Mount Washington Race

So Aleks ran the Mount Washington road race last week with his friend Mike Grubb. Mike Grubb and Aleks ran cross-country together in high school. It was a 4700 foot climb. They brag that there is only one hill. He did really great. Isaac and I waited for him at the top and enjoyed watching him come in.

It was a remarkably warm and sunny day at the top of the mountain and we had a nice time.



We waited in line a while to take these photos. I think that it was worth it, though Isaac was done with the whole thing at this point. He fell asleep in the car immediately after we left.

Sumo Ike

Trip to Ithaca with a wrestler

We had a nice trip to Itahca last weekend for Oakley's baby blessing. She is adorable. It was fun to see everyone.

Isaac was his usual hyper self and had to see, touch and mouth everything that he could run to. Grandma was nice and offered to dress him. This is not a trivial task.

Isaac really enjoyed Grandpa Bill's swimming pool. we greased him up with sunscreen and gave him a mohawk. I kind of like the look for him. Aleks also accentuated his side curls so he kind of looked like an oompa loompa.




Isaac alas started to strut his wrestling stuff. We partially got him dressed for bed and took a break (it is exhausting to get him in clothes). He kind of looked like a wrestler (big belly, strutting, etc). So we did his first photo shoot as a wrestler. I am hoping that he does not get any ideas from this. All I remember from the wrestlers in high school was that they would walk around with dixie cups on the days of their meets spitting so that they would lose weight.

Fire

Just as a warning, unlike all other posts, this is not an Isaac-centric post. But I had to post about this anyway.

So, a pretty shocking event took place today. We were in stake conference (which was being broadcast from Salt Lake) at an auditorium MIT. At the end to the meeting they announced that the Longfellow Park building, which is in Harvard Square was on fire. We were in total shock. This is the chapel Aleks and I attended for four years before getting married. This was the place where I first made a feeble attempt to flirt with Aleks (we finally went out three years later).

It was a huge part of my life prior to marriage and I have a lot of significant memories there. Besides my personal attachment to the building, it was dedicated in the 1950's and has seen many, many people go through there, since it mainly serves the single student population in the area. My mother in law was baptized there. It is hard to believe and pretty sad. I am sure that they will rebuild, but it will be hard to replace this building and its history.

Thankfully no one was hurt. Everyone was able to evacuate in time. It was amazing since they were watching the broadcast, too and the building was likely full of people.

After getting home from church and giving Isaac some lunch, we walked over there (it is about a 10-15 minute walk from our apartment). Here are some of the photos we took. The fire had been going on for almost three hours by the time we showed up. They had fire crews in helping out from all the surrounding cities. They have said that they will be running water on it for eight hours to make sure that they extinguish it fully.

The institute library has a lot of really significant books, some of which are worth tens of thousands of dollars. We were worried about that, but thankfully that is the one part of the building that was not too affected. They set up an assembly line to get the books out and across the street to the Society of Friends meeting house. They were generous to offer their space.

This round window was front and center in the chapel and let really great light in during meetings.

Here is the scene on the lawn out front of the building.

This is from the back entrance. It was still really smokey there.

More photos that are much more dramatic and obviously taken earlier are available here:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/gallery/05_17_09_cambridge_church_fire/

Catching up with Isaac

Isaac has been having a nice spring. Here are some photos from the last month or so.

We have been spending a lot of time outdoors since the weather has gotten nicer. One of the great things of living in Cambridge is that there are about 5 parks within a five minute walk from our apartment (I am not exaggerating on that, either). So we walk and park hop between meals and naps.

Isaac is really alert in his stroller and likes to take in all the scenery.

We had a nice trip out to Ithaca in April. Isaac had a lot of fun on the stairs (see video below) as well as playing with his grandparents. He enjoyed walking over to see the cows across the street from his grandma's house. He was not quite sure of what to think of them.

We also had a nice photo shoot with Grandpa.




Here are some other random photos from the last while:

Isaac continues to love chili.

This was during some naked time-he has had some nice diaper rash. Thankfully it is getting a little better, at least for now.

Speaking of diapers, Isaac hates getting his changed. It takes a lot to keep him still.

He still loves books.

One of several bloody noses lately. He is kind of wild and has no fear. I guess that these things are inevitable.

The Stair Master

Isaac has developed a great love for the stairs. It began at Christmas when he got to see stairs and climb on them at our family's homes. It matured on the stairs in our apartment building and blossomed on our recent visit to Ithaca. He loves to climb them, but like all good thrill-seekers, climbing is just a means to reach a point of experiencing speed and the falling sensation. It is becoming more and more apparent that Isaac is a real daredevil.

Laundry Boy

So, it turns out that I have not posted in a long time. Perhaps this post will go unnoticed since many have probably determined that I have abandoned the blog. At least I know that my mom will look.

Anyway, Isaac loves to help with the laundry. Here is his technique. Perhaps he got the idea of putting all the clothes on the floor from looking in our bedroom...