Friday, August 24, 2007

More Travels

The kids and I had a wonderful trip to visit my parents in Olcott, NY. They live right on Lake Ontario.

We like to collect rocks and throw them back in the lake.Claire took this picture of the rocks she collected. (And then she took a picture of each rock individually. Let's just say it's a good thing my digital camera can hold lots of data.)We also went fishing. None of us have ever been fishing before. Luckily the woman at the "Slippery Sinker" bait shop gave us lots of good advice. Both kids caught and released little fishes. Benjamin later said his very favorite part of the trip was watching the fish flop around on the dock. Hmmm simple pleasures.

Here we are on the way to the "Slippery Sinker." Yes, we rode bikes to the bait shop! And Yes, that is a tandem bike that Grandpa and Claire are riding together.
We took lots of walks and saw many interesting sights along the way, including this old fire hydrant.

On one of our walks we bought fresh tomatoes and corn from someone's front yard. Just leave the appropriate change in the jar on top of the little bench. So small town.

Benjamin and Claire spent a long time setting up a trail of corn and peanuts to lure the squirrels onto the porch.

It was quite successful.That's the squirrel my parents named Spotty. She comes everyday. You can also see the fire pit in which we toasted marshmallows for Smores. And the edge of an old baptismal font that is now a bird bath. And beyond that: Lake Ontario.

We took a guided walking tour of the Erie Canal called "The Flight of Five." There are five locks in the old Erie Canal. You can see four of them in this picture. Those metal railings along the side are the original railings and are covered with deep groves worn into the metal from the ropes used by mules to pull boats through the locks.


We picked a sackful of blueberries and paid just $1.20! Benjamin gobbled down lots of the berries on the way home and now insists he only likes "fresh" blueberries. Seriously, he is not one bit interested in the ones from the grocery store.

This is the meal we enjoyed on our anniversary! Fancy, doncha think?

Other highlights:

Taking a sail on Dad's friend's boat (Actually I skipped that. I'm miserably sea sick.)
Ice cream!
Backyard fire works
Watching So You Think You Can Dance
Building a bird feeder out of a 2-liter bottle
Playing with Silly Putty

A good time was had by all.

As is proven by these big smiles!

4 comments:

Deb Geyer said...

I can tell a good time was had by all!

momma helen said...

I love the birdbath! I've seen birdbaths I've wanted to use for baptismal fonts, but never thought of the other way around.

So does your dad bless the water each time they refill it? ;)

Anonymous said...

What a great time. It makes me homesick for my old stomping grounds! Are those Keen's that Claire is wearing? If so, she is a girl with great shoe taste!!

Anonymous said...

What great pictures! Glad you had a great time!
God bless :)