Adirondacks:

Dave says:
Calvin and Isabel's combined birthday party at the cabin was apparently a success -- lots of old and new friends showed up, and the food was plentiful and tasty, and all the kids seemed to have a good time. True to my standard pattern, by taking a day off to start the final assembly of the new deck on Friday, I almost got it completed by the time the party was due to start. Streznewskis used the deck that evening to set up two tents for sleeping in (until a downpour at three in the morning drove everyone inside.)

Sarah got to climb the mountain and go swimming twice over the weekend, once on Saturday night with Cousin Margaret and once on Sunday with Isabel, Fiona, Kelly, Alex, and Bob. Meanwhile, I took Calvin on an expedition to Putnam Brook, where we threw in 150 rocks -- and then we bushwhacked all the way along the old logging road around the Great Swamp, where Calvin enthusiastically learned a whole set of new words: "hobble-bush", "hemlock tree", "fern", "moss", "newt" (after two rainy nights, there were newts everywhere in the woods.) We'll see if he can still apply the words to the right objects, on our next walk.

Isabel finally reached her long-standing goal of climbing all the way up to Crane Mountain Pond Lake and back down again, without needing any help from anyone. I think next week when we're both on vacation, we may go looking for some new mountains to climb...