The details!

To answer all those questions, yes Donna and I got married Friday. We had a civil ceremony at the gazebo behind the Great Barrington Town Hall. Kiwi was my "Best Pug" and Ginger was Donna's "Pug of Honour". Trish and Jason were there to give moral support and to take the photos and video. They also joined us for lunch and champagne (donated by the staff) at Napa on Main Street.


Then it was on the road to Boston. The plan was to do the "Fight Gone Bad" fundraiser at CrossFit Boston. However the weather, the Red Sox game and the New Kids on the Block concert all conspired to make the trip to Boston a driving nightmare. We missed the event but arrived in time for the beer and pizza. Our new CrossFit T-shirts with "Just Married" on the back were a great conversation starter. I think James is still in shock! From there it was on to Cape Cod to tell Donna's parents and to leave the girls for the weekend.


Then back on the road to Boston early (6:30am) on Saturday morning to get to CrossFit by 8am for the start of the Crossfit Barbell Certification. The cert was run by Mark Rippetoe from Crossfit Wicita Falls in Texas http://www.wfac-gym.com/ he is also an author of "Starting Strength" a great book on teaching barbell strength exercises.

The cert was great. Very long days (8am-6pm Sat, 8am-5pm Sun) with short breaks for lunch. So much information to absorb. We learnt 5 lifts in detail: Back Squat, Press, Bench Press, Deadlift and Power Clean. Then finished with programming and a great Q&A session. We did a lot of lifting during the cert as well as coaching other attendees. This is a great cert to attend and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their knowledge of these lifts.

I got to meet another Kiwi who is married to an American over here. It turns out Hamish used to be in the NZ Army as well. So we had plenty to talk about as we tried to workout who we had both served with. It was also handy as now Donna knows that I am not the only one that talks funny, all those years in the military have to have some effect!

We headed for home via Medford to pick up the girls from Donna's parents who made the drive up from the cape. That was great as it saved us at least an hours drive in the rain. We finally made it home in time to feed the girls and post some pictures on the blog :-)

Busy Weekend!

New Piece of Furniture!

I don't normally get excited about furniture, but Donna's massage table has arrived. It's great that I get to be her guinea pig for the next few months :-)

Today was easier than yesterday!

Fall in the Bershires, the leaves starting to turn.

The Catalyst workout was rough yesterday. I was shattered afterwards and was very happy to have a rest day today.

Snatch - 90% x 1 x 3 115#
Clean & jerk - 90% x 1 x 3 160#
Back squat - 90% x 2 x 2 275#

Metcon

3 rounds for time of: TIME 14:14

10 (Sand bag clean to shoulder + 2 lunges) had to use a 65# Dumbell and do it with one arm, these were rough!

15 push ball 20# Dynamax Ball

20 AbMat sit-ups

Today was spent tidying up the house and yard, just in case there is a showing this weekend while we are away in Boston. I took a break and hiked the dogs around the lake at Beartown.

Kiwi leaving her mark beside the beaver mark!

Donna cranked out "Tabata Something Else" The tabata protocol is 8 rounds of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest so each exercise takes only 4 minutes. For "Tabata something else" the exercises are: Pull Up, Push Up, Sit Up and Squat.

Matt finally hit the wall

so, matt is totally F*&KED from his catalyst workout. You'll have to look for a new post tomorrow. He is human!

Donna gets her Rope Climb!

Donna and I headed to Crossfit Great Barrington http://www.bizfitcrossfit.com/. Donna to teach class and then workout and me to do my Catalyst workout.
















After her workout Donna played with the ropes and got her first full ascent!

Good form with the rope in contact with thighs, shins and feet!

Matt:
Muscle snatch - heavy single 140# PR
Snatch - 80% x 1, 70% x 2, 80% x 1, 70% x 2, 80% x 1 100#/90#
Clean & jerk - 80% x 1 x 5 140#
Front and lateral planks - 3 x max Front: 120/92/94 sec Lat: 63/62/62
Metcon-
5 rounds for time of: Time 2:32
8 kipping pull-ups
4 box jumps - mid-thigh+ 34.5" box

Donna:
3 x 5 Clean and Jerk 65/75/75/75/80 PR

Fight Gone Bad!

Fight Gone Bad is a classic CrossFit workout originally designed for BJ Penn the Mixed Martial Arts Fighter. See the video and explanation here: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_FGBSCDemoExplanation.wmv (courtesy of crossfit.com) It is also used as a fund raiser by CrossFit for Athletes for a Cure, raising money for Prostate Cancer Research and the Wounded Warrior Project, both great causes.

In the "Fight Gone Bad" workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. This event calls for 3 rounds. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of 'rotate,' the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point. The stations are:
Wall-ball, 8 ft target (Reps) 20# ball
Deadlift high-pull (Reps) 75# barbell
Box jump (Reps) 20" Box
Push-press (Reps) 75# barbell
Row (Calories)

We had both intended to take part in the Fight Gone Bad Fund Raiser at CrossFit Great Barrington http://www.bizfitcrossfit.com/ but as we have to be in Boston for the Barbell Cert we resigned ourselves to just donating to the cause. We then discovered that CrossFit Boston http://crossfitboston.squarespace.com/ is doing their Fight Gone Bad on Friday night. We decided that we both still wanted to participate so we have signed up as part of the Boston Team.

If you can, please support the cause of Prostate Cancer Research and the Wounded Warrior Project by donating to either our personal sites

Matt: https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=275345&lis=1&kntae275345=907E7EFBD0A6466192AC9E9E1B8245ED&supId=233178730

Donna: https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=275345&lis=1&kntae275345=907E7EFBD0A6466192AC9E9E1B8245ED&supId=233015568

or to the Great Barrington Team

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=275345&supId=228300118

or the Boston Team

http://athletes.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=275345&lis=1&kntae275345=86DD874DB72B427391FA0E3BEDF2A055&team=2854972

Thanks in advance

Matt and Donna

Todays WOD- Donna: Rest day

Matt:

Snatch - 85% x 1 x 4 105#
Clean & jerk - 85% x 1 x 4 150#
Front squat - 85% x 2 x 3 215#
Pull-ups - 3 x 10 (weighted if needed) +20#

3 sets of:
A. GHD sit-ups - 15 slow
B. Sidebends - 10/side with a 70# DB

What a difference a day makes

Both Donna and I felt a bit off yesterday. We tried to workout late in the day and it just wasn't going to happen.

So it was back to the gym this morning for another try. Much better results.

Matt

Snatch - 115# x 1 x 3
Clean & jerk - 160# x 1 x 3
Front squat - 225# x 2 x 2 These felt good!
Ab work of choice - GHD Sit ups 3 x 15, Russian Twists with 10# Med Ball 3 x 10

Donna

For time:

50 Pull-ups 50 Dips

40 Pull-ups 40 Dips

30 Pull-ups 30 Dips

20 Pull-ups 20 Dips

10 Pull-ups 10 Dips

Pull Ups were band assisted with our new blue iron woody http://www.ironwoodyfitness.com/ band. Handy hint with these, rinse the rubber dust off before you use them the first time. We both had an allergic reaction of sorts.

Other than that a quiet weekend. We walked the girls, Donna did lots of study and I did some work around the house.

Friday Night - Date Night

We spent Friday night at CrossFit Great Barrington http://www.bizfitcrossfit.com/ working out. While the Friday night crew did the WOD, a 5k run, Donna and I did our respective programs.

Donna
Three rounds for time of: 22:27
50 Jump rope, double unders
50 Hip Extensions
50 GHD Sit-ups

Matt
Muscle snatch - heavy single 135#
Snatch - 80% x 1 x 5 100#
Clean & jerk - (70% x 2, 80% x 1) x 3 125#/140#

Metcon
3 rounds for time of:
10 box jumps - mid-thigh+ 30" Box
10 DB push press - 25% BW (each) 45# Dumbells

Ab Work:
Ab wheel - 3 x 15

Matt doing his best rabbit impression!

Donna CrossFit Total - Matt Rest Day

Donna had a class to teach then she hit her CrossFit Total

Back Squat = 170# Personal Record

Press = 75#

Deadlift= 195#

Total: 440#

Donna driving up out of her new PR Back Squat

Getting under the bar!

Ginger was there to check Donna's form and make sure she was taking it seriously

I had a rest day so it was time for some yard work. I trimmed some trees, mowed the lawns, used the line trimmer and did some weeding. This Fall weather is nice not too hot and no bugs.

What do you call a group of six Flamingos?

While doing some yard work today I discovered several Flamingos hidden in the flower beds. Not in our garden I will point out! I thought Donna's Mom would like them.

Matt's Catalyst Workout of the Day
Snatch - 85% x 1 x 4 105#
Clean & jerk - 85% x 1 x 4 150#
Back squat - 90% x 2 x 3 275#
3 sets of:
A. Weighted sit-ups - 8 reps 20#/30#/30#
B. Lateral planks - max R 66/64/63 sec L 62/61/62 sec

Donna was on a rest day, so spent lots of time studying.

Tuesday WOD

Second day of the Bulgarian cycle, fun, fun......................

Muscle snatch - 105# x 2 x 2

Snatch - (90# x 1, 95# x 1, 100# x 1) x 3

Clean & jerk - 140# x 1 x 4

Metcon: 3 rounds for time of:

20 kipping pull-ups

15 hanging leg raises - damn these are hard! See description below.

AKA HLR, Toes to Bar. While hanging from a pull-up bar, lift your extended legs up to the bar, making sure to curl the pelvis up. Return to starting position. Do not allow your legs to bend.

Time: 8:31

Donna

For time: 26:59

10 GHD Sit-ups, 10 Hip & Back Extensions, 65# Thrusters 30 reps, 50 Pull-ups
30 GHD Sit-ups, 30 Hip & Back Extensions, 45# Thrusters 20 reps, 35 Pull-ups
50 GHD Sit-ups, 50 Hip & Back Extensions, 45# Thrusters 10 reps, 20 Pull-ups

Sad news about my truck, it has a hole in the fuel tank :-( With luck we may be able to patch it, if not replacement may cost over $2K. Fingers crossed that the patch holds.

Taking in the view!

Monday - Day One of the Bulgarian Cycle

What? I hear you ask. So here is the explanation from the Catalyst Site http://www.performancemenu.com/index.php.

Bulgarian Cycles
Weeks 5-8 and 13-16 are Bulgarian-style cycles developing the athlete’s technical proficiency with the classic lifts and his or her ability to manage frequent heavy lifting. The programming of these cycles is based on Mike Burgener’s 6-week Bulgarian program.

Initially, these cycles will prove extremely difficult for athletes without prior experience with training of such a nature. These individuals will find themselves unusually fatigued—both physically and mentally—slow, and abounding with aching joints. Modifications will be necessary in the first cycle to allow the athlete a chance to adapt to this kind of training and prevent complete neurological burnout or joint injuries. By the next occurrence of the Bulgarian cycle, the athlete will be able to handle it considerably better and require little if any divergence from prescription.

Sounds like fun doesn't it?
So the first day went something like this:
Snatch - 85% x 1 x 3 105#
Clean & jerk - 85% x 1 x 3 150#
Front squat - 85% x 2 x 3 210#
Jerk dip squat - 110% (of jerk) x 5 x 2 195#
GHD sit-ups - 3 x 8 (weighted if needed) 10#/15#/20#

This stuff is hard and heavy! The rest of the week will be interesting!

Sunday - Watching the Josh, Donna Runs and a WOD for Trish

We headed out at 9am in the pouring rain to watch the bike leg of the Josh Billings Runaground www.joshbillings.com go through Great Barrington.

Mike from BizFit CrossFit www.bizfitcrossfit.com looked strong on the hill at Taconic St, hope the rest of the day went well for him and Leslie. The weather did improve over the day so there was sunshine for the after party.

We headed home to dry the girls off.

Donna headed out on a 5k run, she felt good, managing to maintain her POSE technique throughout. Donna has decided that the Olympic lifting workouts are too much on top of school, so she is changing to Crossfit WODs along with some strength specific training.

I sorted out a workout for Trish that she could do in the backyard. Thanks to CrossFit PC http://www.crossfitpcworkouts.blogspot.com/ for the inspiration of the Five and Dime Workout.
The workout was
5 Sumo Deadlift High Pull
10 Push Ups
5 Box Jumps
10 Kettle Bell Swings, and
5 Box Dips
5 Rounds for time.
Trish smoked through in 8:20, great effort.

Then it was time to grill some Buffalo and enjoy a beer.

Saturday - Max Lift Day

Today was a max lift day, Donna wasn't feeling 100% so will look to catch up later.

Here are my numbers:

Snatch - 125#Personal Record 20# more than previous

Clean & jerk - 175# same as PR, managed to Clean 185# but the Jerk failed. I think it might have been due to the 200 wallball shots yesterday.

Back squat - 305# PR

3 sets of:

A. Ab rollouts x 15

B. Lateral planks - Left 57/62/55 sec Right 61/65/58 sec

Kiwi helping me to watch the clock during the lateral planks!

Heather's PR

I met Heather Friday for a training session at Simon's Rock. It was a heavy lifting day. After back squats 3x5 and pressing 3x5 she still had enough left to PR her deadlift at 185#. Great work Heather! I only wish I had brought the camera.

Friday Night is a great night for Wallball!!!!!!!!!

We were supposed to be on a rest day from our Catalyst program, but Lis at CrossFit Watertown http://www.crossfitwatertown.com/ invited us and the girls down to Connecticut to workout, eat burgers and drink beer. After a long week we couldn't say no. Also a picture of Kiwi was on her site on Friday, so we thought the star of the day should make a personal appearance.

Once again it poured with rain on the trip down - happens every time we go, wtf?

Once there we joined in on the 3 x7 Front Squat workout, Donna got to 125# and I managed 225#, both of us were really happy with those numbers.

Then it was time for Friday night fun. A team Wallball shot competition. In teams of two with a weighted medball between, you do as many wallball shots (start standing holding the ball to your chest, drop into a full squat then drive up and shoot the ball at a target on the wall, 8' for women, 10' for men) as you can in 15 minutes. The ball can't touch the ground. Donna and I had a 12# ball (hey it was all that was left after the regulars had snapped up the others) and managed 365 shots between us (that's 4380# in total).

All 3 main food groups: Beer, Fruit and Dunkin Donuts :-)

After that we felt we had earned our burgers and beer. Not Zone but it tasted good!!!!

The girls had a great time as usual, they got plenty of attention from the locals and will no doubt appear on the Watertown site again.

Name Change

In order to avoid any issues with using the crossfit name in our blog address we have changed it to http://www.madpissedfit.blogspot.com/. Looking at Rogets Thesaurus synonyms for cross are:

Synonyms:
acidulous, adverse, allogamous, athwart, baffling, bilious, captious, choleric, churlish, contentious, contrary, crabbed, crucial, cruciate, cruciform, crusty, cynical, decussate, fractious, fretful, ill-natured, inaffable, interchanged, intersecting, inverse, irascible, irascible acrimonious, irritable, morose, peevish, perverse, petulant, quadrivial, querulous, sullen, surly, touchy, transverse, unamiable, vixenish, waspish

We didn't really like any of those and thought of cross as in angry. We liked madmiffedfit or maybe madslightlyannoyedfit, but madpissedfit just seemed to flow of the tongue (maybe the Guiness Extra Stout helped). Big thanks to the crew at CrossFit Watertown http://www.crossfitwatertown.com/ for help in the final selection.

So here we are at madpissedfit!!

Isn't Thursday a Rest Day?

Well it is supposed to be, but Greg at Catalyst http://www.performancemenu.com/wod/index.php changed the schedule this week as we are lifting heavy on Saturday.


Today was:

Muscle snatch + 2 overhead squat + snatch balance - 3 sets med weight Matt: 95# Donna: 35#
2-position snatch (mid-hang, floor) - 60% x 4 sets Matt: 65#
V-ups - 3 x 10


Met Con - we both skipped this as we ran out of time at the gym.
3 sets:600 m row sprint 3 min rest

Donna doing a warm up by playing the fish game on a Concept 2 Rower http://www.concept2.com/us/default.asp at http://www.bizfitcrossfit.com/

Wednesday Late Workout

Busy day for us both. Donna at school and me helping to repair a shingle roof. So it was another late workout.

Donna driving up out of one of her heavy double overhead squats

Overhead squat - heavy double Matt: 125# Donna: 65#
Front squat - heavy single; not max Matt: 245# Donna: 125#
Rack jerk - heavy single Matt:175# Donna: 100#

Metcon:

3 rounds for time of:
30 Ball slams - 10% BW
10 clapping push-ups
Matt: 3:29 using a 16# Slam ball

WOD and POSE

Not much to report today, full on lightning and thunderstorms this morning with a frost forecast for tonight - talk about a change to Fall weather.

Donna taught a Cross Fit total tonight and then we did the Catalyst workout:

Muscle snatch - to med-heavy single Matt: 135# Donna: 50#
3-position clean (mid-hang, hang, floor) - 65% x 3 sets Matt: 115# Donna: 35#
Push jerk + jerk - 65% (of jerk) x 3 sets Matt: 115# Donna: 70#
Met Con For time: Matt: 6:29 Donna: 10:48
20 burpess 5 kipping pull-ups
15 burpees 10 pull-ups
10 burpees 15 pull-ups
5 burpees20 pull-ups

Just a reminder, in conjunction with CrossFit Albany we are running a POSE running clinic in Albany on Saturday. Cost is $25 each, for more details e-mail either of us: dmalincrossfit@yahoo.com or mdysoncrossfit@yahoo.com

WOD, Class and a great Chicken Recipe

Porcini-Dusted Chicken Scaloppine from Cooking Light


http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1662869

We found this recipe during the weekend and tried it last night with asparagus and couscous. Tasted great and very Zone friendly.

Class today was "Micheal" 3 rounds for time of 800m run, 50 Back Extensions and 50 AbMat Situps. Holly was there at 5pm, then it was a full house at 6pm with; Amy, Sarah, Mona, Beth, Rebecca, Lois and Jason. Great efforts from everyone, especially those who have just started back. Now is the time to get back into the habit, the CrossFit prescription is 3 days on 1 day off.

As for the WOD, this is the last week of our first strength cycle and we are already seeing gains.

Back squat - 90% x 2 x 3 Matt:265#Donna: 135#
Snatch pull - 107% x 2 x 3 Matt: 185# Donna: 70#
Press - 4 x 4 med-heavy weight Matt 115#/125# x 3 Donna: 60#
Chin-ups - 3 x 90% of last Friday's reps (this originally said Monday and caused some confusion) Matt: 3 x 9 + 10# Donna: 3 x9

3 sets of:
A. GHD sit-ups x 15 slow Donna: AbMat +10#
B. GHD Russian twists x 20 Matt: +10# Donna: + 10#

Looks like the rowing cert will be rescheduled closer to home, that will be nice!

Ginger

Ginger says "Take your workouts seriously!"

Stormy Day

Ok so we know Hurricane Hanna is on its way but that doesn't explain all the things that have gone wrong this trip.

We made it into Boston with just enough time to find the Boston Union Boat Club by 10am. No sign of anyone to certify us to row though.... An hour and many phone calls later we find that the cert has been cancelled. Time for plan B.

Off to Crossfit Boston to workout with James. Thanks to Neil for letting us use his facilities again. Also big thanks to both John and James for the coaching input.

Tall snatch + mid-hang power snatch - 1 + 2 x 4 sets Matt: 55# 3 sets 65# 1 set Donna: 25# 1 set 30# 3 sets
Overhead squat - heavy single Matt: 145#PR Donna: 70#
Chin-ups - 3 x max Matt: 14/13/12 Donna: Kipping coaching with James :-)

Once the workout was done it was time to head out into the hot and humid heart of Boston. I have not seen much of the city so we made like tourists and checked out Beacon St, Quincy Market and got to ride the T (subway). I also sampled a Boston Cream Pie, lots of sugar and white flour, but it tasted good!!!!!!!!

We also found the girls a new toy, a sock monkey.

Rowing Cert

We will be at the Concept 2 Rowing Cert for the next two days. Not sure what internet access we will have so watch this space on Sunday for a rundown on the weekend :-)

Yard Work and Study

Donna had lots of homework from her first week at school. I had lots of yard work.

The original plan was to get a chipper and mulch all the bits of tree that I cut down last time we were here. But it turns out my truck is too small to tow a 9" chipper . So we tried to get a smaller chipper and were hot on the trail when the neighbours offered up their big Mack dump truck. The condition was that we had to load all their bits of tree as well. Sounded like a good deal to us so that's what we did. In the meantime while we waited, I got to cut down another 20' tree. Love that chainsaw!

BEFORE

AFTER

Donna studied hard but needed to take a break (and her afternoon nap), the girls kept her company as usual.

Rest Day - Night drive to the cape

Rest day on Thursday, but both of us were busy. Donna had school all day and I was building bikes at Plaines.


I taught the 5:30pm class at BizFit, great turnout for a Thursday night row 2 km workout. Luckily we have 5 rowers so it was one for each person. Good to meet Kate and Molly and to welcome back Amy. Beth and Jason were there as usual, they have been real regulars over the summer. As well as rowing the 2k everyone was introduced to the fish game, it was a dead heat between Jason and Molly with 960 points each. We will have to stage a rematch soon.

Then it was home to pick up Donna and the girls for our drive to the cape. We have the Concept 2 Rowing Cert in Boston this weekend and I am helping Donna's folks with some yard work on Friday, gotta love power tools. We took the truck so it was a breezy 3 hours on the road.

Late workout

Donna had a late class and I was busy gardening and mowing lawns so we didn't start working out until 7pm. We got it done though.


Front squat - 80% x 3 x 5 Matt 205 wrong weight so the rest were 185# Donna: 115#
Snatch pull - 105% (of snatch) x 3 x 3 M: 185 D: 65#
Rack jerk behind neck - heavy single M:165# D:105# a new Personal Record!


Metcon: Matt 4:00 Donna: 7:46

3 rounds for time of:10 sand bag half-moons - 35% BW matt 15kg Powerbag Donna: 10kg
10 burpees.

Kiwi spinning a disc!

No pics from tonight but here is one from last week with Kiwi helping me mark out a piece of plywood to make a wooden training plate.

Mattwabbitt at the gym!

Tonights Catalyst WOD:
Muscle snatch - 90% of last Tues x 1 x 3 Matt: 120# Donna: 45#
Push jerk + jerk - 60% (of jerk) x 2 + 1 x 3 M: 105# D: 65#

Metcon:
4 rounds for time of: 5 kipping pull-ups 5 box jumps - mid-thigh 5 GHD sit-ups 5 KB swings - 30% BW Matt 30' box, 28 kg Kettlebell 4:22 Donna: 20' box, 16 kg KB 7:02


I did the metcon before the strenght component and Donna did it after.




I also played with my max box jump, made it to 41 inches not bad as I am only 67 inches tall!

Donna had her first day back at school for massage therapy, doesn't seem too bad, I am looking forward to all the practice she has to do :-)

Labour Day Holiday: Class, WOD, Ride, Pizza, Grill who could ask for more?

Today was my day to teach an early class. With 8 people there bright and early for an 8am class the gym was pretty full. Everyone dug deep for the 20 minute as many rounds as possible of 15 Pushups, 12 Ring Dips and 9 Push Press. Weights and modifications were varied but it was all hard work.

Dan, Lois and Holly pump out the reps.

Next it was time for our Catalyst work out of the day.

Back squat - 87% x 2 x 5 Matt: 260# Donna: 135#
Snatch deadlift - 118% x 2 x 3 M: 205# D: 125#
Push press - 85% x 3 x 5 M: 145# D: 85#
Pull-ups - 3 x 10 (add weight if needed) M: 10#
Weighted sit-ups (weight behind neck)-3x10 M: 10# D: 10#
Side bends - 3 x 10 heavy M: 70# DB D: 30# DB

Matt and James cranking out the weighted pull ups

James again!

Then it was time to enjoy the great weather.

We headed out to ride at Olivia's Overlook with Dave, Celeste and Ruth.

The trails were dry and fast. Great stuff.

After the ride it was off to Betty's in Lenox for an after ride pizza and beer :-) Now it is almost time to throw the Bison burgers on the grill for dinner and maybe another beer!

And on Sunday they took a Rest Day :-)

Some photos of what we did on our rest day:

You know it is time to replace the lawn mower blade when it is half the size of the original

Biking in the Berkshires, we took the road bikes out for a spin to prove we still knew how to ride on tarmac. We even stopped to admire the views.

The girls enjoyed a walk in the woods around and a swim in Lake Mansfield in Great Barrington!