Caves, newts and screaming

We had a fun romp at Thacher Park today. It's about a 30 minute drive away, on the other side of Albany on the Helderberg escarpment. We started out hiking on a wooded trail, looking for letterboxes. We did find a couple, and a cool-looking newt. But after we found the second box, we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Thomas kept screaming, "I'm itchy! I'm itchy!" and we couldn't take it anymore! :) So we had lunch at a tent until security kicked us out because it was reserved. It started thundering; we weren't sure if we should go hiking anymore, but it seemed far away and blew over. We hiked the Indian Ladder trail and the boys (and Chester) loved it. It's short but has amazing views. You go down steel staircases along the side of limestone cliffs. Two waterfalls plumet from the top of the cliff, so we could walk behind them and look up at the water shooting off the cliff. There are caves to explore along it too. See more photos here. Despite the haziness, it was really a cool place to go. It's gotten Nolan interested in exploring more caves. We want to go back in the fall. The last time Chris and I were there was in the fall with our friend Mike and Indy was just a puppy. It was nice to share it with the boys.

This week will be different than expected. Both boys were going to be at playground camp in the mornings. But we've discovered it hasn't been the best environment for Thomas. So he's done. Nolan will go and Thomas and I will explore other adventures together. Tomorrow, Chris has the day off but no big plans. Thomas finishes up swim lessons this week, we have story times at the library, baseball on Wednesday and probably some playdates. Who knows what fun will fill our days--that's what's so great about summer!

The sun is out!

It is so great to see the sun shine and the humidity gone after buckets and buckets of rain! It was pouring an hour ago and now suddenly there is blue sky. The kids had fun at camp today, and Nolan had a field trip to Chuck E. Cheese which he loved. No baseball yesterday because of the rain. Thomas is almost done swim lessons, and he's so close to swimming! He can swim a few feet now. As soon as he can put all the movements together, I think he'll take off with it. He really likes it. I think we'll skip today's lesson, though, because he's super grumpy and tired.

I have been painting Thomas' room and hope to be done by this weekend. Chris' car is in the shop, so we are without a car today. Chris has a long weekend this weekend, so we're thinking about a hike and maybe Great Escape again.

The Next Generation

We met a bunch of Chris' high school friends at Saratoga State Park yesterday and had a great time. It is pretty impressive that we got 7 families together on a summer Saturday and they all live locally (or were at least visiting family). I am not as good at keeping in touch with my high school friends. As an aside, I did just join Facebook and found one friend from high school. Anyway, what was cool was how well all of our kids played and seeing them together. They ranged from 6 months to 8 years, Nolan being the oldest. But they played on the playground, threw rocks in the stream and played with the many toys everyone dragged there. All the parents are doing different kinds of jobs and leading different lives. But we had a ton to talk about. Good time. You can find more pictures here.

We're off to church. We were suppose to go 8:30am this morning but Chris and I woke up at 8:08! So we're going to a later mass. Not much on the plate today--getting an oil change on the car and hopefully dinner at Gaba's house later.

Middle of July already!

This has been the best summer ever in our book. I can't believe how fast it is going already! We are still recuperating from the birthday weekend. Nolan had a busy day yesterday. Town camp in the morning, swimming at the McDonnell's house in the afternoon, quick supper and baseball at night. We discovered they have an All-Star sandlot team for 7-9 year olds on Wednesday nights. Nolan has been missing baseball and we thought it might be good for him to play with some older players. He was tired, so he didn't play his best. But I think he had fun, which is what it's all about. Thomas and I bailed and didn't go because we wanted to veg out at home.

Today I'm getting my hair cut and then pick out paint for Thomas' room. I'm thinking green. And I think we're meeting the Brownells later to swim and then swim lessons after that. Thomas is starting the jump into the water on his own, swim short distances and even swim a little under water. I think another few weeks of lessons and he'll be swimming for real. He really likes it. I wonder if it will be his thing.

Change of plans

Remember that plan to go to Six Flags New England? Yeah, well, that didn't work out so much.

We got up this morning and checked the weather for Agawam, Mass. and realized it was supposed to rain there all day. So we shifted gears and went to the Great Escape instead, despite the fact we've already been there three or four times this summer.

But you know what? We had the best time! Every time we go we still find new things to do. Each trip is a new experience. These season passes we have are the best deal ever. (Thanks again Mom & Dad!)

We brought Nolan's friend Evan with us and spent the first half of the day in the water park. We had a blast on the Mega Wedgie and the Tornado. Then while everyone else went off to the Lumberjack Splash Wave Pool, I slipped off on my own to tackle the Comet.

After a break for lunch we hit some more rides and worked in a stop a McDonald's for dinner on the way home. It was our longest day at the Great Escape yet and there are still some more rides we still haven't done. There's always a next time...

When we got home, there was one more package waiting for Nolan at the door (thanks Uncle Tim and Aunt Bonnie). And that brought Nolan's birthday weekend to a conclusion.

Birthday and baseball

I think Nolan really enjoyed his eighth birthday yesterday. We kept things fairly low-key this year. He didn't have a big party.

When he woke, the day began with the special breakfast he picked out for his birthday -- Chocolate Honey Combs. Then we let him dive into presents.

Later in the morning we took him shopping to blow some of his money on a game for his DS. Counting that, he got two new DS games. So since it was his birthday we caved and let him have extra video game time.

We spent time outdoors too, with a couple of rounds of catch out in the front yard.

His friend Dan came over for pizza and cake. Then we all went to see a Tri-City ValleyCats game. We all rooted for the ValleyCats -- even though they were playing the Staten Island Yankees. The Cats lost to the Yankees 4-3.

But we all had a good time anyway. For Kris and Thomas, it was their first trip to a game at the Joe. Thomas got to stay up way past his bedtime. As for Nolan, he got his birthday announced on the scoreboard and was invited to join a group of kids singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" down on the field during the 7th Inning Stretch.

Afterward Dan came home with us for a sleepover.

Tomorrow we're taking another of Nolan's friends with us to Six Flags New England for the day. We'll give you an upate later on how that goes.

Playground Camp Rules!

The kids are finishing their first week at playground camp today, and they have loved it. They've been learning lots of games and making new friends. Thomas amazes me. He is a little fearful when we drop him off, but it's temporary and he goes right to playing. All the kids seem to know him and call for him when we show up, even the bigger kids. And yesterday, they took a field trip to Chuck E. Cheese on a bus and he had a great time! No worrying, he just got on that bus without Nolan and had a blast. This is so good for him to get ready for kindergarten. Yahoo!

Today Nolan goes on a field trip to the bowling alley. And I'm getting ready for Nolan's birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Mark today!

Living room makeover

Our new living room furniture arrived yesterday.

The sectional we had for nearly five years didn't hold up very well. It had some ugly stains we couldn't get out and the fabric on the arm where 3/4 of the family preferred to sit to watch TV was completely worn out and tattered.

With the small size of our living room -- and, more importantly, the location of our cable outlet -- we're limited with what we can do with the layout. But this is the floor plan Kris came up with. We're pretty pleased.

Plus, with potty training far behind us, there is a good chance these cushions will never get peed on!

Up north

Here are some photos from our recent trip to Chapel Pond and Moira...

Happy 4th!

We went to visit my parents for 4th of July weekend and we all had a great time. Chris took the boys to a nearby parade while Chester and I cleaned out their flooded basement. Actually, they had already cleaned out a ton. I mainly helped them dry it out and get rid of the mold. Then we had steaks on the grill and chocolate mousse pie-yum! Definately worth the effort. We also saw my Uncle Rush at Silver Lake on the way, and we enjoyed the most perfect weather. It was gorgeous driving through the Adirondacks; it makes us want to plan our next hike.

The boys started Playground Camp today and both had good reports. I got to clean the house in perfect silence! We are finally getting rid of our nasty sectional and replacing it with 2 loveseats. That involves re-arranging our living room (Chris' favorite thing-not) and moving our sectional out to the garage for City Mission to pick up. I can't wait to see what it will all look like. It's nice to see the living room so clean. The amount of dustbunnies I swept up was phenomenal! I thought I was a good cleaner, but it was always hard to get behind the sectional. It showed!

Camping 2008

You can find some photos from our camping trip last weekend by clicking here...