You've got to be kidding me.

Now he wants to join the chess club.  You know who I'm talking about.  Captain Involvement. 

Labor Day 2012- Letchworth State Park, NY

We decided to spent the labor day weekend at Letchworth State Park, in New York this year.  A friend of Mike's from work recommended it.  It's known as the "Grand Canyon of the East," and it's super cool.  We had the best time.  We're so very lucky to have two kids who are so adventure-ready.

I'm going to upload some photos, mostly of the kids.  I'll try to add some of the cool scenery later.

Best family photo ever! 

We also had a chance to take a tour of the Mt. Morris Dam.  A very funny and enthusiastic member of the Army Corps of Engineers took us on the tour, which included going down inside the dam, 20 stories underground.  It was very dark and damp and chilly and echo-y, but pretty cool.  The kids spent the rest of the day gleefully making up sentences using the word "dam" to sound like they were cursing, without getting into trouble.  It was pretty much just like vacationing with the Griswolds.

You can still make either one giggle maniacally just by mentioning going on a "dam tour."  Try it!  It's pretty funny.

Halfway down the 127 steps to the lower falls.  Taking a break to be adorable.

The boys, with the Middle Falls in the distance.

All four of us, plus the Middle Falls, and a telescope :)

Monkeys.  In a tree.  They spent about 25%* of this trip up in trees.

My boys, at Wolf Creek.  Aren't they the sweetest?

I love this one.  It's the background on my computer at work right now.  It's going to come in handy on those cold, dreary winter days to bring a smile to my face!

Other highlights:  really nice campground, clean bathrooms, most sights easily accessible by car, hot air balloons lifting up over the valley (!!), and no problems with raccoons or other wildlife, but we're pretty good about keeping food put away properly.

This one's super sweet, too.  The boys wading in the Genessee River.  As always, I sort of got us into a spot.  It was really hot and I was desperate to get in the water.  Any time you were closer than 345 feet above the river, there was a sign saying you couldn't go in.  Finally, we managed to get the scoop from an insider about a place where you could go wading.  Well, maybe not state-endorsed, but at least without much interference :)  So, we set off for that place, on a trail that was supposedly only .5 miles long and "easy."  Har har har.  45 miles and 9000 feet of elevation* later, we finally found it!  The kids loved it.  I told them they weren't allowed in above their knees.  If you look very, very closely, you can see one little dry spot on Natey's shoulder in this photo, so you can see about how well that worked out.  They listen like rabbits.  Also, Nate managed to kick Mike's lens cap into the river, and they went looking for it but were predictably unsuccessful.

Anyway, in this photo, Brendan is building a dam to try to trap water in a pool, and Nate is making a mud painting on that rock.  I sat behind Mike as he took this picture, with the fading light making them glow like little angels and thought "I am going to remember this moment forever." 




*This may be a slight exaggeration.  Slight.

This weekend (8/31)

No scheduled activities!  Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Overachiever.

Okay, so he was serious about running club.  They ordinarily meet after school, but it looks like they're going to do some weekend events here and there.  His participation will be very TBD, depending on his soccer game schedule.  With him playing soccer four or five days a week, and running two, I'm a little concerned about the toll it's going to start taking on his little body (paranoid soccer mom <-----------).  Really don't want him injured or burned out three years before he ever even makes it to high school :)

Anyway, these are the events currently scheduled:

Saturday, September 22 8:40 am - Malone Invitational (1,000 meters)

Saturday, September 29 8:00 am - Stark County Meet - GlenOak High School

Strategery . . .

Brendan was entertaining me last night with his tale of how he's managing the limited time between classes in Middle School.  He has a locker with a combination, and it's taken him a little while to get the hang of it.  After he gets his morning books out of his locker, apparently he does the first two numbers of the combination and stops the dial just a few numbers past the second digit.  So, when he comes back to switch books before he heads downstairs for the afternoon, all he has to do is flip it to the third number in the combination and open the door.  Clever little thing.

Also, he wants us to let him do running club.  Because he was too light on the extracurricular activities :)

Fall Soccer Schedule

So, this year our soccer organization (Canton United Soccer Club) has created a Junior Academy for little guys like Nate.  It's an instructional team, so they won't be playing any competitive games, but I imagine they'll do something similar to the Y-league where they spent half of their weekly practices learning skills and the other half doing scrimmages against one another.  So, if you're interested in attending, that will take place on Wednesdays from 6-7:15 at the Macedonian Orthodox Church on Massillon Rd., just north of the airport.  This club is a little particular about parents not being close to the practice fields during practice, but it might be different for the Junior Academy.

In other news, we have a game schedule for Brendan!  All games at Lodi outdoor fields, unless I tell you otherwise.

September 8, 2012 - vs. Whitecaps Teal - 10:15 am - Field 16

September 15, 2012 - Double header.  First game vs. Liberty FC Red - 3:15 pm - Field 20.  Second game vs. Ambassadors - 4:30 pm - Field 1.

September 29, 2012 - vs. CSA Impact Red - 2:00 pm - Field 6.

October 6, 2012 - vs. Everest - 2:00 pm - Field 16 (Note:  I don't think we'll be at this game, since it's the same day that my wonderful brother-in-law Robb will finally make the lovely Megan a new Mrs. Bickis :))

October 13, 2012 - vs. NEO - 12:45 pm - Field 22

October 20, 2012 - CASA Playoffs.  We'll pretty much be there all day.  Don't know the specific game schedule yet, and probably won't for a long time.

Howdy

So, uh, to anyone who didn't believe me when I said I wouldn't be posting much this summer, told ya so?  :)

This week I am grateful for:

- Watermelon
- My children being home from North Carolina; and
- The Columbus tournament being cancelled.

Not necessarily in that order.

This week is pretty much back to reality.  Tonight Mike has some meeting in Louisville to rush off to, tomorrow is Brendan's orientation for Middle School (yeah, I said that.  MIDDLE SCHOOL), and Thursday is the open house at Nathan's school.  Next week both boys go back to school and soccer practice resumes.  Oy.

For anyone who thinks that raising boys is easier than girls?  Yesterday we spent four hours shopping for shoes and came home with exactly one pair per child. Then we had to go to two stores to find a pencil box in the exact dimensions dictated by Nate's first grade teacher.  He's thrilled beyond words to find out that he'll be  in a class with his friend Holden, who was with him in both preschool and Kindergarten, plus not one, but both Jaydens, at least one of whom is in his cub scout pack.

This weekend we'll be doing an outing with scouts where we ride our bikes on the towpath up in summit county, and a lovely train meets us and brings us and our bikes back to the Winking Lizard to eat wings and drink beer.