Corn Maze

We spent this afternoon at a corn maze.

Wayne has a vague recollection of our visit to this same maze, in Coventry, a few years ago. He was probably about 3 years old and Cole was just a baby. Heather was not even thought of.

There was lots of running this way and that way, hitting dead ends and trying another path. We were in there quite a while. I was starting to get a little worried that we might never find our way out.

In the middle of the corn maze is this "tower" as Wayne called it. I'm not sure if it's so you can enjoy the panoramic view of the surrounding farmlands, or if it's so you can sort of get a bird's eye view of the maze in order to find the correct path.
Heather runs to keep up with her brothers.

When you finally find your way out, you get to ring this bell. This is one big, heavey bell. It took both Wayne and Cole heaving with all their might on the rope several times. They had to sort of get it swinging to and fro and the finally they got it to ring out loud and clear. When they hear the bell, one of the corn maze people come and get you with a tractor and hay wagon and give you a little ride around the grounds. This place is a youth bible camp in the summer.
I thought this hay ride was my opportunity to get a great portrait of the three of them together - maybe even my Christmas card photo. As you can see, no such luck. Please notice the root end of a corn stalk in Heather's little iron grip. She had it the whole time and would not let it go, in fact carried it all the way home in the car and we still have it out in the garage.

A cute picture of Heather and Wes, though.
One of the stops on the hay ride - we walked across this swingy, bouncy bridge to see some more of the camp.
Cole was getting hungry and Wes had his mind on bow hunting so we head back to the car and home for the day. And in other important news, earlier in the afternoon, before we even went to the corn maze, Brian cut the hay out here and gave Wayne and Cole each a ride on the tractor. I told him I wouldn't put it in the paper this time.

Heather Makes a Mess

No, it's not Halloween yet. It's just Heather making cookies.



I guess the whole point was to have fun...

...one way or another.
Stay tuned tomorrow for part two of "Heather Makes a Mess" - decorating cookies.

The Pond

Used to be, over at Drew Place, that Brian's barn was our after-school excursion. Wayne and Cole would always like us to walk up there to see the tractor or the hay wagon sitting in the barn. They'd climb up on the bulldozer that sits there and pretend to drive it around. They liked to go into the barn where he stores bales of hay and throw handfuls of it into the air. It was a good way to let off steam after being cooped up at school.

Now, here at Elijah's Place, the pond has become our every day after school destination. It's like a wild kingdom over there: frogs, tadpoles, snakes, dragonflies, slugs, snails, cat tails. In other words, every little boy's dream come true.

There are lots of frogs. None of them are safe with Wayne around.

Cole, being younger, is not as quick to catch the tricky little guys, but he enjoys trying.

Princess awaits her frog prince.

I think Wayne may become the next Jack Hanna.

Here he is, poor thing, unhappily trapped in a plastic container.
Actually it wasn't too bad for him. We let him go after a few minutes. He's safe until tomorrow.

Century

Those of us who live in New England at this time of year take for granted the crisp, clear days, the fiery foliage, the shimmering lakes. Or maybe we don't take it for granted, especially after the dismal summer we just came off of. Whether you take it for granted or not, one sure way to enjoy a September day is to ride a century bike tour. The best of them is the Northeast Kingdom Century Lakes Tour in memory of Ben and Terry Classen, presented by Orleans County Citizen Advocacy.

A century tour is a 100 mile bike ride that takes place all in one day. Yes, you ride your bike 100 miles in a day. The Northeast Kingdom Lakes Tour begins in Barton at Crystal Lake State Park.
This group of enthusiasts has been coming back year after year from Littleton, NH.


This is Frank and Debbie Daigneault. They've been doing the tour for a few years now. Frank also happens to be Wayne's soccer coach. I guess this is why soccer practice was moved from Saturday to Sunday this weekend.
OCCA provides lots of yummy baked goods and energy bars to get the riders going up those Vermont hills.

Cole samples. You know he has a sweet tooth.

Riders who are not quite ready for 100 miles, needn't be scared away. They can choose a 25, 50, or 75 mile route instead. They're all mapped out to provide a beautiful ride through the Vermont countryside and past well known lakes in the area.

We just popped in to visit Joanie and see how things were going, but Wayne insisted on bringing his bike, and rode his century right in the park and parking lot.

Here's just a handful of volunteers who make it all come together: Andre, Nicole, Joanie (the mastermind behind it all), and Cindy. There are several more rest stops along each route, manned by more volunteers providing support, mechanical help, and more energy foods.

Cindy and Joan take a moment to pose with Heather.

Joan goes all out with the decorations.

She's worked hard enough to take a break. I think this is what she plans to do in her retirement - ride around in a little red convertible.

Crystal Lake - one of the main attractions. Whichever route you choose, they all come back to Crystal Lake State Park. In the afternoon, as riders return, there is a barbecue with hot dogs, corn on the cob, salads, and I saw a table absolutely covered with pies for dessert. This year the Senior Meals group did the food.

Cole enjoys the water.

Wayne, done with his riding, finds a salamander while digging in the sand.

Like I've said before, no one throws themselves into a project like an Alexander, and for the past I-don't-know-how-many years, Joanie has thrown herself into this one. All the riders agree, the Northeast Kingdom Lakes Tour is the best. It's been a wildly successful fundraiser for Orleans County Citizen Avocacy, a group that matches volunteers from the community with individuals living with disabilities in one to one relationships.

Perron Reunion

Now that Wayne's birthday is over and the brain fog from my recent cold has lifted, let's rewind the tape a little. As I mentioned in a previous post, Grammie, Lisa, and Dan came (about a week and a half ago, now) for the Perron Reunion. The Perron Reunion is a big deal around here. I suspect that most of the town of Glover is somehow related to the Perrons, one way or another. And of course we live on Perron Hill which is about 98 percent Perrons. There can easily be around 200 people at the reunion which is held annually. They come from all over and have a terrific time celebrating their French Canadian roots and just catching up with realtives they only get to see this one time a year.


I was only there for the morning portion of the party, which was pleasantly kid oriented, and rather quiet compared to the later afternoon and evening hours. Wayne, Cole and Heather had a great time playing the kid games with Aunt Lisa.


This little tent was set up with these little musical instruments.

Lisa brushes up on her jug band skills in case she's needed for the talent show later.


Wayne and Cole make giant bubbles.

There was more construction equipment in this sand box than sand.

We went for a wagon ride. The guy in the white shirt driving seemed to have a thick Vermont accent. I was thinking to myself, " Wow, this guy is a real old Vermont farmer so he must know what he's doing with these horses." At one point during the ride, he half turned to us and said, "It's easy to drive 'em, 'cuz they're both named Frank." As it turns out, he's actually the principal at Lake Region High School and has only lived in Vermont for a couple of years after moving here from Indiana. His name is John Harper. He claims to know Peter and Tyler very well, although Peter denies it.

This is Lisa, Wayne, and Cole during the wagon ride. She's laughing at me because I accidentally called her "Heather."

Lisa and I were fascinated by Joe's old family method of cooking a turkey. He had injected herbs and spices right into the turkey meat. Then he placed the turkey on one of those big, heavey duty sheets of foil and coverd it with one of those metal buckets you see in the picture. He covers and surrounds the bucket with hot coals. I cant' remember how many pounds of charcoal he said he has to use for each turkey. Do you remember, Lisa? I'm pretty sure he said the turkey cooks in like an hour and fifteen minutes. It smelled amazing.

Settling in for a long afternoon of fraternizing.

This is just a pretty flower that I took a picture of at the Perron reunion.
I, not being an official Perron myself, only stuck around for the morning portion of the party. By 12:30 Heather was getting ornery and there was no sign of lunch being ready so I took her home for lunch and nap, but there were many funny stories of the afternoon and evening. You'll all have to chime in with your comments, those of you who were there.

Gifts

Wayne had a great birthday. He took cupcakes to school to share with his class. He was tickled with all the phone calls with Happy Birthday songs and messages. He received cards and money and gifts galore. He was King for a day!

Here are some of the gift highlights:


A Batman action figure.

Some buggy pajamas.


Remote control race cars.


A race car in action. What I haven't gotten a picture of yet is the metal detector (a kids one, but pretty good) and an underwater viewing scope for all that frog and tadpole hunting he likes to do, and a stamp collecting album.

Thanks everyone for all your calls, cards, and gifts. He had a great day.