Whitaker Woods

Greg, Mark and Gary's Excellent Adventure

2011-08-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

So we planned to complete an ATV excursion up at Brandy Brook August 3-5, 2011. Greg and Mark left Mass in the morning and headed directly to the Timberview Lodge in Turin, NY. Using their GPS, they arrived shortly before 3PM. While I was waiting for them, I took this picture of the Timberview. I was the only truck in the lot and it was raining cats and dogs.
We took this picture once they arrived. I reminded them that the movie Deliverance started with this same scenario. Group of guys ready to take on the wilderness. Thankfully, our fate was much different than the cast of characters in the movie. That didn't stop me from planning for Mark to be the sacrifice if needed. He could do all of the squealing. We forgot the camera for the Wednesday ride but we did end up going to Montague for dinner and Barnes Corners for gas. Arrived at 9 PM just at closing time. I filled up and Mark filled up. Greg got about $1.75 of the $10 that was prepaid to fill his and Mark's wheelers. He made it back on fumes....
A good nights rest at Brandy Brook for Mark had him inspired. After the pancake and bacon breakfast, he jumped on the mower.... well actually behind it and mowed the lawn. Once that job was complete (and a great job it was) we rode to Highmarket and then to Brantingham for lunch at The Pine Tree Inn
Here are Greg and Mark waiting for their lunch order at the bar.
We took in some sights along our trip back. Here we stopped on Morgan Gulf Road. I thought it would be nice to get a picture of Greg getting a picture...
Mark, is that 5 o'clock shadow on your nose? Oh, I guess it's dust. Guess who was riding in 3rd place on that trip...
Surprise! We ran into Ponch from the 1980's TV series Chips as he was handing out tickets... oh wait, that's just Greg taking a break on the side of the road. The helmet had me confused.
Across the road from the Timberview, they have a network of ATV trails to get muddy. Here is Mark pushing his out.
I wasn't quick enough to think about getting the camera out but Mark got winched out of this hole.
He's actually hung up on the frame in this pic.
Mark needed a break after all of that riding or tugging. Tired him right out. They don't call it Tug Hill for nothin'.
This was the view by Timberview looking into the Black River Valley. The other side is the Adirondack Park.
We needed a break after riding 160 miles so we made dinner at Brandy Brook. Greg is manning the steaks and Mark set the table. The table also doubles as a trailer to haul the wheelers home. Just such a nice day we wanted to eat outside.
Here we are at dinner. I tried to include myself with a self portrait but it looks more like Greg took his special brother out on a day pass. Yaaaa! Finished off the day with an evening trip to the Sportsmen and back to camp about 10PM. After solving all of the world's problems by the fire place, we were in bed by midnight.
The last day we rode around camp. This is our North Road. We have a little beaver problem here... This is Greg and Mark wallowing through.
Slaughters Crossing- This spot has actually claimed a few 4 wheelers but not today...

Below is a picture of Greg on the edge of Duck Pond. He's standing on top of a 6 foot beaver dam holding back the water. It's one of the biggest I've seen on the property.
Mark was pretty tired by now but we talked him into a few more stops. Actually I only told him about one but the other two were pretty close so we stopped there too. This is a picture of the warning sign before you enter Whetstone Gulf. It's a gorge about 1000 feet wide and 500 feet in depth. The pictures don't do it justice. This is one you should see in person if you have never been there.
Greg standing at the edge of the drop off...

Mark with a smile on his face. I think he is having a good time.
I tried to get the side of the drop off here but it's not as impressive as in person.
Here was a dried up gully that is a waterfall during the wet season.
Greg holding up the roots to a tree where the soil is being washed away underneath it.

Mark and Greg take time to pose next to the road.
This stop includes views of the wind turbines in Lewis County as part of the Maple Ridge Wind Farm.

This is a picture from the base of a turbine.
Mark is in the shadow of a tower. They claim to be about 400 (with the prop) feet tall with a 1.65 MW turbine on the top.
Our last stop was at the Whetstone Gulf Reservoir. Here is Greg as the base of the Dam holding back the water.
It was essentially closed off because we have had a dry summer so far.
Picture at the top and below is a pic of Mark climbing to the top.
So that sums up the excellent adventure. About 200 miles in total. No junk to report and everyone left with all their body limbs in tact. Good Times...

Some Where Over the Rainbow

2011-05-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

After taking a break from the blog, here are some updates of what has been happening!
Kelly received an award for being On-A-Roll. This is an award given for academic achievement as well as social. The character theme for the month was self-control. We are very proud of Kelly for receiving this award during the school spirit day assembly.
There was a field trip to the zoo with the kindergarten class. Complete with a bus accident at the end. Thankfully no one was injured. Just delayed the trip back to school.
A break in the rain. Only a brief break, but lucky enough to catch a rainbow. It is high lighting the new roof we put on the house in between rain showers earlier this spring. Thankfully no leaks!
Grandma joined us for Laura's award ceremony tonight at the high school. Kelly wasn't feeling well and fell asleep before even leaving the house. She woke up after the ceremony when refreshments were served.
Laura received the outstanding student/school citizen award. This was an award given by the Teacher's Association. We are so proud of Laura and all her accomplishments.

S'more Fun

2011-03-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

The collection has begun. Thursday was a warm and rainy day. Gary and I met for the woods right after work.
One of the buckets at the creek. Right to the top with an ice cube to keep it chilled.
Back at the creek, the road was starting to break open.
By Friday evening, the road was flooded. Really wanted to be sure to have your rubber boots on crossing. Pretty swift coming across.
Saturday after boiling, letting the hot coals burn down.
Just right for an after dinner desert.
Just like the syrup, golden!
Done for the day and ready for a treat.
Yummy!!!

First Boil

2011-03-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

March 6th was the season's first boil in the sap shack. The day started with warmer temps but quickly dropped.
Front pan, finishing the sap to syrup.
The first draw off the pan. A good maple flavor and light amber color.
Gary making an adjustment to some of the logs for the evaporator.
Waiting for the next draw. A good game of Uno. Laura's favorite.
Ready to bottle the syrup.

The Spreader That Spread No More

2011-03-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

The ole John Deere spreader has served many purposes. This piece of equipment holds "special" memories. After Gary and I were married we came home from our honeymoon to pick it up from the farm. Once here it served as the wood wagon for years. With the addition of other wood hauling equipment, Gary thought it would be a good idea to convert it over to a sap wagon.
First step, get the snow and ice out of the back end by any means.

Back to the barn with one side off. After cutting the bolts it was the second side that caused a little more work.
If you can't get at the bolts that you want, flip it upside down on a snow bank. Then climb on top with a pry bar.
Finally the sides are off. Taking them to the grave yard until spring. (Pictures of this post may or may not have been approved at the time of taking. Happy to say the sap tank is on and so far so good. Will post some pictures in action later)

Snow Fun

2011-03-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

While we had a pile of snow to play in, the girls took advantage of it. Gary even helped with rolling the snow.
Kelly enjoyed climbing on top and jumping from them. Laura used hers to make a snowman.
Or should I say, Snow Family?

I forgot I had this picture. Over winter break, daycare had a Wacky Wednesday. These are our wacky girls. Laura wore Gary's John Deere shirt, while Kelly wore mine.

First Sign of Spring

2011-02-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

As I write this we are in the midst of a winter storm watch. However, the early sign of spring has started. We have tapped our trees.
With a warm up of 33, the sap already started flowing.
Gary drills the first hole of the season.
Limited tubing up and in.
Planning the route. Look at that bright blue sky we had above us. A fabulous day.
Jimmie was in town for the weekend with us. He even brought his sled for a visit.
Kelly marked the trail to follow with her stick she found. It was handy for me to follow until she got distracted by testing the ice with the stick.
Checking the lines as we go.
Laura getting ready to hang her bucket.
Kelly just couldn't wait to taste the final product. She had to have some right away.
Hammer time.
Learning the angle of tapping and grooming the next generation.
Even "cousin Eddie" showed up for the day. I love my hick!

How do you celebrate V-Day?

2011-02-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

What says love more than going to a hockey game and watching the action! That's how this family spent Valentine's weekend. The top ranked SUNY Oswego team was upset 5-2 by the Morrisville Mustang's. The game attendance was 2,650+.
Face off of the second period.
Gary and Laura in the crowd. Sunday was the first day in six weeks with a temperature above freezing. We peaked at 43! This prompted us to break the trail to the woods as we start maple syrup season. Won't be long before we start tapping trees.
What better way to mark Valentines Day than with baking. The whole family participated in making strawberry cupcakes. Here is Kelly frosting the cakes with her own special touch of love for decorating. Extra, extra sprinkles.

Winter Weekend 2011

2011-02-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

This weekend was Winter Weekend at Brandy Brook. It is an annual snowmobile fun weekend at Tug Hill. This year we decided to drive the snowmobiles instead of taking the truck and trailer. It was a 230 mile trip for the weekend. A special "Thank You" to Eric and Amanda for keeping the girls while we took this adventure.
Ready to leave from the front yard!
One of the perks of leaving first thing in the morning...
Leaving the first tracks.
We came across this accident around 9 am.
These guys hit a steel deck bridge and the sleds flew about 75' before landing. It appears one hit the other before landing. We came across it shortly after it happened. Both drivers were lucky to be alive and fortunately no injuries. The sleds appear to be totaled.
All trails were flat heading north.
Gary checked the map just once. We had a timeline to meet and didn't want to make a wrong turn.
We did stop for a "quickie", picture that is.
Almost to Lowville, a stop along the windmills.
Sunday morning breakfast. One sausage link short of a full pancake man.
Just because it's camp doesn't mean we don't use a broom.
The gang for Winter Weekend! All the members and the camp dog, Sadie who rides in with the snowmobile.
Sunday after the snow storm that dropped a foot of snow.
Made for a pretty ride home with the snow on the trees. Trails were just as good home.

MLK Weekend

2011-01-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

We spent part of the weekend with our friends at Brandy Brook. Here we have all of the girls playing a game of Bop it. There are 2 of the triplets and Natalie Wendig along with Laura and Kelly. Some inside activities while we take a break from snowmobiling.
This is what we woke up to after the first night at camp. Snow was heavy with over 2 feet of powder in spots from falling the prior day and all night. This lead to some fun later as we broke open some of the trails after being first for the day.Natalie was brave enough to make a trek around the camp to get some pictures. The snow was pretty deep... Next time, snow pants!
The girls unwinding at camp after a day of riding. The heat feels good after being out all day.
Sadie, the camp dog made the 6 mile snowmobile trip into camp by riding on a dog sled in an enclosed box. She was very happy to be a camp and very well behaved. We didn't have one case of missing food while we were gone for the day!
We woke up to a surprise the next morning when we were getting ready to leave. The clouds cleared and it allowed the temperature to drop to -25 F in the morning. The true test of how well your snowmobile will start. Luckily all of them started and everyone made it to the trucks. Good time by all.
This weekend 1/21-22 we continue to be hit with the late effect snow. About 18 inches from all day Friday to Saturday morning. Here we are cleaning out.
There are 3 snowmobiles in this picture, can you find them?
Laura and Kelly doing their part to clean up after the storm.
They found one. Sunday has been an inside day. Temps have been around 9 today so most of our time has been inside. Just a little too cold for too long of a ride with a wind chill around -4. After this weekend, riding conditions should be excellent.

Brutal Ride

2011-01-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

We received a notice from school last week for Laura. As parents there is an initial cringe of "what now?". Only this was a pleasant surprise. Laura was selected as her class role model for the character of empathy. We are proud of Laura!
Laura at her assembly after receiving the certificate from the principal.
Friday night Laura had a friend over. Of course there was dress-up. With that comes little sister trying to play with the big girls. Sunday we ventured out on the sleds for a group ride. Our friends Steve and his son Nick came up from Cortland. The plan was to meet up with another group for lunch. We left our house around 10 and shortly into the trip Gary experienced some mud/water. Laura and I stayed behind with the other sleds. This is as close as I could get with the zoom I had. Just know the seat was a bit muddy when they got it out. They hooked a rope to the front skis and pulled and pulled and pulled.... We eventually made it to Parish 2 hrs later than what was planned. Attempted to dry some while having lunch. Set back to the trail to head home again. 90 miles in total and more of the same water holes along the way. Certainly up there in the top 10 worst rides. Laura and Kelly were truly amazing. They remained positive up until the very end when everyone just wanted to be home again.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

Wow a new year! Before I can start the year I better make a resolution to finish last year. Christmas came in like the snow storm just before. Fast! Then it was over in a blink of an eye. I don't remember it being so fast as a kid.
Kelly posing with a new outfit she got for her bunny from Grammie and Papa.
Laura writing her letter to Santa on Christmas Eve.
Gary helping to prepare the famous sticky buns for Christmas dinner. Look at him with the spirit!
Laura at Grandma Sheila's house with the gingerbread house she made.
After Christmas, the girls got their hair cut. Kelly went for the much shorter, "comfy" look. Which was a compromise to the spiked look she first picked out. Laura added some layers to her hair and had it curled for the day.

Week in Review

2010-12-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

Winter has hit Fulton! I think it snowed all but one day last week. The girls have had 2 snow days and it isn't even the first day of winter yet. With the snow comes one of my favorite things to do. Snowmobiling and looking forward to going to camp.
This year, we decided to trade up the sled I was riding. Not only a trade up in years but brand. Gary has always had Yamaha's, but we found this good deal on a 2005 Ski-Doo. I'll let you know how it rides after our first trip out. We have enjoyed it around the house and will put it to the trails soon.
Christmas time brings one of Gary's favorite things. Taking the family to pick out a tree. He and Laura found their Griswold tree.
Then we later found this perfect tree. It came complete with it's own nest. That sold it for the girls.
It wasn't quite time to decorate the tree. The girls decided to make their wish on the wish-bone while they waited.
While digging out the Christmas decorations, Gary found this treasure. Kelly and Gary attempted to race against each other. It was a little "rusty" after being stored in the attic.
On a snow day last week, I was surprised at work by these carolers. Our daycare had the kids create fun guitars. Then loaded them up and brought them to surprise some of the mom's. It was a hit!
Another picture with the kids and Julia. Julia use to work with me until she left to run her own business. The girls just love her and we are so very lucky to have her.
We ended out the week with Laura's holiday dance recital. Her first number was for ballet. She was beautiful.
Laura and best friend Jessica ready for the finale.
In Kelly news... She is still trying to keep her pants up around that itty-bitty waist she has. She had the idea of tying her sweat pants to a belt to hold them up this day. I thought it was pretty clever of her.

Gingerbread Man

2010-12-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

Some nights are harder than others when it comes to waiting for Gary to get home from work.
I snapped this picture of Kelly waiting one night. She didn't make it long. It was around 6 pm when I found her, sound asleep. It must have been a hard day at school.
Over the weekend, Kelly had a family assignment. To decorate a gingerbread man with whatever we had in the house.
Laura and I helped her with this project. She was quite happy in the end.
We started with the cut out that Kelly colored brown. Added some Christmas wrapping clothes, with a glitter ribbon belt. Laura made a present for him to carry. Kelly stuck on the buttons for eyes, added some sticker buttons for the shirt. Then Kelly cut out a triangle for the hat, glued some glitter and stuck the pom-pom from her hat that fell off earlier in the day to the top. Made the snow (cotton balls) sparkle for him to walk in and..... What a beauty!

Thanksgiving Holiday

2010-12-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving... A time to be thankful and remember those who we love. For the Thanksgiving holiday Gary remembers his Grandmother, Erma, by sharing her sticky bun recipe with the girls. This is the first in many years that he has attempted to make that special recipe. Which by the way didn't turn out half bad.

Grandma Sheila with her pilgrim helper Kelly. Laura giving the high-five in the back.

Making sure all the centerpieces were in place. We had a lovely fresh flower one in the dining room from Gary's aunt in Kentucky.
Gary and Bill (Amanda's Dad) preparing the turkey. The turkey all rested on the family platter. The bird was beautiful, to bad it wasn't quite done for dinner. Thank goodness for the extra turkey breast that was ready to eat.
Amanda and I resting before desert, while Eric goofs on us in the back.
In addition to pie we had birthday cake for our November birthday's. A fabulous creation from Grandma Sheila.
Our birthday girls practicing their princess wave from the castle. The cake was delicious.

The Magic of Disney

2010-11-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

Our first family vacation to Walt Disney World. Gary and I always thought we would take the kids to Disney. We didn't realize how much fun it would be for us.
Our first day there we had lunch with Tigger and friends. Good thing because we were hungry after our early morning flight.
Little did we know, Pooh and friends had a little birthday cake waiting for Laura. She thought that was the greatest.
The girls taking in the sights along Main Street.
Day two, some kind person told us about the fairies being on site. We waited for the opening of the park and the girls had a chance to meet Tinker Bell as well as two other fairies.
Later that night we went to dinner at Chef Mickey's. I found this cute costume this summer just by chance. I picked it up and saved it to give to Kelly before we went to dinner. She thought it was pretty neat to be Minnie Mouse.
Both girls were excited to see Mickey at dinner.
There were many attractions in the parks that had 3-D effects. The kids found it goofy to wear the glasses to the shows.
Gary and I playing tourist at Epcot.
For Laura's birthday we had lunch planned with the princesses. Laura's favorite was Cinderella.
After lunch, Laura found a place that offered face painting.
Our motel room decorated for Laura's birthday. I was able to hang balloons and streamers the night before. It wasn't any problem for the girls to sleep at night.
Family picture at Animal Kingdom. Just before the black bag incident. A word to the wise, never leave a bag unattended at Disney.
An afternoon at the water park, Blizzard Beach. Kelly takes a chance on the ice blocks.
Our last night at Disney, we went to the show Fantasmic. Only 3 of us were able to see the show. Thank goodness for that stroller we picked up before going to Disney. Best purchase ever.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Friday was the day Gary and I spent at school with the girls. Kelly had a "spooky" concert before the school parade. The concert was such a success the local paper featured some of the stars. Can you find Kelly?
Laura, Cinderella, on her way to the ball.
Watch out, here comes Kelly the bear. Roooooaaaar! Our trick or treaters, ready to hit the town. The treat of the night was unveiling the Walt Disney trip to the girls. Aunt Amanda made some really fun "tickets" that the girls would understand. Laura was excited at the idea of going to Disney. Kelly studies her "ticket" to make sure it is real.

Harvesting the Fun

2010-10-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

Once again it has been awhile since I have updated everyone. I'm surprised I haven't had more comments of getting to it. Although, I'm sure there are some who would like to forget some of the events. Maybe the weekend we went to Sixberry. That was a couple weeks ago when we turned the water off and pulled the docks out.
Laura and Kelly playing in the hammock with their cousin Angelina. After the water was off and the docks were pulled, we hooked the boat to Dad's truck and headed back to his house. Only look what happened shortly into the trip!

Nothing else to do but - Drive it home! Not going to hurt this trailer any.

Attempted to take a video of the ride home, after the second tire blew! One ride home that the girls will never forget.
Last weekend we were invited to a Halloween party at a local onion farm. Gary was quite impressed by the collection of tractors. The farm had them all out, cleaned up for winter and on display.
We all enjoyed a hay ride through the muck farm.
Gary and Laura picking their pumpkins out at the party to carve. The barn behind is an onion warehouse. For the party they had onion crates lined up in a maze inside and people volunteered to work a "haunted onion barn". It really was amazing.
Gary and the girls starting to carve their pumpkins. In the upper left of the picture is the start of the bon fire.
Kelly wanted one side carved and the other side painted.
The girls joined the band at the bon fire for a song of "There ain't no bugs on me" They really enjoyed themselves at the party. The night was equipped with trick or treating. A well planned party for all ages. I wasn't able to get any more pictures after this point because I broke my camera.

Birthday, Wedding and the Excitement of Fall

2010-10-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a couple weeks since my last post. Our time has been filled with getting Kelly readjusted to her asthma and keeping up with Laura's homework. In addition to the girls, we celebrated Gary's birthday last weekend.
Here is the yummy cake that Gary's mother put together for him. The ole John Deere truck.
Equipped with the round bale on the back. Another great creation. Thanks Sheila!
Laura surprised Gary with the cake.
Saturday the girls and I took a quick trip to Sixberry. The weather was perfect and I wanted to see the leaves changing. They had just started to change. The colors weren't quite there yet.
This picture doesn't do the lake justice with the trees that had changed. But I assure you the lake is changing. I was in the water for a neighbors boat and it was a bit chilly.
10-10-10 Wedding number 4~ Jason and Jessica Spooner ~ Congrats!!!
Both Jason and Jessica are avid hunters, hence the cake top. Each year it has been a joke as to who will get their first buck.
The groom and I. The reception was held at White Eagle, near his families camp.
Two of my best friends. A great night to celebrate together.
The Clarkson Clan, together again. So fun to see everyone. A true representation of the ratio at Clarkson.

Open House and Wedding #3

2010-09-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

Another week of activity. Outside of everyone in the Hayden house catching this nasty cold that just hangs in there, we managed to tackle the schedule. Monday night was Laura's first night of dance class. There was so much excitement. She has been practicing every night since.
Gary made two deliveries of hay this week to a farm. Kelly went the first night and played with the calves and watched the milk come into the bulk tank. I thought for sure she would kiss the tank. The second night she was ready to go see the "gentle cow" again. She was so excited to go. She was very quick to change into her clothes and put her boots and gloves on. Only she fell asleep on the way over to the farm. This is how she came home. Gloves, boots and all.
Thursday night was our 10th anniversary. We were lucky to spend it with the girls at their school Open House. Laura was being silly posing for her picture in her old classroom.
Kelly and the rest of the Kindergarten classes were singing for the visitors. She was happy to stand with her friend Corey. These two have quite the fun.
Saturday night was wedding number 3 for the summer! This wedding was held at The Manor House. The ceremony was held outside and the sun came out just in time for the night. Gary and I goofing at the table. We are improving with the self-portraits.
Here we are with the happy couple at the end of the night. Such a great couple. We were happy to celebrate their special day with them.
I had Gary take this picture when we got home. My friend Lisa put my hair up for me. I thought she did a great job and it held up well through all the dancing Gary and I did!!

What Kids In The Country Do For Fun

2010-09-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

Friday night fun~ What do kids in the country do for fun?
Take a trip through the sprayer. (no chemicals have ever been used in this tank)
What other way to end a hard week of school? Other than to "cool" off.
Do you think they had any fun?
Sunday afternoon was a day of clean up around the house. Grandma and Rich paid us a visit. The ole stomp rocket came out for some fun. Go Grandma!
Rich was the pro at shooting the rockets over the maple tree.

Visiting with Friends

2010-09-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday was the first day of school where the girls rode the bus together. They were so excited to get on together. Laura was telling Kelly where she would sit and Kelly was telling Laura where SHE would sit. Sister-love!

Last weekend was work weekend for Gary and Brandy Brook. This was the time that all the male members got together at camp and stacked wood, cleared trails and did some camp clean-up. Among re-telling stories that have been told many times before and creating new ones. That left time for the girls and I to visit some old college friends.
Friday night Laura, Kelly and I traveled even further north to Potsdam. My college room mate and her family moved back to NY last year. Here are a picture of all the kids when we got there.
Both Laura and Hanah are taking dance lessons this year. Part of our Saturday was picking out their leotards. The girls were so excited to put them on when we got back to the house.
Hanah and Kelly playing in the backyard.
Goofy girls!
The kids were having a fun game of "What time is it Mrs. Fox?"

First Day of School

2010-09-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

First day of school year 2010-2011!!

Kelly outside her classroom.
A very excited Kelly before going to school.
Laura ready to hit the road for 3rd grade.
Second generation of Hayden's heading to school from Hayden Highway.

Labor Day

2010-09-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend... A weekend to labor, right? Well, not without a little bit of time to play.

The girls had their friend Olivia over Saturday night to hang out. It is wonderful to see the girls build long lasting friendships.
Our neighbors bunkhouse seems to be complete. They started staining the building this weekend and the girls were quick to lend a hand.
The girls stacked some wood as well. Not only for camp fires but a little fire was needed inside this past weekend.
I made mention a couple weeks ago it would be nice to have an extra light over the counter in camp. My wish came true.
After the work was all done, we took the girls on a trail ride. We took this same trail last year and as we rode through we were brushed by some of the trees, etc. Not this year. What a nice trail. Kudos to whoever cleared the way. This use to be an old railroad.
Laura and I giving a thumbs up for the trail.
Kelly had so much fun, she needed to take a little snooze at the end.

Play Dates and Wedding Date

2010-08-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

Fun times for summer vacation this past week. The girls have been asking to have a couple friends over for a play date. This week seemed to be the week to fit it in. I dropped two kids off at daycare and came home with four!
Kelly and her friend Corey wanted to play with Kelly's Hot Wheels. This was after they had the tractors out. No wonder Corey was so excited to come play with Kelly.
Laura and her friend Jessica decided they wanted to paint their nails. Fun to listen to little girls giggle. I think everyone had a good time and know our two slept well that night.
Caught this picture of Kelly on another night playing with the remote control wheeler. I was amazed at her coordination with this thing. I seem to just bang it into everything. I should probably take lessons from her.
Saturday, Gary and I traveled to Rome for our friend Rick's wedding. Here he is with his bride and parents.
Gary and I with Rick. Gary and Rick are long time friends and Rick was one of our groomsmen for our wedding almost ten years ago. It was great to share this day with him and his bride.
The girls stayed with Grandma for the night and even got to go to dinner with Aunt Amanda and Uncle Eric. A true treat for them. They had so many stories to share with us about their dinner. Their favorite was the Happy Birthday song sang to their cousin Kelsey for her 16th birthday in Japanese. We picked the girls up in the morning and this is what we saw first. Kelly had her sleeves rolled up and ready to sweep by 8 am!!! If only we could get her rolling like this every morning. Later in the day we went to the LaVoie's to help with their water line. Kelly didn't wast any time to pick stone and put it in the bucket.
I think she was motivated by the tractor ride after with Papa Clem to dump them.
After the stone picking we headed back home. Laura has really mastered the two wheels this summer and enjoys riding on Grammie and Papa LaVoie's paved driveway.
Gary raking his second cutting Sunday afternoon. This is the middle field to the house. He managed to bale this field Sunday evening. Tonight he raked the far field and hopes to bale the rest tomorrow after work. The weather has been perfect. Just look at that sky!

Vacation Week

2010-08-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

A week of vacation.... What to do? After a trip to the doctor Monday morning with Laura and a couple days of rest we still managed to travel to Water Safari. The girls have been looking forward to this all summer.
A happy Laura at Water Safari.
Kelly with the wiener dog.
The girls and I checking to see if Paul Bunyan grew any since last year.
Kelly remembered her trip on the balloon lift from last year and was excited to do it first when we arrived.
Laura and I taking our turn on the balloon ride.
Kelly thought it would be neat to stuff her sister in the oven.
Kelly and I outside the animal barnyard.
Gary and Laura checking out the goats in the barn.
After our trip to Old Forge we went to Sixberry for a long weekend. Kelly and our neighbor Joe catching frogs. They caught "Emma" which stayed with us for the day. Kelly created a very nice environment for the frog in the bucket.
Saturday we played tourist. Gary and I took the girls into Alex Bay for pizza, ice cream and topping it off with a trip at the go-kart track.
Look at this speed demon. These two were trying to pass Laura and I, but were no match for us.

Celebrations

2010-08-15T17:52:00.001-07:00

A week of celebrations sums it up! The back packs for school were the first to celebrate. It's getting closer.
Kelly with her green bag and lunch bag. So proud and ready to go to Kindergarten.
Even though Laura's back pack was in great shape she had outgrown it for space. She picked out this pretty pink with butterfly. She used her other bag for Kindergarten through 2nd grade. This one should get us to middle school at that rate.
Friday night we celebrated a co-worker's wedding. The girls were very excited to be included for this wedding. An outside wedding on Lake Ontario. The evening was just perfect for it.
The flowers outside our front door have just taken off this summer. Nice to see with the girls.
Gary and his girls.
Laura even took this great picture of Gary and I. Not to often we get a picture of us together.
Laura showing off her hair do.
Saturday morning, Gary taught Kelly the finer points of bleeding the brakes on the truck. All 34 lbs of her pushing!
Saturday afternoon the girls and I traveled to Lowville to my friend Jenn's house. She was hosting a baby shower for her step-daughter and combined it with a summer picnic. Kelly and Lindsey playing on the swing set.
Laura giving her thumbs up in the pool.
Kelly practicing her water safety at the pool.
Sunday I traveled to Sangerfield for my friend Jessica's bridal shower. A fantastic luncheon with friends and family. The groom was spared any embarrassment since he had to travel to Arkansas for business this week.

Catch Up and Camping

2010-08-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

This past week seemed to fly by with appointments, activities and Gary being away that I didn't even get the pictures up from last weekend. The girls and I had a busy week while Gary was in Minneapolis for a business meeting, although the champagne boat cruise and pig roast sounded very interesting for work. Kelly had her 5 year check up with shots for Kindergarten. She now weighs in at 34 pounds and is 43 1/2 inches tall. I can't wait until we hit that 35 pound mark! She needed shots in both arms and one leg. It was a sore appointment, as was the rest of the week. Here are the pictures of what the girls were up to the weekend prior...

Our neighbors at camp are building a bunk house. The girls enjoyed making up all sorts of games in there. From ice cream shop, to weather man, to red light/green light - all avenues were covered.
Laura practicing her toss at ladder ball.
Kelly showing her form. Both girls wanted to practice before the next game with Grandpa.
The girls taking a rest in Grandpa's camper. Kelly fell asleep on the way over to visit.
Ready to go camping with Grandpa!
Kelly and Grandpa in a game of catch.
Last year the girls played hide and seek in the corn field. They enjoyed it so much then, they tried it again this year.

This weekend my friend Mary and I went to the craft fair at the Agricultural Museum in Stone Mills. I remember going when I was little. I saw many familiar faces.
The girls stayed at Mary's house and look what they learned to do. Driving lessons on the golf cart with Beau.
Kelly was really focused on her driving.
Laura wanted to be sure to give me a ride as well. Beau really likes to ride too.
Laura checking the fence. I can't wait for her to tell Gary she can drive his tractor.
The girls found some kittens in the barn!
Laura showing the kitty she wants to bring home. Notice another hole in her bottom layer of teeth! Tooth fairy has been working over time. It's getting harder and harder to eat corn on the cob.

Projects and People

2010-07-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

Our project continued at camp this weekend. Stage two or three, put the bunk beds in the bedroom. Gary reading over the directions. Amazing how bunk beds can fit into such a small box. The box was perfect for a later train on the porch. Fully decorated by the girls.
Laura adding the snap pieces to support the bars of the bed frame.
Sleeping beauties....
Our dear friends the Koster's were visiting from Virginia for the week. Wonderful to see them again. They use to be our neighbors on the lake before selling their cottage 3 years ago. We've known them for 28 years and share many great memories.
Kelly enjoyed some sparklers for the night at the camp fire.
Our laugh of the weekend... We all smelled "dead fish" around the boat. Gary then discovered there was a victim in the back of the boat. Our neighbor, Dr. Joe, was perfect for the job since he has experience with cadavers. He graciously volunteered to fish-kabob it with the marshmallow skewer. We made note that the next camp fire we will bring our own marshmallow cooker!
What would a weekend be without playing in the sand?

Birthday at Sixberry

2010-07-19T19:20:00.001-07:00

This past week I was away in Nashville, TN for a Head Start conference. Unfortunately, Kelly's birthday was the same time. I had promised her a birthday cake at camp to celebrate. This weekend after my trip, with the help from Grandma Sheila we had cake at camp. One happy little 5 year old.
Grandma Sheila with Kelly and the cake.
Another great cake by Grandma Sheila. The apple symbolizes the start of school for Kelly. Once the "bite" was taken out, the cake became a "5".
Our good friends Al and Jean left a gift bag in the door for Kelly to open. She was quite happy with her new markers.
And what else was in the bag? A new flashlight to find her way to the camp fire at night!Sunday was the day to finish up Grandpa's project. What a great idea... have the kids paint a room at camp. After a test of patience for me.Kelly practicing her letters. Laura's wall.A sneak peak to the room before furniture. Nice and fresh.

A Weekend Without the Camera

2010-07-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

The title of this post says it all. Yes, I forgot the camera this weekend. Can you believe it?

It was a fun-filled weekend once again. Saturday morning we left for camp. Not without a stop at the John Deere dealership for parts, though. Gary and Kelly went into the store while Laura and I waited in the car. The sight of the two of them as they came out was priceless. I noticed Kelly had a little hop in her step as she scooted over to sit on a Gator. Once they got back in the car she had some shiny brochures to look at for the rest of the ride.

My friend Becky and her daughter Heather came to visit for the afternoon as well. Everyone enjoyed the warm temps of the lake water. It was refreshing after the warm weather we have had this week. Later Gary started the camp fire. The camp was glowing.

Today we came home for my step-brother's surprise birthday party. The weather was perfect for a picnic. There were water toys for the kids to play with and plenty of tractors for Gary to look at. Two of my step-brother's collect and restore old tractors. The girls enjoyed sitting on the wide variety of them.

Happenings of the 4th

2010-07-06T17:37:00.000-07:00

Where did the weekend go? It went with family and friends. The weekend started off with visits by Greg, Diane and family. They were in town for the weekend from Massachusetts. Greg and Diane arrived Thursday. Mark, Derek and Emily all arrived on Friday. Mark was excited to show Uncle Gary his 4-wheeler. It was funny to hear Mark ask Uncle Gary if he wanted to ride his wheeler after the many years Mark rode his. The excitement at arrival. Ready to ride Whitaker Woods.
Laura and Kelly were just as excited to have Uncle Greg visit. They quickly got him into a round of UNO. Saturday afternoon started with a bbq at Sheila's. Only I forgot my camera. Yikes! We gathered later at our house and Laura took Uncle Greg for a ride. He looked a little nervous with his eyes shut. Kelly taking her turn with Uncle Greg.Sunday took us to Sixberry. The girls were treated to the air mattress that didn't survive the tent the night before. It sure made for a nice raft though. They floated around the lake with our neighbor Joe. Kelly demonstrating you can never be to safe around water. She later added the snorkel with goggles to swim with. What a character.
Cannon ball! Nice air to your jump Laura!
Kelly made it to the raft with a little help from her big sister.
Ever since Laura swam to the raft the first time, I have been taking pictures of her with her fingers and how old she is. I'll have to put them together someday to see how she has changed.
And what would the 4th of July be without baling some hay? While the girls and I were cooling in the lake, Gary was hard at work with the hay.

Almost 4th of July

2010-06-30T19:40:00.001-07:00

Our weekend started off a little rainy. However, it didn't keep the girls and I away from the annual fireworks show in Oriskany Falls. The forecast called for it to clear up later, so we took advantage of the opportunity to connect with old friends.
We arrived at Jason's for a gathering in the garage. My lap is still able to keep both girls on it. If only I could keep them this size.
Fun times with Jason and Diesel. Diesel is a little more smelly this week after getting into it with a skunk. Happy that didn't happen while we were there!
The girls met Diesel's neighbor friends Mac and Daisy. Mac was only 4 months old and at 78 pounds! More than double Kelly's size.
Before the fireworks, we set up the air mattress. Always a hit for the girls. I was happy they didn't ask to sleep in a tent.
Just a little tug of war with the sheets. With some imagination this made for a great fort.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying...Happy Father's Day to all the dads and father-figures. The girls and I took a trip north to Sixberry to celebrate. Gary's wish for the weekend was to have us go to camp. So in honor of Father's Day, we honored his wish.

Saturday night Dad and Arlene came for a camp fire visit. Laura was the s'more maker. There is just something about eating s'mores at camp that make you feel like a kid again.
After a s'more, we took on a "fierce" game of Toy Story Yahtzee.
Laura with her lucky Yahtzee roll. Boy was she excited! It was a close game. In the end, Grandpa still managed to squeak by Laura and Kelly with their tie score.
Remember that wagon last weekend... Well here it is, good as new. Gary's wish was to get the wagon rebuilt with the lumber from last week. Without us around he was able to get it back together again. The girls treated Gary by sealing the wood. All nice hickory straight from Whitaker Woods.
A little help from Dad on the corner. All ready for the next load of hay.

Family Gatherings

2010-06-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

The weekend started out with the question of, will there be a soccer game or not? There were thunder storms on and off around us. Kelly's game was at 9:15, had she had the first game at 8 it would have been cancelled.
We were happy they still played. Kelly is starting to like it. A change since the first game when we couldn't get her off the bench.
Gary, the Boy Scout, was prepared to watch the game in comfort.
Saturday night we hosted a birthday celebration for Gary's mom.
Uncle Eric and Laura playing with the i-touch. We are lucky to have family who are more advanced in technology than we are. I'm not sure how Laura would learn about some of these things. Kelly found a new talent or scent? Happy to have my eye back to normal size! This past week I had some sort of allergic reaction that caused my right eye to swell shut. After a couple trips to the doctor and an ER visit we seem to be back on track. On Sunday, Gary went to pick up his lumber for rebuilding the wagon. He sawed some hickory out of our woods last week and delivered the logs to a neighbor for sawing. These are the left over pieces that will be sent through the evaporator. The truck was loaded with the cut pieces that will be used to rebuild the wagon.
Sunday afternoon Gary's cousin Heather and her family visited from Iowa. Laura and Kelly thought it was great to visit with someone who lived out "west". It wasn't a whole family reunion but we did celebrate the occasion with taking a picture at the family tree.

Water District

2010-06-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

This past month our property has been under construction in preparation of the new water district. In 2005 the water district was extended to the airport. 5 years later they are extending another section which goes through our property.

Gary and the girls check out the hydrant at the end of our driveway, just behind our mailboxes. I think Gary is excited to mow around this...

Or maybe the other two out in the fields. This is facing Rowlee Road. Look at that nice smooth path they left us.

The dozer that was left for us to admire. Gary has been talking about getting a dozer however aside from the toy he got for Christmas this past year, this is as close as he's going to get to having one...

Kelly taking a turn on the dozer.

Laura's turn on the dozer.

Kelly and Laura showing off some of the rocks the crews had to move from the field.
We certainly have some big rocks if anyone is in need of them.
While we were walking in the field, we noticed these strawberry plants. I don't think I've ever noticed these.

Fishing and Castles

2010-06-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend had only a small window of opportunity for some nice weather. I was teetering on whether or not to go to Sixberry. When we put it up for a vote it was obvious when Laura and Kelly raised their arms so high, we had to go!
Laura has inherited the Stanton fishing genes. She loves to fish off the docks. The only thing is she tends to follow in my footsteps of not liking the worm or the fish, just the catch. Thank goodness for friendly neighbors who would bait her hook as long as she liked.
Kelly has taken a liking to swimming a little more this year. The extra security of the tube helps her get to the raft. My bet is that the tube will be gone before the end of summer and she'll be on her own.
Kelly also seemed to like the fishing. She and Al caught this nice little bass and released it on the beach. All fish were for catch and release only.
Laura enjoyed some time in the sand. When we left this morning the castles were still holding during the rain storm that was passing through.

Yard Work and more

2010-05-31T17:39:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to realize how hard it is to update this blog. I must admit when I first started I was much better at updating it with the latest happenings. So I will do my best to cover the last couple of weeks.

About two weeks ago I took the truck and picked up the mulch for the house. We decided to refresh the areas that were around the house as well as the front tree. At the front of the house we had these two bushes that the deer really seemed to enjoy. Only over time they have gotten worse. Gary tried at one point to "reshape" them with the chain saw. This is the smaller of the two. Lucky for us to have the tractor and chain.

This past weekend Audrey came to visit. The girls were having so much fun, Clem and Marilyn decided to come up to camp and visit. This way the girls were able to hang out in the hammock and swim. Audrey lives in Binghamton and we get to see her when she visits Grammie and Papa.

We came home from camp to bale hay. The girls even got in on the action. They enjoyed the ride to the field on the wagon.
Gary and his prize load, before the top bales decided to jump off. The wagon will need a slight repair before the next load.
The wagon didn't fair so well when the bales toppled off. There seems to be a weak spot.

Niagara Falls and more

2010-05-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

It always seems to amaze me how quickly time goes by. It feels like it wasn't that long ago that the kids had spring break. Only the calendar says something different. Gary and I decided to take a mini-vacation with the girls. Our first stop was in Rochester. We visited the Strong Museum. Both of the girls enjoyed the Berenstain Bears exhibit as well as the Lego Castle. Another hit was the miniature Wegman's, where they had their own shopping cart for purchases. At the end there was a self-check out and they got their own receipt for shopping.
After Rochester, we headed over to Niagara Falls for the night.
Gary and Laura took their own trip over the falls.....
It was a little chilly at the falls, but the crowds were very light. A perfect time for us to go. We finished out our mini-vacation back home with a trip to the MOST followed by dinner at Chuck E Cheese. Tonight I was blessed with two clean little girls for Mother's Day. I'm thinking there can't be anything better than that. Unless you consider a freshly painted kitchen with flowers from your family a special treat for Mother's Day. Which I do! Gary and Laura brought me these flowers. My favorite! Daisy's and pink roses. I'm a lucky mom.

The Strip Show

2010-04-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the day! For the wallpaper strip show.... We determined the paper had been up 20+ years. It was evident as we started to take things off the wall and could see the fading. Gary made himself scarce and the Hayden women/girls took over. I rented a steamer from the paint store. We quickly found it was well worth it.

The before......
Kelly took her post at this wall/section and was serious about her work.
Laura and Grandma joined forces to tackle this wall. Laura quickly found herself being the gopher girl. Which was a huge help.
Look at the piece she took off! How about that space she has in her teeth now?! Precious.
Under the wallpaper was a cartoon. This was put on the wall by a fireman who visited at one point. The reference of "Here Cinder!" is to Gary's dog he had when he was a child. I couldn't get this pic to rotate, sorry.
Here I am, working that steamer. Highly reccomend it if you have any stripping to do. Lucky for me it was a small area we were working with and I had lots of help.
Kelly and Aunt Amanda were also a team, at least when Kelly wasn't taking care of Jenny.
And after.... Thanks for the help ladies!

The Clean Up and Dump Truck

2010-03-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Oddly enough this weekend was Maple Weekend around NYS. For us, it was clean up weekend. This has been a very different year for maple syrup here. It was by far our worst year for production. The weather warmed up too quickly and the sap just was not in the buckets. Gary pulled the taps last weekend, making it the shortest season ever. The evaporator was only fired 4 times.
Just some of the taps drying on the back porch after being washed up for the season.
The front yard becomes the "washing" yard. In the center are the ice chunks that Laura dumped out before we could wash them.
Gary always seems to come home with these "great" finds. Look what he brought home today. Last fall he told me he found this dump truck and thought it would work great around the house. This weekend when Dad was visiting the two of them went and dragged it home.
The girls could not hold back their excitement.
Who needs a doll house when you can have a cab to a dump truck to play in????

New Squirt Hole

2010-03-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

Look who has a new hole to squirt water through! Laura finally lost her top tooth. That tooth has just been hanging there. I thought we would have lost it on Friday when she came to me and her mouth was bleeding. I encouraged her to take it out, but it just wasn't ready yet. So.... while we were playing Monopoly Saturday night, it dropped right into her hands! Excitement! She quickly put it in a Ziploc for the tooth fairy. That tooth fairy came and took the tooth, leaving here with $1. Now we are just waiting for that wiggler next to it to come out.

Collection Day

2010-03-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the first collection day for maple sap. The crew gathered in the afternoon and headed out to the woods.
When Gary was a kid he enjoyed driving the tractor. He still enjoys driving the tractor, but look at the new recruit he has. Kelly takes on the wheel.
Laura found a full bucket of sap. There were many buckets that looked like this.
The collection crew. Dominique, Laura, Matt and Joe.
Laura and Matt working on their teamwork to empty some of the full buckets.
This bucket did NOT make it into the tank.
Not good. I think he found a hole.
Case to the rescue! First time playing in the mud after it's paint job.
Wagon hooked.
Wagon NOT hooked.... In the effort of pulling the wagon out, it came unhooked with about 1,400 lbs of sap. We used the draw bar on the tractor to lift the weight of the wagon out of the mud to hook back on and pull out.

'Twas the Days Before Syrup

2010-03-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

The buckets were hung by the maples with care, with visions the sap would soon be there!!
The tapping has begun. Sunday we tapped part of the woods after clearing out the trails once again from the snow storm.
This is the road going into the woods. It won't be long before the creek overflows the road in the thaw. Always good for crossing over the running water with a load of sap to haul up to the house.
Because of the fresh snow, we hooked the dogsled to the snowmobile to haul the taps around. Kelly held onto the bucket with Matt on the back.
And then there was the snow storm we experienced Thursday to Friday. It left us with about 14" of fresh, heavy, wet snow. No challenge for the Deere though. Gary cleared the driveway twice during the storm.
This was Thursday morning. The calm before the storm...

Birthday and Sap Prep

2010-02-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend we were home. Eric and Amanda came over for dinner Saturday night and we celebrated my birthday. It's always fun when they come over. The girls were especially excited because they brought Jenny, the dog, with them.
Amanda and I enjoying our wine together. (Thanks Laura for taking our pic!)
A sampling we had with our pork loin dinner. And no we didn't consume all three bottles at one setting.
Today we started preparations for syrup season. First thing we had to do was move equipment around. The four-wheeler needed a little "jump" start after resting for the winter months.
Then we headed to the woods to start breaking trails. The weatherman predicted warmer temps for today. I wasn't really feeling them as we went through the woods.
As Gary broke open the trails I followed with the sled. The girls and I packed down the high spots.
Finished trail. The trees to the left will be lined with buckets next weekend.
Gary and Joe setting out buckets that will be hung next weekend. (Doesn't the tractor look nice back in operation?)
Kelly found her tree to place her buckets. (side note... all the fresh air had Kelly asleep by 6:10 tonight) If the weather cooperates next weekend, we're going to tap.

Winter on Tug Hill

2010-02-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't been the best at updating lately. Our winter seems to be going by quickly. We have tried to take advantage of the snow, while we still have it, spending it at Brandy Brook. Here are some of the pictures that we have taken over our last few weekends at camp.
At Flat Rock, these golden retrievers seem to own the place. You are greeted both outside and inside by the many that run around. They are quite friendly.
Must be this group had a long day of greeting.
Laura and Kelly sharing some of their excitement they have for Brandy Brook.
The girls thought it would be cool to climb up to the top bunk that Gary stays in. The four of us stay in one of the rooms together. Gary and I take the top bunks and the girls stay on the bottom.
The majority of the trails are groomed to ride on. However, there are times when Gary feels adventurous and takes us on a "short cut". It's in there some where! Sled to the left didn't quite make it up the hill. The guys had to lend a hand to it.
At the top of the hill Gary had to saw a tree out of the way. Here he is sharing the experience with the girls.
Laura had enough and was looking for some snacks.
This past weekend was Valentine's Day. The girls and I tried to make cookies for the guys at camp. Only the oven didn't quite work for us. The bottom cooked quickly and left the tops not so done. I give the guys at camp credit though. They saw how important it was to the girls and tried them anyways.
At camp there is no power or plumbing. Except when Gary chops a hole in the ice and pumps water up to the camp. There is a 55 gallon drum in the upstairs of camp that holds water for washing. Most of the time we just melt snow on the wood stove. This weekend it was a treat to have "running" water. I also found it interesting to watch Gary, who is a second generation member, show some of the third generation boys how it was done.
Some of our friends that enjoy camp with us. Father/son/daughter moment. Laura handles it well being the only girl at camp.
Parking at camp can be interesting at times. This time we thought it would be fun to line them up at the front of camp. Just for something different to do. You find the simple things are fun at camp.

MLK Holiday and Sledding Fun

2010-01-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was a long weekend for the kids because of the holiday. We decided to go back to Brandy Brook for the weekend. There were other families in camp and in total we had 19 people over the course of the weekend. Always a fun time when we visit.

This is a picture of us at the Gorge. One of my favorite spots to stop at. I think I may have a picture each year of us on this rock. Maybe even 10 years ago when Gary and I started riding together. Seems like a long time when I think about it, but still a favorite for me.
We rode to Barnes Corners for lunch on Sunday and stopped at Tugger's. They hadn't opened just yet for business. Our friend Natalie offered to stay with the girls while we went to gas up the sleds. When we came back they had made this nice snowman for the restaurant. Lucky for me I caught it in mid-fall for the photo op.

This weekend we are having some down time at home. Taking in some of the nice weather here. Grandpa came for a visit this morning. Laura and he decided to have some sledding fun.
After Laura showed Grandpa how to use the tube, they were off!It didn't take them long to compete how far they could go with each other. This was the hill by the barn. After some practice trips, we took them down to the garden hill to see who could master that one.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from Tug Hill! How do the Hayden's start the new year? Go camping! New Year's Day we headed to Brandy Brook to spend the weekend. It was snowing lightly and the girls were full of excitement. The first snowmobile trip of the season.
Camp all ready for visitors. There were 10 of us in camp for the weekend. Which was helpful when you have 3 fires to keep going.
Just some of the wood we use on the fire at camp. Each morning we "throw wood" to restock the box before leaving for the day.
A family shot in front of the fire place, aka Tug Hill TV.
Laura finding an icicle around camp.
Kelly had to have one too.
One of the many traditions at camp is to "open" the pond. Gary always seems to be the first one on the pond. He makes trails on the pond and then the kids follow them for entertainment.
Kelly and Laura play with Kelsey in the snow. Kelsey was their friend who reached the icicles. Kelsey started coming to Brandy Brook when she was Laura's age. Now she is 14 and still enjoys it.
We stopped by Flat Rock to warm up. These are just some of the sleds in the parking lot. The windmill in the background was not running but the many others on the hill were.
Laura wanted to try out a Ski-Doo.
Kelly was not happy about having to go home.
Driving home in the snow at 80 miles/hour. Well not really. Something happened to my speedometer. Project for this week.
It actually warmed up as we were coming home. It was -6 at camp and when we came off the hill we hit +6. What a regular heat wave.
Just some of the snow we had at home. It was a good thing Gary put the car and truck in the garage before we left. Snow totals as of tonight are 54". Fulton continues to make national news. Last time we had this much snow at one time was 2004.

Christmas in the North Country

2009-12-28T04:55:00.000-08:00

Sunday was our northern family Christmas. The head count was just around 30 and we had planned a ham with scalloped potatoes dinner. Brenda came home from Virginia and stayed with Dad. They worked hard on Saturday peeling and slicing potatoes. Then got up early Sunday morning to get them in the oven in time for dinner. I got a call on my way north that I might just want to stop and pick up some oven cleaner....
This is what I saw when I first got there. Not to bad of a spill.
Only the steam coming out of the oven, really wasn't just steam. It was smoke from the flames! This is after the oven cooled off. What a memory! It took 3 of us to clean it up and surprisingly doesn't look all that bad now. Wonder when Dad will cook again??
Ayla and Kelly sharing some hugs.
Laura next to Grandpa's tree. I can't get over how much of a little lady she is turning into.
Kelly wanted her picture taken with Uncle Alan and Aunt Brenda. It's nice that they were able to visit all the way from Virginia, as Laura tells.
Spending some time with my Dad. I must get my good looks from him.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T10:55:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas~ I thought I would do a Christmas wrap-up on some of the festivities. It was an enjoyable day all around. We started off with dinner at our house Christmas Eve followed by the traditional candle light service at church. Christmas morning was celebrated by having Grandma Sheila & Rich and Grandpa joining us. Then ending the day with dinner at Grandma Sheila's with the family. What a great way to spend Christmas. Passing some time after church on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa.
Santa came!
Laura asked Santa for a Nintendo DS. She was very excited when she found Santa left her one.
Kelly and I trying to get all those tiny pieces out of the Barbie package.
Working hard at unwrapping.
I put a new trash can on my wish list this year. I was surprised with a "touchless" can. Whoever thought throwing trash away could be so much fun.
Laura's Barbie had the option of tattoo's. Grandpa was the test subject. After he showed them it didn't hurt they were all in for it.
All the excitement of the day made Kelly tired before even getting to dinner. Notice the tattoo on Laura's head.
Gary with his mother.
While getting Christmas decorations out this year we found Grandma's dollhouse she played with when she was a little girl. It has found a new spot at Grandma's house for the girls. For more pictures from dinner check out Amanda's blog. There is a nice gallery of pictures from our evening at Grandma's house.

Now That's a Tree!

2009-12-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went to Gary's office party. It was held at Tug Hill Vineyards in Lowville. We visited this summer for some "wine-down" time. The place sits on a hill overlooking the farm lands of the area. Some people might think it is unusual to see a vineyard in cow country. It really was a treat! I wanted to show you the size of this tree. Yes, it was a real tree brought in through the front door. It was decorated with white lights, gold balls and stars. They started at 11 am and were entertaining by 4 pm with this tree. A very pretty tree in person. This is the fireplace in the middle of the dining area. Our table was fortunate to be next to it. When I walked in my car thermometer said -1. It was colder when we left!
Grandma Sheila kept the girls for us while we were at the Christmas party. A great big "Thanks" for that time. We managed to finish up those last minute Christmas jobs Saturday morning before they came home. And look what they brought home with them! Baking with Grandma is always fun.
Laura and I set up the Christmas village when she came home. We decided to put it on top of the television this year. Can you find the John Deere tractor that was added this year?

O' Christmas Tree

2009-12-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

The Christmas festivities have been flowing at our house. This past weekend we made another batch of caramel corn. Or should I say double batch when we realized we popped to much popcorn.
Gary took over the roll of stirring while I got the rest of the ingredients ready.
Only, what happens when you run out of Karo syrup?? You call the Grandma baking crisis hot line and substitute with maple syrup. It didn't make a difference. We were 1/3 cup short. Maybe if we needed more it might have.
Sunday was our day to get the tree. Just had to do a little housework before we could go. Not only does she shovel, she mops and folds laundry too. Voluntarily to boot!
Looking for that perfect tree....
Found it!
Not liking the selection of the tree.
While Gary took care of our tree the girls and I fed the deer some apples. Then we went inside to have some hot chocolate before we came home. It was raining and felt good to warm up.
Hauling the tree in for set up.
Ready to decorate the tree. Well maybe, do you think she is still upset over the selection of the tree?
Laura had no trouble hanging ornaments.
Grandma Sheila brought some Christmas cheer with her.
A family tradition is to have Gary's grandmother, Erma, dancing tree out for Christmas. This tree is motion activated and sings different holiday verses.
Monday morning the girls opened an early Christmas present from our friends at Sixberry. It's hard to see in the picture but they each had Christmas hair ponies to wear. Kelly had Santa's and Laura had festive pom-poms. Very cute.
This is a picture of luck being on our side. Monday night Gary came home to find the kitchen light dropped from the ceiling. When he took it apart he found that the ballast had started to melt in the light. This is after I cleaned out the light cover, but you can see where the melting took place. There was a thick layer of plastic that I chiseled out. This happened after our leaking roof this weekend. They say things happen in three's. Waiting for the third to happen.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

2009-12-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to look like Christmas.... with the addition of some snow. We had some happy girls Sunday morning when they woke up to this. Kelly found herself amused by shoveling snow. She cleared the sidewalk then put it back in the sidewalk. We are very lucky to have such a shoveler. Wonder how she will be with that in a month.

After all that shoveling Kelly needed a little ride to rest. Can you see the smile on her face?
While Gary and Kelly were playing outside, Laura and I were working on her family snowman project for school. Laura loves to be creative.
Our finished project that will be hung at school. Complete with a glitter hat, mittens and buckle. Two chocolate chip eyes, a candy corn nose and three jingle bell buttons.

Laura was recognized this month for being the Outstanding Student of her class. This is an award that recognizes students for being "On-A-Roll" for academic or social achievement. You can see her with other students and the principal in the December newsletter.
Tuesday night was more fun in the snow. We couldn't get home quick enough for making snow angels. And taking a ride of course.

Turkey and Travels

2009-11-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I know we sure did. We started the holiday at Eric and Amanda's house for a great turkey feast on Thanksgiving Day. Gary of course took the famous Hayden platter. Here Gary is showing Bill, Amanda's Dad, how to operate the contraption. Looks like Bill might have the idea on how to hook up the bird.
Ta-Da! Ready for the feast. And a fine feast it was. Thanks to Eric and Amanda for hosting such a wonderful dinner.

On Friday, the girls and I headed north for a two day tour to visit friends and family. We started out at our friend Mary's house for some holiday baking. Yes I do bake on occasion, and when it can be done with friends that is a bonus. Mary invited us along with her 3 sisters, her mother and a whole bunch of cousins. There were to many to count.
Here is a sampling of the counter. Some White Trash chex mix followed by some yummy chocolate noodle thing cookie. Kelly was making a cookie that had a snickers stuck in the middle with Mary's mom. I think she was just eyeing the candy bar in the finished product.
Kelly and Laura with Morgan decorating some sugar cookies.
Kelly was doing a one for the ginger bread man, one for me approach here.
Cutting out more cookies to bake.
After our baking visit, we headed down the road to Dad's house for the night. Enjoyed pizza and some of those freshly baked cookies for dessert. We finished up the night with a couple games of Uno. We didn't keep score but I think I was pretty lucky for the night.
Saturday morning we were up and ready to go for our next holiday dinner. This dinner was hosted in Herkimer.
Laura found one of Ayla's dolls that she liked to play with while we were there.
Last visit for the weekend landed us at Jason and Jessica's for the night in Oriskany Falls. One of the treats of the weekend was the air mattress. Who would have thought an air mattress could be so much fun. Laura slept on one at Grandpa's house and thought it was the coolest thing. This air mattress was a little bigger and both girls could sleep on it. Although they are sisters and tend to pick at each other.
Finishing out the visit with a ball game. Nice weather all around for the visits.

Happy Turkey Week

2009-11-23T18:24:00.000-08:00

I've been a little slow at updating the blog this week. Last week had something happening just about every night. Between my Zumba class, parent meeting and parent conference nights, the week just flew by.

Both girls had amazing reports from their teachers. It made us very proud to hear that they really do listen at school. How many times do others wonder that same thing?

Friday I had the day off and took the girls to the doctor. Laura was for a physical and Kelly was a follow up appointment. The news of the trip was, Laura grew 3+ inches in one year. That surely explained all the nights she said her legs hurt.

After our appointment at the doctor's I went on a curtain hunt again. I can't remember if I mentioned earlier, the pattern I selected for the kitchen was no longer available. Just my luck. So back to the samples I went. Some were just so bold I could not picture them anywhere. I think the girl that was helping could tell she was not getting far with those patterns. She started to bring me samples and would say "this is a nice conservative print". I have always been told I am an easy read.

As for the weekend , we hosted a November birthday party for Laura and her Auntie Amanda. It is nice that we can share birthday months. For pictures of the evening check out Amanda's blog.

Barbie Birthday

2009-11-14T17:41:00.000-08:00

The birthday continues with a Barbie cake made by Grandma Sheila. I think Laura was pleased with the cake selection.

A chocolate cake was requested.

Laura decided to have a couple friends over for the afternoon. We took them to the movies and saw A Christmas Carol. Good movie but probably a little scary for the kids. All the girls liked it but there were times I had to keep checking them. Afterwards, we came home for pizza and cake.
What a great time playing dress up. It is always fun to have a little sister that wants to play with the big girls, isn't it?

By the way, if you thought you were seeing double you are right. Laura's friends are identical twins. Lucky for me their mom didn't dress them alike today. If it weren't for the outfits I can't tell them apart. Should be some interesting years ahead.

Happy Birthday Laura!

2009-11-12T09:58:00.000-08:00

Happy 7th Birthday Laura! It is amazing how fast our children grow. I never knew the meaning of that statement until I had my own. I thought it would be nice to see how Laura has grown up. I skipped the newborn pictures and went to her first Christmas at 1 month old. Happy 1st, shared with Audrey Howell. Rocking horse cake made by Grammie.
Happy 2nd. Merry-go-round cake by Grandma Sheila.
Happy 3rd. The Dora year by Grandma Sheila.
Happy 4th. First year of school, UPK. The bus also made by Grandma Sheila. Happy 5th, a pizza party and snowmobile cake by Grandma Sheila. Happy 6th, Mom made a cake this year. Stay tuned for the 7th!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

Trick or Treat ~ Our beautiful Belle ready to hit the road.
Followed by the Witch who didn't want her photo taken. She was ready to go. Cut loose.... More like her.

Trick or treating at Grammie and Papa's house. The costume creator.
Checking out all the goodies at Grandma Sheila's.
Now how much can I take??

Halloween Sneak Peak

2009-10-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween Eve! Thought I would do a sneak peak blog tonight with some pumpkin carvings from last weekend. Both girls carved their pumpkins. Laura was the precise carver. Kelly was the get in and get dirty carver.
Laura's creation.
The great pumpkin carvers.
To much carving for one little girl. But not until she had all her "friends" tucked in for the night with her blankie. When we checked on her, we weren't quite sure where she was.
Here is a sneak peak into Laura's costume. Today at the Halloween parade. Another beautiful creation by Grammie. Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Kelly will be a witch.

Pumpkin Walk

2009-10-24T17:06:00.001-07:00

Thursday night Rich took the girls and I to Beaver Lake for the annual pumpkin walk. It was a warm night with light rain. Not enough to slow us down. There were two .3 mile trails that we took. Everyone had fun guessing what the carvings were.

Laura liked the Yankees carving. Not sure why when no one in our house watches or even follows baseball. Must be the influence of Rich.

A close up for all those Yankee fans.
Kelly on the other hand just liked the World Series carving. Some of my favorites were the butterfly carvings and the traditional scary cats.

When I was downloading my pictures, I found that Gary and the girls were playing with my camera this week. Aren't they a funny bunch?

This morning Kelly was playing "circle time" with her friends. Circle time is how school starts for her. I found it interesting that she had her friends bring a tractor with them for the day. Who said girls couldn't play with dolls and tractors? Even the red old International finds its way to circle time with the rest of the John Deere tractors.

Nothing Hauls Like a Deere

2009-10-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

A perfect fall day to work on the wood supply for next year. Here is a snapshot of how we get our wood for the year. Missed the cutting down stage, but just picture the kids and I standing back out of the way and them yelling "TIMBER". Then if you look closely you can see Laura, in yellow, and Kelly, at the door, both in the cab while they hook on and haul it out.
Dragging it back to the house.
Adding it to the rest. Getting a start on next years pile.

Cleaning up. S'mores anyone?

Wait, is that this year's Christmas tree?

Apple Picking

2009-10-16T16:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Kelly's first field trip at Universal Pre-K. The class went apple picking at Behling Orchards in Mexico. This trip was rescheduled from the original one that was rained out. We had nice weather for this trip. It was a little on the cool side but we were prepared with layers. There were 14 excited four year olds on this trip. Kelly and her prize apple. She was serious about her picking.
When it came time for a class picture, Kelly wasn't liking the idea. The little boy behind her in the black coat has taken quite a liking to her. I caught them holding hands across the aisle on the bus trip back to school.

I was a lucky mom to spend some time on this trip.

Fall Frolics

2009-10-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful start to the long weekend. I took this picture Saturday morning. These maples were at their peak and the leaves were saved in the windstorm last week.
Another sign of fall is the closing of Sixberry. It was cold there on Sunday when we turned the water off and pulled the dock.

Dan and Gary hauled the dock out. It went much easier after Gary remembered he hadn't pulled the anchor off the end.

Gary and Al pulled the raft in for one last time. Then we helped Al and Jean pull their dock.

Well the intent was to pull their dock. Only the wind caught it and took it down the lake. Which proved to be an interesting adventure.
Good thing Al's son, Tony, came along to join in the fun. It was a joint effort with the motor and oars.

Once they managed to get the dock back to shore we attempted to drag it on the beach. We hooked my Envoy to it but there wasn't enough power in towing it. Dan took over with his truck. He managed to pull it up further and we anchored it down with the boat. It provided some good times and laughter.

In other news of the weekend.... I visited the Fabric Mill and chose a print for curtains in the kitchen. Maybe now I can chose a color for paint. I'll share the print later once I have more information on how long it will take before they are ready.

While I was selecting a fabric, Gary and the girls were delivering round hay bales. They started out with the first load and didn't quite make it to the farm. The wagon had a flat tire. For the girls, they thought it was a great adventure. For Gary it meant changing a tire with a load of hay on along side the road. I should have sent the camera with him.

Happy Birthday Gary (Alex too)

2009-10-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Birthday to Gary! His actual birthday was Monday and we celebrated this past Sunday with a dinner for him and our nephew Alex. Alex turned 13 today. Hello teen years! Gary is a few away from those years.

Gary dreams of having a bulldozer. Except the only dozer I see is the one he had for a birthday cake. Another creation by his mom, amazing and yummy.

Eric, Gary's brother, pretending he knows how to drive the tractor. I like the camera around the neck.

Amanda, our sister-in-law gone country.
Happiness is hay bales. See more of the fun from Amanda's blog. http://thehaydenhouse.blogspot.com/2009/10/party-in-country.html
Saturday night, Noelle came for a visit. We spent some time shopping and catching up. It was so nice to see Noelle and now that she is back in New York, we hope to see each other more.
Last week was just an all around busy week. I managed to snap one picture of the girls during Kelly's Open House at school. Gary was away for a conference in Jersey City and we were down a refrigerator. It was a treat for the girls to eat out.

Day Trip to Tug Hill

2009-09-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was spent between both Sixberry and Brandy Brook. Saturday Laura and I headed north to check on Sixberry and have dinner with Grandpa. We had a nice treat on our way to Sixberry. Grandpa called us and said the guys were chopping corn near the road. Our first stop took us to the farm and there we watched the trucks back into the bunk and unload the corn. After the trucks dumped, two John Deere pack tractors came right in and started piling it higher. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home on Saturday. There would have been some great pictures. It was a perfect day for chopping. We followed Grandpa back to the field after he unloaded. Lucky for Laura, we parked at the road to watch and the farm had a pet donkey. Laura liked watching it and making fun of it's noises.

Sunday took us to Tug Hill. Last weekend Gary was there for work weekend where they repaired the roof. Only the weather wasn't so cooperative on Sunday of last week. A few of the guys were able to head up there this weekend and finish up the job.

Labor Day weekend some of the other members stacked the wood for winter. The shed is full with some extra stacked outside. Won't take long to tackle the pile. We had a small fire when we first arrived to take the chill off inside. I caught this sunny pic of the girls heading down to the pond... Don't they look like they have been caught?
The girls walking on the bridge.
We have a similar picture of the girls next to the chimney in the winter time. It was different to have one without the snow. They each had a lollipop that the cook gave them from the Grist Mill where we had breakfast in the morning.
Kelly doing some wood detail. Hauling wood in her bucket from the shed.
A couple of the guys taking care of some yard work. This chunk was to much for them. So....
Gary hooked onto it and dragged it away with his wheeler. (Greg maybe you could try this with your new wheeler).
Another project, was the railing on the back side of camp. After ripping off the old, a new one was made. Yes with the chain saw. When a hand saw is not available, it is important to improvise. It turned out nice and fit in with the rest of camp.
A nice tailgate lunch of peanut butter and sisters who love each other. At least for the moment.
So much to do at camp and still time to sneak in a nap. Works every time!

Golden Harvest Festival

2009-09-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Golden Harvest Festival at Beaver Lake Nature Center. The girls have been to Beaver Lake before to enjoy the trails and wildlife. However this time they had some added treats. First stop when we got there was to visit the goats. It was perfect timing because this one was brought out for milking. The girls were able to get up close and pet her.
After a little walking around, we found the famous donut and cider booth. Perfect time to take a break.
Grandma was able to join us for the afternoon.
And we all took a wagon ride through the woods by Prince and Don. Kelly was fascinated by these horses. I think it was the size of them.
We found some games to enjoy.

After an afternoon of playing, Rich had a good idea to make pizza. Grandma showed the girls how to stretch the dough.
Kelly made a cheese pizza and Laura made a white garlic pizza. Both were very yummy.

Second Grade Star

2009-09-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Our Laura is ready and heading off for second grade. She was bubbling with excitement and couldn't wait to get to the end of the driveway to meet the bus. This year she will be getting on the bus at home and off at daycare. It's a big deal. Ready to take that trip up the driveway...
We had some time to spare at the end of the driveway so we got some extra pictures. I figure we should enjoy it while we can. Some day she won't want her picture taken. At least that is what I am told from others whose children are older.
Still okay to stand with mom and dad. Well, when no one else is looking.
A nice picture of Gary and Laura in front of the pines.
And she's off! 23 students in her class was the report tonight.

Labor Day Laughs

2009-09-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend came and went with more fun for the girls. We started on Saturday with the idea of doing some 4-wheeling. When we told the girls of the idea they couldn't wait. Our trip took us to some other Indian River lakes in the area around Sixberry. The first stop was at Lake of the Woods and the second stop was at Grass Lake. Here is a picture of the girls on the road. This is at the county line of Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties. Gary and the girls taking a little rest.
Gary took this picture of us. Hmmm, are we for sale?
Sunday was another cookout for family. It was a great weather day. My brother brought his jet ski for the day. Everyone enjoyed it. Even Dad who took it for a spin. But not before he broke out his rubber boots to ride!
My niece, Angelina, building her sand castle.
Our great white frog hunter.... This kept her occupied for hours.
I realized this whole summer I hadn't taken a picture of camp. Here's our quiet place tucked away. Very peaceful.
Another chance for the girls to practice their driving.
Laura liked going in circles. However, Gary told her if she kept going in circles it would create a toilet bowl and Sixberry would be flushed away. It didn't help that the neighbors went along with that theory.
Back at the dock, enjoying the nice weather and making sure the bumpers are just right.
What would camp be without a good hearty breakfast? I love this griddle at camp. Perfect size for a camp breakfast. You can smell breakfast cooking along the lake in the morning when the air is still.
Fire? Yes, fire. It is starting to cool off and we needed to warm up Labor Day morning. It didn't take long and it felt good.

Pre Kindergarten Orientation

2009-09-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

Today was Kelly's first day at Pre-K. Well it wasn't a full day for her but an orientation to the classroom. Mornings are usually slow going for Kelly. Not today. She was ready to go by 8 am, no prodding needed. I caught these pics as she was getting ready to head to town with Daddy. I met up with them a little bit later for the event. All went well!
Sporting that "Stanton Stance"...
Four years old and ready to take on the world. If only I could capture half of her energy.

Boating and Berries

2009-08-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

Another week gone by, which means another week of summer is gone. Not that there has been much of summer weather this year. But we are still enjoying our time on Sixberry. This weekend was a little cooler with some showers. It didn't stop some boaters though. Here is the captain and his crew. (aka Grandpa and the girls) The girls are learning quickly to be ready at the dock with their ropes. After a ride around the lake, we tested some wallpaper on one of the camp walls. Earlier this summer we put new sheet rock on another wall that had some water damage. That wall needs to be painted. We tested the wallpaper wall to see how stuck it really was. The girls learned quickly how to give it a tug.
The stripped wall after some rough sanding. Ready for a coat of paint. I think I found 4 different styles of paper. I remember the old green that we had at the camp when Mom and Dad bought the place 27 years ago. Mom quickly changed that to some floral print and the last was put up in 1994. Guess it's time for a change.
One of the fun things I remember as a kid at Sixberry, are the blackberries. This weekend was prime picking. The hill was covered with them. More than I ever remember. My summer sister, Cristina, and I would pick these and eat them before we could get them back to our camps. Grandpa and the girls each had a cup to fill.
Kelly took her berry picking very seriously. I think she stripped this whole vine before moving onto the next.

Singer Castle, Dark Island

2009-08-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated my niece Kelsey's 15th birthday. We went for a family celebration at my brother-in-law's house. We were treated to some nice chicken kabob's among some other favorites. Not to mention the wine. Although, when one is not feeling well please take note not to mix cold medicine, allergy medicine and wine all in the same day. I must say I was a little bit in a fog. Well at least I'm feeling better now and it provided a few laughs for some.

Sunday we spent the day playing tourists. Gary has wanted to visit Singer Castle all summer. There is a shuttle that takes off at Schermerhorn Landing which was a nice way to travel since the other method was to go into Alex Bay and take the full tour. I didn't think the girls would last that long. A special treat for the girls was Grandpa had been there a few years ago so he knew all the secret passages. You could see where the passages were, but were closed off so that people couldn't pass through them. Still very interesting. You can read more about the castle here http://www.singercastle.com/start.html

The outside of the castle from the look out point. Walking the hill was the equivalent of 4 flights of stairs. Oh and did I mention it was raining when we got there? It cleared up enough after that we could take this picture as we were leaving.
Gary and Laura met a new friend while they were visiting the castle.
The girls and I at the look out point on the grounds. St. Lawrence River in the background. It was nice that it cleared up enough to take some river pics.

Considering the day I had on Saturday, Gary thought I should share a picture of their wine cellar.
This was one of the bathrooms on the third floor of the castle. This is a picture of the floor and the glass grate. The ceiling had a sky light in it and with this grate it heated the floor and provided heat into the next bathroom on the second floor.
After getting to the third floor, the girls needed to take a break. How fitting to find these two perfect seats for them to rest.
Another strange but interesting piece was this contraption. It was located in the sports therapy room. It included a bucket for water, a stool to sit on and light bulbs along the inside. When the doors were shut and the top flaps down, only the head would stick out. Sounded a little scary to me.
Another shot of the sports therapy room.
Since they didn't have any double beds this is how the married folks slept. Just a little different from now.
Another perk of the trip was on the shuttle ride back to shore. The captain of the boat was tired of navigating and asked for the girls to help out. After our trip to the island we went to a near by cemetery where we found my Uncle Lawrence Stanton. This was a new find for Dad and I. Happy that Gary made us turn around and check it out. It was difficult to see the imprint but was able to read Sept. 3, 1915 - Nov. 19, 1921. Interesting to find another piece of our family history.

Enchanted Forest Water Safari

2009-08-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we took the girls to Enchanted Forest Water Safari in Old Forge. We met up with the Hulbert's (4) and the Bottino's (5). It was a group day. The girls were very excited and were exhausted by the end of the day. Here are a few shots from the girls fun day. Gary and Kelly on the merry-go-round.

Laura in the Enchanted Forest.
Lyndsey, Laura and Addison having some fun on the dog.
Laura ready to ride.
Kelly had to have the "John Deere" green car.
Cooling off in the water park, Kelly takes a ride down one of the slides.
The girls sitting in the chair at the front of the park.
The girls and I at the famous photo spot.

Family and Friends

2009-08-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was my niece Angelina's 6th birthday and my brother hosted a family chicken bbq. The chicken was awesome! You could smell it as you drove up. My sister-in-law also made an amazing Sponge Bob cake that I did take a picture of but was unable to get it to rotate to show everyone. Anyhow- we took advantage of us being together and took an updated picture. I told the boys I'm still the "little" sister. Leo is standing in the back, he's the oldest, and Les is sitting next to me. Dad came later and I forgot to drag him into a picture with us. He's probably grateful for that. We are quite the bunch.
Gary was a little late to the family picnic. He had some haying to do. Here is his progress. On Sunday he helped Les and Dad put up another 1,300+ square bales. Oh and remember that hornet nest earlier. My friend told me it was a paper wasp nest. And yes, they still sting since Gary was stung on Saturday. His arm swelled up and had to take Benadryl.
Looks like Kelly is having to much fun at the lake. She fell asleep in the boat while we were tubing and I transferred her to a comfy spot in the hammock.
My friend Jennifer from college came to visit on Sunday. We spent the day catching up and watching the kids play in the water. It was great to spend some quality time with her.
Our gang of kids....
Laura showing Lyndsey around.

Hornet Huge!

2009-08-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

The weather has been great and today I thought I would mow the lawn when I got home tonight. The girls were cooperating when we got home and decided to play in the yard some more. I ventured out to the sap shack to pick up the mower and looky-looky what I found had made a home in the sap shack... Can you believe the size of that thing? I sure could as I was running the opposite direction up the driveway! Talk about scary. I called Gary right away and told him I needed the mega spray. We are still waiting for it to cool off some tonight so we can go spray. I REALLY hope they don't get us. Gary and stings do not agree. Here is a zoom picture. Don't worry I haven't gotten that close to it.

Summer Flies By

2009-08-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

What a crazy couple weeks~ Time seemed to fly by this past week and I didn't have a chance to post pictures from the previous weekend. So here is two weekends worth of updates. Last weekend when we were at Dad's the flowers at the end of the house were beautiful. Going through some history we found that these flowers were my grandmother's. We have pictures of her with them, my mother with them, and myself with them. So it was only fitting to take a picture of the girls with them. I also realized Kelly has more of the Stanton genes in her than I thought. Gary tells me that I do quite a bit of standing with my hands on my hips. He calls it the "Stanton Stance". What do you think, does she have the gene?
Another great spot at Dad's is out back by the sun room. The flowers are in bloom
Kelly enjoying some water play at camp for the picnic last Saturday. We were celebrating Mark being home from California for a week.
What would a day at the lake be without some "raft rockin'?"
Hold on........
The gang found that if you rock the raft to hard, then you have to swim it back to it's spot because the anchor is on the edge of a drop off. Hmm, how many times did it float away? 3 is all.
After a weekend of play at the lake my flowers needed to be tended to here. Luckily, Laura and Kelly helped. Laura cut down my bleeding heart bush and Kelly was willing to haul it away. I wonder why.
It was also a good week to get some more hay baled. Here is a load from Friday night before we left for Sixberry again. It has been a slow year for hay, but Gary had a good week to get at it.
Saturday Parker and Shannon met us at camp for the weekend. Here's Parker and Kelly playing in the sand. Kelly can't ever be to safe at the water.
Parker showing his sandy hands.
And another great accomplishment this weekend was Laura at the raft without her life jacket. She has been practicing really hard and really wanted to swim without it. After some thought we agreed she could go if Gary went with her. So here she is, 6 years old on the raft without her jacket. It was agreed this would only happen if she was swimming with an adult.
Oh and look what I did this weekend.... Armed an ready for the grill. Burgers anyone?
This is what you get when you tell Kelly to brush off the table for dinner. Doesn't sound anything like dance on the table now does it?
I wonder what Parker is thinking during this moment? Oh and by the way, Parker is 2 for those of you who don't know him.
Instead of going out for ice cream, we decided to bring the ice cream in. Yummy.
What about if we add some syrup to the ice cream?
A highlight to the weekend was the return of the boat from the Marina. Here is a little sunset cruise with the kids.
Then today it was driving lessons for the kids. Here's Laura cruising by with Parker and Dan in the back. Gary and Kelly were in the co-pilot seat.
After a hard day of play, what better way to rest than in the hammock?

Sixberry Vacation

2009-07-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

What a great week! Last week was vacation week and I spent it with the girls at Sixberry Lake. Gary came and visited when he could. Gary and I started off the weekend with a trip white water rafting down the Black River. What a fun adventure! The trip was organized through my work and it was extended to friends at Farm Credit and a couple Brandy Brook'ers. The total group that went was probably between 75 and 80 people. Our raft was lucky enough not to loose any rafters. Other than those who choose to jump in the river to cool off. Sorry no pics to share, was to busy trying to stay in the boat.

Speaking of the boat, remember that boat project I mentioned. Well, Gary and Dad gave it another shot the first weekend there. Maybe if we just spoon feed it like a baby it will run? Not so much. After another weekend of working on it with Dad, Gary and my step-brother Dan it went to the marina.
Monday morning I found Kelly teaching her friends a game. How fitting is this game and who's teaching it??
For the afternoon we met up with my sister-in-law and niece at the beach in Alex Bay. Great sand and warm weather. The St. Lawrence River is still colder than the lake. It didn't seem to bother the girls though.

Tuesday was the Lewis County Fair and another parade. This is a well attended fair and we have helped with the Farm Credit float for the past 4-5 years. This was the start of what would have been the float, but had to be switched up after the 30 minute down pour. The whole back was ruined by the rain. It was sad with all the work people put into it. It was suppose to be a movie screen on the red carpet. The movie projector managed to stay in the garage during the rain. The girls of course were the movie stars.

Wednesday was a day of yard work at Dad's. The girls and I pulled weeds and trimmed the shrubs in the front of the house. When it came to checking on the planters, well we didn't touch the corn that was growing... The girls even got a chance to play hide and seek in the field of corn next door with Grandpa. They thought it was pretty neat. Kelly also enjoyed the heifers visiting out back in the afternoon. We tried to get them to come closer to the fence but they weren't interested. No matter how many times she called them.
Thursday was a day spent at the lake. Janey came to visit and we had some adventures with the raft. We decided to try a new spot to "anchor" the raft. Only the anchor didn't anchor and when Gary came up it had broke free. We moved it several times over the weekend and finally put a new cement block and rope on it. I hope it's still there this weekend. We also had visits by our friends the Stine's and while there they found my tire had gone flat. So guess what we did on Friday?? We started the day at Dad's. It was a little cloudy and I wanted to call on the tire first. After a quick call and some time playing at Grandpa's the girls and I went to get the tire repaired.

Saturday morning we decided to have pancakes. We try to do this on Sunday mornings but it seemed like a good time to have them earlier. There weren't any complaints.
And look at this project... Grandpa found instructions on how to make the game "Ladder Ball". Just had to put it together. Here are all the helpers. There was Dan, Janey, Grandpa, Gary, Kelly and Laura.
Kelly showing her strength during the installation. Look at that concentration.
Laura showing her form in the toss. I lost track of how many games were played but am certain it was a hit by the laughter.
And what better way to end a vacation than with a picture of a bathing beauty making mud pies.

Hay, Lake and Birthday

2009-07-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

Friday was a day of making hay for Gary. The ole Ford had a workout on the rake that day. This is the front field in front of the house that he was working on. Surprisingly, he managed to bale 69 round bales on the front 3 fields. Gary sporting his Father's Day hat the girls gave him.While Gary was in his happy place in the field, I went off to my happy place. Sixberry sunsets are awesome aren't they?There always seem to be a project to tackle at the cottage. This weekend we tackled a wall. Or I should say Dad and Dan tackled the wall.
Hmmm, now that it is tore down we'll need to assess the structure...And for another project, how about resurrecting the boat. This is the family boat that took many trips around the lake with the skis, tube and knee board. It's been resting the last 8 years. I'll leave the close up pictures for another time. It looks better from a distance at this point. This will be my vacation project next week. Cleaning it up and maybe ready to ride. I say maybe because I am not sure of the mechanical piece yet. Although, I had a nice interaction with the NAPA man today and educating him that it really was a fuel line that I wanted. It was just a little to chilly to swim for Kelly Sunday.Happy Birthday Kelly!!! Today my little girl turned 4! She enjoyed a Pizza Hut pizza, ice cream cake and some "garden cupcakes" made by Grandma. Jenny was even there to sniff out the situation. Notice her in the background keeping a close eye on things. Jenny is visiting this week while her "mom" and "dad" are on vacation in the Cape. Yummy, where do I start??Laura enjoying the party.
Kelly "unwrapping" her gift from Daddy. Trunk of the car works well for "wrapping". What other than a new tractor? I don't mind these new tractors coming home, it's when they get bigger that it becomes more of an issue. Kelly playing with her new tractor. She also got a new dollhouse, but decided to take the dolls from it for her tractor.

Parades, Picnics and Projects

2009-07-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

To show the many uses of the new wagon, I came home to a parade last night. It's difficult to see but the girls were in dresses and sitting on lawn chairs on the wagon as Gary towed them around the yard. They thought it was the best. All the cool things Dad can do while on vacation.

After the parade we drove up to Sandy Island Beach for a Farm Bureau picnic. Oswego County was host to the State meeting this year. Last night was the family picnic. They had clams, hamburgs, hot dogs, sausages, corn on the cob, salads, salt potatoes, and watermelon. It was a beautiful night to be up there. We really were lucky to have nice weather. Tonight was a more formal dinner at the Bayshore in Scriba. They served us a very nice steak dinner on Lake Ontario. Again the weather was great and the sunset was beautiful. I forgot my camera tonight but I would recommend the place for any reception or banquet. Here are some pictures from last night.
Kelly found some rocks she wanted to bring home. Only how to carry them????
Laura and I playing in the sand.
Both girls feeling the sand between their toes.
I found this picture funny because the sign in the background said "Do you know where your children are?"

So then there is today, I called home just before lunch and got "Daddy broke the sink" instantly from Laura. She sure does sing like a canary. Apparently, Drano wasn't going to help with the clog in the sink and Gary felt the need to give it a little turn with the pipe wrench. Only the pipe wrench was to strong for the pipes. Good thing we have an extra sink in the bathroom.
Then there was the black cloud that lingered over our house and Gary's fresh cut hay... What is with that cloud? Stay away from that hay, Gary wants to play.

Hay Down

2009-07-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

The weather looks like it might time for hayin'. Gary knocked down the front field today while I was at work. So when I came home I was a bit surprised because when the girls told me daddy was mowing I was thinking they meant the lawn. Not quite.

The other surprise was that they weren't home. Gary had taken a little road trip. Look what he dragged home with him.

The Fair and Fourth

2009-07-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was opening day of the Oswego County Fair. Gary and I decided to take the day off and enjoy Children's Day at the fair. We waited to tell the girls until the night before knowing they would be excited. They enjoyed the rides, crafts, animals, tractors and of course the ice cream. The rides were a huge hit. The last ride they chose was the Super Slide. Kelly was the first and we only had enough tickets for them to each take a turn. I was really nervous with Kelly going to the top by herself. She was to quick for me and scooted right to the top. I asked the worker if there was someone at the top to help. I was told "yup". Before I knew it Kelly blew right past the worker and hopped on the slide. And away she went! I was so stunned I didn't get to the bottom quick enough to get her before she scooted back up to the top again.

Laura had to test out the equipment. Look at what she chose..... Big surprise there.

Both girls made a sand jar at the craft booth. I think they make great paper weights. They were baby food jars cleaned out with layers of colored sand.

After the fair we headed north Friday for the 4th of July! Sixberry started out rainy and made us have s'mores inside via microwave. I don't think there were complaints. Saturday was questionable with the weather but look at how the night turned out. As it got darker the fireworks started. We were quick to hop in the boat to watch them from the middle of the lake. Thanks to our neighbors showing up with the good idea to head out. We left quickly and I left the camera in the camp. But we did have a nice camp fire after to come back to. And finally look who I found reorganizing my cupboards tonight.....

Together Again

2009-06-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekends post must have been incentive to get the tractor together. My original projection was for the fall and low and behold this weekend it wheeled itself out of the barn. It hasn't done any work at this point other than look pretty in the yard.

Last night the girls and I took a road trip to Jason's house. They were having fireworks in town. We headed out for them just before 9 thinking that would be kick off time. However, there were bands playing and they didn't start until 10. The girls were a little antsy but once the show started they were impressed. This morning when we got up the girls took the dog, Diesel, to the pond to throw sticks in the water. That was a hit. Followed by 4-wheeler rides. Both girls were tired when they went to bed tonight. Great time and fun to connect with old friends!