National Firefighter's Convention-Atlanta Georgia

Last week Jim ( my son)  traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to attend the anual Firefighter's Convention. He had a good week seeing all that is new not only in equipment but computer softwear also. During his down time he did some sightseeing and was able to visit the Coke Museum. One night the convention had reserved the Atlanta Braves Baseball stadium, Turner Field, for the evening. They were able to tour the facilities and see the grounds. Of the 500+ attendees only a handful had attended the last eight years in a row and those persons had their names in lights on the scoreboard. Jim was one of these.

Jim and Jack Go Hiking In Selkirk

On Thursday, September 20th , Jim and Jack hiked into Selkirk to check on the geocaches. They also went down to the lake. Jim said it was very quiet in the park with very few campers even though it is Salmon Season.

Josh Gets His Hunter Safety Certificate

Last weekend Jim took Josh to the Hunter Safety course so he could get his hunting certifiacte. Surprisingly this is not required for a hunting license in Ohio like it is in New York but Jim wisely decided it was something Josh should do anyway. Later in the year Ohio has a weekend where the young kids can hunt for a deer as long as they are with a licensed hunter and only the kid can have a gun. The adult is there to supervise-not hunt. Josh is so excited to have a chance to go hunting. Jim knows a few people who have rural land that they can hunt on. Josh got 91% on his written test which is fantastic!

Jennifer Spends The Day With Addy

 On Friday, September 14th, Jennifer took a vacation day and she spent the day with Addy. After picking Addy up they went to Jennifer's house where they made cookies. After a nap and some lunch they went to the pool for a swim. I don't know who enjoyed the day more-Jennifer or Addy!

Jack and Jim Go Hiking

On September 13th Jack and Jim drove up to the Adirondacks to hike to the Vanderwhacker Fire Tower. It was about a four hour trip one way but it was a nice day for a drive. There is also a lot of Teddy Roosevelt history in this area so Jim enjoyed seeing that too. For more information on the area check out Jack's blog:www.JDoubleU.net

Jim's Birthday

Jim turned 69 on September 4th and this past Sunday we celebrated his Birthday. He had his usual requests of Hot Dogs ( Hoffman, of course) potato salad, sweet corn and his favorite Birthday cake which is home made Angel food cake with chocolate whipped cream. Jack, Jeremy, Emily, Addy, and Jennifer helped him celebrate and after dinner they even did some target shooting. All in all he had a great day.







Road Trip

Yesterday, September 6th, Jim, Jack and I took a road trip up to Stillwater where Jim and Jack climbed the Fire Tower on Stillwater Mountain. After that we drove up to Inlet and into the Moose River Recreation Area to have a picnic lunch. The roads into this area are as bad or worse than we remembered from our last trip in. We zigged and zagged around the large stones and boulders until we reached the Red River where we found a picnic table. As usual when we picnic in the woods we shared our space with a forest critter but instead of a squirrel or chipmunk this time it was a Butterfly. This butterfly kept landing on us or the cooler and when it was time to leave it had attached itself to Jim's shirt and didn't want to let go. We had quite a time getting in the car to leave without the butterfly coming too. After working our way out of the area Jim has decided he has made his last trip into Moose River. It's just too hard on the car and the tires.

House and Yard

After we finished mowing the lawn last week Jim took some pictures of the house and flowers. Everything always looks so nice right after the lawn is mowed.

Babysitting Addy

Last Saturday Jeremy and Emily went on a "date" day to celebrate their Anniversary so Jim and I got to babysit Addy. Jim and Josh joined us for awhile until it was time for them to head back to Ohio. We had so much fun and Addy is such a sweet baby. I think we got the best part of that deal. Who wants to shop when you can spend time with your sweet Grandbaby.

Jim and Josh Visit

A week or so ago Jim and Josh came for a visit and to go to the New York State Fair which has become an annual tradition. We were sorry that Cathy and Chris couldn't come too but alas, they both had to work. On Monday that week we went to Watertown to have lunch with my Mom and so she could have a visit with them. Thursday was Fair day and they had a great time as always. In between a lot of time was spent on the target range getting the guns sighted in for the upcoming hunting season and just having fun.

Jim's Shed

This summer Jim has been busy building a small shed out back. When he started it was supposed to be a 3-sided lean -to for wood storage but as time went on it evolved into this neat shed that is big enough for wood and a lot more. I think he did a fantastic job and most of the wood was reclaimed from when we took the horse barn down a couple of years ago.

Lunch At Rudy's

A couple of weeks ago we had to go to Oswego so we decided to have lunch at Rudy's since the summer is about over and we still hadn't eaten there yet. It was really windy that day so we ended up having to eat inside but then took some pictures before we left. It was funny to watch the Sea Gulls try to fly. They more or less just hung in one spot no matter how hard they flapped their wings.