The Great New York State Fair 2013

Wyatt had a great weekend. In fact, he is still recovering at 3:47pm on Sunday as I type this. Nah, he wasn't tired. Nope. He told me he wasn't. Well he has been sound asleep since 2.
Larry, Jody, Connor, Ella and Ethan all drove out this weekend to go to the fair. They arrived shortly after 2pm on Saturday and I thought for sure we weren't going to be able to enjoy the Fair for too long, just given the fact that they would all melt down around 8 or so. I got really cranky trying to find a parking spot, but once in the Fair, all was forgotten. Anyways, we were at the fair for 7 hours! We arrived back home at 10! And no melt downs!!!! Amazing what maple cotton candy and 75 degree weather and lots of rides can do for you. We still need to work on Ethan being ok with not winning something at the games.....they had Purple Minions you know, but in order to win one, you had to keep trading up and up and I heard one carney say it was the 7th trade in.....at $3.00 a game....that damn purple minion would have been worth at least $21, assuming one won the game each time....which is IMPOSSIBLE! Anyways, aside from the games, or lack of them, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Wyatt did get sick of looking at cows though....but we explained to him that Larry had to have his Fair fun too. ;) The pictures aren't that great- I was busy corralling a 4 and 6 year old and making sure I had 20 eyes.

Echo Cliffs- July 2011, August 2013.

Wyatt hasn't hiked a lot in the Adirondacks, but he has made it up Panther Mountain 2 times now! Here  is the proof!

July 2011

August 2013

Speculator and Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Jay, Wyatt and I drove up to Speculator, NY in the Adirondacks on Friday morning to spend the weekend celebrating my parent's 40th Anniversary with them and my Aunt Sherri and Uncle Rick. Here are some photos! On the way home, we stopped and dug for diamonds at the Herkimer diamond mine and found a few.

Grandma Tractor and Wyatt on top of Panther Mountain, overlooking Piseco Lake.

Wyatt's picture of me at the Herkimer Diamond Mines.

Wyatt being buried by Grandpa Tractor and Daddy on Lake Pleasant.

Learning to fish on the Sacandaga River at Griffin Gorge.

Uncle "Chicken Legs" Rick and Wyatt at the Sacandaga River..

Wyatt and me at the Kunjamuk Cave outside Speculator. 

Looking up at Wyatt and Jay through the hole in the roof of the Kunjamuk Cave.

Wyatt and the Kunjamuk Cave. We started hiking and realized we were just walking on a road and the supposed trail was gone, so we turned around and just drove to the cave instead. We had actually almost got to it before we turned around, but oh well. Muffin and Wyatt were much happier to drive than to walk.

Sylvan Beach Day and Chores

Wyatt has been learning to do chores to earn some money to go back to the mountain coaster at Greek Peak. We made a chore chart this week and he is in charge of feeding the dog, playing the piano for 5 minutes every day, and taking the recycling out.

On Sunday, we went out to our friend Chris's rental cabin in Sylvan Beach. The water was quite shallow and Wyatt and Jay could walk out for 1/4 mile or more. We have a very sleepy kid now.

feeding ducks

if you look really really hard, they are the little specks at the horizon right of the boat

Chris and Jared

Mountain Coasters, Waterfalls, and Playgrounds

Sunday morning we packed up the car and headed south. We made a stop at Greek Peak for a couple rides on the Mountain Coaster, then headed west to Ithaca and Taughannock Falls for a hike. It was a bit rainy in the morning and at the beginning of our hike, but it cleared up and ended as a lovely afternoon. We stopped in Preble on the way home for some of Bob's Barbecue, which was quite delicious.

L'il Hopper!

Wyatt started taking soccer lessons. He is a Hopper in the L'il Kickers. Since we only signed him up for an introductory course of 4 lessons, he didn't get the free jersey, but he got a free soccer ball. If he likes it, we will sign him up for the full 12 week package and then he too will look like a professional soccer player. :)