Lake Days

By now, everyone has probably heard the news that Joanie acquired a paddle boat from a friend of hers on Shadow Lake. Yesterday, (Sunday and Father's Day) Wayne, Heather, and I met Martha and Chris to retrieve the boat and bring it over to the red camp.  We decided the best course of action would be to walk to the camp where the boat was located and let Wayne, Martha, and Heather pilot it back. We had momentary trouble finding the Rainbows End camp, and walked past it once or twice.

 Once we successfully located the camp and the boat, getting it into the water was no problem.

 They received a quick lesson on maneuvering the vessel and were off.

 Chris and I walked back to the red camp on the road and were able to glimpse the paddle boat from time to time.

 Here they come pulling up to the red camp dock.

 Later, after a barbecue with Paul, Peter, Jeanne, Katie, Wes, and Cole,( and of course the original boat retrieval crew) the gang took turns  touring the lake.

 Watch out, there are a few spiders living inside the hull and they like to come out and try to scare you into the water.

 It was a hot, hot day and the water, although quite cold, was refreshing.

 In other news, speaking of spiders...I usually do not like them at all, but I found this one on my cherry tree. I think he might be taking care of the aphids that were troubling the foliage, so I'm trying to accept him as a friend.

 And it looks like we might actually get a few blueberries this year! Not a lot but it looks like things are turning around.

Softball Tournament

The regular softball season is over, but Heather's team played a tournament today. The weather was nice but the sun was scorching hot. Below, warming up.

 The tournament was right here at the GREC field. Below, the team gathers before taking the field.

 Heather waits for her turn at bat.

She got a good hit here.

Second base.

 Later, makes a good play in the outfield.

 High five from one of the coaches.

 They came in second place in the tournament. They did a great job and had a lot of fn as a team this season.

And nothing to do with softball, but here is a photo of Cole relaxing in the hammock in the shade of the pear trees. 

Wayne Says Good-Bye to Glover School

The beginning of Wayne's middle school career is a little hazy for me. Some people referred to the 5th grade as the start because the class moves "upstairs" to Mrs. Carbonetti's room. In some ways, 6th grade seems to begin middle school because that's when students begin switching classrooms for different subjects. In my own mind, middle doesn't really begin until 7th grade because when I was a kid, Jr. High was 7th and 8th grades.  We may not know exactly when middle school began for Wayne, but we know it ended tonight with 8th grade graduation. Most of these kids have been together since preschool.

A retired teacher,  Mr. Paul has floated in and out of their lives these past 9 years, first as an interim librarian when they were kindergartners and 1st graders, and then as a long term math and science substitute teacher. He has gotten to know this group pretty well at different times and in different ways. He had some touching memories to share about each student as the guest speaker.

 The language arts teacher, Mrs Piernot, spoke of life lessons and the things they might look back on 40 years from now.  She also talked of how she would miss them.

Wayne and his friend Asom, combined their graduation speeches for one last heartfelt memory. (Apologies for my noisy camera mechanics.)

Handing out the "diplomas."

 Friends since preschool.

Wayne and Asom

 Edwin made a good showing.

Joanie and Grammie were also able to join us.

 Friends since kindergarten.

Wayne and Ben

Lost River

Every year, Mrs. Tester takes her 3rd grade class to the Lost River Gorge in the White Mountains of New Hampshire,

Heather and her friends sit on the "Sun Altar" in one of the caves of Lost River.

"The Lost River Gorge & Boulder Caves, located in New Hampshire’s Kinsman Notch in the White Mountains, is a land of spectacular beauty forged by the powerful forces of water, wind, weather, and time. The shaping of Kinsman Notch and the surrounding mountains began about 300 million years ago. The Ice Age brought glaciers more than a mile thick that grounded, lifted, and deposited rocks that formed notches and mountains. When the ice melted, the water carried debris, eroding the rocks and forming Lost River Gorge.

Lost River is so-named because the brook draining from the south east part of Kinsman Notch disappears below the surface in the narrow, steep-walled glacial gorge. The Gorge is partially filled with immense blocks of granite, through which the brook cascades along its subterranean course until it eventually emerges and joins the Pemigewasset River, which flows south from Franconia Notch."

-Lost River Website

Admiring the waterfalls.

Going to the center of the Earth.

Mrs. Tester is retiring at the end of this year, so this is her last group of third graders to go to Lost River.

In this cave, if you look above to the overhang, there is a natural map of the United States.

Lots of photo ops. 

After finishing the tour of the caves and having a picnic lunch, the students were treated to an experience of "panning for gold." Each of them received a bag of "rough" ( sand and gravel) and sifted to reveal lots of different kind of gems and shark teeth.

Mrs. Tester has made it clear that she has really loved having this group of kids as her last class and gets a little choked up when she talks of her retirement. I'm glad that all 3 of our kids had the chance to have her as a teacher.