Okay, a little disappointed we did not get more snow. (2 1/2 inches) but it did make for some good photos. Nice to be able to sleep in for once on a Sunday. A nice cold day for homemade Blackfish chowder.

Okay, we have not blogged for quite some time. Life has been so busy between fishing, family, and more fishing. It was off to the North Pole on the Polar Express this past weekend with the kids and cousins in tow. Very nice rendition of the classic tale along with hot chocolate, treats, and of course Santa. It was nice to see the sparkles in the girls eyes as their story came to life. Not sure if Jonathan heard his bell ring, Janel and I could hear it because we believe. I'm posting some pics, enjoy!!

Took our new Yacht out on the water today. Just got to figure out how I'm going to fish off this one. I should have bought the next size up.



LOL Wishful thinking. This Yacht passed us today while we were out fishing. Check out the Helicopter and boat. Must be nice.... I googled this yacht and found out a few things. 193 ft long, bought for 22 million, owned by a California woman who donated millions to help free "Willy" the killer whale. Oh, and she is single......

Very good day of fishing yesterday. Went out on the boat again off of Niantic and Watchhill, RI with Jonathan, my brother Adam, Guy Beacom, and Andres Foresberg. Everybody caught fish of course. I think the count was 25 fish total. Jonathan was catching Porgies and a few bluefish on his own. Very impressive for a soon to be 11 yr old. He was also a good help netting the fish we were catching. A good day on the water with a sun burn to prove it.

Okay, I'm tired of all this rain. Good end to the summer. Another few days away from home with the family. We went to Rhode Island this past week to catch some sun on the beach and relax. Not a whole lot of sun though. Kids had fun. Jonathan and I went night fishing in the middle of storm Danny in our pursuit of Striped bass. Nice time out on the Jetty with my boy. Jonathan did well trying to bait our live eels. No fish to talk about for us. A guy about 100 ft from us caught a nice 30" bass, and a good size bluefish on eels. But we were not crazy enough to go out that far with waves 6 to 8 ft crashing near him. Good time though. We are boat bound next weekend so we will be bringing back fish or stopping for fresh lobster. Our campground was quite the resort. Kids had a blast on the water slides. Julia is the bravest 3 yr old I know. She kept going and going down the water slide totally fearless. Of course dad was always there to catch her. Good weekend besides the rain. Janel took some good photos. Enjoy the pics......

Attack of the finger food. Julia was just too funny tonight at dinner. She likes when mom paints her finger nails. So she decided to decorate her nails with ketchup. She makes us laugh.

Family has been busy lately. We recently went camping in New Hampshire. We went to Swanzey Lake for a mini vacation. Great weather and the kids were well behaved. Kids went kayaking with mom and dad. They had a good time. Jillian and Julia had a good time swimming out to the raft. Water was so clear. Picture perfect!!!

Okay, more fishing pictures!!! I took the day off and went fishing off Niantic, CT with Jonathan, my dad, Adam, Stew, and Dennis. Good fishing day. Jonathan reeled in a striped bass. Good job little buddy!! I reeled in 2 bass (one was 3ft long) and one large blue fish. Great day on the water. Nice to be on the boat again with family and friends.

Oh Deer!!

Hey look and the neighborhood wild life!!
This deer has been coming into the backyard everyday for a few days now. She's been eating the apples off the lawn (the small green ones that are thinned from the tree). She's pretty used to the family and doesn't bolt when we go out on the deck to look at her. After a coulple days of this we thought maybe we would take a picture of our new friend. (She'll stay a friend and not dinner as long as it's the apples she eats and not my garden!)

The Cliffords and Boston

This has taken me a few days to do, okay more like a week, but here it is.

We had so much fun meeting Tonya, Conner, Zach, and Maddie in Boston and spending a day having fun in the city. Jillian, and Maddie showed they had the gift of gab, and chatted and chatted and chatted. Maddie slept over with us in our hotel room that night and I don't think her and Jillian stopped talking until they were just too tired to say anything else and sleep forcefully took over. It was great to see how much Conner and Zach have grown, Wow! Jonathan had fun getting to spend time with some older boys too. I think with all the little girl cousins he has around here he starts to feel invaded by the pink. Of course he says fellow Red Sox fans are the coolest. Some of the excitement we shared was touring the USS Constitution, and going on a Duck Tour (a tour in an amphibian motor vehicle that goes both in the water and on land)

Okay, it is official. Our company helped on the Extreme make over Home edition in Suffield, CT. We helped from 4am till 12 noon painting the garage, and one of the bedrooms upstairs. Bedroom (ceiling/walls) upstairs are purple and chocolate brown. Talk about ugly. It could be TY's special room. You never know. The episode is going to be the first one in September. 2 hour premiere. Sorry, no 15 minutes of fame for us. We did not see anyone from TV. It was quite chaotic. About 4 houses right around this one were taken over by tents and equipment. Oh, did I mention the mud? Quite a bit of it. Put 150 people and equipment in and around this house at the same time, quite the experience. My dad's neighbor put the walkway and back patio in. They ended up spending $25000, of their own money on materials. He was not happy. He was told all materials were donated, but one of the suppliers cut off donating half way through. But they will make it up in work over the next few years. Food was great. Massage tent next to the food. All you could eat Friendlys icecream.... My dad said at the time, " Is this Heaven ? " The family that was helped, have 13 kids. It was good to help them. House is valued at $2 million. Their taxes of $16000 are paid for the next 10 years. Anyone that wants to nominate us feel free.

A few more weekend pictures camping Lake Manchaug. Julia got to reel in a fish. Here is the proof. Another fisherman in the making. Kids had fun fishing and playing in the water.

We took the kids camping last weekend. We went to Lake Manchaug with my brother Adam and his family. Grandma and Grandpa spent time with us as well. We went to Southwick Zoo , hiked Purgatory Chasm, and fished. Janel and I got a kick out of the kids petting and feeding the animals. Jonathan was too cool to feed them. Sad to see him grow so fast. Kids had a great time with their cousins. Nice weekend with the family. Amazingly it did not rain that much. The highlight for the east coast this year....rain!!!

Jonathan's team The Aardvark White Sox won the championship tonight!! 2nd year in a row. What a finish to a rocky season. They beat a team that really did a job on them 2 times this season. A team that had its act together and played hard. I think our cheering, go Aardvark signs, and the Arthur " I'm an Aardvark " song got to the other team. It pays to cheer! 2 championship games ending with a tie and both being finished the next day. Rain, rain go away!!! Jonathan did great especially last night with a hit going to him in center field, followed by a perfect throw to first for the out. Coaches were impressed. Pretty impressive for someone his age. Game today was continued from last night. 2 inning rule for playing each position, because it was for the trophy. We ran out of pitchers and ended up trying a new pitcher. He did well. Score 7-6 White Sox. Jonathan was the first RBI tonight. Coach gave him one of the game balls. We are very proud.

Jillian had her dance recital this past weekend. We are so proud of how she did. She is our dancing princess. Her cousin Haley also danced too. Here are some pics. Enjoy

Last weekend Janel and I had a weekend to ourselves. Kids stayed with grandma and grandpa. We took the camper up to New Hampshire for a little relaxation. Great weather, good food, and good company. Funny how when the kids are gone, you still end up talking about them every other conversation. Our Saturday plan was to climb Mt. Monadnock. A feat that I accomplished last June with my brother Adam, Natalie, my dad (65), and Jonathan. To Janel this was piece of cake, since my dad (65), had climbed to the top, placed our country flag (his foot) on the highest point, and climbed down to our base camp (our vehicle) unscathed. Advice to my sweetheart was to wear good shoes, bring water, and bug spray. She thought that the trail would zig and zag its way to the top. I forgot to mention that the trail pretty much went straight up to the top. So we huffed and puffed our way up the mountain. The sounds of husband encouragement were as follows; "the trail flattens out ahead of us..... hey we are at the half way point.... take a picture it could be our last.......whats that song?.... Tell it to the mountain?.....I'll tell something to the mountain!" she responded. So I made it to the top, Janel made it to within 100 feet of the top. Hey after all these years I learned something new....... My wife has a fear of heights. Go figure? As we are climbing a challenging mountain trail. Sky diving will have to wait a few more years..... So, we did make it to the bottom of the mountain with out the helicopter airlift, in one piece. Wasn't so bad honey???? She did promise me we would again climb the the mountain, only this time to the top. Future date to be determined. We had a good time, sore muscles and all. I think when the guy that had a double bypass (62), passed Janel on the way down the mountain, it gave her comfort that it wasn't so bad. (true story)
So we ventured to the Northfield Drivein for a double feature. Nice that such a thing still exists. If you have not been there, its a must do item. We ended our trip shopping in Brattleborough, VT. We came back to reality Sunday night. Good to go away. Good to return to the chaos, I mean, the peaceful children and home we enjoy. So here are some pics of our weekend..... enjoy.