Early Winter and the Holidays

And then winter came along, bringing the holidays and everything that goes with. Before the school winter concert, Ingrid took part in a flute trio with another friend and the flute teacher. They played in the entryway while people came in for the concert.

And of course all the holiday cooking and baking. Here Gretchen and Grace are making rosettes.

And were they yummy.

And then Ingrid and Gretchen made spaetzel to go with a german meal we were preparing.

The chickens aren't real happy with the snow, but thats the way it is.

One of Grace's favorite presents this year. David's old BB gun is a bit big for her, but this one is just her size.

Ingrid with one of her favorites, a camera. She has named it 'Bob'.

Grace playing with her new 'mindflex' game. Excersising her mental powers for her eventual world takeover.

Sitting down for our traditional Christmas breakfast of eggs benedict. Boy is that good, but I wouldn't want to eat it all that often. It takes a LOT of eggs. Good thing we have the chickens.

Grace pretending to be like Harry Potter catching the snitch.

and then David's favorite Christmas present - a nice snowstorm that started on the 26th. We got a total of 19 inches of nice powdery snow. This is looking up the driveway from near the street at about 9am.

And the house in the falling snow

and another view of the yard. You can see from the tracks there is already about 3 inches of new snow since the last time David plowed, and it was only about an hour. The unfortunate thing is that less than a week later it was almost all gone.

Fall and the Fairs

So, after a quick but full summer, it was time for the fairs. Here are a bunch of the people from our 4H group setting up the display in front of the 4H building at the county fair.

We finished up in the dark, but here are some of the girls in front of the display. The area with the pine trees and the pine needles is part of the display.

And after a long wait, we picked up the David's old saxophone from the music shop where it was being rebuilt so Grace could use it. She is thrilled to be using David's old instrument. This is her first attempt at playing it.

Then, we were off to the State Fair so Grace could do her presentation in the 4H building. We also spent all day there doing fair stuff. Here is Grace feeding her favorite animal, a giraffe.

And then she got to deliver her presentation, entitled 'How to Brood Chicks'. She did a great job, and did it twice that day.

Since Ingrid stayed behind to work at the county fair with her friends, we did whatever Grace wanted to do this time. Here she is in a 'Euro Ball' - a big plastic balloon. It was VERY hot that day, but later in the afternoon as we walked across the fairgrounds, a front came through and we could feel the temperature dropping.

And we continued to go geocaching. Here we are at a place called 'the mile loop' outside of Bennington, VT. It was a long hike, but we had a good time.

And before we knew it (you could say not soon enough) it was time for school to start. Here is Grace on her first day.

And Ingrid, almost on her first day.

After a minor racoon problem, David taught Gretchen to use the 16 ga. shotgun, and Ingrid tried it too. It was a bit much for her, but she and Grace took to the BB gun real well.

Grace got invited to a goth halloween party, so she and Gretchen went a little crazy with the makeup. We even sprayed a red streak into her hair.

But for the main event, Grace went as George Weasley (from Harry Potter) while Ingrid went as a nerd.

There was a lipsynch contest at school, and Ingrid and her friend sang and danced a song by some (male) pop singer that wears too much makeup, so they did too.

While the lipsynch contest was going on, David was on a business trip to Shanghai. Here he and a colleage are in front of Chairman Mao.

Lots of interesting architecture in Shanghai, but lots of pollution too. The building over on the right side with the opening near the top is the World Financial Center, the third tallest building in the world. All of the buildings in this picture have gone up in the last 15 years.

An interesting pedestrian walkway in the heart of Pudong, as viewed from the Oriental Pearl.

Summer 2010

So after the knee surgery, we had to cram the rest of the summer into August. The last weekend in July we went camping with David's cousin's family. All the kids get along great, here are both familes worth of kids.

And here is just the oldest and the youngest.

They really enjoy being together

David and John

A week later found us canoeing on the Dunham Reservoir. On the back side you can canoe up the inlet quite a ways. You can see Grace and Gretchen up ahead in the red canoe while Grace looks on.

The wildlife comes out too - here a wild turkey was eyeing the chickens.

And then one of the best parts of the summer, the girls go to camp for a week, and David takes the week off so we can have a little vacation also. This year we went on a 3 day canoe trip St. Regis Canoe area, along the Seven Carries Route. Here is David with the loaded canoe just about to start off from Paul Smith's College on Lower St. Regis Lake.

The day turned grey and windy, but we kept going. After crossing Lower St. Regis Lake, then all the way down Spitfire Lake we got to Upper St. Regis Lake. Lot of 'Old Money' there. This shot is taken from where we took out on Upper St. Regis. You can see all the old style wooden sailboats plying the lake.

The portage was short, just up through that break in the rocks, across a little dirt road and done. Gretchen is getting her pack adjusted.

Then we had to cross Bog Pond, mostly like you see in the picture below. Short, but it beats carrying the canoe through the woods.

Then after another short portage, we ended up on Bear Pond. Just two or three campsites all the way around the lake. About 30 min after getting the camp setup, it poured for about 2 hours and everything got wet. Then it cleared up and we were able to get things dried out. Here is Gretchen saying the heck with whatever meal we were going to cook and eating some leftovers she brought from the night before while the gear dries out.

But then that night and the next day were gorgeous. This is the takeout at the far end of Little Long Pond, David says it is the nicest pond he has ever been on in the Adirondacks.

Then into Green Pond.

Here we are on the trail between two of the ponds. Not my favorite part of the canoe trip, but the wheels under the canoe make it easier.

After a nice leisurely lunch on a small island on St. Regis Pond (not to be confused with either of the lakes) we headed back. Here, from our campsite on Bear Pond we could see this little loon family. Mama and Papa and two little babies.

Here is Gretchen posing in our campsite, just enjoying the quiet.

And then the next day we got ready to get out. Here is the fully loaded canoe and David ready to go.

Then on the way back, while passing back through Lower St. Regis Lake, we took a detour and passed by Camp Topridge. All you can see from the Water is the boathouse, but it is spectacular.

The last stop before getting back was a nice lunch spot on the south side of Lower St. Regis lake, just across the lake from Paul Smith's College. You can see the college in the distance.

There is a nice leanto there, and David is sitting at the picnic table eating lunch.

So, after a few days it was time to go get the girls at camp. We like to do something fun when we pick them up, so this time we drove up to Gore Mountain and took the Gondola up to the top. It was a perfect day for it.

Then, just a week or so later, we went to stay with some friends on Lake George. The girls decided to sell Lemonade to passers by. They got some big tips.

At the end of that weekend, it was time for the company picnic at Great Escape. Here Scott and some of the kids are ready to ride the roller coaster.

And here are Cindy and most of the kids on a different ride.