Summer Solstice

Yesterday was the longest day of 2013.....  appreciated for extra sunshine (no special rites were performed, unless cleaning up kitty litter upon return from vacation has significance).  What have you boys been up to?  Here's a recap: 

Birthday - In mid April, one of Sasha's friends turned 16.  As a surprise, you Sasha and another friend got a lovely gift.  The items below were well-received and probably enjoyed best by young sister Katie.

Visits to Wyncote - A weekend visit to Wyncote in early April provided Sasha an opportunity to kick off spring fishing with Mark.  Steve, Brock and I had time with Lucy touring the Eastern State Penitentiary, followed by playground fun.  On Sunday morning, we made it to church at St. Dunstan's with Grammie and Grandad.  In a return trip over Memorial Day weekend, we helped Grandad celebrate his 76th birthday.

Airsoft and Fishing!  Sasha, you are an active member of the Exeter Airsoft group.  Hours in the outdoors and fun with friends!  As to fishing.....  well, this is absolutely one of your favorite times of year.  Steve has also taken an interest in fishing, and now has 2 poles and multiple implements in his tackle box.  Frances Slocum park has been a good location for trying out new equipment, and catching fish plus the occasional turtle.  Brock, you and I have enjoyed playground time, walks, and "sparky" scooter rides including a fast, frightening ride down the steep hill toward turtle pond (brakes were not so great in steepest stretch, but worked OK toward the bottom).

Tiger - A few weeks ago, Tiger had his annual bath & "slenderizing" treatment i.e., extra fluff is shaved away for the summer.  His flabby paunch is quite noticeable and of no concern to Tiger - petting anywhere including his belly is wonderful.  Sasha has provided this list of his alternate names for Tiger:  Tigrero, Tigroog, Toiger, Fatty, Fat Cat, Chunks of Love, and Love Chunks.  Here is Tiger (pre-treatment) enjoying a moment with Steve's sneakers:

Additions to the Family - Over the winter, our latest batch of tropical fish suffered a premature demise due to hypothermia (secondary cause:  lack of attention to temperature in the fish tank).  Sasha immediately announced that we would introduce lake critters to the tank when spring came along.  So after a recent fishing trip to Frances Slocum, he brought home Flappy the Crappy, and 2 large snails - Dung and Pooh (as in "who flung....").  Next, Dung and Pooh had babies known as the Poohlets.  A couple weeks later after a fantastic job cleaning algae off the fish tank, Dung and Pooh went home to the turtle pond.  Here's a picture taken shortly after arrival:

Crappy seemed to be doing fine, until today that is.....  His favorite food - wax worms.  We has also gorged himself on guppies, but unfortunately didn't keep it all in his tummy (fish parts make a return trip into the tank, only to be cannibalized by other guppies).  This afternoon he passed on to the fish heaven, and will be missed.


Vacation in Washington DC - We got home yesterday from a few days in the Washington DC area.  My favorite was visiting with my cousin Annie, who lives near Bethesda.  Steve's was probably the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport.  I'm not certain that you boys had a favorite, though Sasha you seemed to enjoy talking about fishing with Andrew from "Augie's Adventures" who was trying to photograph Capital Hill at sunset from a park near Reagan National Airport.  And Brock you seemed to especially like climbing on rocks at Great Falls National Park overlooking the Potomac River.


Steve's Mom - Sadly, Steve's mother died on June 7th after being hospitalized in Philadelphia.  It has been a difficult time for Steve and his brothers, as you can imagine.  It is quite an accomplishment for a Mom to raise four boys mostly on her own, and certainly it was not easy for her.  I am genuinely interested in older people, and would have liked to know her better.  Be sure to appreciate your family members - every one of them is important.

Winter is Wrapping Up

Winter is slowly turning to spring....!  The mourning doves came back a few weeks ago.  And today we switched back to daylight savings time, and now get to enjoy daylight past 7 pm.  Wonderful, especially for evening walks and other outings !

Some recent events......

• Visit with Uncle John & Aunt Fran, and rest of the Rivers family at Nockamixon State Park over President's Day weekend.  We, along with several other travelers, had difficulty locating the cabins - but eventually reached Aunt Julie to get directions.  Sasha, you hung out with the fishing guys (Uncle John and Mark).  And Brock, you spent time with Lucy & Noel.  We had a crazy game of charades - I got stuck with "aglet" (who ever heard of that??  turns out it's the plastic sheath at the end of a shoelace)....  In retrospect, I should asked for a different word.  Steve did a good job with "Italian sausage", and Brock remembers getting "transformers".  Sasha, you managed to convey "woodchurch" very successfully - though, Grandad said it was actually supposed to be woodchuck!  I brought along chocolate chip cookies and spice drop cakes, both of which were popular.  We have figured out that cabin time is reasonably comfortable with sleeping pads on top of the bunk mattresses, as well as a humidifier.  The Camry developed a practically-flat tire, but luckily Mark loaned us his "plug into the cigarette lighter" air compressor and we made it Pep Boys in Quakertown for repairs.  The highlight of our trip was a very nice lunch at the Vintage Grill restaurant.  Thank you so much, Steve, for taking pictures !!

• Grammie's book Colors of the Universe has been published.  It's a collection of interesting and lovely poems.  Sasha, this is very timely because your 10th grade English class is about to start work on poetry (you've mentioned that you might get 'brownie points" since your grandmother is a published poet!).  I hope you continue to expand your own poetry writing skills - I've suggested you could write one about airsoft.  In the meantime, here is very simple poem co-written by you and Steve:

                            Tigey Whygee was a cat
                            Tigey Whygee was very fat
                            Tigey Whygee was so lazy *
                            Tigey Whygee could get crazy.

*  As evidence, a disgusting centipede (think miniature dust mop) appeared from under the stove and scurried along the base of the kitchen cabinets.  It arrived next to the kitty bowls as Tiger was having a snack.  Tiger completely ignored the creepy bug, flying legs and all.  At my insistence, you Sasha were trying to "Do something!!" when it scooted back under the stove.  Thankfully, it has not come back (we're wondering if it has visited Sadie's house?).

• In other news, you Sasha has been taking an evening class on making i.e., "tying" fly-fishing flies.  The teacher is your 9th grade algebra teacher (and fellow fly-fisherman) Mr. Romanowski.  We've been introduced to the Vo-Tech high school in Pringle, and get to enjoy the spectacular view of Wyoming Valley on Monday nights.  Also - after much discussion, planning, and gear-purchasing, Sasha is finally playing airsoft with a group of Exeter Township enthusiasts. We've had several weekend jaunts back-n-forth to a park long the Susquehanna River in Harding.  Meanwhile, Brock has been playing with Sean who is staying at Sadie's house during the week.  We made it to the Cub Scout winter fun day at Kirby Park.  Plus, last Saturday Brock and Ben went snow tubing up at Sno Mountain - and then spent the following afternoon together at Ben's house (including trek to Chuck E Cheese).  We've managed to stay pretty busy through the winter months.

• And last, but not least.....  Sasha, yesterday you were laughing hard at the 2 YouTube videos below (and a few others by the same "chef").  Just don't plan to try this at my house!!

I feel it in my fingers

For the first time in weeks, I feel like writing a bit (I have been doing too much Prudential work lately).  A few things worth mentioning......

• Snow Storm - Blizard "Nemo" is finishing a run at the Northeast Coast today.  Here in Wyoming, we got @ 5 inches of snow, it's in the mid 20's and windy.  Sasha, Brock and I got shoveling time in this morning.  Meanwhile, Jon Dodge posted on Facebook that as of 6:45 a.m, it was still snowing at the Walker-McCausland abode on Hill Street, Webster.  Had @30 inches of snow on the ground with lots of drifting.  Plus snow was forecast to continue into the afternoon.  Recently, northeast Pennsylvania has been a great place for avoiding nasty coastal storms.

• Trip to Grooming Cottage - Tiger had gotten smelly, as his excessive fluff can create hygiene issues.  So, we hit the snowy streets of Wyoming this morning and delivered him to Jim's place.  As usual, he meowed pitifully from the moment he went into the cat carrier.  Now he is home, had some kibble to take his mind off the stress, and has disappeared to take a nap.  Might even be using his own kitty bed, which he rediscovered this past week after being banned from people bedrooms.  No bandanna or bow this time....  but here is a picture of Tiger from Christmas Day, followed by a picture of Jean Luc having fun in his kitty condo (thanks to photographer Steve).

• 10-Year Olds Do Not Have Baths - Brock and I have an agreement that I must pay 25 cents every time I refer to evening bathroom time as "Bath" instead of "Shower".  In fact, we generally use Steve Albert jargon and discuss having a "sit-down" or a "stand-up".  Brock, we have decided that I currently owe you close to $5.  Plus we had a dispute last Wednesday after I said "Ba", but never finished the word.  You claim that I owe you 25 cents, while I believe it's only 12.5 cents.  I'm not sure how I would pay the half cent, but perhaps we should round it down and it will end up being 12 cents even.  The outcome is still under debate.

• The Troggs - In the news this week....  Reg Presley, an English singer & songwriter, died this past week.  After hearing about this on the news, I looked up information about his band "The Troggs" and realized that I especially like their song "Love is All Around".  It's been playing in my head for several days.  Sasha, I can tell you don't appreciate this much and you are waiting very patiently to get the computer back.  Here is a nice rendition - simple and sweet (although I admit the characters appearing at the end of this clip are just plain weird).

Next Up - Valentine's Day!!  You boys aren't admitting to having sweet hearts, but my offer to take you card shopping is still out there!

Christmas Day 2012

OK, so I have been neglecting "Carroll Boys".  It's true, and excuses like getting ready for Christmas and upcoming birthdays, my work schedule, etc. don't cut it.  Certain readers are getting quite annoyed with looking at the Camp Lazlo post....  So, finally here we are......  It's Christmas Day!  Here is an update on what we've been doing for the past few weeks.

Thanksgiving - Sasha, Steve and I spent an overnight with Grammie and Grandad for Thanksgiving.  It was very pleasant, including a long walk through Wyncote and neighboring town(s?)  Kyra and Lucy were glad to see us, and we enjoyed Grandad's grilled turkey and Grammie's apple and chocolate pies.  Yum!  Then on Saturday, we had a second Thanksgiving dinner with Brock.....  Italian-style, with penne a la vodka aka "pink stuff".

Lost and Found - While going through our winter gear to figure out what does/does not fit, there was an incredible "find".  Sasha's fly boxes, lost since last December, were zipped into inner pockets of his winter coat for practically an entire year !!  It was been a long time since such joy has been known on Sharpe Street.  Here are the long-lost items  :-)

Tiger - Actually, there's not really much new with Tiger.  .... unless you consider some occasional crankiness, though he is never as out-of-sorts as "grumpy cat" looks (see picture above).  Tiger is taking "Natural Chicken & Tuna Flavored Joint Supplement" for stiffness in his back legs.  It gets sprinkled onto his food, and does seem to help.  Mostly though, he continues to be very fluffy and interested in frequent petting.    Here's a recent, adorable picture of our boy:

Christmas - I mailed out holiday cards, with a photo collage of you boys (Brock with Tiger, and Sasha at Harvey's Creek).  I really must show you the pics sometime soon....  Our Christmas Eve started with a late afternoon service at Grace Church in Kingston.  Sasha, you got to see Dr. Ferraro who delivered you almost 16 years ago (a formal introduction is in order, since you were a few minutes old and unclothed at your last meeting).  Steve navigated another Episcopal service very successfully.  And I grumbled about hymns being played too slowly.  Brock, you went to Dad's house instead - a good arrangement, especially given the length of the service (over 1 1/2 hours!).  This morning, Steve salvaged bacon before it became over-cooked and made french toast for us.  Tonight we had our traditional Christmas night dinner - wimpies and banana cream pie.  Our tree is pictured below.  Favorite gifts:

• Sasha - A Sage 9 foot, 10 weight fly rod - with which you hope to catch Susquehanna river monsters i.e., musky and pike.  Additional fly tying material also seems popular, as you have been busy making flies as the evening wears on.
• Brock - The PlayStation 3 game Far Cry 3, a "shoot 'em up" and "stab 'em through" game.  Probably not appropriate for a 10-year old.  But on the bright side, you are still not permitted to watch Family Guy at my house.

Most cheerful traveler:  Steve, who made 3 round trips from Scranton over the past 30 hours.  

Best surprise:  My gift of a Schwinn red and white bike from Steve.  It's beautiful!

My wish for you both this Christmas Day:  That you grow up to be happy, productive men.

Merry Christmas!

Camp Lazlo

One of the shows Sasha used to watch on Cartoon Network was Camp Lazlo.....  it brought back memories of my time as a camper and later working as a lifeguard etc. at Camp Lackawanna.  It does seem like quite a while ago since I've seen it, which is explained by the fact that it ran only from 2005 though 2008;  see more details here  -->  Camp Lazlo.  My favorite camper is definitely Raj, the elephant (above, with the propeller fez).

The YouTube video below is the episode I happen to remember best.....  probably because I had a retainer and enjoy canoeing.  It certainly makes me laugh a lot!  Hope you too have pleasant memories of this show!!

One Year Anniversary

On November 11, we passed the 1-year anniversary since starting "Carroll Boys".  Over the past year, nothing especially dramatic has happened.  Sometimes that's a good thing, but to recognize this milestone here is a brief retrospective.

• Sasha - You turned 15, and in fact will be 16 in a few weeks.  You finished 9th grade, enjoy fishing in warmer weather and air soft gun "stuff" in cooler weather.  You seem to like your 10th grade class schedule (no Spanish!) and particularly are enjoying Economics with Mr. Belles.  Over time, I notice you spending more time out with friends (including Gage, Steven, and Jason).  I think that mid-teens are a challenging stage of life, as you are very much "in between" being a child and an adult.  Are you feeling receptive to guidance from grown-ups?  As a general suggestion, try to remember that everyone has a different point of view and be respectful of other people's perspectives and feelings. 

                                                          

• Brock - You turned 10, and have now finished 3rd grade.  You say you don't especially like your 4th grade homeroom teacher, Mrs. Przybyla, however do like your science teacher Mrs. Bonomo.  Regardless, school is going well and you have become quite a reader (this week, you finished "The Hunger Games").  It's great that you are enjoying Cub Scouts - and were away for a week at Camp Acahela!  And soccer too....  You have some nice friendships, for example with Adam, Bryce, and Kyle.  Earlier this year, you remarked that if I were a goddess I should be the goddess of families (what a wonderful compliment!).  Remember that your entire family is important and that you are loved & appreciated.

                                                                    

                                                                

• Tiger - Since moving here in January, Tiger put the finishing touch on making our house a true "home".  Tiger is so very social and affectionate, always wanting to be held (and fed too!).  After we returned from our Delaware vacation, Sterling's aunt mentioned that Tiger had been howling at the front window in our absence.  He likes it when anyone dangles kitty feathers and other toys for him.  Besides the food/water bowl area in the kitchen, some of Tiger's favorite spots are looking out the front screen door and porch window, perching on the laundry room window sill overlooking the back yard, your gaming chair, any surface with a blanket or other soft items to lie on, and sleeping at the bottom of beds (where he gets annoyed if his companion sleeper rolls over).  He is our best boy - and here is a recent picture of him freshly bathed with a bow provided by Grooming Cottage:

• Steve - Steve is very connected with us, and interested in the two of you as well as (of course!) his three girls.  We have dinners and outings together on a regular basis.  When Steve arrives at Sharpe Street, Tiger immediately begins meowing as he knows petting will commence shortly.  Steve has been quite busy with work, occasional travel including trips to West Chester where Becca has been at college, and frequent postings on NCFE.  "Carroll Boys" would not exist without his effort to create the blog and ongoing encouragement.  It also helps a lot that Steve keeps electronics in good repair including our computer, printer, Brock's iPod, etc!  Over the summer, Steve was recognized on a local TV channel for publishing NCFE.....  you may be interested in linking to the video below:

             WBRE - Blog of the Week

As "Carroll Boys" carries forward into Year 2, I still find it enjoyable and worthwhile.  Thank you to Grammie and Grandad, and especially Steve, for interest in it and more importantly for caring about us.  It is lovely to walk together on the path of life.

Our Neighborhood

This morning I've been thinking about our pleasant town, Wyoming, and decided to write a short post about the kids you are growing up with here......  Dad and I live only about 2 blocks apart, so our neighborhood encompasses both 7th Street / Monument Avenue, as well as Sharpe Street.  In no particular order:

Around Dad's house:

• Keith and Kynia, immediately next door
• Matt and Josh, next to the back alley.  We've gone picnicking, swimming, fishing and sledding with these boys.
• Carlisle, across the street.  Carlisle has played with Brock, and is also in Cub Scouts with him.
• Bryce, when he's visiting is Aunt's house and more recently has been a pal who Brock runs around with during Wyoming Area football games.
• Alli,when she's at her Dad's house (a former sweetheart of Sasha's)
• Leah and Jenna.  Jenna loves a man with a vehicle i.e, 3 year-old Brock when he as riding the electric dump truck.
• Aaron and Olivia.  Aaron and Sasha used to practice catching & throwing baseballs in the back yard with Aaron's Dad Tim.

Around Mom's house:

• Kyle, Ashley, Emily, Natalie and baby Tyler, next to the side alley.  Kyle is in 10th grade with Sasha.  Ashley is in 4th grade with Brock.  Emily and Natalie like coming over for bananas, candy, etc.  And, to Brock's dismay, to play PlayStation and DSI games when the opportunity arises.
• Sadie, immediately next door.  Brock and I have occasionally enjoyed Sadie's back-yard pool, and you boys were thrilled with her trampoline (until Sadie's cousin Sean broke his wrist jumping on the trampoline with Sasha and Kyle - after which the trampoline was taken down).
• Alex and Jeremy, next door on the other side.  Jeremy is also known as "JP" or, unfortunately "Jermy".
• Jocelyn aka "Jocie" and Kyra, who used to live at Jermy's house.  Jocie is also in 4th grade with Brock.  And Kyra is in 2nd grade, and was quite a character as a pre-schooler i.e, used to get in trouble playing the hose in the backyard, stealing rakes and attempting to run away.
• Sterling, next to Alex and Jermy.  Sterling is the friendliest "big" kid, and is seen walking all over town.  He used to spend a lot of time with us e.g,. playing PlayStation, Nerf gun battles, and jumping into Sadie's pool with Brock - both of you fully clothed.

Along the road of life, you will make many friends.  But the kids you're growing up with are extra-special, and I do hope you'll have many good memories of them.