First Day Back to School!

The boys went back to school today. For Sam it's off to the middle school which is much larger than Cobbles. The kids are divided into three "houses" and have a three-day schedule they are responsible for navigating. They had two sessions when the kids could go in, set up their lockers, and walk through their schedules, and we did both. He'll certainly be getting a lot of exercise! Josh had a similar thing yesterday where he got to go in for an hour and meet the teacher and aides (there are 23 or 25 kids in his class). The teacher was very welcoming, and he got to see his coat hook, cubby, etc., all labeled with his name. It's full-day K, which is a big jump for him. During a get-to-know-you activity the teacher went around the room passing around a fish, and when you got the fish you told your name. When it came to Josh he hid behind Susan and let her say his name. 

Last night Sam was a little emotional. He's in house C, and most of his friends are in other houses, and I think the transition's a little overwhelming. But this morning they were both in good spirits. Sam catches the bus at 7:23, so started waking him at 6:30. (ugh!) Fortunately, there were two other kids at the bus stop with him, a 7th and an 8th grader who he at least is familiar with. 

Josh wasn't the only one catching the bus for the first time. A boy from down the street whom we met only a couple of days ago was there with his entourage of parents, aunts and uncles--about 8 in total--and his dog. Josh was THRILLED to get to ride the bus with his neighbors Ethan and Payton and Jacob. (P&Js grandparents are on the left in the photo below.) Josh's bus is at 8:20. 

Both boys enjoyed some home-made banana chocolate-chip muffins Susan made.

Now we are hoping they both enjoy their first days back.

Ethan, Payton, Jacob and Josh. P&J were excited that it's Josh's first day.

This white rock on the neighbors' lawn which the boys wait for the bus on.

Westerville Collinses visit plus some extras

Stu and Sue and Kevin and Emily and her friend Kelly visited us on their way up and back from camp, where they spent a week. On the way up we celebrated Sue's birthday, and on the way back it was Stu's (including a little pickup volleyball--not shown). It was delightful meeting Kelly, and as far as my interrogations could determine they had a very good time at camp. On the way back we made time for the Play Museum, where Kelly scaled a skyscraper to catch up with Sam:

Two book worms

This was at the Play Museum--it's made out of toothpicks

Okay, here's the last family Seabreeze trip of the summer. We happily brought along Sam's friend Ayden. Not so many photos of this trip because, well, you've seen it many times...

Josh wanted to spent the day mostly watching the world go by, in the shade. It was a hot day, but I think he was fighting something off. He has a killer immune system. Pretty much anyone else would have been in bed with a fever, but Josh just dragged a little. Still had a great time.

And here are some random photos:

Last night we happened to eat really late--8 PM. Going to enjoy the sun porch as long as we can!

This seems a little funny, but it's the boys in a pew at church. Josh is doing the activities in the kids' bulletin and Sam is drawing, both contently. One of the little things it'd be nice to remember as they grow older. :-)

Labor Day Zoo Trip

Decided to make a zoo trip today. Got there not long after opening to avoid the crowds and heat. 

Actually, the high today is only 80. But in the sun it felt hot.

Not as hot as the post-apocalyptic heat death the planet is in for in anther 50 years, just to put it in perspective.

Anyway, back to the zoo. All four of us were there, so we could split up. Makes it much more enjoyable. Susan hung out with Josh while he played in the stream and playground, while I went off with Sam to, you know, look at animals. 

Otters were hiding. Tiger couldn't be bothered. Alligator were immobile, but that's their thing anyway. However, Bela the young orangutan was quite active and seemed to relish the attention of the crowd. The sea lions, swimming as they were in cold water, were quite happy, as were the elephants, who were being sprayed down. (They raised their trunks to drink from the spray.)

But the highlight were the ring-tailed lemur babies, only a week or two old, climbing all over their mom's back. 

And we even thought ahead and packed a lunch! Which made us feel better about getting slushies down in the African exhibit. The visit began with a time out for Josh who'd hit Sam but whose apology was too anemic to count. It ended with the boys satisfied at three hours of fun, ready to go home. 

Sam learns to ride a bike!

Sam's ten. He's never shown any interest in learning to ride a bike, despite our nudgings. Finally this summer I told him we needed to get that skill under his belt. So we went out maybe 4 or 5 evenings total, all summer, and he cruised around the driveway on his bike, with the pedals removed. The idea is to get your balance and then to put the pedals on after. On the 3rd evening or so, I made a little course where he and Josh could cruise through and touch the various cones and obstacles to get some practice turning. 

Finally last week we took them to the parking lot of a local park. It was just after sunset but we had half an hour of light. After practicing a couple times more, I put his pedals back on.

Here he is just before learning to ride a bike:

And here he is just after:

I don't think he expected he was about to know how to do it, but it was easy. Since he already knew how to balance, once the pedals were on he immediately took to it and started zipping around the parking lot. He was ecstatic, as were we! In the following days he's wanted nothing more than to ride around the neighborhood with his friends, or alone.

Afterward he thanked me for teaching him to ride a bicycle. I really wish I had that on tape! It will certainly be one of the sweetest interactions of his childhood.

Yesterday we went out and got him a bike. The one he learned on was a little hand-me-down from some friends, way too small for him (but consequently good for learning on, because his feet reached the ground very easily). We went out immediately to Meridian Park which has a nice complex of paths and trails for the boys and I to ride on. (Susan's bike is being refurbished.)

Joshie is riding a little balance bike of his own. He's not yet sold on pedals--though he did give them a quick try last night. Maybe soon, he too will be riding...

camp, part 4--the falls and rapids of the Colton area

We took Katie and Stephen on two little hikes--one to Lamson Falls, and one to the Stone Valley trail in Colton. Okay, we also took them on the Beaver Pond trail in Higley, but I am now showing that here. 

Lampson was a lot of fun. It's a bit of a drive--almost half an hour--but a nice hike. We let the GPS and google's directions take us to the wrong place first, the driveway half a mile down from our destination. We pulled down an unpaved road for a few hundred feet and then saw a shirtless man with a white beard and his wife (who was sipping from a glass of white wine) driving a golf cart our way. They came over and very kindly let us know that the GPS was wrong and that they regularly get visitors who are trying to go to the falls. 

The roots of a huge up-ended tree

At the top of the falls

...and from the bottom

Aren't they a cute bunch? Not pictured here: the garter snake and the several frogs we spotted, or the beautiful little bird...course now I can't remember what kind of bird that was. 

Okay, now for the Stone Valley trail. Right out of Colton, short, but a huge amount of fun since it affords the opportunity to scramble over large rocks and wade in the shallows off to the edges of a stream with lots of rapids--if that makes sense.

Josh was pleased to find a rock which resembled an easy chair

I think this was meant to look like the cover of an album

Stone Valley is a really special place for us. We hiked it three times that week, in addition to the time Josh and I went earlier in the summer. It was a real pleasure to share it with S&K!

Back in Rochester for a couple of days we managed to make a trip to Dinosaur BBQ, followed by a quick stop by the High Falls (which we'd never been to), where we discovered a little visiting area at the Genesee Brewery. Very pleasant. But first, Katie reading to Josh:

Camp, Part 3-rail bikes!

Stephen and Katie were game to join us on an outing we'd never done before, or even heard of prior to a few months ago. Turns out you can rent "bail bikes" -- small flat cars which allow you to pedal along old abandoned sections of the railway through the Adirondacks. The section they use runs from Clear Lake to Saranac. Takes about an hour to "bike". We rented a two-seater and a four-seater, and it was, as you can see, a gorgeous day for it. The boys rode with Stephen and Katie and Susan and I had our own--very kind of S&K! Had a great time of it!

This is a view of the crew getting the rail bikes ready.

The establishment is in an old railroad station.

The staffworker showing Josh how to pedal. He really couldn't--the pedals were a bit too far--but he had fun anyway.

And here's Stephen after our lunch at the Blue Moon in Saranac.

Camp, Part 2

Here are some photos from the first half of our trip to camp.

First off, the annual trip to the Black Lagoon. This time, canoeing. The locals have kept it up nicely.

Here's a little boat ride that Bobby Doran was kind enough to take the boys on. They were thrilled! Josh was almost more excited about the sonar equipment which showed the location of fish we were passing over. But they both left the ride sure that we need to get a motor boat.

We got a new TV! We all pitched in and it was a real delight, since we were there for week 1 of the olympics.

Okay, we wanted to document for posterity the statue in Gouverneur of the giant roll of Lifesavers. We never fail to point it out to the boys and they never fail to quietly wonder why.

Josh, spying on folks out on the lake.

This is on our Black Lagoon trip--we stopped for a picnic lunch at the end of the peninsula next to the state park. 

This is Josh's nest on the floor in the middle bedroom.

That canoe trip again. We found a little passageway which splits off the end of another peninsula of state park land, this one by the main channel of the Raquette. 

It's becoming a tradition to take the boys into the dollar store and give them each $1 to spend. Also a tradition (second year running) for Sam to get fake teeth with his dollar. 

Just love the view of the lake from the screened-in porch in the evenings.

Ain't that sweet?

Susan, by virtue of an unfortunate foot ailment, got some extra reading time this vacation, and made good use of it!

Another view I never tire of--up, from the deck.