Summer is running out…
Almost two months without a post and summer is about gone. Labor day weekend is upon us and I am heading out to Oregon to visit up with some friends. Owen is becoming a little mad man; loves his motorcycles, bikes and bulldozers. Just taking him for a walk to see a bulldozer is a treat.
Early July we got to head up north to Buck N Bear to relax with the family and have some fun. Creek time, motorbikes, fishing, all the good stuff. Hopefully we get up there before it gets too cold. That same weekend we took a nice drive over to Tuckabuckaway and it was a really scenic drive – I would really like to take that drive during the fall with the peak colors. The biggest news on that leg of the trip was that Owen actually caught his first fish; I did not get a picture of it but I did manage to get a Blairwitch style video of it since I was shorthanded at the time.
Also got to make it down to Delaware to hang out with some friends, play paintball, jump around on the trampoline and ride in the ultimate 4-wheeler/ree nee nee. It took over three laps to get Owen out of it since he kept wanting to go on more laps
Swim classes have been fun, but again a bit rough since the little guy wants to do his own thing and he just quite can’t swim yet, ha. On a side note, Em and I updated our cellphones, the pictures are a bit better than the old ones… you can see those below.
Good bye June, hello summer…
Well it looks like I am just barely getting in one post this month… so now it is photo overload. The summer is a busy one and we are gearing up to head up north to Bucknbear and Tuckabuckaway – shared theme but one is based on deer and the other money. Big news is that Owen is now 18 months old today, June 30th.
Earlier in the month we got down to the shore but I did not get to take too many photos at the beach since I forgot my memory card, oh well. Owen is really not a fan of the beach, he would much rather play with a bucket of water.
Got to meet up with Brett and his family and caught a Phillies game, too bad it was super hot in section 303 – we had to duck into the bar to enjoy the air as no one wanted to stay and get burnt (much like the Phillies did that day by losing in extra innings).
Best part of the month was celebrating my second Father’s day and I enjoyed a wonderful time with Owen and Emily. Early morning breakfast at the diner, then a quick stop to play some hockey and run around the playground, then it was off to the woods to enjoy the dirt and peacefulness of the water on a hot day.
Summer and life is going by quick, there is always work to be done… time to sit back and relax and be thankful of all the good things we have around us.
Sound Machine - for some reason the conversion on this video to flash made it look like a Beastie Boys video, enjoy the babbling creek
Giggle Machine
Wow
Been a long time, that is for sure. In that time so much has changed as the little guy just amazes us more and more each day. I have said I would update this more in the past and that was negated due to the ease of posting on facebook, but more and more that is taking me a way from my goal of having an online journal.
What has happened since March? The boy got bigger, I caught fish, Mommy finished her goal and the Flyers are getting closer to their goal.
Ridley Creek State Park
Well March 7th happened a week ago and I wish the weather would have stayed with us, but it is too early for it. The huge snow storm that could have been did not materialize, oh well, right?
We have sprung ahead and everyone is just looking forward to sunny days, or at least warm days to be outside. If it is nice out, we are out.
Snow Day Part II
The last time it snowed in a large way was December 19th while we were at the hockey game. We usually get storms like that once every few years and it looks like we are on track to have a similar storm in this area on Saturday. I will believe it once I see it but I know the little guy will love it since he can now walk.
There are some videos below, the large sized one I can’t reduce for some reason – it was the video that was shown on the fan-o-vision at the game on December 19th. Owen was a good fan that day.
Videos from the snow storm
Snow Days
What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday I was “sledding” in the back alley with Owen on my skateboard, wearing only a light sweatshirt and yesterday we were sledding in actual snow and warming up by an outdoor fire that Pete made for us. Winter is officially here and I am glad.
Some fun firsts for Owen this weekend, his first trip on picking up a Christmas tree and his first time playing with snow and being able to sled. I think we need to prepare him a little better for the elements next time as he did not have any snow pants on, or any boots/shoes… but he still enjoyed his time since I just wrapped him up in my flannel.
Thanks to Billy and Kathy for the fun Sunday afternoon/evening, we all enjoyed our time and the dinner and company was great. Owen got to meet some new little friends and he can’t wait to get back out there!
The Boy
I forgot to post two of my favorite pictures last night. One is Owen on my back, not interested in getting his picture taken with my cellphone and the other is him and mommy touch a weird creature. There is a random video below as well… he was not paid by Hatfield to make that video.
Tuckabuckaway Part II
Well I am finally getting around to uploading the pictures to the website and I am a bit behind due to work as I am normally speaking with China during this time…
This was the first mountain trip with Chunk and the family. I think he really enjoyed the outdoors as we spent a lot of time commanding outside. He also was fishing, went hiking in the backpack, played with everyone, including Kirby. Ice cream at the dairy on the way up was a treat for mom and dad and we even ran into nana and pop by chance.
Catching tons of fish on my ultra light will never get old as shown in the photos. I need to work on my sunfish cooking, but they were still very tasty and fresh. The new car handled well and as you can see it was packed to the max, but still had room to stretch. Random eagle sightings by me were not verified by Joe the bird watcher, but maybe next time since I had recently seen a few on the Kettle Creek with my nephews a few weeks prior. Kirby even made it into the water for one of the funniest things I have ever seen her do… she is an old lady now, but still has some pep especially when doggie paddling.
Hiking to the waterfall was the big family outing and Kirby was a trooper and came along and took a well deserved nap once back at the cabin. I even got a quick natural shower… ha. The rain did not keep me away when it came and the fishing did not cool down during that time. Too bad for Emily since she only got a little bit of time in the kayak, she is a good mom and made sure Owen was in good hands.
Listening to nothing but woodpeckers, fish jumping, wind through the leaves, random chipmunks running around and (the occasional blurb from Owen) is better than anything I have on my iPod. Most important thing for the weekend was that we got away from it all to relax and recharge in the fresh air and sunlight. Before you know it, the all envelopes you once again and you are thinking/planning/waiting for the next time to get away from it all again – hopefully soon.
Thanks again to the Hansen family for letting us stay at the cabin.
Tuckabuckaway
Well it is Thursday, July 1st and the summer is moving along quickly. Owen is now six months old as of June 30th and he is now an official fisherman thanks to his new fishing pole that his nana and pop gave him.
As you can see, he is all smiles… just like his dad when fishing. I will post the rest of the photos tomorrow night as I am tired and need to upload 48 pictures.
Big Boy
It is a big weekend for chunk as he will be making his first trip up to the mountains at Tuckabuckaway – well at least the first time not in mommy’s tummy. The trips are always a treat, so many thanks to the Hansen family. I will try not to eat too many sunfish! Maybe Owen will go swimming in the pond, we shall see… his first swimming experience was a little shaky at first, but he got the hang of it and was splashing around in no time.
** I took the movie off since it is just timing out in loading
Ridley Creek State Park
Last Sunday was a great day to be outside and we were lucky enough to have perfect weather at Ridley Creek State Park. Memom came down for the day and we all enjoyed our time since there were no clouds and the wind was keeping us cool in the shade. Owen was staying in the shade with his new hat from Aunt Michelle, luckily it fits him and he does not have Daddy’s melon just yet. After the park, Owen and Memom took a nap and I did some yard work, then it was time to relax outside again while Owen commanded from a new position… a perfect Sunday.
fyi – Owen made this post, as shown in the video.
Sprung
March 7th and it felt like May 7th with it almost reaching 70 degrees. Last weekend was a whole different story since the bear suit was needed while Owen was watching me building a bike in the man hole (garage). Fast forward one week and the weather is warm, even Em is wearing short sleeves.
We ventured to Ridley Creek State Park and decided to go for a nice walk and in doing so we managed to search for some fishing spots since Owen was telling me fish stories of how big some fish were in his dream. If you sleep and don’t see the rules posted, can you still fish the stream?
That gold fish in the one picture below is actually a palomino and you can spot them very easily – we came across five different ones during our hike. I wonder if they will wind up being eaten by the time I get to fish for them with my nephews – we shall see?
Speaking of the nephews, we made it out to Jack Frost to ski and ride in some nice spring like conditions this weekend. The soft snow made for some goods times and they had some fun jumps and rails that we got to play on. Too bad my camera did not have a working battery since Jason had pants with a broken zipper (due to David) and David forgot his snow pants to make things even worse, but all in all it worked out just fine.
Ice Time
With it being 10 degrees out right now - it got me thinking to how good the ice must be right now. How should one bundle a two week old for an ice fishing outing?
I see you.