Climbing Mt. Colden

Mt. Colden is a REAL mountain. One of the Adirondack High Peaks. So when Uncle Tom offered a guided attempt at reaching the summit to a certain nature-loving boy and his cousin, that was pretty much a done deal. This all happened much earlier this summer; it's a treat to re-visit the experience through these photos. (And I should say that both of the mountain shots are Mr. D's.)

The climbers, at the ready.

Aunties at the ready...

... to help in any way they can.

Mr. D loves being the BIG cousin for a change!

Did someone say "dimples"?

Mt. Colden

The view from the summit.

Still trying to capture the majesty of the moment.

Totally zonked.

(Thanks again, Uncle Tom & Aunties!

And you are in our thoughts, Grammy...)

Bumper Cars

When our friends

in New Orleans

invited us

to their school’s Spirit Night,

we said yes, of course.

Our boy had never seen bumper cars before.

Fresh from our visit to neighborhoods

where beautiful old side-hall shotgun homes

stood shoulder-to-shoulder

with their blighted, empty cousins,

this crashing on purpose

looked a little crazier, even, than usual.

But memories of our own childhoods

complete with bumper car adventures

(crackling thrill

of electricity overhead

punctuated by sharp jolts

of anticipated impact)

outweighed his fears.

Our promise of safety

held true for one more day.

We drove and crashed and laughed

and steered directly towards

yet another crash.

No one got hurt.

And everyone went home smiling.

(Thanks to the women of http://3x3x365.blogspot.com/

for their continuing inspiration.)

Celebration in Colorado

Things have been a little quiet on the blog.

Irene was a seriously unwelcome houseguest.

To the tune of about a foot of water in our basement.

But the insurance adjuster just left,

and we think it's all going to be fine.

So... time to catch up a little here at But Wait, There's More!

We received a lovely invitation

to join our faraway family members

in a celebration of cousin J's bar mitzvah.

We said yes, and we arranged the trip

so that we got to fly with Grandpa!

(Show here explaining some cool math concept

to an appreciative D.)

I called my old friend J to see if she

had any recommendations for restaurants

in the Denver area,

and we got invited over for dinner!

(Thanks again, J!)

Everyone cleaned up quite nicely.

The Charter at Beaver Creek? Niiiiice!

The amazing Super G was intent on showing off

for big cousin D.

T & D working on some sketches,

waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Cousin J did a fantastic job with his Torah portion.

Everyone was spellbound.

And the downtime afterwards

was sweet!

Did we mention the pool?

How about the harnessed bungee jumping?

(D's hair gives him away.)

Any guesses as to who D

is watching bungee jump next?

Check it out!

Grandpa did a BACKFLIP!

The crowd went wild...

even total strangers stopped to cheer.

So that's a brief recap. It was wonderful to see so many members of the family together, sweet to reconnect with an old friend, fantastic to witness this important chapter in cousin J's journey, and totally amazing to see the look on Mr. D's face the first time he saw real mountains.... and then again when his grandfather flipped upside down!

(If you'd like to see more Colorado photos,

you could check out the set on Flickr.

Next up here on the blog: Adirondack Adventure)

Lessons From Camp, 2011

As in years past (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007), I've pulled together a few lessons we learned at camp this year...

Define "cozy" on your own terms

Snuggle up to the people you love...

... every chance you get.

Bring a friend.

(We've learned this lesson before,

but it bears repeating.)

Stay up late.

Sleep in late.

Enjoy the views...

... all day...

... every day.

A warm "Thank you!" to all the friends who

sent us real mail at camp,

or called to ask that a message be left,

and an extra hug to Aunt Chelle for coming out

to visit us live and in person!

(Her report is here.)

PS: Don't be shy about that

"home sweet home" feeling, either...

Happy Camper

He's back! And "Yay Camp Onas" pretty much sums it up.

We chose this Quaker camp in Bucks County

because friends recommended it

and because its "old-fashioned fun

with a focus on building community"

style of camping seemed right up Mr. D's alley.

He was still a morning person, even at camp...

... these two shots were taken at 6:30am while Mr. D.

waited patiently for everyone else to wake up.

(And the camera has a clock,

so we know he wasn't exaggerating!)

"I basically chased this butterfly

and cornered it to get this shot,"

he shared proudly.

"This guy taught me some great moves."

"Look, I almost got hit with the ball!

Isn't that so cool that I got this picture?!"

"The older guys were super-nice to us...

... and next year, I want to go for at least two weeks."

(Thank you, Camp Onas,

for helping our boy grow

into his independence.

All photos in this post by Mr. D himself.)

Outta Here!

(click on pic to embiggen)

Yes, it's that time of year again... we hear the ocean calling our names, and we are outta here! You can leave us messages in the comments below (although we probably won't read them until we get back), or, even better...

Send us snailmail at camp! Every year we get awesome mail and it is always SO SWEET! If you're reading this between July 9th and July 20th, here's your big chance to make our day at camp.

Send a little note (and/or dark chocolate!) to:
Riendeau-Krause campers, site 35-D
c/o North of Highland Campground
52 Head of the Meadow Road
P.O. Box 297
North Truro, MA 02652-0297

If you'd prefer, you can call the camp and ask them to leave us a note on the camp message board, which is also a big thrill. That number (good from July 9th through the 22nd or so) is 508/ 487-1191, and office hours are pretty much all day with the exception of meal breaks from noon-1pm and again from 6-7pm.

Even if you don't have a chance to send a message our way, we know we can count on you to send warm and sunny thoughts... right? And a special thanks to our friends who have enabled us to give the old pop-up a whirl (!), as well as our excellent neighbors who are keeping watch on our little house until we get back.

(If I can drive a stick shift in Scotland,

I can pull this with no worries, right?)

End of the Year

As it turns out, the various and sundry end-of-year festivities were a good thing, even though getting ready for them was sometimes a challenge.

Mr. D got to channel both his inner Mozart:

(That's his "Yay, I did it!" smile.)

... and, in these "Colonial Conversations,"

... he got to rock a very colonial-looking braid:

Thanks to the all the teachers

who helped make this year

such a great one for our guy!

Running

This is kind of like the Mr. D version of "Where's Waldo?"...

After running 25 miles with me

(one mile at a time!),

Mr. D was more than ready for the final 1.2

(500 kids ran this last leg to complete

the Princeton Kids' Marathon)...

... finishing felt great!

Our next mission was to provide water

to the runners of the 10K that followed

immediately after the kids' race...

they ran right up our street

and they needed our help!

(A special thanks to our friends

who came out to help,

and to the adult runners

who took water and poured it on their heads,

much to the delight of our crew.)

rainwater streams
each with a crouching boy
building dams

(Cross-posted at Four Seasons Haiku: Spring)