Labor Day camping trip

Where:  Harold Parker State Park

the kids basically caught frogs the entire weekend

swimming on the one warm-ish afternoon

awwww

Erin joined us :)

this may've been the kayak's last trip, if I don't patch it.

the hammock continues to be a big hit

one of Matthew's creations

s'mores

Dave caught a snake

snake caught a frog

snake ate the frog

everyone gathered to watch nature in action

Gavin had a fever one night :(

Besties for over 30 years!

I am 35 years old!

Kids hike Mt. Greylock

Inspired by our anniversary trip and my (Stacie) desire to hike the whole Appalachian trail as a family one day, we set out with the kids and my parents to hike Massachusetts' tallest mountain, Mt. Greylock.  Although it was a bit too much for my dad, who may have asthma problems, my mom persevered despite severe balance/coordination issues she was born with.  The kids did great!  Hiking bingo, bug boxes, a kid-friendly camera, binoculars, snacks, water and several breaks helped keep things interesting. 

Here we all are at the trail head.

...almost there

view from the summit

Mia at the top

We're thinking it could be fun to do all 50 states' tallest peaks and keep a map on our wall with a mark near all the states we've done (geography and adventure all rolled into one).

Cape with Axners

Our first time staying over with Judy & Bob on the cape was lovely.  Although it started with a terrible car trip with the kids, wherein all privileges were taken a way for a month!  The waves were huge and the kids enjoyed borrowing boogie boards from Judy & Bob.  There was sand castle making and shell/rock collecting and even a sand bar to play in.  When we got back, Judy flexed her grandma muscles with chocolate milk, brownies & ice cream, and sparklers.  I love it! The room where the kids slept was so neat with built in beds and we even found Great Grandma G's little chair that Mia sat in when she was little.  So we took a "then and now" picture.  The next morning, before we went home, Judy played games with the kids from hide & go seek to ball and much more.  

Howe Caverns

One day, after watching a PBS show called Wild Kratt's where they explored bats in a cave, Gavin asked if we could go see a cave.  I told him it was a fabulous idea and set out to find our nearest impressive cave.  There were 2 to choose from and each was about 3 hrs away.  One, in PA, was formed by  glacial rocks coming together and forming a hollow inside.  The other, in NY, was a river-made cavern complete with stalagmites and stalactites.  We chose the latter, which included a boat ride inside the caves!  For an added adventure, Dave found some dinosaur footprints at a random stop on the way there.  We stayed at a campsite with a pool for only $22, which made it feel a little less like we were stuck in the car for 6 hrs in one day.

Dinosaur footprints

Campsite

Howe Caverns

PS- for those of you who are wondering (and who don't know Mia), Mia didn't want to be in any pictures and I try (most of the time) to respect that.

Borderland State Park with Gavin

On the border of Easton and Sharon there is a State Park called Borderland.  There was a ponding adventure that we decided Gavin would like and it gave us a great opportunity to split the kids up (and my parents) and have some time just my dad, myself and Gavin.  It was a lovely morning!

Here we all are at the pond

can you spot the frog?

Gavin did!

We looked at many things with just our eyes, the binoculars, magnifying glasses and even a microscope to look at the pond's smallest creatures.  Here is some of what we saw:

Flowers (pollen is neat looking up close)

Caterpillars

Moths 

Gavin, future biologist?