Taughannock Falls

Jake had to take his big scary sports medicine board exam today! We all cross our fingers that he does well. He's been studying so hard, I'm sure it will be fine . . .

So, the boys and I went exploring. We went to Taughannock Falls (pronounced, I think oddly, Tu-ga-nick, kind of rhymes with mechanic). It's one of the largest waterfalls east of the Rocky Mountains, at 215 feet high. It's about 3/4 mile hike, and the boys had a great time.

Unfortunately, since the waterfall is in a gorge with frequent rock falls, they don't let you go closer than this to the waterfall (much to James's frustration!).
Jackson loved sitting on the wall and being "big" like James.

On a complete tangent, James has discovered a new bug in our yard. He actually took this picture himself. He has named the bug a "mole cricket". Don't ask me why. He's also discovered that they shed their skins, and the skins remain intact and he can collect them. Gross. Having boys has really opened my eyes to a whole new disgusting world. How can you not let them play with bugs and dirt and rocks, though? It's in their genetic makeup.

Take a Peek at Our Creek

So my most favorite thing about our new house is the cool creek running through our yard. Today James, Jack, and I went up river to explore the waterfalls and such. Last time we went up river it was rainy and the stream was too full for little jack. So here are some pictures.

Jackson did well hiking up the ledges. You can see James up above if you click on the picture.
The only smiling picture of Jack and too bad it is out of focus.
The tallest waterfall we saw. When it was raining it was going so fast that I couldn't get Jack up without getting soaked.
James loved this little ramp.

James and Jack throwing rocks at the base of this little gorge.

At the other end was a tunnel going under the road.

Ithaca . . .

Well, I'm sorry in advance to those waiting anxiously for pictures of our house. It is still too disorganized and, well just too plain messy for photos!

So, you'll have to make do with pictures of our yard, which is really nice! So hopefully it won't be so bad to look at . . .

James says this is his favorite tree. It's right next to our stream. Right before I took this, Jackson was actually tasting the little bush he's holding onto.

If you click on this to make it larger, you can see James sitting on a bench by the stream. He's actually "doing time" for not being reverent in church today. It was a great day for us in our new ward. It started with James being so fidgety that he and Jackson bonked heads, then ended with Jackson biting James in the behind. (don't ask).

Jake's favorite place in the backyard is the new hammock he got for Father's Day. I have to say it is a very comfortable hammock!

Coming soon (hopefully!) . . . pictures of the inside of our house!

Happy 4th

While Becky and the boys were at the ecotarium I spent the day on Seneca Lake with new-found friends.

Happy Birthday USA
Seneca Lake is the largest and deepest of the finger lakes.

Fourth of July Fun

Well, to give us all a break from the boxes, we went with some good friends to the Ecotarium. It's sort of a science museum/childrens museum/zoo all rolled into one.

They had some animals, like this turtle here.
They also had lots of hands-on science activities for kids.
I think our favorite exhibit was the bubbles. They had huge bubble wands and lots of bubble solution!
Jackson was actually more interested in how the bubbles got on his hands.

James managed to blow a bubble around himself.

We had a great time.

We're so grateful today for our great country and those who have helped make her great.

As I was thinking about it, I thought of some of the lyrics to America the Beautiful,

"Oh, beautiful for Patriot's dream that sees beyond the years . . . "

How blessed we are to have had those great patriots and their vision (and divine guidance) of what the future of this country could be like and their courage in fighting for that reality. And how blessed we are to have ancestors through the years who have maintained that vision and who "more than self their country loved . . ." Some of the great patriots I know today have served or are serving in the military, and I'm so grateful. I'm specifically proud of my Grandpa who served years of his young life in World War II. His stories and experiences are an inspiration. May we all appreciate this great country.

And may GOD BLESS AMERICA.

Hangin' on

Well, I think we've had as many misadventures as adventures here in Mass. At the beginning we had difficulty with drivers licenses, car registration, internet hookup, banking, finding our way around in a city with no street signs. In the middle we had ticks (on both kids), James' terrible illness last month, a lot of taxes (it's not called Taxachusetts for nothing!). It seems Massachusetts isn't going to let us go out under the radar. James developed this strange rash last week and it got worse and worse, so we took him to the doctor. Seems he has poison ivy. Lovely. How he got poison ivy, we have no idea, since it's been raining here for the last 3 weeks and the kids haven't been outside much!

At least he is still his cheerful self (when he's not scratching!).

This is after several applications of prescription strength hydrocortisone cream. He has the rash on his face, neck, chest, stomach, and one leg. It's looking a little better, so we hope it will be gone soon. And if I can keep him from scratching, he won't have any reminders of it!