September Pictures

While Davis and Kristen are still sleeping, I'm catching up on posting pictures.  These are all available on our picasa albums as well.

Each Thursday and Friday morning, Davis goes into daycare at 9:00 instead of 8:00.  This gives us enough time in the morning to head to the park when the weather is nice.  I took the camera along a few times this month to capture a fun loving boy.

At the park on a Thursday morning

See-Sawing.  Looks like he needs a couple of brothers

More Thursday morning park time with dad.

We had a great time peach and plum picking with his buddy Charley.  Davis did a great job picking plums off this tree and then had a great time looking at the tractors and playing in the kids area.

On Thursday morning at the park, Davis spent 20+ minutes on the big boy swing.  He had a lot of fun swinging while I took pictures.  He can't make himself go yet.

Our neighbor gave us this small couch for Davis.  Here is Davis practicing being a teenager (before texting) an Domino being a cat.

On Friday, the 16th, the Town of Arlington had their annual town day celebration.  They bring in some ponies, bouncy houses, a tractor-pulled train, food and a few fire trucks and end the night with a fireworks display.  Davis spent a lot of time in the bouncy house and really liked his first fireworks show (watched from mom's lap).  

Apple picking a Shelburne Farms wasn't nearly as much fun without Charley.  Davis enjoyed running around and even picked a few apples.

On the 18th, we went to Burlington Touch a Truck for the second time.  Davis enjoyed getting his hands on some of the trucks and running around.  It wasn't quite as much fun as last year, but he had a good time.

That is the end of pictures for September.  Since then, we've been packing and getting ready for the move and I haven't had the camera out nearly as much.  I do have a lot of videos on YouTube since I almost always have my phone/video camera/mobile computing platform with me.

Patriots Day Parade - Part 2

I forgot one cool thing from the Patriot's Day Parade early today.  As the parade wound down, we started walking back and ended up walking at the same pace as a brass band.  I was carrying Davis on my shoulders at the time and he started drumming on my head to the music.  Kristen got a quick video with my phone.  Sorry if you notice quality issues, Kristen was trying to steer the stroller, take a video, keep me from tripping and trying not to laugh too hard.

Patriots day Parade

Today we had our friends Brian and Clara over for lunch with their 19 month old Emily.  After the kids played and we all had lunch, we headed over to mass ave for the Arlington Patriots Day Parade.  We caught the last bit of the parade last year, and with Davis' intense interest in all things trucks and fire trucks, I was keeping a close eye on the town mailing list for the parade this year.

The parade got off to a late start, but the kids didn't seem to mind as there were rocks and other kids to entertain them while we waited.  After about a 45 minute delay to the start, we were rewarded with a lot of firetrucks, shriners, bands and other parade goers including live musket fire.  Davis had a good time waving to all the cars and trucks and quickly learned how to pick up the thrown candy.

I took some pictures and a video of the firetrucks for Davis to watch later.  The only downside to the parade was Davis had a very late, and short, nap that we are currently paying the price for with a very upset little guy.  He seems to have calmed down after an hour and is finally having his dinner.

Facing into the wind.

Clara, Brian, Emily, Kristen and Davis waiting for the start

Waiting very patiently

Cool Shades

I loved his hair in the wind.

I loved his hair in the wind.

Waving to a truck (or something).

Here is the firetruck video (just trucks, no frames of Davis or Kristen):

Weekend Wrapup

This was a busy, but fun weekend around the Naegle household.  Saturday we went to the Y where Davis is very happy to play in the childcare area while we workout.  After a nap, we went to Robbins Farm Park for a romp in the park and a picnic  Later, we went and saw our friends AJ and Susan before packing it in for the night.  Sunday, we went to Davis' swimming lesson, then came home to clean, play and have lunch before heading to the zoo.  I dropped Kristen off at work on the way back and Davis and I went shopping, then we all had dinner together before skyping with Grandma and Grandpa.  For the rest of the night, Kristen is finishing another job application, I'm cleaning and then we'll probably relax with part of a movie.

Here are few pictures from the zoo:

Hey had a great time going between the cutouts and playing peek a boo.

The truck by the lion is WAY more interesting than the Lion. There were probably 8 kids in the truck and all the parents standing around watching. 

He LOVES driving things. 

Not from the zoo, but this is what his bed typically looks like for naps and bedtime.

Weekend wrap-up

It was a busy weekend at the Naegle household.

Friday

Friday Davis and I headed to Arlington Town Night for fair like activities on one of the town sports fields.  There was food, pony rides, train rides, live music, a dog show, bouncy houses and tons of kids.  We went straight from daycare and planned to meet Mom for the festivities.  Since we went straight there, it meant we were going to have a hungry little guy after a little while, so I bought him his first hamburger of which he enjoyed eating the bun and cheese.  We had hoped to get Davis on a pony ride, but the line for the ponies was over 45 minutes, so we spent our time walking around and watching the live music, fire trucks and chasing the train giving rides around the field.  I think Davis would have enjoyed the train ride, but I didn't have the patience to spend 20 minutes in line.  He really enjoyed the brass band that was there and had a great time dancing and spinning around in circles.  He only tried to take food from other people's picinics a few times.  We left at dusk, before the fireworks as we are still slaves to Davis's sleep schedule.

Kristen got delayed leaving work and we ended up meeting up on the walk home instead of at the festival as planned.  However, it worked out great.  Kristen brought Megan with her and ran into Bill and Sonya on the way and we all headed back to our place for a late dinner.  It was a great spontaneous dinner and very nice to have people over for dinner once again.  Davis had a great time getting all the adults to stand up and spin around in circles with him.

Saturday

Saturday we took our normal trip to the Y to work out while Davis goes to daycare.  Kristen did the boot camp style class as usual, but I just ran 10 minutes on the treadmill and streched.  Davis did not do well being left in daycare and my brief exercise worked out for the best as I picked him up just when they were about to come get me to take care of an inconsolable child.  We spent the rest of Mom's workout playing in the mat room which Davis enjoyed a lot.

After the Y, we went to the Wright-Locke Farm to pick raspberries, but they weren't open yet so we headed home and then to Arlington Town Day.  A 1/4 to 1/2 mile second of Mass Ave in Arlington was closed for the annual town celebration.  There were booths from local organizations, schools, resturants, vendors as well as live music, performers and lots of people.  Davis road on my shoulders for much of our time at town day which was great until he gave me a big hug and put his hands over my eyes.  We grabbed lunch from one of the Indian resturants with a boot and sat on the library lawn eating and chasing Davis.  Davis enjoyed dipping his part of the Samosa in sauce and pouring water all over himself.

After naps at home, we went back to Wright-Lock farm and picked two quarts of raspberries.  We actually picked quite a bit more than that, but everything that went into Davis' bucket went right into his mouth.  We froze half the raspberries, but managed to eat the other quart in just a day.

Sunday

Sunday we headed up to Wilimington for my first half-marathon and Kristen's (and Davis') 5k.  Kristen did very well in her 5k considering she was pushing 40+ pounds of stroller and a little bit sick. I was very impressed!

My half-marathon was "fun".  I've been running pretty regularly since May and decided a couple months ago to go for a half-marathon and picked this one based on the recommendation of a running coach in my office.  My longest run before this was two weeks ago at 12.2 miles.  On that run, I took no water or food and really struggled in the last two miles.  This time I took water with a little bit of sugar and salt added and with the numerous water stops a long the way was hoping to feel better at the end.

The race really broke down into parts for me:

1. The first 3 miles were really easy.  I was planning on really being conservative here and running 7:30 miles which is a little bit slower than I've been doing on my training runs.  From past races, I knew it would be a real challenge to limit my pace in a crowd - its very easy to not realize you are going faster than you want when there are lots of other people around.  I started near the front of the race and settled into my own pace very quickly.  I came through the first mile at 6:55 and the second at 13:57 which was must faster than planned, but I felt really good.  
2. The 3rd to 8th mile were just on cruise control.  I felt great and just worked on slowly catching the people in front of me who I could see.  
3. After the 8th mile, I had mostly passed the people I could see and was starting to get tired.  It took me almost 4 miles to catch the last person I could see.  This also felt like the hilly part of the run.  Up to mile 12, I felt pretty much the same - tired, feeling the effort, but pretty good all things considered.
4. Mile 12 to 13.  Agony. I was very tired and running out of energy.  I couldn't go any faster.  By far my slowest mile.  Had a hard time running straight.
5. The last .1 miles.  Saw Kristen and Davis, got a great cheer.  Kristen yelled I was top 10. I couldn't believe it.  Still in agony and unable to go any faster, but got a chill finishing.

I finished 10th out of 112 in 1:30:53 (6:56 average pace) and 3rd in my age group (30-39, 11 runners).  This was about 8 minutes faster than I was aiming for, so I'm very happy with the result.

My Mile times broke down about like this:

• Mile 0-1: 6:55
• Mile 1-2: 7:02
• Mile 2-3: 7:08
• Mile 3-4: 6:47
• Mile 4-5: 6:55
• Mile 5-6: 6:53
• Mile 6-7: 6:52
• Mile 7-8: 6:36
• Mile 8-9: 6:55
• Miles 10-12: 20:52 (I forgot to hit the lap button)
• Mile 12-13.1: 7:56 (7:12 pace)

After the race, I was pretty wasted.  Not taking in calories during the run really drained me.  Running really makes it hard for me to eat, so I could only take in a little bit after the race and spent the rest of the day eating and drinking to recover.  I also had a problem with my shoes where my toes blistered quite a bit, so in the afternoon while Davis and Kristen took a nap, I went to the running store and got new shoes and socks.

Results are here:

• Half Marathon Overall
• 5K Gender

After the race, we met up with Josh, Courtney, Mack and Liam at Together in Motion in Arlington to celebrate Liam's first birthday.  Davis had a good time playing in the mats and I tried to not get too close to anybody since I had not showered.

After the party, a nap and a snack, we went to the mall to get him some new shoes and do some shopping for Kristen.  Davis jumped from a size 4.5 to 6 and had a great time running around the mall and people watching.  After the mall, we went out to dinner for the first time in about a month and had a nice dinner at a loud mexican resturant.  Davis did great and enjoyed his beans, rice, guacamole, chips and pizza.  It was nice to go out again.  The last time was something of a mess and involved a lot of screaming and food throwing.

Next Week


This week is going to be a different for us.  Kristen heads of for the first of three consequtive conferences.  She is in Houston Wednesday to Friday, back in Boston for the Siebel conference on Saturday (and maybe Sunday), then off to Austin for another conference Tuesday to Saturday.  Sunday I've got a cyclocross race in Glouscester, so it shoud be another interesting week around the Naegle household.

Weekend wrap-up

Labor day weekend was a good combination of being busy, relaxing and saying good-bye to summer.  Our heat-wave broke when Hurricane Earl passed off-shore and the weekend was a fantastic 70 to 80 and sunny.  A great break after 5 days of 94, 92, 96, 94 and 95 for highs.

This weekend we:

• Went to the Y.  Freddy's class was cancelled because of the holiday weekend, so we went a little later than usual.  However, we ran into Freddy in the gym and he gave a special 6 person extra hard version of his class.  It was a great workout, much better than we would have done by our selves.
• As part of the next bullet item, we made a quick trip to Ikea for dinner and a new table and chair set for Davis to play with in the living room.  So far, both the cats and Davis approve of the new plastic furniture.
• Saturday we went to our first Revolution soccer game.  Kristen got deeply discounted tickets from Groupon that included a free shirt.  The game was at 7:30, a little late for our little guy, but we went anyways for an adventure and to start testing our parenting comfort zone.  The game, what we saw of it was fun, but Kristen was expecting a European atmosphere as was a little disappointed by the lack of passion from the American fans.  I spent a lot of time out of my seat with Davis walking around, but was rewarded by catching a tee-shirt thrown into the stands at half-time.
• Sunday we went peach picking in North Andover.  Davis had a blast running around the orchard then feeding the animals afterwards.  We fed llamas, goats and a cow.
• After a family nap and sleeping on dad Sunday, we went to our friends for a BBQ.  Davis again had a blast running around, climbing in chairs, eating and playing chase / hide and seek between the air whole-house air conditions.
• Monday we took Davis to a cyclocross practice in Lexington with a few people from Quad Cycles. Kristen and I are both planing on doing a race next weekend so we wanted to get our bikes tuned in and get some technical practice in.  We took turns practicing and supervising Davis eating donuts, peaches, water mellon, water and blue berry muffins by the handfuls.  Unfortunately, I did crash and hurt my right knee a little bit.
• After we got back from practice, Davis took a long nap and we cleaned the house and yard. 
• After naps and an early dinner, we skyped with Grandparents then headed to the nearby sprinkler park for the last time this year.  School starts tomorrow in Arlington and the sprinklers get shut off.

I have some videos from this weekend that are not uploaded anywhere yet, but here are a few pictures from the soccer game:

Exploring the seats before the game

Seattle Fans

With Mom

Hey mom, there is a soccer game over there!

Mom watching the game, Davis watching something else.

Tired guy, right before heading home

Pictures from this morning

I had Davis for the second straight morning this week and we headed to the park for an hour before daycare.  I took the camera and snap a few shots of the little guy.

Before we left, we got Davis in the box for pictures

Watching the trucks and buses on mass ave.

Bus coming dad!

At the park

Blue eyes

Going down the slide by himself