Ben's Kayak!

Today was Ben's last day of school (mine too), and we celebrated by going out for lunch at Mountain Mist (fried food followed by ice cream...we shared the cones with the ducks who came by while we were eating), and then a trip to a local boat shop to pick up a B en-sized kayak!

It's an early birthday present from his grandparents, Muz and D, and he was very excited...we had a couple of models to choose from, but ended up going with the Acadia Scout, by Perception, a small kayak that isn't a toy...


We brought it over to Upper Saranac Lake and put it (and my Hornbeck) into the water for a short trial paddle...


The boat is light and fast and maneuverable, and he got comfortable with the boat very quickly...


Miles was nervous about us being in boats without him, so he tried first to climb into Ben's kayak, and then my canoe...it didn't phase Ben...it almost tipped me over when he tried to climb in the back of my boat...I got laughing so hard I almost went in on my own...


We started off with a quick paddle around a nearby float...


Ben quickly got the hang of paddling the boat, turning and exploring with ease in a few minutes...


We came back to the shore and adjusted his PFD a bit before a longer paddle...


It was a beautiful afternoon on the water!


We paddled over towards Green Island, only turning around when the wind picked up a bit...I didn't want Ben's first real paddle to end in frustration, so we just loafed our way back along the shore...


Miles was quite worried about us the whole time, jumping in to greet us when we got close to him again...It was a superb way to start our summer vacation!

Father's Day Camping Trip with Ben

Ben and I went camping over the Father's Day weekend. We hiked with our canoe into the Saint Regis Canoe Area and paddle-camped on Long Pond (then paddling home via Slang and Turtle and Hoel Ponds)...

We set out early in the morning on Saturday, getting on the water by 7:30am...



We paddled down long pond after portaging in, and stopped at a small island for breakfast after a short paddle...

Ben noodled around in the water with a sample net, and was able to catch a crawdad...



The beast hung out with us while we enjoyed our breakfast, and then was released back into the waters of Long Pond...


Both Ben and i were camping in our hammocks for this trip, and we set them up as soon as we got to camp...partly to stake a claim to the site, and partly to have a place to hide from the bugs...


Once the camp was set up, we built a small smoky fire to chase some of the bugs away while deciding what to do...


Ben loved the hammock chair that I brought along, and spent a lot of time in it during the weekend, snacking and reading and napping...


We paddled down the length of Long Pond, and found this great big snapping turtle...


We hiked up to Mountain Pond and partway up to Long Pond Mountain before deciding the bugs and heat were too much for us, and that we'd prefer to swim and paddle instead...


We stopped off for a lovely swim and splash at a wonderful beach at the mouth of the bay that the hike to Mountain Pond is on, and I took this picture, because I like macro-mode...


We got back to camp and could see storm clouds rolling in, so we started dinner with dessert, and roasted a gazillion marshmallows before enjoying some MountainHouse Mac and Cheese...


After dinner we took turns telling stories as night fell around us...mine tend to be thinly veiled ecology and morality lessons with zombies and kidnappings and bombs and catastrophic meteorite impacts mixed in to help the medicine go down...Ben tells tales of adventure and good guys versus bad guys and glorious battles...he acts his stories out and uses different voices...


He has also started reading on his own for pleasure for the first time this summer...it's wonderful to see and makes me so happy...


When the crashing boomers and rain and lightning started, we retired to the hammocks, Ben inside of his, and me under him on the ground while he read to me...it was lovely...


The next day we got up early, breakfasted royally, broke camp like a well-oiled machine, and paddled/portaged our way towards home...Ben was a big help carrying his share of the stuff across the portages, and we're planning our next trip already...

Surprise Boston Trip

I planned a surprise weekend trip out of town, simply telling Gail and Ben to pack a bag each and be ready to go early on Friday morning...


We flew to Boston...they didn't know until we got to the airport at Lake Clear...at 5:30am on Friday


Ben got to ride up front with the pilot of the plane


We arrived in Boston in time for breakfast and were waiting at the Science Museum when it opened...


It was lots of fun!


This was a cool exhibit comparing the bones of a small dinosaur, a chicken, and an iguana...


We went back to our hotel after lunch for a swim and some reading...


The next morning we went to the aquarium, which was fantastic!


There were dozens of great exhibits and amazing sealife


Ben loved the touch tank


They also had a great exhibit on Jellyfish


That night, we went for sushi at a great place, and Ben and I loved watching the chefs making our food


The next morning, we went for brunch at the harbor, and visited with the seals before eating


They are such beautiful creatures


After brunch, we went to the Franklin Park Zoo...it's a fun little zoo


The gorilla exhibit blew us away...all in all, we had an amazing trip!

Memorial Day Weekend

We headed over to Maine for the Memorial Day Weekend


Ben and his Aunt Helen before the parade.




Ben and his cousin Max at the newly improved memorial in L/A



The boys playing down by the river...nice open space for boys to run



Although he felt better after watching the parade, Ben seemed a little horse



Ben and Max and Lucas



The new memorial stone, including the Gibson men (Stanley was Gail's father)





Mini-golf



Ben/Dad hug



Ben skipping stones at the beach





We stopped for seafood and ice-cream after the beach