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| From 090808 Cayuga Nature Center |
We stopped by Cayuga Nature Center on the way back from Taughannock Falls. The tree house was really cool, and the peacocks at the mini-zoo was pretty eager to show off his feathers. He made up for the fox, who had a tough time keeping his eyes open. We also enjoyed the butterfly house and the “living” sculptures.
WOW! We have been lax on the blog lately! Sorry GIF we will certainly try and be better. We started April with baseball practices for tallmonster and smallmonster. They both wanted to try it out so Mommy was busy shuttling them off to practice 3 days a week. Tallmonster’s team is the Yankees (fitting) and Smallmonster is the Dodgers. They have been playing games for the last few weeks and seem to be enjoying it. It is fun to watch the teams and they have really improved since the first game.
The Moravian Carmichael’s came down for a visit on their way to Myrtle Beach. It was great to see them all. We had Jim and the gang over for dinner Friday and went to their house on Saturday. We had to avoid raindrops but the kids didn’t seem to mind and had fun exploring the woods and trying out the infamous swing over the ravine. Their stay was too short but on Sunday they left for the sand and surf of Myrtle Beach.
Daddy did lots of traveling this month. He spent a week in Houston and was stranded in Tulsa, OK for a day, not the highlight of his trip. We took a trip over to Myrtle Beach to visit Grandma and Pap-Pap before they head back North. The weather was beautiful and the jmonsters had a blast swimming in the ocean taking on the waves. By the second day tallmonster was complaining of a rash from the sand in his bathing suit. We will be sure to buy him bike shorts to wear under his suit next time. He loves to roll around the surf. Smallmonster is much more cautious and likes to stay closer to shore. He and Mommy built multiple sand castles and garages for his monster truck and then sat and watched them get demolished by the surf. We took them putt-putting (one of smallmonsters favorite things) and made a stop at the Dairy Queen, (YUM) big mistake because Mommy is now in love with their flurry. Greensboro does not have one so we will have to wait for next year 
, probably a good thing for Mommy’s waistline. It was a great visit and we look forward to next year and checking out Grandma and Pap-Pap’s new Condo selection on the top floor!
We now are boat free! Daddy called to boat people to check on our boat situation and ironically the guy was trying to find our phone number because he had someone interested in buying our boat. We struck a deal and Daddy was heading to Auburn for business so it worked out that he was able to bring the boat paperwork and settle everything while he was there. We will miss the boat but enjoyed it the short time we had it. It was the perfect situation last summer and who knows maybe someday we’ll do it again.
As we welcome in May, Grandma and Pap-Pap are here visiting for a few days before they make their trek back North with Georgie (our resident cat for the last 4 months). Sandee will surely miss her and will be searching for her after she’s gone. I don’t know what we’ll do without hearing the daily hissing and growling fights. You would think after 4 months they would be bored with each other.
The garden is in and the landscaping projects have started. We planted tomatoes, zucchini, watermelons, cukes and peppers. We look forward to watching them grow and bear fruit (hopefully). Spring has truly sprung and it is beautiful down here…we look forward to many more projects and plantings in the next few months…
A perfect weekend was on tap for our annual trip to Sand Lake. The gods were smiling on us as Saturdays, approached 85, with loads of sunshine. The kids even went swimming a couple of times. We saw that the weather promised to be good, so we threw the suits in as a last minute addition. We were thinking that it would be nice to have the suits on for all the invariable oops’ that happen while fishing for salamanders and crayfish. It turned into full fledged permission granted swimming, it was that nice. We even took the swim dock back out to where its moored, in the deeper part of the lake.
When the kids weren’t swimming they were torturing fishing for those rascally salamanders. At one point the had over 25 in the bucket. It looked like a horror film scene with all of them squirming at the bottom of the bucket. We instituted an immediate catch release policy, in order to practice conservation of the lakeside creatures. The fishing was pretty slow this year, with no big trout caught. Just a few chubs, and the last we knew Pap-Pap was beating Mommy by a chub or two.
We hiked around the lake that Saturday, the trail on the north and west sides of the lake are starting to show the lack of maintenance, since Connie’s untimely demise. We had to do a bit of bushwhacking and move a log or two in order to make it over some wet spots. Pap-Pap almost went into the drink as one of logs decided to let loose and roll as he was crossing. His lumber jack skills are a little rusty. No injuries, just a dirty hand and he didn’t take Mommy with him. The day was finished with loads of kayaking and canoeing. There were a lot of trips up and down “Spooky River”.
We packed up and headed down to the lake. We met Jeff, Cara, and Jeffery and fought the wind to do some tubing and swimming. The sun was out, but the wind made it a bit on the chilly side. A fun filled afternoon and Fancee had a good time chasing ducks.
The D-O-GG had a dismount accident, getting tangled in the ladder after hemming and hawing about jumping in. We thought for sure we were making an emergency trip to the vet to set a broken leg. After a bit of hobbling around she seems good as new. She was disappointing after making a perfect jump off the front of the boat. See cleared a good five feet and was right on top of the duck before a big quack and a quick flying exit.
We bobbed around the sandbar the sandbar eating lots of snackies and drinks. The cold drove us off, and we were back at the house around 7:00, and everyone was tired and sun-kissed. A quick dinner of Daddy mac-n-cheese (the Smallmonster thought it was great the Tallmonster said it had some room for improvement), then it was off to watch some Dirty Jobs and bed.
We are still on the fence about the boat making the trip down South. We decide not, until we go out on it and then it quickly turns to a definite maybe.
You have to love New York weather, well at least act like you do. The morning started off pretty cruddy with a chilly rain that spitted and sputtered off and on. We cowboyed up and decided to make the most of the day.
The Moravian Carmichael’s met us at the slip around 11 o’clock and we were off. Cara and Tallmonster didn’t seem to mind the cool breeze or the sun that spent a lot of time hiding behind clouds. These kids are going to grow gills, they spend so much time in the water.
Jeffery had a good time hollering for the water taxi to swim by and pick him up. He and Uncle Matt also had a ball shout garbledy-gook at one another (see the video below).
The rain did eventually stop and the sun peaked out here and there, so all was not lost. It did get a bit chilly when the wind picked up, dry towels were at a premium. Tallmonster and Cara even tubed for a bit and we only were able to bounce Tallmonster out once.
Another boat filled weekend. We have to get it in because the road trip to GIF starts on Thursday, stay tuned.
We headed down to the Moravian Carmichael’s for phase two of the shed project. We tried to take care of the slope that lead into the side doors of the shed. Aunt Shelley was the only one that really had a good idea of what the finished product would look like, the rest of us just offered a strong back.
The project came out great and you can see Mamma Celeste’s post From Slope to Scenic here.
Not sure what the next shed project will be, but it will be a great excuse to get down there and have some more fun and good times.
Fancee Dancee Sandee seemed like she spent the day digging, or barking at Katrina. She had to take a nap on the way home.
Happy Father’s Day to all Dad’s one and alike. The day dawned bright and sunny. We had planned a boat outing with the family, Grandma, Pap-Pap, Jeff, Shelley and the gurls, and little J. We met at Emerson Park and loaded the pontoon with lots of snacks and drinks. It seems like where ever we go snacks and drinks are never far behind.
Not sure what the pontoon looked like after everyone was loaded on, but we didn’t sink or get pulled over by the Sheriff’s patrol! After showing off the pontoons power (not!) and pulling Tallmonster, Anna and Cara around in the tube we headed over to the beach area to drop anchor and swim. The kids had a ball jumping off the front of the pontoon and at one point Anna, Jerrad and Cara wadded into shore to look at the fancy cars. There was a Father’s Day car show going on at the same time.
After floating around for a few hours it was time to head back to shore and fire up the grill for a picnic. It was a feast to be proud of and Pap-Pap spent the time looking for a 1964 mustang to buy. We all took turns ogling the cool cars and picking out which one we would like. It was a perfect Father’s Day according to Daddy and we all left relaxed and a little sunburned!
flickr: Set – Detail – Slide Show – Map
*Not liking some of the comments on the photo pages so… if you are having trouble seeing them drop us a note and we’ll invite you! matt at jmonsters dot net
GEO: Owasco Lake [GP:owasco]
Their 25th high school reunion was canceled, but Jim and Maureen decided to still make the trip. They had a whirlwind schedule trying to see everyone in New York in just three days.
We headed over to Grandma and Pap-Pap’s for a bit of a BBQ. The cousins were a bit disappointed that none of the NC boys made the trip, but it was good to catchup with Jim and Maureen just the same.
GEO: Grandma and Pap-Pap’s [GP:pappap]
We headed South again with a truck load of materials. We had a mission to complete with the gang down in Moravia that included extending the decks on either side of the porch on the shed. We also added a set of steps to lead up to the “stage”.
The projects went off with just a minor hitch or two, we were one shy on the stair stringers, and still are working on the trim pieces. The jmonsters went off with the “gurls” and caught every amphibian and reptile within a one mile radius. We ended the day with a fire and some smoes. All in all, a pretty productive beginning to the long weekend.
GEO: Moravian Carmichael’s [GP:moravia]
Loads to do and this time not at the old Auburn shack. The benefits of being homeless, not much on the “honey-do” list. So we decided to head down to the Moravian Carmichael’s to see what they had on their “honey-do” list.
The original project at hand was to make a ramp for the tractor to go up and down out of the new shed. Not much in the way of design, but a definite must on the functionality list. We only trashed one saw. Circular saws don’t really appreciate ripping soggy pressure treated 2×6′s, with the wrong blade. We finished the job with the jig saw, just an exercise in patients.
The job went off without a hitch, and seemed to work well. So with a bolstered sense of accomplishment we looked around for more to do. Mommy was quick to help put the new cupola, Daddy doesn’t do heights. So Uncle Jeff and Mommy headed up to the roof to replace the old cupola that was torn down by those Skinner Hill winds.
We finished the day off with tacking down some fascia and reinforcing a sagging gutter. Then it was time to eat, the drinking part took part through out most of the day. BBQ and a bean salad that was out of the world.
Oh yeah, we have children. Not sure what they were up to most of the day. Off running through the fields outback and playing in the run-off streams. The came back dirty and out of breath, so they must have had fun, everyone will sleep well tonight.
flickr: Set – Detail – Slide Show – Map
GEO: Moravian Carmichael’s [GP:moravia]
