End of the Year Field Trip

The Kindergarten, first, and second grade kids took a field trip to Sugar Ridge Campground on Friday.  It's a beautiful spot.  Upon arrival, the kids were greeted by this bear handing out lollipops. These are the kindergarten kids.

The first thing the K students did was take a little nature walk on some of the campgrounds many trails. They discovered  this water spicket which was just about as much fun for them as anything.

A group shot of the boys in the class.

They came upon this beautiful playground.

Cole on the stern of the pirate ship.

Heather with her new best friend Erika.

The class in the fort.

Meanwhile, Wayne and the 2nd grade bombarded the bouncy house.

And the pool.

Cole never made it off these steps.

Then there was miniature golf.

And more bouncy house.

It was a fun day and the kids came home to even more fun because Grammie, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Dan are here for the the Runaway Pond Bicentennial  events.  That's a whole 'nother blog post.

Memorial Day

Joanie, Martha, Chris, Wes, Wayne, Cole, Heather, and I went to the cemetery today to plant flowers.  Actually, they did all the work, I just took pictures of everyone doing all the work.  See?

Cole felt pretty proud of himself for climbing up here and jumping off.

Back to work.

The man of the hour.  He'll get flowers planted after his stone is repaired by Dennis Choquette.

When we were done at Westlook, we all headed over to Shadow Lake camp for hotdogs, Joanie's rhubarb cole slaw, salads, chips and dessert on the dock - cheesecake brownies with strawberries.  Wayne and Cole did some fishing. They didn't catch anything, but yesterday Wayne caught a 9 inch lake trout.  He was very pleased with himself. He had it for dinner last night.

There was also some splashing...

...and relaxing.

Cedric joined us at the camp after making his own trip to Westlook to plant some flowers. No photo of him.

Wayne works up the nerve to jump off the dock for the first time ever.

He did it.

Lots of sun and fresh air has made everyone tired. Back to reality tomorrow, but there are a lot of fun things going on at school for the next two weeks, so time will fly.

Swallowtails and Lilacs

The mild winter must have been a friend to the swallowtail butterflies.  We've been seeing them everywhere.  On any given afternoon there can be a dozen on the lilac bush out front.

  This afternoon Wes is taking the boys fishing.  Tomorrow we will plant flowers in the cemetery with Joanie and Martha and have a barbecue.  Hope you all have a restful and memorable Memorial Day weekend.

Saturdays

Weekends are all about baseball for us lately.

Saturday mornings start off bright and early with t-ball for Cole. Look at the concentration on his face.

This one just plopped to the ground, but he sure was giving it his all. 

He made it to first base with that little plop.

Luckily, in t-ball no one wins or loses.  They don't even keep score. It's all a learning experience.

Wayne is in the minors league this year. It's been a big step up for him and he's had to practice hard. He got a great hit here.  There's the ball coming in...

...and there it is going out (see it exiting the frame to the right?)... 

...and there goes Wayne, feet never touching the ground, it seems.

He got a double on that hit. Here he is at second...

and running to third and onward to home plate. 

Wayne in the outfield. They won this game 9-5.

This is the adjacent softball field with a view of Perron Hill in the background.  In reality there is a panoramic view and this photo doesn't do it justice.

We're so lucky to have such a beautiful place to spend the day with our kids and other families.

First Communion

Wayne made his First Reconciliation and First Communion this weekend.  For the non-Catholics, a little background and history on what that means:

"Making your First Communion is a big step in the life of a Catholic. It is one of the seven sacraments recognized by the Catholic Church. A Catholic must first be Baptized and receive their first holy reconciliation before they can receive their First Communion. Young girls traditionally wear formal white dresses with veils, while young boys wear dress slacks, a button-down shirt and a tie."

"First Communion is considered one of the holiest and most important occasions in a Roman Catholic's life. It means that person has received the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Most Catholic children receive their First Communion when they're seven or eight years of age because this is considered the age of reason."

"First Communion is a very important and holy day for Catholic children because they are receiving, for the first time, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. By continuing to receive Holy Communion for the rest of their lives, Catholics become one with Christ and believe they will share in His eternal life."

I cut and pasted that from several different sources.

Here's the man of honor showing off his certificate of Reconciliation, which he received on Saturday.

I tried to get another photo of the trio.

I think the girls in white dresses and veils are so cute.

The blue paper between their clasped hands is a prayer they had to read as a group.

Wayne is not in the photo below, but again, the girls in white dresses are cute.  Back in my day of First Communion boys had to wear white shirts and ties, so I was SHOCKED to see that several of the boys were not wearing white.

 Here I have to digress from First Communion and tell about Cole. First of all, let me say that sitting through an extra long Mass with Cole and Heather was quite an ordeal. Cole kept claiming that he was going to throw up and Heather kept saying, rather loudly, "Is this about done? I want to GO now."  Anyway, the story is this: When there is a big crowd for Mass, the priest often has one of the deacons assist with Communion to make things go a little faster. Children can walk in the Communion processional with their families, but of course they cannot receive the Communion wafer until they've had First Communion. Instead, the Priest or the deacon will give the child a little pat on the head with a little blessing and send the child on his way back to the pew.  Today, Cole walked up to Communion with us, and the man you see on the left in the picture below gave him a little pat and blessing.  When Cole returned to the pew, he sat beside Joanie and whispered to her, "That man up their handing out the pills looks exactly like my art teacher, Mr. Trevitts.  I think it's his twin." To which Joanie replied, "No that really IS Mr. Trevitts, your art teacher. And they're not pills, they're communion wafers."  I can just imagine Cole going to school tomorrow and telling everyone that the art teacher was passing out pills in church.  Anyway, back to the main point, below Wayne receives First Communion.

At the end of Mass, Father Six called each communicant up by name and gave them a certificate of First Communion and a wrapped gift which was a little Mass handbook with a rosary.

The group shot. Those boys in unwhite shirts - SHOCKING!!!  They're ruining the whole picture!

Wayne in front of the church with his certificate.

Below, Wayne and Cole doing what they really wanted to be doing the whole time, running around on the playground behind St. Paul's School.

Back at home Joanie came over and we had a little barbecue and cake.

Thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts.  All the attention helped him realize that this was a special day.