The Weed Whacker Story..from a 3rd person!

On Friday we were leaving for camping at 8th lake, as I pulled in the driveway I noticed a weed whacker on the side of the road.  It was somewhat in our yard, and somewhat in the corn field.  It looked like David was using it but forgot to put it away.   That is very out of character for him so I worried he managed to injure himself using it or something. 

I saw him going about the pre-camping duties injury free.  When I asked him why our weed whacker was on the road, he told me it was broke and he was sick of messing with it to get it to work.  In our town it usually doesn't take long for things on the side of the road to grow legs.  So off we went on our camping trip with the Weed Whacker laying there on the side of the road.  We never looked back.

Saturday afternoon we had a full cell signal during our Tupper Lake road trip.  David checked his messages:

“David, its your father, I found your weed whacker on the side of the road I think someone was in your shed!”

David called him back to tell him the story and to congratulate his father on being the proud new owner.  Sadly his dad pointed out that  he put it back in our shed. 

We arrived home Sunday, very tired, but pushed through unpacking the camper.  Later in the afternoon Emma and I were going out to run some errands.  My car was dead as a doornail, we had to jump it with davids truck.  I am not sure why it was dead.  As i pulled out of the driveway i was setting my car radio and noticed the Goldens were working in the yard.  Jeff had weed whacked the ditch because his weed whacker was still sitting there on the lawn.

Later that evening Ang called to ask me a question.  She was wondering if we noticed who took the weed whacker off her lawn.  She preceded to tell me that Jeff had found this weed whacker in the corn field.  It was obvious that someone had lost it off their truck.  So he moved it onto their lawn where it had better visibility, as the people will most certainly be looking for it.  She was just wondering who lost it.

As she finishes her story, David said: Is she calling to see why i took my weed whacker off her lawn?   

Yep, it was our weed whacker!

So in 48 hours our weed whacker has:

• had 3 owners
• Traveled:
  • From the shed to the road twice
  • From the road to the shed twice
  • Across the street once

Its currently sitting in our garage waiting for its next adventure…

maybe i should make it its own website. As people come in contact with it they can post about it!!! 

till the next adventure readers…..

New York Watermelon Harvest

Never did we think it would grow.  Never did we think we would eat it..but yes we have successfully grown a watermelon.  We had four but 3 rotted.   This story started back in Spring when the easter bunny left Tyler a watermelon growing kit.  The plant was about 5 inches tall when we put it in the garden.  It was mixed in with the cukes and squash.  All the watermelon vines grew under everything else so we were very surprised a few weeks ago to find 3 softball sized watermelon and one baby one.  Last week we noticed that one was getting really big

 

Since we have never had one grow before, we had to google “how to tell if your watermelon is ready to be picked”  Our basketball size watermelon fit the bill.  So we loaded up to go pick it!

They boys assessed the situation..

Then made the cut:

The precious fruit was safely transported back to the house

Once inside the cut was made….drum roll please

The ratings are in:

Thumbs up from tyler while Emma was eating it with 2 hands!

 

This years hot summer was perfect for us to grow this fabulous summer fruit…here’s to hoping next year is as much of a success!!

Mountain Master~ Bald Mountain

This past weekend we camped at 8th lake campground…By far my favorite state campground!  I love it there.  We are going on more trips this fall to 8th Lake!  Most of you know i am a member for MVBW, a weight loss competition sponsored by the local TV and a local fitness center.  Tomorrow (wed 25 Aug) is the finale.  I would normally workout Monday-Saturday of last week but i missed on out Friday and Saturday because we were at camp.  So what is a girl to do???  I went for some walks but talked the family into climbing the mountain. 

Since the start of the contest (Memorial Day) i have lost 22+ pounds, that is about what Emma weights.  So it was really no problem to carry her up and down the mountain.  The mountain was a good cardio workout but it really doesn’t stand to the bootcamp sessions I have been going to for the last 12 weeks.

She slept for 1/2 the way up

But then found it to be fun

As you can see  we followed the rules..if you carry it in you carry it out.

Heather came along with us, which is a good thing since my camera broke friday night.  I have a new camera but i am still learning how to use it!  The views at the top are great, this is why we have climbed bald mountain about 5 times.

Tyler took a moment to relax at the top!

 

Well time to prep for the 5pm news tomorrow but maybe tomorrow night i can upload some photos from camping!

Growing Gardens

When vacation ends there is always so much to do, laundry, cleaning and more.  Our garden did not take a vacation or the little bunny living by the garden.  We came home to find this:

 

He ate the tops off all my  beans….what is max thinking let another rabbit into his garden??

We collected the goodies from our garden and have started canning:

 

We have froze peppers, made pickles, dilly beans and more.  I found a website for this soup:

It is so good!  Its called Golden squash and corn soup!  I have made two batches!  the photo is from the website because my camera doesn’t photograph food well.  Here the Link.

Tyler was so excited to find that his watermelons are growing.  They were hidden in the cucumbers!  Our cukes are ending and allowing for us to see this hidden treasures underneath! 

We found 3 that were this size.  But tyler is most excited about this one:

 

I took the kids blueberry picking.  Emma was eating them as fast as she could off the bushes.  I didnt know if she was eating the ripe ones or not so i showed her my bucket..big mistake.  She was eating faster than i could pick.

Tyler picked 2.5 pounds that we turned into blueberry syrup and my 5.5 pounds were froze for the winter!

I think this is our 2nd and last year of pheasants.  They are just not doing well, i guess we will be getting chickens next year:

Yesterday, my sister Heather and I made 5 jars of salsa and some Zucchini Candy.  The candy was good and easy to do.  I still have cukes and some zucchini to use up…maybe at midnight i will get to them.

My one morning Glory started to bloom..

I have to go referee some children and get ready for a party.  But this was from this past week..makes you want to get a cup of coffee and just relax right:

Updating the blog

I need a change so i am updating the blog..do you like the layout? i need to update the photos but my battery is draining both in the computer and mine!

Vacation recap

I hate that the main part of our vacation is over, but i am very happy that i do not need to return to work till Monday.

Here are some facts about the trip:

• 5 Days
• 4 Nights
• 2 campgrounds
• 478 Miles
• 48 Gallons of gas
• Over 12 hours in the truck
• 9 miles to the gallon average
• $3.00 in reindeer feed
• 2.5 pounds of peanuts for one chipmunk

Yogi Bear Campground; http://www.paradisepines.com/

It was a great campground, the kids loved it.  Seriously you could make a vacation just staying at the park.  Every hour something was going on.  The staff was very friendly, they did an extra hayride and extra train ride just for my kids.  3 playgrounds, 2 pools and a beach (that my kids preferred to the pools).  The only downside is that the sites are kind of small but they don’t seem to be overly booked so you could get a prime site at anytime.  The best sites would behind the store because then i don't think you would hear I-87 as bad.  We certainly would like to go back but we do plan to visit the parks closer to our house too!

Adirondack Buffalo Company; http://www.adirondackbuffalocompany.com/

First I will say i was expecting to see more buffalo!  But its pretty cool to be driving down the highway looking at the mountains and then come across a field of Buffalos!  I wouldn’t go out of your way but if you are near by its fun to stop in…And you have to try some buffalo

North Country Taxidermy / Adirondack reflections; http://www.adirondackreflections.com/ ; http://www.northcountrytaxidermy.com/

This is a great little gift shop mixed in with it is some great mounts of many different animals.  Its located right in Keene (near one of the only gas stations we saw) with some other litter food places near it.  This is a big hit in our house as my husband and son are true hicks.  If you are not into stuffed dead animals then this is not the place for you.

Santa’s workshop; http://www.northpoleny.com/

This really is a great place to bring your kids, especially when they are Tyler and Emma’s age.  My kids loved all the animals such as feeding the reindeer!  But it was great that its not over the top like other amusement parks.  It really hasn't changed much in all theses years!  Bring your wallet as you will spend some $$, but you get to see Santa's house!!  Here is a great article on it  roadside America news article

So what will next year’s vacation bring for us??  who knows…

Emma was looking at the map trying to figure it how herself!  She wants some place with animals or a bunny farm!  Vacation was a great time i wish it wouldn't end!

Day 4 – Deep into the heart of the Adirondacks

We stayed at yogi bear park till about noon time before we departed to Lake Durant.  The 1 hour drive was not that bad as we winded thru the Adirondacks, around mountains, up and down hills.

We had never stayed at Lake Durant state park.  But it is just out of Blue Mountain and we wanted to visit Buttermilk falls.  We figured we would try it.  Well our camper is the biggest you would want to get in there!  Its a true tent and pop up campground. 

Our site was backwards, we had the back of the camper facing the fire

 

The roadway is like a rollercoaster but a great workout to walk!  We were very out of place as most people were really “Roughing it”.  Oh well at least we can say we went there! Box checked!

Tyler and David were able to do some fishing, while Emma and I went for a walk.

The campground has a great view of Blue Mountain

   

Tyler and walked a few of the trails

He was very excited to climb this big rock all by himself (about 7 times)

The kids favorite part was the very friendly chipmunks..

  

We didn’t even get the toys out because all the kids did was sit and wait for him to return to fed him more peanuts.  He would take 3 peanuts at a time and he made about 100 trips.  I think its safe to say the Szareks supplied a good portion of his winter feast!

Even my oldest got into playing with Chippy:

The fine art of fishing for chipmunks (don't worry no hooks were involved)

Have you ever seen an Adirondack Zebra?  They are rare but we found one!

notice the cheeks full of nuts!

 

Mommy wanted to hike in to see buttermilk falls.  It was very nice!  there were some people swimming in the falls and climbing the rocks.  so of course so did tyler

 

I can climb rocks too:

The one thing about Lake Durant is it reminded David and I of what it was like camping before we had kids and were spoiled by our camper.  We use to cook everything on the fire, breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We were only in the camper/tent to sleep.  So we cooked hot dogs and pizzas over the fire, Tyler's first time.

 

It was great after the kids went to bed to sit by the fire, and listen to silent only interrupted by the loon across the lake!  We have been at private campgrounds all summer and had forgotten how dark the state parks are at night.  It was so relaxing.

In the morning Tyler and i walked down to the lake.  It was so peaceful as a light rain danced on the lake.  The fog was starting to lift from the mountain and it all mixed with smell of my coffee…peacefulness!  For that moment i felt on vacation…only to be interrupted by “Mom, I am getting wet i want to go back to the camper!”  Yes i think its time for us to have an adults only weekend!!

Thankfully raincoats and a hungry chippy kept the kids busy during the packing up process.  Then we started the long journey back filled with “are we home yet?” ………