Cal's pics

Cal spends a part of almost every day taking pictures with his camera. These are just a few of the great shots he gets.
Photo#1 - an oven bird we saw on our Mother's day hike together
Photo#2- our backyard, early morning - Look closely at the drop of water on the blade of grass!
Photo#3 - another early morning photo of the sun shining through the trees in our backyard
Photo #4 - Leah swinging

What a catch!

James and Leah went fishing with Daddy one morning this past week. They came home with all these fish that they caught themselves!!! They were yummy!!

Cal got to go fishing later that afternoon and added to the catch.

Babies!

Frog eggs we collected for the swampy area across the street from our house.
Lots of baby tadpoles!!!

Dining Room Floor

Before
After
We finally refinished the dining room floor. Not perfect, but much better!

Trip to Albany

On Monday we had to go pick up Charlie's parents from the Albany Airport so we left earlier in the day and the kids and I stopped at the New York State Museum. We all had a great time! It's an excellent museum with plenty to see. There's a children's discovery room that all four children enjoyed. We even went up to the fourth floor to ride the carousel. Lily laughed hysterically on the carousel. Cal's favorite part was the stuffed birds grouped according to habitat. James' favorite part was carousel (even though I had to drag him on it because he was scared). Leah's favorite part was seeing all the Adirondack wildlife. I would have to guess that Lily's favorite part was the variety of things to do in the discovery room. I would definitely recommend this museum to anyone who's never been there. There's lots to see and it's free!

Fishing Day

On a bright, sunny day we took a break from our schooling and went across the field to the river to go fishing, exploring, and have a picnic lunch outside. Leah helped Lily walking on the uneven ground - she's a great big sister! Cal put on his brand new lure only to get it stuck on a rock in the river. Mommy went in the frigid water to retrieve it for him since she was already wet from walking through the swampy area without her waterproof boots. The things a mother will do!! It was a beautiful day (even if we didn't catch any fish)!

Tree Swallows

The boys and Daddy made this new box for tree swallows.



















Here's some new guests getting ready to move into the box the boys made last year.












The children and Daddy decided to hang the new box on a tree in the field across the street. When we went over a few days later we found that it has tenants already!

Fun Day Trip Part 2!

After Gracie's party we went to Uncle Mike and Aunt Sally's house. We met the new goats which Cal and Leah helped feed. They also helped milk the older goats and Cal helped Josiah and Jeremiah with their animal chores. They had a great time!!!!

Fun Day Trip!

Lily loved meeting her cousin Gracie!!
The kids all had a great time at Gracie's birthday party.
Lily especially enjoyed the cake!!