May

Okay, this is my usual view of the woods.  I attempt to see this view on a 3 times per week basis.  Sometimes it is only once a week.  This was the view from here Mother's Day.  I've been out riding in 3 states and with so many friends this year I hesitate to list them all.  What a great time it is!  But yesterday found us out enjoying the world from this view. Mountain biking.  :)  We've started geocaching again after taking a long break from it.  No reasons why.  Just what we've been doing with our time I guess!  

We went up the highway about 45 minutes to find  some caches in a town forest.  What a great day for playing outside.  The last 3 days have been rainy and wet so we really enjoyed the sunshine.  I loved the red shade of this lady slipper, or indian moccasin...whatever you call it.  

This boy had to take his shoes off and play in the water.  Nice to cool your feet off after a couple of hours on the bike.  We ate our cliff bar lunches here by a nice beaver pond at the edge of an abandoned airstrip.  Cool place.  Lunch was not as filling as we'd have wanted...of course the cliff bars were just meant for a snack...but when your one hour jaunt becomes fun...and you find you are in the woods for 3 or 4 hours...it becomes lunch.  So on the way home we found an ice cream stand and it really hit the spot!!  Coconut ice cream.  I'll be back again for sure!

~Rachel

Boys

Here is the little guy with a selection of Cub Scouts projects that he made.  I am especially fond of the cribbage board.  He was very busy working on projects on his way to "scout graduation" which is the Crossover.  The Webelos crossover into Boy Scouting and are then wearing a new uniform which has none of their Cub Scout achievements on it except the Arrow of Light if they earned it as a Cub.  All of the boys in the den earned the Arrow of Light.  Some of them went on to earn an even higher award--Super Achiever.  It is finishing all 20 activity badges and this scout did it.  Quite a lot of work.  We're very proud of him.  As I type this he is still away camping (dad too).  I'm so glad the weather turned out to be good.  The last outdoor campout was in the snow...come to think of it last October's campout was too.  They also had an overnight at the Museum of Science this spring. The troop is very active and they boys do so much together.  Sometimes it is fun things too, such as laser tag for an evening.  Next Saturday there is a Hike-A-Thon and this scout intends to walk 10 miles with the boy scouts.  Isn't he cute at the end of Crossover with his face all painted from the Arrow of Light Ceremony?  

School's out--or should I say outside...for 80 degree days.  Here we were finishing our April read "The Long Winter" on a hot, hot spring day.  Irony.  The new tent seemed to be the best place to do school that day!  We have had a lot of fun reading this year.  History and Science have become big interests now.  Math is still his "easiest" subject.  He is a Towne after all.  :)

Here is our middle boy hamming it up with a gecko at the Boston Museum of Science.  John & I took the 2 boys down there for a vacation day in April. What fun we all had together.  They make me laugh so much when we are out and away from all the usual distractions.  This boy is often very busy with friends, gigs, and school and I don't often get a whole day with him anymore.  I really enjoyed this day.  ~Rachel

Cats

The cats are so much fun.  This is our old lady cat doing what she does best.  Finding a sunny spot and napping.  She's turning 14 this June and still quite healthy.  Especially for a cat with a bad heart...the vet originally gave her a life expectancy of about 5 years.  :)

Here are the young cats working on their stalking skills.  Jester is the calico and she is telling Charlie, the black and white cat to stay there...he's not so good with stalking yet and she's been doing her best to teach him a thing or two.  Moving the wild turkeys around gives Jest a huge ego boost and she comes back to the house a very proud girl.

Jest thinks, "I'm not scared of anything...even water."  

As proof she brings home frogs, snakes, mice, chipmunks, birds.....

We love the cats!