Lake Placid Camp Out

October 11-13, Alex and Randy camped near Lake Placid and hiked in the area Saturday.

The boy scouts split into two groups for the day. One group of older boys did the more difficult hike. Alex and 3 other boys his age did a less difficult hike.

Although Alex looks all alone, the trails were full of hikers from all over the country.

Taking a little break.

This area was full of these large rocks the boys climbed all over.

L-R, Jared, Mark, Steven and Alex.

An uprooted tree made for a lot of conversation. The boys decided if they got stranded in that spot for the night the mass of tree roots would make a good shelter.

This is Marcy Dam, near the foot of Mt. Marcy, which Randy was pretty sure is the highest peak in the Adirondacks.

At the dam, taking in the scenery.

Still at Marcy Dam eating lunch.

Crossing a foot bridge.

A pretty little waterfall.

Under and around this bridge the boys climbed up and down the creek for about an hour, just having fun.

One boy even decided to go for a swim.  He said it was pretty icy!

Self explanatory

This is the tent Alex and Randy shared.

More scenery.

A much bigger waterfall.

The boys looking out at a waterfall.

Cooking pie in a dutch oven. for dessert

This is the next day, everyone is having breakfast together.

Here are all the boys, that went camping that week end.

Randy's Birthday!

Randy's birthday was last Wednesday.  

After work we took him out for dinner and then came home for dessert.

Yes, the cake is only 1/2 frosted, Randy prefers his cake without frosting.

Luke is walking!

Sophia's Field Trip

Sophia's 1st grade went to Abbott's Farm.  I was also able to go with her, all by myself!  It was such a treat for both of us.  Parents and kids rode a hay wagon over to pick apples.

Then we picked pumpkins.

John is one of Sophia's best friends.  She'll even sit at the boy table at lunch to be able to hang out with him.

There were also animals to pet; sheep, a couple bunnies, and goats.  As well as some ducks and chickens that weren't to be touched.

Sophia's first grade class with their teacher Mrs. DeMott.

Staying Home

Some nights are filled up with cleaning up from supper, homework and the like, but sometimes we have time for some fun time.  Here's Henry watching Max make a potholder on the little loom, while. . .

Sophia and Timmy help with a little baking.

Another day Henry and Tim kept Lukey happy while I unloaded groceries, by throwing leaves at him.

Lukey thought it was great fun. The boys kept him laughing.

This happens to be my birthday.  Max, Henry, Tim and our neighbor Alex buried each other in leaves. Then the buried boy would emerge from the leaf pile as a zombie.

Our neighbor is buried.

Now he is  zombie!

Max is a drummer.

Max has started playing the drums!  A long time a go my little brother Nick played drums in elementary school through high school.  Then Randy's niece used the same drum while she was in school, and now that drum has made it to our house for Maxwell.

6 Merit Badges

The next day, October 7.  Alex received the 6 merit badges he had earned at summer camp.

The badges from left to right are; basketry, leatherwork, wood carving, wilderness survival, emergency prep, and first aid. -Way to go, Alex!

 

 

Art Park

The first Sunday of October the cub scouts had a family hike at the Cazinovia Art Park.  When it was time to load up the van and go it was sprinkling, but Randy and I decided we'd go anyway, even if we were the only family there.  On the drive there it began to down pour!  Neither of us were interested a hike in that, but we continued on.  When we got there the clouds parted and the sun began to shine.To our surprise 4 other families came for the hike as well.   Despite a little whining we had a good time.

Just one of the sculptures on the forest trail.

An art piece on the main grounds.

Hiking one of the trails.

A group photo of all the kids on the hike.

Alex and Randy's hiking camp out

September 28 and 29 (Saturday and Sunday), Alex and Randy hiked with Alex's boyscout troop in the Adirondacks.  They both said it was a hard hike, but a good weekend.

Here's all the boys at the beginning of the hike with all their gear strapped to their backs.  (Alex is in the front row, over to the right with sunglasses and a black stocking cap.)

The view outside of Randy and Alex's tent.  And yes Alex is barefoot, it was a beautiful weekend.

This is the tent they shared.  Outside the tent is Alex's hiking stick serving as a sock dryer.  The stick is balancing between a camping stool and his pack with their sweaty socks draped over it, drying.

This shows how close Alex and Randy were to some of the other campers.

Everyone drank lake water for the weekend.  Before drinking it though they used a small water filtering system.  There was a bag for the lake water that then traveled through a plastic tube that had a filter in it, then flowed into a new bag for clean, drinkable water (that was still cold).

A huge dragonfly decided to befriend Randy for awhile.

Ahh! Everyone is falling!!  This is at the summit of Crane Mountain in the Adirondacks.

After setting up camp almost everyone hiked to the summit. Looking from the bottom of the picture the first brown area is their campsite.  If you look really close, you can see the itty-bitty tents.

Alex and a fellow scout, with a great view.

More scenery.

Father and son at the top of the hike.

After hiking back down to the campsite everyone made dinner. Randy and Alex brought dehydrated camping meals, which made it easy to throw in their packs for the hike up to the campsite. They agreed the meals were tasty.

Every camp out needs a camp fire and this camp out was no exception.

The boys worked together to gather wood and start the fire.

After breakfast Randy and Alex were very proud to be the first ones with tent and gear all packed up, ready to hike back down.

All the scouts Sunday morning near the campsite.

Do you see the little blue disc hanging on that tree?  That tells you your on the right path.

Alex on his way down to the van, finishing his hike.