Update

 At the end of June, the kids got to play in the river:

Carter turned 11 and celebrated with a sleepover party and then the "leaning tower of carrot cake":

 Myles started mowing the lawn, and burned his fingers on the exhaust while pushing the lawn mower:

This morning, Merlyn and Berkleigh left with my parents to go on vacation in Tennessee for a week.

All the kids had awesome report cards, and the three oldest have been going to summer rec Monday through Thursdays.  Carter is starting two weeks of Robotics camp (a day camp) on Monday.  Bryan and Myles have been playing box lacrosse two nights a week, and both boys have been going to play basketball with Bryan another two nights a week.

I finally planted a garden this year and have been trying to keep up with the weeding.  I've also been slowly and steadily staining our porch.  More pictures will be on the way.  I'm not making any promises, but I will try to keep the blog more regular.

My Big Buck

DISCLAIMER: The pictures that follow feature an actual dead deer.  Don't look if you're squeamish!

This year I got my hunting license and hunted for the first time ever.  During my hunter safety class I shot a gun for the first time, hitting the bullseye three out of five times with a rifle.  My dad gave me his 16 gauge shotgun, the same one he shot his first deer with almost 40 years ago.  He and I hunted together opening weekend at the end of October.  I didn't go out again until the Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving.  I didn't see anything Monday, but after less than an hour on Tuesday morning I managed to bring down a beautiful eight point buck.

The mighty hunter.

Too big to hang from the tractor!

Such beautiful symmetry...

All eight points on display.

We took him to Agway to get weighed -- 126 pounds dressed!  And yes, I did the field dressing myself;  Bryan was at home getting the kids on the bus.  Of course, when we were out everyone assumed Bryan had gotten the deer, even though I was the one wearing hunting gear.

The father of one of Bryan's friends from high school has been hunting successfully on our property since we've owned it.  This year he's hunted here more than I have, but hasn't gotten anything yet.  He was nice enough to come over to help me process the buck.  Now the freezer is full of delicious venison, and I even ground my own venison burger.

I'm still excited over my first deer ever, and I bring the subject up every chance I get.  I've been bragging about being a super marksman since my gun only has a bead sight -- no scope or anything!  Bryan's facial muscles have gotten a workout from all the good-natured eye rolling he's been doing.

We're all enjoying eating the meat, too.  Every night at the table while we eat, we say thank you to whoever made dinner.  On the nights we've had venison (so far we've had ribs, a big steak, and the heart) the kids said, "Thank you, Mommy, for shooting the big buck so we can have a delicious dinner."  They're just as proud as I am!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

In August the kids and I spent a couple fun filled days with my sister and her kids 

at my parents' house on Lake Champlain.

My parents at the lake.

Myles and Merlyn took these pictures of some of their activities, which included fort building, wilderness exploring, and bike riding.  Some of the pictures were actually quite nice, some were a little random, and some weren't worth posting.

Signs of civilization in the wilderness.

Isaac the explorer.

Merlyn on her bike.

Berkleigh multitasking.

Berkleigh's belly and bike.

The kids got  to swim, play, and skip rocks within sight of the ferry.

The girls

The boys

All six kids (even Merlyn and Berkleigh!) jumped off the end of the dock.  That was pretty impressive, since the dock was about five feet above the water.  Notice how each pair has a similar style of jumping.

Elizabeth

Carter

Isaac

Myles

Merlyn

Berkleigh

Synchronized cannonballs from Isaac and Myles.

I think they were huddled together for warmth, although they'll never admit they're cold!

All six cousins.

We got to see the full moon rising over the lake.

Myles

Carter

Myles and Carter had fun trying to "hold" the moon.

Of course, kids get pretty tired from all that activity, and with exhaustion comes crankiness.  Berkleigh threw a fit about where she wanted to sleep, and when I left her bedroom, she went out on the couch:

How Berkleigh's fit ended.

The second day we went to the wonderful town beach.

Carter and Elizabeth

Myles

The kids swam in the lake, ran through the waves, and played in the sand.
They buried each other...

Carter/Elizabeth

Myles/Merlyn

... which led to taking some of our favorite funny beach pictures.

Merlyn/Berkleigh

That night, instead of witnessing fits from Berkleigh,

 my mom and all six grandchildren got to participate in one of their favorite activities: 

Reading together.

The girls had time for a little tea party before we left for home.  

Based on their body language I'm thinking that Merlyn was

 trying to persuade Berkleigh to do something she didn't want to do.

Tea time!

I thought this picture perfectly illustrates the difference between a family's vehicle

 and the empty-nesters' mode of transportation.

The van and the Harley

Now that my parents are officially retired, 

they have more time to enjoy their grandchildren and their Harley!

Linus Slideshow

We went to visit Grandma in the nursing home today.  I put together this slideshow and brought my laptop to the nursing home so Grandma could see pictures of Linus.  It's the first slideshow I've made, and I love it, so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Make sure your volume is up so you can hear the music.  Enjoy!