while I was scanning, I scanned Alex's Weekend News. I think you can read the whole page...

Consecration

Alex had his 1st grade consecration ceremony last Saturday. All and all, if asked my opinion I would say it was way too long, but everyone survived. Grandma, Grandpa and Ariel joined us (and Ariel probably behaved better than Adam would have, who was skiing with Jeremy). The parents gave their child a mini torah and we had a small Shabbat service.

And then the next day, Alex had a fever and didn't want to get out of bed. I finally took him to the doctor Monday afternoon for a strep culture and it turned out he had Influenza A. All and all, it wasn't to bad, he either napped or watched movies. And then Wednesday we got a call that he his strep culture did come back positive even though he had gone to school that day. And now a week later he seems to be completely back to normal and (knock on wood) no one else got sick.