As Promised

Time to write a bit, after another long break......  The main theme of this post will be "critter pictures", but will be sure include some recent news.

Great Falls National Park (June 2013)  Steve's Post - Birds on the Potomac River

New Hampshire (August 2013) - Starting with Aunt Margaret and Uncle Jack's kitty Dusty, then a gorgeous dragonfly picture.  Thank you, Steve!!

Lake Ganoga (September 2013) - Humingbirds, as seen and photographed (amazing pictures!!) by Steve from Uncle Dick and Aunt Ginny's deck.

Our Kitchen Cabinet  (Today)  After making my lunch @ 7 a.m., I went looking for a dish towel and discovered Tiger!

Latest Happenings

• Brock's 11th Birthday - We celebrated with Dirt !  .... yummy pudding mix, cool whip, crushed oreo cookies, and gummy worms.  I think your favorite gift was a replacement set of Sony earbuds (bright yellow).  We are still working on plans for birthday dinner at Uncle Bucks in Plymouth.  A kids "event" i.e., trip to Dorney Park is scheduled later this month.
• Sasha and LARP - Sasha, you have taken an interest in LARPing with friends Jarod and Matt.  When first mentioned to me, I thought it must be something completely inappropriate (like "twerking", for example, which we recently learned about from Miley Cyrus).  Turns out it's not X-rated - you can read more here  -->  Live Action Role-Playing   However, it is very important to carefully make weapons (such as bows out of PVC pipe), so as not to accidentally cut one's hand & end up in the Emergency Room getting stitches.  
• Teachers' Strike - Today was Day 11 of our local school district's 2013 strike.  Very bad news for all involved.  Brock is spending a couple mornings every week at his friend Stephen's house, which provides a break in routine.  Sasha has spent some time with his friend Robby.  We hope it is over soon, though seems unlikely as the parties are not negotiating.
• Allowances - Toward the end of the summer, you noticed that your allowances have not been paid in many weeks.  It's true.  I am delinquent, which happens quite regularly with allowance remittances.  I keep thinking about paying up, but not doing so 'cause it seems like a discount should be applied after many fun and somewhat expensive summer activities (like vacations, trips to Camelbeach & Knoebel's, Brock getting locked into the pool building at Nay Aug Park, etc.).  All month, I've had an "Allowance" sticky note up to remind that I must do something.  Ah yes, but what?!?  Brock, I think you are angling to get PS3 game Grand Theft Auto 5 instead of back-allowance...  but all the bleeding in that game is distressing.....  I'll let you know as soon as I decide what to do.  

Critter Finale - As you know, one of my childhood memories involves going with Grandad and Aunt Julie to get fresh chicken for dinner.  We lived in the Dominican Republic then, and trips to the chicken farm were quite memorable.  The "promise" referenced above is to write about this wonderful experience.  As I recollect, it went like this....  Scan the flock of chickens & pick out the one you want.  Then: 1) the chicken is caught, 2) head is cut off using a sharp knife, 3) the headless chicken sometimes escapes and runs around the chicken pen (fascinating to young girls!), 4) it's then placed upside down into a cone until blood drains out, gutted, boiled in water for several minutes, plucked by hand and finally wrapped in paper to bring home.  Very dramatic, for sure.  There are numerous YouTube videos about the process that I can't bring myself to insert here.  So, you'll have to make do with Mike the Headless Chicken.... Brock, thanks for telling me about him; you can see a picture and read more about Mike here:  Lucky Mike   

Vacation in Delaware

In July we went on a beach vacation to Delaware vacation, where we stayed in Lewes.

To begin with.....  two really good things about our trip were the car, a large (red) mini van whose model I have already forgotten (Dodge Caravan?), and the house.  The car was perfect because there was plenty of room; Brock sat in the middle row & Sasha in the back.  There was minimal squabbling!!  The house was lovely, comfortable and spacious.  Its location was interesting, as the development is situated right behind a Home Depot store.

So, favorite things we did:

• Fishing!  I took you Sasha to a fishing pier one evening; it was beautiful and breezy, but not many fish around.  Much better, you and Steve spent a morning fishing out on Delaware Bay.  The fishing was great!  Here's a great post from 'NCFE'  -->  Gone Fission   The pictures below are wonderful - what a lot of disgusting fish bait (those squid are looking right at us!!).

• Brock, I think your favorite was probably swimming in the pool at our condo complex.  I enjoyed soaking up the sun, and we had a good time playing with boogie boards.  
• Walked around downtown Lewes one evening.  It's a quaint, historic town & I loved the harbor area.  Look up and you'll see a picture of the Lewes Canal at the top of 'Carroll Boys'.  

And rounding out our week, we also:

• Spent time at Cape Henlopen State Park, where the fishing pier was located.  It has an ocean beach, which we enjoyed while Brock swam (waves were a bit strong & breaking very close to shore).  We also went to Fort Miles, which was a significant military site during World War II.  There are some massive artillery guns on display.  Read more here-->  Fort Miles   And see pictures below.
• Went to Rehoboth Beach, where we had time at the beach and walked around to stores & boardwalk.  Stopped into Candy Kitchen, Fisher's Popcorn and T-shirt stores.
• Spent a bit too much time on Rt 1, which is an 8-lane highway along a massive commercial strip.

Sincere thanks to our photographer Steve!!  Vacations are very special, and I'm already looking forward to next year !

Catching Up Is Hard To Do

As you can tell, I've taken most of the summer off from blogging.  So now there is much to cover!!

In the Recently Overheard Department:

• "I have a complaint!" said Steve a few weeks ago.  About what?  Errr.. about my lack of recent postings on Carroll Boys.  Yes, it's a bit embarrassing especially given his prolific writing on 'NCFE'.  I've felt mildly guilty about it, but not guilty enough to actually write anything.....  until tonight....

• "Would you please pass me the soap?  The Force is not working." said Brock during 'shower' (absolutely not bath) time last week.  Star Wars will always be a special part of our lives.

• "I found 2 eggs in the water bowl this morning!" per our neighbor Sherry.  Our gecko Hermie moved one house away to a lovely 50-gallon tank, was renamed Mr. Leopard, and has a partner Mrs. Leopard.  Compared to life under the hockey table in your room, Hermie has hit the jackpot!  The Leopard's are now 'expecting', with the eggs being incubated for 58 days at Pet Zone.  More babies are likely to come along soon.

• Many episodes of the The Big Bang Theory.  Here's the full version of the TV show's theme song performed by the "Barenaked Ladies".  You might like to read more about this interesting band -->  BNL, Canadian alternative rock

Of course, the best part of summer is spending extra time together.  I will write about our beach vacation later.  In other highlights:

• Sasha..... You did quite a bit of walking at the Secondary Center to make up 9th grade gym classes.  Gage spent lots of time here on Sharpe Street, including overnights (sleeping on the living room couch - his preference).  There were many PS3 battles, including Battlefield 3, Call of Duty Black Ops and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.  The two of you liked to stay up extremely late, then snooze most of the morning.  You also got to enjoy fishing with Jason along the Susquehanna, especially while construction on the new Eighth Street Bridge was wrapping up.
• Brock....  You had a wonderful time at Camp Acahela with your cub scout den, in particular your friend Matthew whose tent you shared.  We heard about swimming, archery, tucking your shirt in for meals, and a 3-hour nature hike.  And we got to have dinner with you at the dining hall Friday night.  Your legs had a few cuts & bruises, but otherwise you looked just wonderful at week's end (and ready to come home for a rest).  You spent time at the Good Shepherd day camp in Kingston, where playing DSI (in particular Pokemon games) seemed to be the favorite activity.  We had a fun afternoon with Ben at the Nay Aug pool.  Plus you got to spend time with school friends at Adam's birthday party.
• All of us..... Enjoyed a weekend with Kyra and Lucy, including an afternoon at the Sno Cove water park and dinner at Pizza by Pappas in Scranton.  We then headed to Camelbeach last week.  With a couple interruptions due to rain, it was a good day including lots of time in the wave pool.  Lastly, you both went fishing a couple evenings at the Frances Slocum Park pond, where the competition to catch (very) small fish and good-sized turtles is fierce. (Left-over bait such as wax worms was provided to the growing gecko family next door.)

And to wrap this long-overdue post, here's "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" .... almost the same as Catching Up is Hard To Do!  In July, Steve and I sat on wet folding chairs at Misericordia University to hear Neil Sedaka in concert.  Neil Sedaka is a well-known (to older generations) composer and singer from New York City whose career has spanned over 50 years.  We were the young'uns in the audience!  This performance is very similar to the one we heard:

The Avengers!

The Avengers is now playing in the movies......  I did not read comic books as a kid, so am woefully ignorant about the world of Marvel Comics.  As evidence I recently pronounced the company name as "Marv-Ehl" with emphasis on second syllable, rather than "Mar-vell" with emphasis on the first syllable.  You boys immediately corrected me.

In fact, it was only when The Avengers came out that I realized the Iron Man movies staring Robert Downey Jr. were based on a Marvel character.  Not to confuse matters further, but I can hear Bugs Bunny of Warner Bros. cartoons saying "Ehhh... Pitiful !!"

Sasha went to see The Avengers with Steve and me, while Brock went to see it with Aunt Pam.  Am sure we'll see more movies together this summer!  Last week we talked about our favorite Avengers characters, listed below:

• Sasha - Thor, based on the god Thor of Norse mythology.  Thor can command storm elements e.g., lightening and thunder, and uses a hammer "Mjolnir" as his weapon.  Since you boys are both interested in fighting "gear" of all sorts, you may be interested to read more about its powers here  -->     "That Which Smashes"

                                       

• Brock - Hawkeye, who is a master marksman and also trained in martial arts.  He uses a bow and very powerful arrows, carried in a special quiver.  In "real life", his name is Clint Barton.  Clint was trained in archery as a boy while working at a circus - by a character named Trick Shot.

                                    

• Mom - Err.....  I'm still not a comics fan.  In particular, didn't find Captain America to be appealing.  But I do like the Iron Man movies and am fond of Tony Stark's assistant Pepper Potts.  Love how Pepper usually anticipates Tony's next moves, and how she keeps him organized.  Wonder why she might appeal to me?

     
More movie posts to come!!

Summer Time !!

Today is your First Day of Summer Vacation !!!  I remember how light and care-free I felt as my class was being dismissed on the last day of school.....  To kick off our summer, this past weekend we visited with Grammy, Grandad, aunts, uncles & cousins.

On Saturday we spent several hours at the Battleship New Jersey in Camden (got to eat lunch in the mess hall!).  Also, you both got haircuts - most noteworthy was the return of Brock's mohawk-style hairdo.  The New Jersey:

On Sunday Sasha went fishing with Mark, while Brock came along to the Morris Arboretum.  The Fernery with a nearby family of wood chucks:

For the summer of 2012..... I'm looking forward to time to relax, time for fun outings, and time with each other.  I'm sure you don't realize how lucky you are to have a bedroom with air conditioning, plus a pool at Dad's house!  Tiger is already enjoying the summer including a break from excessive fluffiness (except for his tail).  Here are pictures of a pudgy, sleepy kitty recently bathed & clipped at The Grooming Cottage:

Special thanks to photographers Steve and Lucy!