Let's Go to the Game!

We always go to a home football game or two in the fall. It's a lot of fun on a nice day. This year Colin went with us!

Our Boys Love Their Books!

Ian looks forward to "Book Time." Colin kicks his feet and looks intently at the pictures.

If You Can't Have Fun What CAN you have?

This spring, I was to build a sandbox for Ian. A simple affair, just get some pressure treated lumber and zip it together with some screws. Well, lumber is expensive! Then, realizing that we needed a new picnic table anyway (we had this old one that I saved from the garbage pile at Steph's father's place of business), I decided to cut up the old one and use the pieces for the sandbox. So, the wood I used has been: a tree, lumber, a picnic table, garbage, a picnic table again, and now, a sandbox. Aren't you glad you read all that? Of course, considering that Ian loves Spiderman, I got the idea that it should be a Spiderman sandbox! Cool graphics, eh? It was fun to make and, as you can see, he gets good and thorough use out of it!

Colin said.....

The other day, Colin distinctly said, "Graaaaaaallkngkkkkaaah aaaaaahhhhphh !" I kid you not! Now is that a sweet thing to say to your daddy or what?

Ian Sees the World Differently

Ian was impressed to see his "whole world" from atop the Ferris wheel (see "We're Fairing Well"). But this was pretty cool, too! In August, he and I went to the DeLorme map store and Eartha exhibit in Yarmouth, Maine. Eartha is the name of the globe, the largest 3D rendering of our planet in the world. (When you look at the second picture, consider that it was taken on the third floor of the exhibit room. Ian was about thirty feet from the globe.) It is composed of 96 panels and is very accurate. It rotates on a tilted axis, just like Earth. It was built by experts within the DeLorme company. Ian thought it was fantastic! I had him close his eyes until we were inside and he was right in front of it. It's always great to get a "WOOOOOWWW!!!" out of him! He knew where Florida was. I guess the next logical step for him is to go into space and see the real deal from there!

Dual Dogs

Our Black Lab, Jake and Kirk's (Stephanie's brother) Golden Retriever, Libby. Cousins are cool.

We're Fairing Well

We started going to the fairs with Ian when he was two. He has been to the Skowhegan State Fair, the Clinton Fair, the Windsor Fair, the Saratoga County Fair, and this year we went with Colin to the Egg Festival in Pittsfield.

No one seems to know why it's called the Egg Festival. They don't have a Hard Boiled Egg Eating Contest (maybe 'cause Cool Hand Luke would win it every year) or a Raw Egg Chuggalug. Nope. Balloon darts, Ferris wheel, fried dough. It was fun, though! The above pictures are from this year's Egg Festival. Note the sheer joy with which Ian descended the Superslide (last pic).

Ian usually goes on a few of the little kids' rides and we walk around a while. We like to watch the pulls (the ones with the working animals) and the horsemanship competitions. Ian's big thing is the livestock. He loves looking at all the animals. If there is a petting zoo we go there and buy pellets to feed the goats. This year he patted the pigs at Skowhegan. He's always eager to see all the chickens and roosters in the Poultry Barn. Just loves 'em!

Last year, Ian got out of the car at the Windsor Fair and immediately looked up at the Ferris wheel. He pointed at it and said, "I want to ride that, guys!" I told him it would look different, bigger, when he got up close to it. "I want to go on that big wheel, though, Dad, so I can see MY WHOLE WORLD!!!" Well, he sure did! He saw his whole world, alright! He absolutely loved it. Didn't scare him a bit. He was probably wondering, though, why Daddy was holding on so tightly to the steel grab bar in the center of the cart (I think I actually might have bent it a bit). Slowly we ratcheted higher and higher, the cart swinging, passengers unboarding and boarding one cart at a time. Who knew it could take hours? It was getting more dificult to keep a tight grip on the grab bar-my hands were sweating. I kept telling myself that I could get off as soon as we completed the first go-round. All I had to do was to scream bloody murder at the operator! Steph could finish this one.

I had successfully avoided that thing for 35 years, but my boy wanted to see his whole world....I wasn't going to watch from down below. We all went on it together.

So, that's the story of how Ian and I both went on the Ferris wheel for the first time - at the same time! I have to admit, once I went around two times, I relaxed and it was really cool. I'm so glad I didn't miss out on sharing it with him. Who knows, maybe we'll go on it again sometime.........maybe!