Two more weeks of summer have flown by. Hard to believe it's already half over and Brooke will be starting 1st grade in less than a month, but we have been and will continue to try and jam in as much as possible before it's over. Last weekend after I got out of work I went hiking in the Adirondacks with Ryan where we did a 16.5 mile traverse of the lower Great Range, bagging 4 more of their 4000 footers in the process. We tried out a new form of camping too, in hammocks, which was easy, comfy and perfect for a night out in nice weather high up on the mountain where flat ground is hard to come by. It was an awesome hike on some of the most scenic peaks around and there's a lot of pictures from that one if you're interested right here.
Last Thursday Sophia joined us on a trip to the White Mountains to mine for amethysts. Unfortunately the deer flies were the worst I've ever seen them in the particular area we went to and even with bug nets the trip was short lived, but we did hike half a mile up the mountain and dig for a bit, coming home without much more than some pretty rocks and a handful of tiny garnets. You can see one of the bigger ones in the picture but they aren't really big enough to do anything with, but at least we didn't come home empty handed! After that disaster we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the warm clear mountain waters of White Lake and having a cookout. Is there a better place to spend a lazy summer afternoon? If there is I haven't found it. We'd actually like to go back and try our luck again some time, but we'll be waiting until the bugs are gone for sure, but for pictures of this trip you can click right here. There's also a few pics there from a trip to Paul's friend Larry's place on North River Pond that he was nice enough to let us all use last Wednesday afternoon. The girls got to go swimming, boating and fishing with Dew and each caught some bass, Jen and I didn't have quite as good luck but had a nice afternoon trying and riding around on the boat.
And then this Saturday when I got out of work Jen and the girls had met Carey, Cameron and Brandon at the beach so I took the afternoon to go for a hike and climbed one of the New England 100 Highest mountains that I hadn't been up yet. I haven't hiked much in the White's lately and it was nice to be back there on a bigger hike. Nothing too exciting but if you'd like to see some pictures from my hike up 3993 foot high Sandwich Dome you can find them right here.
Other than that Ashley has really taken to walking in the last week or so. Gets herself up and goes wherever she pleases. She's also got a lot more words in her vocabulary and has developed her own little personality. Brooke had an allergist appointment today and they told us we can try little bits of cooked dairy when we have four hours to sit home and monitor things and see how that goes. That would be very exciting if she could have that but her levels are still high for the allergy, so it's more of a hope than a probability I think. Emily is getting really good at spelling and writing her name. Jen and the girls have spent a lot of time at Buppy and Dew's pool and we've done some things around the house too. Other than that we're looking forward to Lake Winnipesaukee, which is only 5 days away, but who's counting?! That should be a lot of fun this year as all three of the girls love the water and camp. I've seen blueberries on most of the hikes we've been on in the last few weeks so hopefully the secret stash is still there on Mount Major. Jen and I have been dieting but don't plan to at camp and some wild blueberry muffins and pie would be awesome. Hopefully we can gather enough to put back some of the weight we've lost in addition to the tons of sun and fun we always have there. So until we get back that's probably about it, but there's always a lot to share from camp and the lake so check back in a little while for more. That's all for now.
