One more week...

I can't believe school starts in a week. I think we're ready. The summer homework is done, sneakers and supplies are bought and the backpacks are dusted off. I still don't want the summer to end, except when the boys are screaming at each other because somebody touched the other one! Yesterday, Thomas and I practiced riding the bus again. I think he's both excited and nervous. And Nolan is missing his friends a little. He's starting travel baseball next week, and he's excited to to do that. He'll be playing with 9 year olds too and going to play against other towns. It feels like it is a big step for him, so we'll see how it goes. Thomas is going to continue with his swim lessons. I'm starting to look for a part-time job--some prospects but nothing set yet. But the air is getting a little cooler. School is in the air!

"Hey, it's good to be back home again..."

An old John Denver song. Silver Lake was awesome and we took about 100 pictures! Chris will update with them soon (I still refuse to learn.) [Photos added. There's a whole bunch more here. -- Roon]. It's amazing how easy it is to leave everything behind when we are there and just be immersed in the beauty of the Adirondacks and the simple things in life. The kids hardly played any video games or watched TV--and they didn't even miss it! When we asked Nolan what his favorite thing was on vacation, he said playing games in the cabin and swimming in the lake. Here's what we did:

Saturday--we arrived and had the "fun" job of unpacking and settling in.

Sunday--climbed Catamount. This was the hardest and longest hike for the boys at 3 miles round trip. The top is baldface, so there was a lot of rock scrambling. They thought that was fun, but there is a large, narrow crevice (called "The Chimney") that Thomas was scared of and Chester couldn't maneuver, so they stayed while Nolan and I pressed on to the little top. We didn't have time to go on to the actual top, another 40 minutes. Still a great hike. This was Chris' favorite day because I made kick ass sandwiches for supper and he thought he died and went to heaven.

Monday--hiked the Red Dot Trail in Paul Smiths and then tooled around the Visitor's Interpretive Center. The boys were not as into hiking this day, so we went into Lake Placid and bought some games to play. Of course, we had to stop at Donnelly's on the way for the best ice cream EVER.

Tuesday--Mom, Dad and Mosey came to visit. We had a nice chat by the fire. Later on we hiked the Silver Lake Bog Trail and bluffs. I wish I could tell what mountains are what by looking at them. We're also playing with the idea of trying to do all 46 peaks.

Wednesday--Drove up Whiteface and hung out at the top in shorts at 40 degrees--brr! Still worth it. It was warmer at the higher lookout than the lower castle--like we were above the weather. After descending from Whiteface we spent some time hanging out on the rocks along the Ausable River near the historic covered bridge in Upper Jay.

Thursday--Tried to hike Mount Baker but forgot our lunch! So we returned to the cabin and canoed to the beach at the end of the lake. Chris has decided he likes kayaking but I still favor canoeing. The motion seems more natural. The water was warm and Thomas liked the shallow water.

Friday--Hiked Cobble Hill in Lake Placid and then shopping. Cobble Hill is a great, short hike for a beautiful view of the city, High Peaks and the ski jumps. It was a little steep at the top which freaked Nolan out a little, so this time Thomas and I plodded on to the top. Shopping in Lake Placid was probably the low point of the trip for me. It is NO FUN being in a fancy place with lots of money spenders when you don't have any to spend. But the kids got Webkinz which made them happy. We got back and the kids had a great afternoon swimming. It was 82 degrees in the shade and 76 degree water temperature--a rarity in the north country. Thomas even got brave and started jumping in! Alas--we had to start cleaning the place and packing up.

Saturday--the kids woke up at--yes--5:59am!! This is what happens when there are no curtains and loons are singing their good morning songs. So we got up, trudged everything up the hill and were on the road at 8am.

It is good to be home and connected again. But I miss looking out at the lake and not having to think about, well, anything. Our biggest concern was whether the humungous spider outside the window was going to eat the next moth victim caught in it's web! We had some moments when family togetherness was--let's say--overrated! But I have NO COMPLAINTS and I'm already thinking of the fun we'll have next year. Thank you again and again to my Uncle Rush and Annie for letting us stay another wonderful year in Hawkeye.

Oh, and I forgot to mention we stacked 6 cords of wood! It made me realize why no one needed to exercise in the olden days! It is refreshing to have exercise and be productive too.

It's raining, It's pouring...

I'm watching the rain fall and drip from leaf to leaf on the ivy that grows on my neighbor's garage. I'm continuing to try hard not to complain about the weather we get. I'm glad we live in a place where we get to experience all kinds of weather. But I just got the mail and it is completely soaked! I endeavor to keep my grumblings to myself. Between this and 2 boys that are completely bored and me, completely out of ideas of fun things to do--yeah, it's fun in the Rooney house today! :)

Unlike this weekend which was jammed packed with fun. Saturday, we were supposed to go to Great Escape with our friends, the Prices. But they had sick kids. A bummer, but we decided to go to Six Flags New England in Massachusetts instead. With our season pass, we get to go there for free as well, AND our parking pass works there too! SO it was a cheap trip and a beautiful day--why not? Except that the rest of New England had the same idea. It was JAM PACKED with people. Luckily we still have younger kids and stuck to the kiddie rides where the wait was less. Chris thought he might try the humongous Superman roller coaster, until he found out it was a 2 hour wait! So we stuck with Wiggle World and Thomas Land. After about 4 hours, Nolan was asking to leave and Thomas was crying so it was time. On the way home, Nolan asked why it wasn't dark yet--it was only 5pm! And Thomas was crying that he had to pee and how mean we were that we couldn't pull over on the highway for him right that minute. Good times! Seriously, it was fun and a good experience for the kids. But I swear we all have more fun when we have more low key adventures.

Like yesterday, Nolan and I went to a book signing and lecture by Tomie de Paola, children's author. We both loved it! There were free ice cream sundaes (Chris and Thomas stayed for that part) and good discussion. Nolan even raised his hand with a question and got to meet him when he signed his book. Nolan tells me he wants to be an illustrator if playing for the Yankees doesn't pan out. I told him he could do anything he puts his mind to.

So our friend Sharon stayed over last night, on her way to Syracuse where her mom is having surgery. My mother-in-law had cataract surgery today, did great and we spent a lot of time with her this afternoon to make sure she's okay. Nolan has his annual physical tomorrow. Lots of doctor visits these days. Lots to pray for to keep God busy up there. The rest of the week will hopefully pass quickly--we go to Silver Lake for a week's vacation on Saturday!

Play dates and sunshine

Nolan has his friend Evan over now and his older brother Derek. They play great together. Right now they all have their Nintendo DS's and are playing Mario Kart. Thomas is right in the mix, playing on his own Leapster game with a similar race car game. I love it when we have friends over that require no maintenance on my part! If I have to play too, it defeats the purpose of having friends over! Not that I don't like to play sometimes too, but we can do that anytime. I should probably have them play outside or something in a little bit while the sun is out.

The weather has been odd the last few days. It will be blue skies and sun and then a downpour. Sometimes the sun is still shining in the rain. It's making hanging clothes outside challenging.

Tomorrow is the last day of summer camp--3 weeks to school! Story time at the library ended this week too. This week, a man came to story time to teach about his exotic animals--turtles, lizards, snakes and even a hedgehog and quail. We learned the proper way to pick up a frog (by the legs or scoop underneath, never around the middle because they have no rib cage.). This weekend, we hope to go to the Great Escape again with some friends--it's been a while since we've been. On Sunday, Nolan and I are going to a book signing with Tomie de Paula--famous children's author. And we have lots of fun things to do next week. We are going to soak up as much of this summer as we can!

Nolan is also doing a job of feeding a neighbor's cats this week while she is away. I go with him but he does most of the work. It's been good for him. So far the cats want nothing to do with us, but he always tells them they are good cats before we leave. I can't beleive he is old enough to do this.

In case I don't get online again soon--Happy Anniversary to Mark and Mary Ellen on Sunday! Also, Happy Birthday Marlene on Monday and Happy Anniversary to Mike and Sharon on Tuesday!~

America's pastime in Schenectady

The boys and I had a great morning yesterday. We headed over to the Schenectady Museum to take in their special baseball exhibit.

It was billed as the "The Science Behind Baseball." There was a little bit of science stuff. One display helped you figure out how to find the sweet spot on a bat. We also watched a short movie in which two kids conducted experiments to determine which bat sends the ball farther -- aluminum or wooden (their results gave aluminum the slight edge).

But it was mostly a great collection of baseball memorabilia -- particularly as it pertained to Schenectady and the surrounding region. There were lots of great old photos of the Schenectady Blue Jays -- a former farm team for the Phillies best known for producing future Dodgers manager Tommy LaSorda. I also spotted a photo of a young Phil Rizzuto being interviewed on WGY.

There were also items on display from more recent memory, including lots of memorabilia from the Albany-Colonie Yankees and the Tri-City ValleyCats.

I would have liked to have spent more time looking at the old photos and reading all of the captions next to them, but the kids didn't have the patience for that.

The highlight for them was getting up close and personal with several of the VallyCats players (and their mascot, Southpaw). They each brought baseballs that were filled with signatures before long.

They also spent a good deal of time testing their arms against the radar gun. Nolan says his best pitch was 28 mph (although the highest I remember seeing was 27). Little Thomas topped out at 25 mph and even did a pretty good job of hitting the strike zone.

Click here to view more photos.

34 days to school-ugh!

Another week of summer flew by, and now it's August 1st. Thomas finished his swim lessons, but we're looking forward to doing more in the fall. Now we're working on no training wheels with his bike. Today we switched kids with our friends the Brownells--Nolan is at their house with Dan and Stephanie is here with Thomas. It never seems to work out lately when they are all together, so this seems to be a good compromise. Thomas and Stephanie are working on a rock concert for me, so I have to go downstairs when they are ready to perform.

These trying economic times are affecting us all, and now the boys are too. We laid them off! We ended allowances this week. Thomas kept losing his anyway by not doing his chores (He wasn't ready for an allowance yet, I think.), and we just never had cash in the house for Nolan. They are still doing their chores, but it is more laid back. They do them just because we're a family and we all have chores to do. But every weekend, it seems we order a pizza or go to some other fast food place. So that's a reward for all of us. Other ways we've made sacrifices is downgrading our cable to basic, a cheaper phone service and saving less. I think the fact that we ride bikes whenever we can has been great, as well as hanging clothes out instead of using the dryer. These sacrifices are so easy to make if it means I get to be home here with the kids. Maybe they are hard sacrifices by Niskayuna standards, but we really have so much that we aren't complaining one bit. The kids have been great about doing with less; I'm really proud of them. We are watching a lot of library movies too, though I've been picking ut some pretty bad ones lately (Do not watch "Year of the Dog"--awful!).
I guess the show must go on--let the rockin' begin!