Vacation Bible School

Today was the last day of VBS.  After my big adventure on Sunday I had to bring Starry to VBS for the next four nights.  Luckly my mother brought her one night and my sister dropped her off another.  The biggest issue was the late time everything ended, but we survived and she had a wonderful time.  I think the biggest dissapointment was when she woke up and the horses (one on each chech) were gone. 

Presidential Traverse

I left Starry at home in the care of her Grandmother (Great Grandmother and Great in more then one way), and took off on a hike with the guys/girls from work.  We took on the challenge of hiking the entire Presidential Range in one day.  We started at 4:00 am on Sunday morning and hiked up to the summit of Mt. Madison (5367 feet).  Winds were around 50 mph and the skies were clear.  Then we set out across the range hitting every single summit along the way until we hit Mt. Pierce.  We then headed down to route 302 in Crawford Notch, arriving after 8:00 pm.

It was a long day, but we accomplished our goal and hiked 21 miles, over eight 4,000 foot mountains and gaining about 9,000 feet of elevation.  We ended up with a little more mileage due to a long approach up to the summit of Mount Washington. 

Today I am a bit sore and tired, but it was an interesting little adventure.  Glad to be back home with my daughter.

Olympics

Starry had Olympics at school.  She entered all the competitions and received: 1st place in Hula Hoop, 2nd place in Kangaroo Jumping and 3rd place in Running.  She informed me that in running she beat some of the boys and was actually the first girl to cross the finish line.  She also said that when she was running her Olympic hat fell off, but she didn't stop to pick it up and kept right on running.  Not bad for the second shortest girl in the class. 

After coming home she challenged me to a race.  We made it two races one to just the end of the block and then back again.  I won to the end of the block, but was too tired and she beat me back.  She is one fast runner.  I wonder if she'll be on the cross country team later on in school.

Fishing Practice & One Million Words

Starry has asked me if she could go fishing, several times.  We signed up for the Great Park Pursuit in New Hampshire and the first activity is sponsored by the Fish and Game.  Free fishing will be offered for all adults.  To get ready for the event I bought a fishing pole for both of us.  Starry's fishing pole has a fish you can tie onto the end, so Starry had a lot of fun out in the yard practicing casting.  She got pretty good, once she calmed down.

Notice the shirt.  It says that Starry has read a met the 1 million word challenge.  She got a t-shirt and a special meal at school today for her accomplishment.  I ask, who actually read the million words and filled out all the forms.  I did, and what do I get Nada.

Never to Cold to Swim

On Sunday it stopped raining, though it was still very overcast.  Yogi Bear Campground now has an awesome water play area.  It has a water slide, Starry tells me is 37 feet high.  They are all blown up like a bouncy house.  Starry was excited that since the rain stopped they could open up that play area.  Starry played on the rainbow and castle.  The other two were still a bit too high for her tastes. 

It didn't take long though before she was so cold we had to try and warm her up by the fire.  Of course we made the fire so we could roast marshmallows and cook sweet potatoes.  Overall it was another great weekend.

Rain Rain and then more Rain

Our annual trip to Yogi Bear Campground was the rainiest one yet.  My mother, home from Africa, came with us and wanted a cabin. I got a rustic cabin, no bathroom'  She asked me to upgrade to one with a bathroom, and when I saw the weather report I upgraded to a deluxe cabin. I am so glad I did, plenty of room for everyone.   It rained all day, without even a pause with some really good periods of down pours in the afternoon.  A flood watch was in effect, so where we usually camp was evacuated.  We (Starry, Robbie and Dana) still tented out the first night, the rest of the ladies were not even interested.  Starry did get to play with her good friend Robbie and they had a deluxe cabin as well. 

Picture taken on Sunday just before we left.

Howling Bike Rack

We scheduled our annual camping trip to Yogi Bear Campground in Ashland, NH.  Since Starry loves riding her bike I invested in a bike rack for my little car.  A roof rack seemed like the best option, so I would still have access to the stuff in the trunk.  After installing the rack on the car I took it out on the highway to pick up my mom and it howled.  I called the shop that sold me the rack and they said that was a common problem but for another $64 they could solve it with a little piece of Plexiglas I could attach to the front of the rack.  What could I do, but shell out the money since we were leaving shortly for an hour ride up the highway.  Of course, it then rained out almost the entire time so the bikes got ridden for about 10 minutes.  Better luck next time.