Arrived

We are in the Adirondacks. We rented a house for the week through home away.com.  I got the tip about the website from my kids, and I think we are going to be very happy with that choice.  We got here a little early and were met by the owner, who was not quite ready for us, so he sent us down to his inlaws.  The dad is a selftaught artist, who showed us his art, and then his propery.  To try to convey the special feeling while in his presence is ... Difficult.  We ended up spending over two hours with him, and they flew by like a few minutes.

The house we are staying in is lovely.

We already managed to go for a long hike without a trail and not really get lost, but we lost our first trail.  Up a hill?  Of course, what a question!  That's what we do.

Now we are waiting for my sister in law and her husband, 

And then our vacation will really start.

upcoming vacation

We'll be going on vacation.  To the Adirondacks.  Which is a big deal for us, but means nothing to my German relatives.  If you click on the link, you'll see what I'm looking forward to.  And I get confused about it, there is so much to see and do!  I would love to hike one of the high peaks, and we'll see.
But there is a lot to do and see, and I doubt we'll get it all in, but we'll give it a shot.

Week was busy again.  Working, getting things out the door in a timely fashion, bills written, off to the post office, getting supplies, all done.  More for the coming week.
I got to see Nicole and boys on Monday, always fun.  The two little ones where not feeling good, but both are on the mend.

Of course we went hiking again.  Today!  And a lovely day it was.  Our weather is cool for August, which is fine with us.  We had it cooler, we had rain, but cool air is coming in from Canada for the next couple of days, and it's great.  Our hike today was humid in the beginning, and then the wind picked up, still warm, but not as humid, and it felt great.
The foraging German I still have in me from childhood was delighted in finding grapes - not ready yet, hazelnuts, same, not ready yet, and not one, but two walnut trees, with walnuts that are, you guessed it, not ready yet.

I remember going in the woods while growing up during the summer always involved finding something.  Mushrooms, berries, nuts, going into the 'Rhine hedges' - Rheiner Hecken - was a tradition still carried out by my brother for black raspberries - Brombeeren.  Some years the mushrooms were plentiful and delicious, other years we couldn't find any.
The other day Frau Bruellen remembered going for a walk/hike with her parents, and the water being carefully rationed out on the walk.  And the parents telling their children to swallow their spit, it would take care of the thirst.  That's the way I grew up!  I still have a hard time drinking water, and I swear it's from that time.  Although we managed to drink one and a half liters today, I'm proud of myself of managing to drink all that!

Anyway, we spotted a snapping turtle in the water today, a big one, too, his head was bigger than my fist!

The rather unspectacular turtle head is in the middle somewhere, the turtle didn't think it important to come and pose for us, despite Michael waiting on the shore.  We did get a rather dumb deer willing to come closer.  For what?  No idea, we had eaten and consumed all the water we had carried.
On that note, it's still shocking to find left-behind garbage in the woods.  Doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it's like a slap.  The park's policy is to carry out what you bring in.  And most people are fine with that.
And the park is not convenient, no garbage barrels anywhere, no bathrooms, no hot dog stands, no ice cream booth, no restaurant, no, just a park.  Lovely!
And wonderful.
Hope it stays that way for a very long time to come.

August - family, vacation, hiking

Wow, time passes quickly!
August already.  Work during the week, with the weather cooler and bearable.

Dear Baerbel from http://minibares.wordpress.com, thank you so much for coming along with us in spirit!  On our hikes I think of you, and wonder which views you would want me to share. And I am grateful for every step I can make uphill, even though I am breathing hard and have aching muscles, it is a present to be able to walk up and down the mountain, over stony paths that look more like dried up brook beds than paths! I consider it truly a gift to still be able to enjoy nature like I am, or we are. And yes, we both know how lucky we are.

Anyway, this weekend we had a visit from Sue, Noah and Kate.  How much fun!  I love having them here, the kids get chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and I found out Noah's favorite food is tacos!  I had no idea.  Luckily we had tacos from Friday night leftover, so Noah got to eat them on Saturday for lunch.
Kate seems to like it all, so no sweat as far as she is concerned.  On Saturday we visited the Lakota Wolf Preserve here in NJ, and it was interesting, the only disappointment was that it rained, and only during our time at the presentation - but we enjoyed seeing wolves, bobcats and fox.

We got together with the rest of the family in the early evening, and the kids had so much fun.

The boys enjoyed the dessert most of all!

Today back to hiking, after we saw Sue, Noah and Katherine off on their way

(they made it home safely)

 The photo above should really go to the 'I see faces' on instagram..... but I'm having trouble with my smartphone, so it didn't go there, and you will have to admire it!

Isn't this frog gorgeous?  I think he is beautiful!

Michael suggested I go pick him up and kiss him,

but I told him there was no need, I already had my prince.

Hot Humid summer

It's been hot, and it still is hot and humid.
Yes, we still walk or hike, two weeks ago we hiked to the limit of our endurance.  We told each other we could walk longer, but it was tough, and we both were glad to get back to the car.  All the little aches and complaints came to the surface, I was never so glad to get down the mountain and sit down in the car.
We still enjoyed our hike, and even went for a swim.  At the same spot where Michael got poison ivy last year.  This year he promptly got a couple spots again, which led me to declare that swimming spot unsafe.  There is something that makes him break out.  I got bitten by some kind of  bug, I don't think it was poison ivy in my case.

Work was also hard last week, it being so totally hot and humid.  We had every fan going in the place, and a couple of them are industrial strength!
This week is humid so far, which still makes it feel uncomfortable, but we have some relief coming.   I felt bad for Luzia Pimpinella and family who did a tour of New England, ending their last hot days in Boston.  I followed their trip on Instagram, and it was fun!
This past weekend we celebrated Evan's third birthday, so much fun!

He nearly singed his eyebrows off, getting so close to the ice cream cake to blow out the candles!

The next day Evan and Jackson came to our house, to spend the night and we were taking them to their first fireworks ever.  The challenge was to keep them up late, they had spent the day in an amusement park, and we took them back to a small carnival next to the site of the fireworks.  They had a blast!  Riding all the kiddie rides, and going into a two-story funhouse.  No idea what was in it, it seemed Evan was a bit young for it, but since he is tall, no one stopped him.  I warned Jackson to take care of his little brother, which he did, they boys went in again and again, so I can only surmise that it was good.
Yes, they did stay up for the fireworks!  It was touch and go, with them getting antsy, but they managed.  And loved it.  Evan kept telling us every color of the rocket bursts.  Great time.
I think that was the latest the boys went to bed, we managed to get them to bed by 10:45, and we weren't much behind.
They slept Monday until almost 9 AM, got chocolate chip pancakes, and played a bit, and then I took them swimming in our lake.  I finally, after many years, managed to get the passes to use the beaches again, and it was nice being able to take them.
Jackson was a bit afraid of the lake, I had to assure him that no fish got through the ropes around the swimming area (wink).

Yes, we also got our hike in, on Saturday.
Not quite as exhausting as the one the week before, a bit easier.
Most exiting thing:
I got  some close-ups of the butterfly:

 oh, and a lake filled with see roses. so pretty!

When we came back from our hike the flowers were already gone...

 The butterfly!

More Birthdays

Back home again, another weekend has passed, we worked, we sweat(ed), we attended a family party, and had a great time, we are planning our next vacation, we are sweating some more.... and so it goes.
I'm working on the tada! finish of Evan's quilt, and I'm already knee deep in ideas for more.

 A baby drinking seltzer

 sisters catching up

 lovely smiles from lovely people

 the party on the deck, welcoming family to New Jersey, they held the party

 and a little pre-celebration of Evan's 3rd birthday,

part of the family won't be able to be at the party on Saturday, 

but no one minded having to eat ice cream cake 

a week ahead of time, funny, that!

Evan decided on the pirate costume after 

having tried out at least 2 other costumes.

Sunday we went to our favorite State Park in NY State to hike.  It was very hot and humid, in the low 90's here when we left, the high 80's when we got there.  We hiked for hours, swam, and ended up walking over 15,000 steps, which doesn't sound like all that much (about 4.5 miles), but it was hot, humid, and very hilly.  Not easy meandering/walking.  Hey, I want credit!

We were so tired that we couldn't fall asleep that night - probably overtired.  We caught up on our sleep last night, so all is well.

I miss writing here on a regular basis, but will try to get back to it, I promise!