The Josh Issue

Not that Josh has "issues", just that I happen to have a lot of Joshie photos collected. The first are from a recent Aunt Amy visit. Sam had a family-tree project to work on for school, and Aunt Amy nobly stepped up and played with Josh a great deal. They had a great time.

A recent bad-hair day:

Finally, today was again a Joshie day, for me at least, as Susan ran errands with Sam and then worked with him on schoolwork. So Josh and I went to the Play Museum, which has so many interesting nooks and crannies that one can easily spend a fun afternoon there. Josh did three things there: he played for a LONG time in the mini Wegmans exhibit where you collect your food in a mini card and then ring yourself out and get to keep your receipt. There's also a little deli there now, where he fixed me food. 

Second, there's an old exhibit of a post office. Josh endlessly unlocked PO boxes, placed mail in there, then collected the mail to be put in the mailbox and again delivered. Packages went to a conveyor belt. Kids wandered in and out, helping him and doing it with him.

Lastly he played with their large Thomas trains set:

Sam was at a birthday party for several hours so we ate with Joshie and then relaxed in front of the first fire we've had in a fireplace in a long, long time:

Closing up Camp

Last weekend was Columbus day and also closing-up-camp weekend. We drove through rain to get there, but true to the forcast, it was merely cold and cloudy when we arrived. It was in the 40s most of the weekend, with the porch thermometer reading 32 Monday morning.

And it was great to be up there. :-)

For the first time I brought bicycles up, and it made the weekend. The boys and I went on a trip around the pond, took the bikes down the Lampson Falls trail, and biked around the state park (which, happily, is free now that camping season is over). 

Visited with the Sitterlys, who are, I think, doing reasonably well.

Due to the warm September the leaves were just at peak, and were stunning. Below are some photos from the weekend.

This is Sunday. The dock's out (managed to get it out without getting into the 40-deg water!) and Josh is looking for leaves. We found several bright red leaves as well as a field of mushrooms on the Doran's lawn (see below).

Notice how low the water is. Amazingly, a couple of times we saw jetskis on the water.

Hanging out enjoying the warmth inside. Sunday night we had a family movie night and watched the first half of The Sound of Music. The boys really got into it! And for a 50-year-old movie it holds up extremely well--good acting, dialogue, music, the works. Finished it Monday night. Very memorable.

Josh, in midair. Notice J's in his jammies. He will often try to spent the whole day in his footie pajamas if he can. And why not?

Both boys pitched in with cleaning. Sweeping the deck is a coveted task since it's so satisfying. J did the Bounce dryer sheets and Sam did some other odd jobs, like checking the windows to make sure they were all locked. Usually Sam helps me sweep the roof, but this year it was both too cold and too slippery, so I did it myself, barefoot.

Monday morning was very foggy and beautiful.

The afore-mentioned mushrooms.

By mid morning on Monday the sun broke through.

This is at the end of Cottage Road by the big bay. 

Everywhere you looked there were bright leaves. Just lovely. 

A misty panorama

...and a sunny one

The leaves from the bridge in South Colton. Love the slate color of the icy water.

Okay, maybe this is getting redundant, but the leaves were so perfect!

 Chris Thomas is doing the water this year, which made closing up much easier than usual. The only hitch was our ladder, which was entirely and surprisingly missing. Still don't know where it is.