So Many Things To Do, So Little Time

Again, it's been a while since the last post. Since our trip to Connecticut and the robin in the backyard we've had lots of adventures.

Last week Isabelle and I had a weekend of camping with two other dads and their kids. Jane came to visit for the day along with some other friends and we all had a blast at the lake. I've yet to find a state park here I didn't like. Lake Hartwell State Park here in South Carolina was no exception. We took two walk in tent sites to get away from all the trailer campers and had a great time. There was good food and lots of time in and on the water. There was also a little mishap on day two but in the end we had a great time with everyone.

I don't have many pictures (we were having too much fun) but this was the view from the campsite.

Before that we had a huge weekend with the school yard sale, a baseball game and cook out, and the always entertaining Fete d'Ecole at Isabelle's school. The yard sale is always a great place to get rid of stuff and pick up some new things. We followed it up with the much anticipated baseball day.

We invited the school for an afternoon of learning to play softball/baseball followed by a cook-out. It turned into such a popular event that we had over 100 people! Everyone enjoyed the games and the weather cooperated. A few soccer games broke out near the end.

The Fete d'Ecole is always fun too with a concert, games, and lots of good French food. This year I manned the bouncy house again, but there was the all the usual games like the fish pond, the table tennis tournament, and even an angry birds game with huge cardboard boxes.

Here is a video and some pictures of some of the concert. You may need to turn up the volume on the video.

This last weekend was a little calmer but still very busy. Now that the pool is open (it has been since the first weekend in May) swim team is started with practices almost every weekday. We go to pool as a family most weekends. The water is great but it will soon be too warm. Imagine that!

Last Thursday the subdivision hosted the first swim meet of the summer. Isabelle did very well and is particularly strong in the backstroke again. I started my training to be a Stroke and Turn Judge. Below is Isabelle getting ready for the 100m team medley relay. I'm standing behind her looking very official.

This is a video of her 25m freestyle. It's a little shaky but you get the idea.

Sunday Isabelle gave us our Family Day gift. Instead of doing Father's Day and Mother's Day the school has the kids prepare one set of gifts for both parents. Jane got a fancy handmade picture frame with some cool art on it. I got a little poetry.

For those who can't read it it says:

Papa

Papa I'd like to give you a kayak with all the colours in the world.

Papa I'd like to give you the smiles of spring.

I hope your spring has been a busy as ours.

In the Nest

Things are getting busy in the nest but we suspect there is one less than there was a week ago. I guess that's how nature works. Either way there is lots going on. They are very loud and we expect them to leave any day now. Here is what it looks like in there.

 Taken May 2nd, with four little birds in the nest.

 Taken May 5th, with lots more feathers.

Again on May 5th, but this time only three in the nest.

Four New Additions

Well the nest has been very busy lately. We have received our foreign exchange teacher. Yes, a student teacher at the Ecole Francaise Bilingue is staying with us for two weeks while she does some practice teaching at Isabelle's school. It's good for us since it gets us out doing things we haven't done in a while. It also gives Jane lots of french practice.

Meanwhile the nest has seen four little birds hatch. They aren't exactly pretty, although Jane thinks they are cute, but I'm sure they will turn our just fine. It's awfully hot here with daytime highs over 30C but Jane has put out some water and the mommy bird seems to be very busy feeding the little critters. Here are some pictures.

The first day (last Sunday)

Today (Tuesday)

A New Tenant

A few weeks ago when we got back from Connecticut we noticed some unusual activity on the back deck. While we were away a robin had started a nest in the pergola that our wisteria-like-vine grows in (I'm not exactly sure what it is). She's been at it for a while and has a nice little nest built.

Last weekend I had a closer look while she was away and didn't see anything, but this weekend there are four little blue eggs in there. She's pretty brave and won't come off the nest when I walk by to go to the backyard. We've decided to keep our distance for now but will keep you posted. It seems the eggs need about 10 to 14 days to hatch. That should be sometime between next weekend and the weekend after that.

By the way, Isabelle has decided she will be called Helen. I'm not sure what the little ones will be named yet.

A Week in Connecticut

A few weeks ago we had some time in Connecticut with the family. My sister lives there with her husband Jon and my nephew Sam. My parents came down from Nova Scotia and met us there too since it's pretty much half way to South Carolina. It made for a crowded house, but that's what visiting family is about sometimes.

It all started when Jane agreed to go to Philadelphia to judge at a stamp show. Since she was going anyway and Isabelle had the week off school, I took a week and we made a trip out of it. We had a pretty good time and took in some great sights and activities. All this of course after a good three weeks with Jane's parents here in Greenville. (It's a shame I have to work. I could really enjoy showing people around.)

One of the best parts of Connecticut, other than the family, was Mystic Seaport. We went without Isabelle since she had other plans with her cousin. It started with a behind the scenes look at some neat stuff in the warehouse. The research part of Mystic Seaport was an old velvet factory that has been partially renovated and is mostly used to store the museum's larger acquisitions. The place was full of big boats, little boats, fishing boats, racing boats, canoe boats, sailing boats, and all the other stuff that goes with boats. There were masts and engines and all sorts of other goodies. In the more formal research area Jane got to look at some very old ship mail, thanks to a fellow stamp collector she met in Philadelphia.

My highlight was seeing the three skin-on-frame traditional kayaks and the umiak they had in storage. The umiak was not very old but still very interesting. It was covered in walrus skin and despite being a little dry looked like it could still take a beating. The three kayaks included a single baidarka, a double baidarka, and a Greenland style kayak that had lost it's skin. The last one seems to have been collected by Admiral Byrd on one of his trips to the North and was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit the museum. I found out about it in Mark Starr's book Building a Greenland Kayak. We were a little rushed so I didn't get any pictures but just seeing it was neat.

The actual museum part was pretty cool too. For those of you from Nova Scotia it was a little like Ross Farm meets the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic meets the Lunenburg Waterfront. There was lots to see including a working shipyard that was a whole bunch like the one I grew up in back in Nova Scotia.

We also drove up to Rhode Island and spend a day in Providence in and around Brown University, taking in a really cool sandwich shop called Geoff's Superlative Sandwiches (check out the menu, including the Kevorkian, the Margaret Trudeau, and Jaws...) and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. I also managed a little geocaching with my father, saw the USS Nautilus (the first operational nuclear submarine), and even got to go out for a little paddle with a friend of my sister in Long Island Sound.

Another highlight was the Book Barn in Niantic. It makes most used bookstores look like a small linen closet. This place was huge. I think we must have bought nearly sixty books between the three of us on everything from Nova Scotia history to kayaking. They have three locations and books for everyone. I would recommend a detour if you like to read and are in the neighborhood.

Isabelle, of course, enjoyed seeing her cousin and her grandparents, and catching up with her aunt and uncle.

Here are some pictures...

We took time to celebrate a birthday. 

 Isabelle did some playing by herself, and with Sam.

 On the cannons at fort Trumbull State Park where they got to see the USCGC Eagle.

 At the Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut.

 And enjoying a frosty treat...

 ...OK, maybe a little too frosty! It is only April, after all.

 We got to hang out with Tante Rhea and Oncle Jon...

 ...and made some memories.