A long weekend at camp

Up to camp on Thursday afternoon, home again tomorrow morning. Quite a gathering: Stu and Sue and Kevin next door at the Woods' camp, and the Rochester and Worthington Collinses here at the usual place, sans Amy.

The view from the Woods'. It's higher than our deck by 15-20'.

First morning, though chilly, we waded in the water. Saw something I've never seen before: clam trails in the water. At least four of them, about a foot and a half long each, little paths through the sand where the clams had moved during the night. Here's Josh pointing one out. His main interest was throwing the clams. And the rocks and anything else around.

No paths the next morning. They are lying low. Made me think of this old cartoon:

Grandad

As Susan said: Up at the cabin. Josh's chief source of joy: running in and out to the deck through the screen door and letting it slam shut behind him. Also shouting "Ship! Ship!" whenever a boat putters by.

He had something to look at, too. It was Pirate Weekend here at Higley Flow. If you were flying a Jolly Roger, as many of the boats were, you spent the afternoon throwing water balloons and firing water guns at each other. Lots of fun to watch.

Apropos of nothing, a huge moth lurking on the outside of the house.

A wonderful new playground at the nearby state park

Enjoyed several nice walks around the pond.

Sam's come a long way in his swimming. 

Stu and Sam and I kayaked to the black lagoon and then to the state park beach. Given the number of power boats on the water, it was an exciting ride. Gorgeous, sunny day to be out on the water.

Sam took this shot of the tree growing through the deck.

Our annual pilgrimage to Sergi's in Potsdam. They were insanely busy, so to kill time while waiting for our food Susan took Josh outside to wander around the nearby shops. Pretty soon he was asking to come back in, as he is here.

Sam and Kevin bonded over their hand-held video games.

One more day, then back to reality. Great to be away!

A vast update: Many photos

It's been a while, so the events of recent weeks are depicted below--see the captions for explanations. Quotes from Susan are interspersed, in italics.

On July 4 our neighborhood had a little parade. It was pouring an hour beforehand, but let up in time. The neighborhood kids congregated in a cul de sac, and followed a fire engine throughout the neighborhood, ending with popsicles in another cul de sac.

The kids had a great time. I walked next to a fellow carrying the Penfield Garden Club banner. He asked me if I was a member. I laughed and suggested he hadn't seen our lawn. He said he wasn't either--someone had given him the banner to carry! It was a very muggy day--just standing was enough to leave you drenched. I started out pulling Josh in a little wagon, but soon he wanted to run after the other kids, so I had to chase him with wagon in tow.

Here's Josh standing in awe of the fire engine. The kids were also given ample opportunity to crawl around inside.

Sam went for his fourth year to the Hochstein Art and Music Camp. The week culminates in a big program for the parents. The had music and dances from around the world. The did a nice job. 

Sam actually had some rough separation anxiety with this camp. No problems with the one a couple of weeks before at the art museum, but as the week went on he was literally begging not to be dropped off. He'd plead, earnestly, as if he were being sent to his death. But as soon as it began each day we were told he had a fine time, and each day at pickup he said it'd been a good day.

We didn't relent: he had to go. And we'd remind him that the previous day, despite his anxiety, he'd had a good time. By Friday he conquered it, and had a very good final day and performance. Thank the Lord!

He had an interesting comment. He said he thought it was like that guy (a prince?) in The Silver Chair, one of the Narnia books. He's been convinced that if he leaves the silver chair he'll turn into a monster, and so he never leaves it--until he does, only to discover none of his fears came true. Sam said his anxiety reminded him of this, because he was so afraid, but then once he did it, it was okay.

Sam's on the near end.

Josh and I wandered the balcony during the performance.

This was a random Saturday activity from this past weekend: fill Josh's crib with stuffed animals after his nap

Like everywhere else, it's been very hot. Josh was already a clothing minimalist, and has gotten more extreme in the heat. Here, he relaxes with an improving book.

This was from a few weeks ago. From Susan: 

Regarding the tractor photo:

Josh was having such fun playing with his set of Jesus and the ark full of animals. You know, Jesus, and those animals he had, and that ark he built...
Later he started calling Noah "Bob the Builder." When you think about it, Noah, Jesus, and Bob the Builder did all have carpentry in common.

A week ago when it was in the low 90s Susan took the boys in the morning to the zoo.

Super hot and humid day for the zoo, but lots of fun. Josh ran right over to the sea lions and shouted, "Sea gulls!" And they remained sea gulls the entire time we were there...

Hot, hot hot.

The zoo has a little wading stream running through it, in the shade. Perfect for hot days.

Aquarium at the zoo.

We recently got a new family microscope. Sam's been having a ball with it. Josh is still getting the hang of it, as you can see.

Now that we have a working microscope, it's COOL when the bread goes moldy.

Took Sam and Josh to the playground next to the library after the weekly Monday library night. Josh played and Sam plopped down an read the whole time.

Coolest Sam question in a few days:

Q: If there were a whirlpool in a river, would the whirlpool move downstream?

A (from Daddy): While you can have a whirlpool in a river, it stays in one place and does not move downstream with the current.

From another day:

Sam has become King of the Disclaimer. For example:

"Mom, I think I know what you're going to say to this, so it's not that I think you'll say yes, in fact you'll probably say no, but I want to ask just in case because it's Friday and..."

(This can go on for some time.)

Sam named him Bobcat Collins after I told him that black and red were my high school colors.

Yesterday took the boys for an hour to a play area in a local mall. Very pleasant way to pass the time.

Thank you to the guy on the motorcycle who saw Josh frantically pointing at him, and made his day by honking and waving! 

From Susan: Cutest. Haircut. Ever.
The process, I mean. He was so good.

And another day:

Josh: Geese! Geese! Hello, geese!Me: Actually I think those are seagulls.Josh: More geese!! Hello, more geese! 

 And yet another recent morning:

Sam, running into the kitchen this morning:If you just heard Josh yell "Hey don't!", I didn't DO ANYTHING.

The Westerville Collinses came through town on Saturday. To celebrate Kevin's birthday we all went out to Olive Garden. Amazingly everyone behaved well and a good time was had by all. Went afterward to Wegmans for birthday desserts and a balloon for Kevin.

Josh has decided to call his Aunt Sue and Uncle Stu both Uncle Sue. This does simplify things; not sure why we didn't think of it years ago.

And here's where Stu and Sue are at this moment--photo courtesy of Stu. 

Have a good week!

Opening up camp

In a whirlwind 48 hours, Amy and her (and our) friend Heather, and Nana and Grandad, came through July 4, and Sam and I joined them on their way up to camp to help open it up for the summer:

The McD's outside Fort Drum, a favorite place to stop for lunch on the way up

The water went back on seamlessly with the exception of a burst pipe. But the burst occurred in the cold-water line into the house, under the camp where it did no damage, and was even in a section just 6" long, making replacement much easier than it might have been.

On a walk Saturday morning prior to my departing with Sam to head back to Rochester.

The rest of the weekend was delightfully quiet.

An extra: Sam teaching Josh some new words:

Sam has a game where he takes the little green apples from our apple tree, shows them to us so we see they are pristine and integral, then throws them into the culvert so the current will hurl them against the rocks and smash them. He then takes the biggest piece back to us for inspection. He loves seeing them get swept around in the currents and vortices. This is what summer is all about!

A full weekend

An eventful weekend. 

This is where the kids wait for the art camp to start.

Sam's just finished a busy week at an art camp where the kids explored various media with monsters as the theme. Right up Sam's alley. There were 20 kids in his class, and he got along well with them and had an absolutely great time. Well, he got along with all but Eliza.

Eliza was slightly older, and is reported to have just grabbed food from him at lunch. Thursday when I dropped him off he went over and whispered something to Eliza. She walked over to me expectantly. She is tall, taller than most of the other kids. And has dead eyes, like a doll's eyes. Soulless. No, wait, that's Jaws. She did look devoid of conscience, but not quite like a killer shark. Anyway, my advice to Sam was to just stay away from her, which seems to have worked.

Oh, speaking of advice and parenting and things like that, Sam's had trouble falling asleep for a while now. Recently we thought we'd try him on melatonin. It's still classified as a dietary supplement and hasn't been subject to FDA scrutiny, so it's caveat emptor or cave canem or whatever. We gave him a tiny dose, and found that after about half and hour it did what the pharmacist told us it wouldn't--it put him right out. Unfortunately, at the same time he started for the first time ever having something resembling to the layman's eyes a panic attack. Even when we made it a measely sixth of a pill. So we are back to late nights.  But this has nothing to do with the weekend.

Saturday morning we went swimming as a family at the Y (and Sam spent part of the time in his swimming lesson). Josh loves it there, although he is quite cautious of any water higher than his chest. 

Saturday afternoon we took a trip to the zoo. More about that below.

First, Sunday's first event was a trip to a family day at the art gallery. They had activities and food and live music and dancing outside and the galleries were free for visitors inside. So we availed ourselves. 

Josh emerging from an umbrella-like tree which created with its branches a little-person-sized hideout

Sam, sitting on art

Sam in front of a sculpture thingy in the atrium

This is a sculpture of a horse, made from branches

There is a new one-room display of some renaissance art, including some armor,  both a human set and a headpiece for a horse. Josh saw it and pointed and said excitedly, "I know dat one! Dinosaur!" 

The boys in front of a sculpture, Susan watching nervously from out of frame. Again, in the gallery Josh pointed to a work of art and said excitedly, "I know dat one! Painting!" :-)

The guys in front of a favorite painting by Maxfield Parish

A local dance troupe getting funky for the passersby. The boys were transfixed, though Josh broke free after two pieces  struck out exploring. Sam said afterward it was fun and weird, which is about right.

Now the zoo, from Saturday:

Susan and Josh and a pacing tiger

We all enjoyed watching the baboons during feeding time.

There's a stream where kids can wade, which was a big hit . Nothing like cold water between the toes on a hot summer day.

We ended the day with a Canada-Day picnic at our pastor's home with several others from the congregation. (It recalls not Canada's independence but the decree which created it.) It's an annual tradition for them. They made the boys very welcome. A very relaxing and pleasant end to an excellent weekend.

Josh drank lemonade. At one point he wandered over to the cooler and to our surprise poured himself some more. The smile on his face in this picture is that of a toddler who's gained power to create lemonade at will.

Sam spent a lot of time out on the lawn making bubbles. For a while he even let Josh chase them. 

All the news that's fit to blog. Have a great week!