5 States in 1 Afternoon

I have been needing to go and see several of my customers in the Northeast for awhile, so I decided that this week would be as good of time as any. I realized peak foliage in VT is right around this week every year, so I decided to bring Kristin and the kids along for the car ride. They could hang out at the hotel (play in the pool, etc.), while I go and visit customers during the day.

We left home late Monday afternoon, after Owen was given a clean bill of health at his 6 month appointment. His weight and head size are literally off the chart. His measurements have made their own parallel line to the typical chart, just above it. His height is within the expected range, but around the 80th percentile.

We drove straight north from our house for a few hours and left PA for NY:



We stayed just north of Albany in a town called Saratoga Springs, which is known for horse racing and their natural springs. After my meetings in the morning, we went is search of one of the natural springs in the town. I was told by the receptionist at the hotel that there are springs all over town, and that each has its own history, and they are all free flowing. She gave me a map to a few that she knew of, and off we were.

We stopped at the first one on her map, Old Red Spring, which started being used around 1784.



I was warned that these springs did not produce the clean tasting water that you buy in the store, but that it was not bad for you, it just might leave a bad taste in your mouth. There was no way I was convincing Kristin to try a sip, but thinking about all the streams I drank from as a Boy Scout, this shouldn't be too bad.

It actually didn't taste too bad, but definitely high in iron as the sign indicates. I should have probably taken a bath in it, as they did back in the 1700's, but I was with the kids, I needed to be a good example. :)



Natalie thought the spring was a bird bath, and was not about to drink out of it, so she just opted for a picture with mommy and Owen.



After my swig of spring water, we headed east, to drive through the mountains in southern Vermont. We made a slight detour to drive through the Revolutionary War battlefield at Saratoga. The kids were asleep, so we didn't get out to take any pictures, but it would have been nice. As I drove through the National Park, I felt more and more like my father, who would stop to read every historical marker on a roadtrip...it is funny how things change?!

After about an hour of driving, we crossed the state line into Vermont:



Right after we crossed the border, I had to pull over to take a picture of an old covered bridge which looked amazing in the fall colors:



After we accended into the the mountains for a little bit, we found a picnic area that was perfect for a family picture. I am glad that we took the time to stop because the picture turned out well:



The whole area had these large historical markers, so this one is for you Dad:



We then weaved our way through the Green Mountains, until we reached what seemed to be the peak of the range. At the top was a gift shop called Hogback Mountain:



The view from up there was tough to beat. It is advertised as a 100 mile view, and it did not disappoint (although it was a little cold).





Poor Owen was all bundled up, and kept close to Kristin to stay warm in the picture.



And of course, I couldn't resist taking a picture of my Red Raider front license plate that was experiencing fall foliage with us as well.



In the gift shop, you could buy ANYTHING that is known to come from Vermont or has Vermont on it...cheese, wine, beer, etc...but the biggest selection is Maple Syrup, and by the gallon, literally, which will run you about $63 if you are interested.



After buying a piece of maple syrup candy for Natalie, a Christmas ornament, 3 pieces of fresh fudge (which I forgot about until just now...I need to find those...), and some cheese, we continued east towards New Hampshire:






We didn't stay in New Hampshire long, probably about 30 minutes, but it was long enough for me to figure out that people come to NH to buy liquor and cigarettes, as the taxes are much lower than the surrounding states. As much as I have been dying to buy a few cartons of menthals, I decided to just keep driving. :)

By this point, Owen was sick of his car seat, and we needed to find a place to eat dinner. The sun had just gone down, and we were focused on getting into Massachusetts. I take the ramp to south on I-91, and a MA State Trooper turns his lights on to pull me over. I know I wasn't speeding, so I thought that he was after someone else, but when I started to ease over, I knew he was wanting to talk to me. So, here we are, in my company car, Owen screaming his head off in the back seat, and Natalie wanting to know why the Policeman is walking up to our car...like the perfect storm of road trips. It reminded me of the scene in National Lampoons Vacation where Clark was pulled over after he tied his mother-in-laws dog to the bumper and drove for 30 minutes...great movie...anyways, where was I...So, as the officer gets to my window, I have my license out, Owen magically stops crying, I ask him what the problem is, and he said that he clocked me going 68 in a 55...I KNOW I wasn't going that fast, not even close. So, I tell him, "I am sorry officer, I wasn't going that fast. I haven't gone over 60." We go back and forth a few times, and then he says, "oh, well, I guess my radar must have had an error, drive safely" and then walks away...didn't even look at my license or ask for any paperwork...weird.

So, of course, Natalie wants to fully understand what just happened, and we try to explain it to her in a way she can understand. We quickly find a restaurant to eat dinner, while I utilize my cruise control just to be on the safe side.

After dinner, Kristin and the kids fall asleep in the back seat, and I entertain myself with music from my iPod as we drive into Connecticut.

And there you have it, 5 States in 1 Afternoon.

Landon

Pumpkin Carving

After we got home from Merrymead, I decided to get my hands dirty and start carving the pumpkins we just purchased. Natalie didn't like sticking her hands deep into the pump to get the seeds out, but we took turns and she helped out. She did however find it easy to wipe her hands on my shirt and pants after each scoop with her bare hand...nice.

We let Natalie pick what she wanted on her pumpkin, and she picked Tinkerbell.

After a good win last night, I decided that we needed a little tribute to Texas Tech on our porch, so I did a pirate with a Double T.

Here are a few pictures of the final creations:





Both kids wore their skeleton pajamas tonight, and Natalie really wanted to get her picture taken with the pumpkins, so we got them both out on the front porch.



Landon

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Today we went to Merrymead Farm to pick out pumpkins and have fun as a family. Merrymead is a local dairy farm where we get our milk and ice cream. Every fall they have activities for the kids and a large pumpkin selection. This is the same place we went last fall, and I wrote about it then: link

We didn't have time to do all the rides this year as we had to slip this between Church and Life Group today due to bad weather yesterday. We focused on taking pictures of the kids and picking out pumpkins to carve.

Here are the best pictures:





This one cracks me up because both are spacing off:



Landon

Fall

Fall is officially here, although, I wasn't expecting it this soon! It seems like we only had about 2 weeks of summer this year, so hopefully the fall will be extra long to make up for it.

We took a few pictures of Natalie and Owen after getting back from Church. Poor Owen doesn't know how to take pictures yet. He is usually too busy checking out his surroundings to care about someone calling his name, hoping he will smile. Natalie tried her best to coach him though:



Owen is now 6 months old (hard to believe). He is sitting up, eating select baby foods, and the best part...LOVES his big sister. Natalie tries her best to make him laugh...always calls him "buddy"...and Owen just giggles. Natalie can get him to laugh the best, although now he is starting to get into her toys, and she doesn't like that too much. Owen is almost crawling. He can get into anything that we wants, but it is by rolling his way around. He is very curious, and when he wants to get something, he focuses, and gets it. Here is a picture we took of him today:



Natalie has started this "fake smiling" phase for taking pictures. She will yell "CHEEEEEEEEESE" and squint her eyes. It is getting tough to get a good picture with her because she only wants to "fake smile." Here is the best one that we got of both together:



I know it has been awhile since I have updated the blog...trust me, I have heard about it!! So, Natalie told me...



"Dad, you better update the blog tonight!!"

...actually she didn't say that, but I really like the picture. :)

Landon

A Few New Videos

Owen learns to stick out his tongue.

Natalie and Owen talk to each other.

You will need the blog username and password to watch. Give me a call or send me an email if you need it.

Landon

Natalie's catches her first fish!

On Saturday, I took Natalie and her second cousin Adam to a pond in Iowa to go fishing. And by fishing, I mean, waiting for the fish to fight over your bait...there is quite an over population in the pond to put it lightly. But, for me, going solo with two young kids to catch fish like this, was better than a guided tour with Bill Dance.

So we head out there with a small box of night crawlers, which at this point to the kids, was just a little white box. We borrow some fishing poles from the neighbors and head out to the pond. Little did we know, the pond was home to a snapping turtle, or so we were told later. We didn't see the little guy, but I was carrying a solid metal tackle box, and I knew how to use it!

When we got out to the pond, we headed out to the south-west corner, where the locals had already told us was the extra sweet spot (not that we were going to need any help catching fish). Here is where it got interesting...

We get all setup...poles have bobbers, weights, hooks, etc., the only thing missing is the worms. Natalie was holding the box of night crawlers, knowing that we were going to put the worms on next, but not really understanding what all was involved...I almost think that she thought these were gummy worms, and this was going to be another craft project from preschool...boy did this project go beyond what she was taught in school!!

So I open the box, after prying it out of Natalie's eager fingers, and much to Adam and Natalie's surprise, the worms were quite active and did not like the sunlight they were now exposed too. I quickly asked them who wanted to put the first worm on the hook....no response. I thought I would go a little easier with the next question, "who wants to pick out the first worm?"...still silence...only the chirping frogs and buzzing mosquitoes could be heard (which by the way were out of control...deep woods off was not taming these beasts).

As you could imagine, I got to pick out the worm, and tear a portion off because the hooks were small, and then put the worm on the hook. Natalie explained that this was not very nice to the worm, but we had come too far to let the worms feelings ruin our fishing trip.

I thought I would test the waters first before letting the kids loose. I throw the line in, and instantly the bobber goes under. I set the hook and starting reeling in. I get the first to shore and pull him out of the water. He was a little 6 inch pan fish. Both kids are excited. I look over at Natalie and she says, "dad, I want to catch a bigger one than that." Ouch.

Trying to regain my manhood, I ask the kids which one wanted to throw the first back in, and again, the peanut gallery was silent. So, manly dad gets to throw it back in, and I start to regain my position as alpha fisherman.

Hoping to build on their excitement, I try to get one of them to pick out another worm, but I had no luck. I get the pole setup again, throw the line in, and let Natalie take it for a spin (Adam politely let Natalie go first, a true 6 yr old gentleman). Just as before, we had a fish on the hook in less than 5 seconds. I helped her bring it in, and here is what came out:



This little guy was half the size of what I caught a few minutes before, but Natalie was in heaven, and I couldn't be happier for her either. She did not have any interest in taking the fish off the hook, or putting him back in the water, but she was happy to have caught it!

Next was Adam's turn, and he was eager to catch one of his own, and I don't blame him. I get him all setup and get the line in the water. We get a bite, but the sneaky fish stole the worm. We bait the hook again and try one more time. Boom, another fish is on the line. We reel him in, and here is what came out:



Adam and Natalie either caught the same fish, or a very close relative, because they looked exactly the same. Adam was going to help me throw the fish back, but after I explained that the fish had a spiky dorsal fin and how to hold the fish, he let me take care of it.

Once both kids had caught their fish, they were ready to go home. We loaded up the gear, still no sight of the turtle, and headed back to the house. As I am typing this story, in the comfort of my basement in PA, I remembered that I left the box of night crawlers in the basement of my inlaws...Al/Terri, if you are reading this, can you please throw the worms outside for me...sorry, I forgot to do that!!

Natalie's First Run!

We have been in Iowa for over a week now visiting family. It is hard to believe that our trip is almost over! We are going to the County Fair today in Thompson. Natalie is excited to go and see the various animals...and eat some goodies.

This morning Mara and I went for a run, and Natalie wanted to go as well. We knew that she was serious about going when she freely but on shorts and a tee-shirt. You see, Natalie is a "dress only" type of girl these days. Whether it is the whole "princesses wear dresses" or just because she likes them, I am not sure, but it is always a battle for her to wear anything BUT a dress.

So Mara and I went for a run, and then came back and got Natalie for the last part. We planned for it to be our cool down, but Natalie wanted to run a little further than what I thought! We ran down the driveway, and out onto the street, which on an Iowa farm consists of a gravel road. We ran along the corn and soy beans for about 5 minutes, and then walked back.

Natalie's Aunt Kelly took a few pictures for us while we were running:

 

 

After we got back from our run, we had to do what every running does, STRETCH!

 

 

Getting Grandpa Wet!

Yesterday, when it was HOT, we decided to get Natalie outside and in the kiddie pool. I decided that the kiddie pool by itself wasn't as fun as it "could be", but if you put it at the bottom of the slide, it could be like a small water park...or a redneck version of one.

Natalie went up-and-down the slide what felt like a hundred times! Her favorite thing to do is to get grandpa at the bottom and drench him with water. I got a few good pics of how it went down:

 

 

Driving Grandpa's Tractor

One of the benefits of having a grandpa that is a farmer, is the ability to ride a tractor every once in awhile. Instead of breaking out the real expensive tractors, the lawn mower is a little more "Natalie-sized".

Al was cutting the grass a few days ago and took Natalie for a spin. He let her drive it around the yard for a little bit...with him on there of course.

 

 

 

Just Hanging Out

The best part of being on vacation is hanging out, and we caught Owen doing just that!

 

Owen is growing and changing everyday. He is a little over 3 months old now, and weighs close to 18 lbs! He is becoming more interactive everyday. Natalie likes to come up and talk to him in a little baby voice ("gaga, googoo"), and Owen has started to talk back to her...or squeal.

July 4th

This year we celebrated July 4th in Iowa with Kristin's family. We spent part of the morning at the annual parade in Scarville, IA which is just down the road. I think everyone that lives in the vicinity came out for the parade because there were several hundred people either in the parade or watching.

 

As with any parade, throwing of candy was involved, and Natalie got her fair share. She was deathly afraid of the fire engine sirens, so she didn't venture too far out in the street, which I was happy for. Her second cousin, Ellie, sat next to Natalie and was not afraid of the sirens, so Ellie did much of the leg-work for the two of them. Ellie was very thoughtful and gave half of what she picked up to Natalie. Natalie did grab anything that came close to her chair though!

 

Natalie's Great-grandparents came out to the parade, and I was able to get a good picture with them:

 

The rest of the day we spent at Kristin's 10 year high school reunion. Natalie had fun with all of the other kids, and blowing bubbles.

 

Springtime, FINALLY!

This weekend we officially welcomed in Spring. It is in the 80's today and I even had to put sun screen on Natalie yesterday when we went to the park. I really hope that this is not just a teaser, but I don't think that it is. I am very excited to start wearing flip flops again.

After church today, we took the kids (I have to start getting used to the plural version of that word!) outside to take some pictures. The trees/bushes/flowers are starting to bloom here, and it makes for a very pretty backdrop. I was able to get several pictures of Natalie that look nice (without her infamous "fake" smile).

Other than taking pictures, nothing too exciting happened today, so I will leave you with a few of Natalie's comments to us this past week:

1. "Mommy, you shouldn't spank my bottom, because bottoms are private."
2. "Dad, the bible says that parents should be nice to the children."
3. "Dad, the handles on the side of my potty seat are for leverage."

Here is is a link to all the pictures we took today: Pictures.

Landon

Easter

This is our second Easter in Pennsylvania, and once again, it wasn't warm. Kristin's mom, Terri, was still in town helping with Owen, so she was able to enjoy the day with us.

Natalie was very excited for the Easter Bunny to come and visit her house. The night before she wanted to stay up so that she could see the Easter Bunny, but we had to explain to her that the Easter Bunny wouldn't come if she didn't sleep. She went to bed without a problem, much to my surprise.

In the morning, she was very excited to come downstairs and see what the Easter Bunny left her. Thankfully, the Easter Bunny was able to get up just in time to hide a few eggs around the house.

The funniest part of the whole day was not when Natalie found all the eggs, it was how she tried to hide candy for the rest of the day. Like a little squirrel getting ready for the winter, Natalie too jelly beans out of her plastic eggs and proceeded to hide them throughout the house. We would catch her walking off to some obscure part of the house to eat the candy that she had hidden. I guess I can't blame her, I probably would have done the same thing to sneak in a little more candy.

Owen celebrated Easter in style by sleeping the day away...Exhibit A:



It is hard to believe that it has been a year since last Easter...Natalie has grown so much. Check out the blog from 1 year ago!

Here is a comparison of Natalie in 2008:



Here is a similar picture from 2009:




We took numerous other pictures throughout the day, which can be viewed here: Link to other Easter pictures.

Landon