Adirondack Diary

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Madison!

We brought Madison home from the North Country Animal Shelter yesterday. We had found out that a litter of Labradors had been dropped off with them, and by the time we got there, only 2 were left, only 1 a female (which we had decided that we wanted for our next dog, to somewhat level the playing field in our home)...

She is a cutie pie, and loves paying with all of us...

Especially Ben...

We gave her a bath/shower shortly after arriving home, to get the smell of shelter off of her...

She was very well behaved in the bath, and even leaned over to give me a kiss during the process...

She seemed to settle in quite nicely to our home and routine...

She gets along quite well with Cedar, but...

...but she really has a thing for her new big brother Miles, who she deeply admires...

Not having had a puppy in the house for a while, we are getting reacquainted her rapid mania & napping cycles...

When not exploring her new home, she always has to be touching one of us (or one of her brothers)

Sometimes, however, they move away while she's sleeping, and leave her alone on the couch or floor, gently (sweetly) snoring...

During one of her naps last evening, I caught this tip of tongue sticking out...

She and Ben are working out what I imagine will be a wonderful relationship...

She loves her newly adopted Mom...

Gail and Ben took her on a nice walk in the early morning...so far she has been flawless in making it outside to take care of business...

She and Miles have matching collars (for reasons beyond the cuteness), and the way that they dote on each other makes it seem like Miles and a mini-Miles...

We're downstairs now, enjoying woodheat and sleeping dogs while watching the new version of "Alice in Wonderland"...

Sunday, February 20, 2011

February Happenings

I've had a fun February, but been remiss about posting any pics in the blog...here are a couple...

The first weekend of the month was the 4th Annual Northern New York Winter Camping Trip, an annual event by and for the New York Chapter of Zombie Squad. We had 10 people come this year, and everyone had a great time!

We try to focus on a local charity each year, and this year we collected goods for the Tri-Lakes Humane Society, and were able to deliver them on Saturday...we played with the bunnies and cats living at the shelter, and walked and/or played with every single dog in the place...it was wonderful!

My friend Rick and I were brave/stupid enough to snowshoe across somewhat slushy Polliwogg Pond, to spend one of the nights hammock-camping on an island in the middle of the pond...in this picture you can see us trekking across the ice and snow, me with a pulk behind me.

My sorta-pulk design was perfect in the snow on the pond, but a little problematic negotiating the twists and turns and trees and topography on the island...not to worry, Ben and I have plans to modify the design this long weekend...

We set up our hammocks on the spine of the island...the snowshoes were useful in packing down the snow in our camp.

We enjoyed the rest of the day with everyone else, and then trudged out to the island after dark, during a whiteout blizzard, which ended up dumping most of a foot of new snow on, under, around us overnight...the huge trees overhead would gather snow in their branches for a while, and then dump huge snowbombs on us...we could hear them falling through the lesser branches on their way down, and then crashing onto our tarps, or in one case the ground right next to my hammock, which blasted me with wind and then coated me with snow...it was awesome!

The pic above shows me in my hammock the next morning...about 10-11 inches of snow fell overnight, filled in our footprints, and even drifted up under my hammock until is was even with my butt.

This is the entire NNY2011WCT-ZSNY Crew

Ben loves the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, and this year they went all out, building a huge and elaborate castle.

The theme this year was Medieval Times, and Ben loved it!

As always, the fireworks were incredible

I also got to enjoy a day of cross-country skiing with my students from Lake Placid. It was a fun way to celebrate the Winter Carnival, get out of the classroom for a day, and enjoy the people that we see and teach and work with everyday in a different setting and a different way.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Christmas 2010

We went down to Key West this Christmas, and had a great time there with my mom and dad and sister (anti-) Sarah...It was a super time!

Gail and Sarah and I had fun exploring the town, especially since we were within walking distance of everything downtown...

Sarah and Gail at the smallest bar in Key West...our favorite spot was the Hogsbreath Saloon though

The area in front of our rental house was a pretty wasteland that was used by residents and visitors as a park...we met this sweet dog there while walking one morning...

Gail got jazzed by all of the cool historical information scattered throughout the downtown area...

I loved the free-range chickens that are everywhere in Key West...you can hear and see them at any hour and in any part of town...

I liked this guy fishing while a pelican watched, all in the shadow of a huge cruiseship...that's Key West!

Ben loved the pool, and spent time in it every day...

It was a nice spot to read and hang out...

Our house was near to Zachary Taylor Fort and State Park, close enough to bike there on our rented bikes in just a few minutes...we went there a couple of times, getting there early in the morning before other people arrived...

The fort was really cool, and Ben learned the difference between a cannon and a mortar...

This was the view of sunset from our house!

We visited the aquarium, which is great fun...

Maybe the most fun was watching Anti-Sarah get a serious case of the wiggins when faced with a pool filled with sharks, right at her feet...

This octopus was incredible to watch move around in his tank...

Back at ZT state park and beach, on a perfect morning!

Ben loved climbing around on the stone jetty and exploring the beach for shells and wee-beasties...

A nice reach-around shot taken by Gail...

I brought one of my hammocks along, and we strung it up between the 2 best trees on the beach (we were the first ones there, so we grabbed the best spot)

Ben loved hanging in the hammock, and watching the sun and sand and waves...

Gail read to Ben while he was hanging around...

That afternoon, we went on a sunset cruise on a sailing ship, and Ben was able to help them hoist the sails...

They also let Ben pilot the ship (a couple of times...he really liked do it)...

It was a beautiful afternoon/evening...

It was a little chilly for the wimps among our group, but luckily the ship was laden with fleece blankets...

We had a great time!

Ben loves boats...

The following day was Anti-Sarah's Birthday, so we all got tattoos (of course)...

Ben got an awesome dragon tattoo on his belly, that danced when he jiggled his belly...

The family that tattoos together...sings "MOO" together...

We went back to ZT Beach the next morning, early, and had a great time reading and walking and hanging out (I also gave blood at the southernmost bloodmobile in the US while there)...

Gail came to love the hammock as both a lounger and a chair...

She's a convert now...

Ben loves this park, and wants to come back again if we return...

Ben loved riding the bicycle built for 2 as a means of getting around...

Ben and I playing in the pool, practicing karate and doing some sparring...

Ben serving up the time-honored Bruce Lee-esque "Come at me and I'll open up a fresh can of whoop-ass on you!" gesture before trying to light me up...