We are just back from a short trip to Vermont where we stayed at the old Rowley Camp at Colchester point on a rainy fourth of July. Calvin and Isabel got to know their second counsin Amanda as they romped in the cold waters of Lake Champlain and painted rocks and shells they gathered on the shore. We enjoyed getting away from the many projects at. We have beenrenovating the attic for most of a year so that Sarah and the kids have a space to quilt and paint. Starting in the late spring we also addeed rebuilding the pirate fortress we moved from Albany for the kids. The top railing in now done so that no one can swan dive into the driveway.

We have also been recreating the garden we loved so much in Albany. Unfortuntately we've been invated by a pair of cute little woodchucks. The little devils ate our spinach and strawberries. Fortunately Calvin and Isabel picked some of it first. And we are excited that the college kids two doors down are going after them with a bibigun. Sarah offered a bounty of $25 for each woodchuck they presented to her. We hope they don't start showing up with pelts by the dozen or we won't be able to afford much other than what the absense of woodchucks brings from our garden.

Just two weeks ago Calvin and Isabel climbed Crane Mountain. All the way to the top! This was Calvin's first trip on his own two feet and Isabel's first trip up and down on her own two feet. They really liked the ladders near the top.