Owen has a stuffed kitty named Candy Corn. He decided one day that it was soon to be Candy Corn’s birthday. When he mentioned that he needed a birthday present Linda suggested they could make some treats.
Out came the playdough! I think the results were very impressive. Owen was thrilled with the results as well as the time with mom.
Candy corn, and fishies for a kitty's treats. Plus a bowl to put them in.
The date was June 6, 2011. We went to the Lincoln Middle School Honors Assembly to watch as Kieran received recognition! Way to go, Kieran!
Kieran with his academic honors.
Linda returned home on July 15th and noticed this turtle walking on our driveway. So the whole family had to check it out. After we all had a look we put him in a box and walked him over to the pond across the street. When we released him there he scurried into the water pretty quickly.
When most of us saw him he was partway under the car in the driveway.
He looks a little disgusted doesn't he?
Burton Tower from a third floor window in the Michigan League. The Baird Carillon bells were ringing for the first time in more than a year on June 28th. The weather was beautiful and so was the sound.
I looked out the back window and saw this amazing combination of colors and cloud towers. Nature is beautiful.
Linda and I used to live fairly close to Lower Huron Metropark. We had picnics in the park. What I didn’t know was that it has a pretty nice group camping area. It’s specially for youth groups so the Boy Scouts fit right in. On the weekend of May 14-16 Troop 240 headed over there for a tent campout. We used the Troop’s tents. These are the tents from last year’s National Jamboree. We have 10 of them that we bought after Jambo was over.
We got to the campsite by about 6:00 on Friday evening. We got our camp setup and cooked dinner. The three patrols rotated cooking and cleaning duty. Kieran’s patrol had cooking duty for Friday dinner. They did a good job on the soft tacos. The evening was cut short by rain. The guys were ready to stop fighting the weather and retired to their tents early.
Kieran, Kyle, Jason, and Matthew paused for a picture
Saturday we got up at 7:00 am. French toast and scrambled eggs were prepared for breakfast. After the cleanup there was some scout skill sessions that helped our newer guys learn some of what they need to advance to higher ranks.
One of the Scout Skills stations was fire starting
Kieran and Christian are really getting into their fire starting
We had intended to roast hotdogs for our lunchtime chili dogs over the fire. However, it was raining again so we resorted to the camp stoves for lunch. We did get a fire going later and had some really good pork chops grilled over the fire for dinner.
Our tents were all lined up along the tree line. Gear and grub areas down there at the end.
Kieran and Jason are in the background going over anime art techniques while pork chops cook over the fire for dinner.
Here are the Scoutmasters waiting for those chops to be done
This drain was a popular place for this gang to hang out
We had a nice time around the campfire Saturday night. Lots of conversation and the cracker-barrel. Since Friday’s cracker-barrel was rained out we doubled it up on Saturday. We had crackers and a cheeseball plus s’mores.
Unfortunately, the rain came back during the night while we were sleeping. It didn’t let up at all Sunday morning. We prepared breakfast. We had perogi, beef sticks, and fruit cups. The group that was using the pavillion was nice enough to let us cook and eat breakfast under it. That made it much easier with the rain. After breakfast was cleaned up it was time to break camp. We had to put everything away wet. So the tents and other Troop gear went home with the various leaders to get setup and dried out over the next couple of days.
Everybody said they had a good time on this campout. I know Kieran and I did!
Sometimes there are books that the twins really want Kieran to read to them. Thankfully, he doesn’t mind.
Kieran reads Power Rangers to Declan and Owen
On Easter while Linda had the boys in a photo taking mood and me with the camera she wanted pictures with each of them.
She almost couldn't convince Kieran to pose
Owen knows how to strike a pose
Declan's always ready for a picture
Easter was not a huge to do this year. Just a very nice meal enjoyed by a happy family. That’s enough isn’t it?
Owen appears to be very happy about the dinner Mom made for Easter
Here’s the centerpiece Linda created for the dining room.
Candles, flowers, and eggs - the colored and the peanut butter kind
It’s not often that all of us guys put on something that isn’t a t-shirt. So when it happens there must be a picture.
Family photo from Easter 2011
Thanks to this picture I finally replaced the old banner image for this site. This one is much better. Hope you had a nice Easter.
Hey Everyone! I am very excited because my first video review is up on You Tube now!
Remember to subscribe and comment, and stay tuned for more reviews.
