Chillin', Thrillin', and Grillin'

Another place we like to go in summer is Chris (Steph's twin) and Ann's camp on Unity Pond. Their three boys, Kyle, Wilson (often called Wil), and Cooper, like to play games, fish, go tubing, and just generally create a ruckus. Ian loves to hang out with his cousins. And you can't beat the atmosphere..... laid back and all about the fun!

Pictures:

1. Ian's got a frog. (Grampa Ball on right, Wil in background)

2. More s'mores! (L-R: Ben, friend of Wil, Wil, Cooper)

3. Ian with Uncle Chris, fishing off the dock

4. Ian goes solo!

5. Cooper with our Black Lab, Jake

6. Tubin'!

7. Ian's first tubing! (Went over the chop with nary a flinch!)

8. Ian's version of a ringer when he plays horseshoes with Grampa

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

The day everyone was to arrive at camp for the big visit, I used a small ladder to change a bulb in some hanging lights in the living room at camp. Just three hours after putting the ladder back on the side of the shed out back, there was a nest on one of the rungs! Mama's a fast builder. Days later, eggs appeared. After a couple of weeks of checking on it, we saw that two of them had hatched. Mother was skeptical of us, but we were careful not to stress her out. She seemed proud of her little ones!

Fourth of July Get Together

We had a great time seeing everyone who came up: Mom and Dad, Jeff, Marion, John and Kathy, Toni and Tim. Dad played styrofoam darts with Ian, Jeff read books and shared a room with Ian in one of the lofts, Kathy tried out her new kayak on the lake, and Mom got a lot of great snapshots! Marion stayed in the other loft. She brought something special for Ian. All enjoyed lots of cuddles with Colin. We lucked out the night of the Fourth. Across the lake, some folks had some serious "boomers" and right next door they had a lot of fireworks. We kept cheering them on. We had glow sticks, sparklers, a campfire, and, of course, s'mores! And I heard a potato gun a few times..... We ate well, talked a lot, played a full-contact version of Pig (card game) and got caught up on things. It sure was nice to relax and have some fun!