TheSwirl.org

On Friday night we took Erin & Andy fishing at the pond.  Eric caught 3 large mouth bass, Erin caught 3 large mouth bass and a 20 inch catfish and Andy got skunked.  Andy had a large fish on, but his line broke and he lost his whopper.

After fishing we were joined by Skip, Bonnie & Cindy for a cookout in the woods.   Below Bonnie loads up the wagon with soaking sweet corn.  Erin, Eric and Andy wonder how much water will slop out and Cindy brings more stuff.

We grilled hamburgers, salmonburgers, hot dogs and corn. Skip, Andy and Eric await the final grilling.

We sat around the fire and had a nice chat.  Ron & Jody joined us around 9:30pm.  Afterwards, Skip shot off bottle rockets for our grand finale.

Saturday morning Skip & I went in the Woodsman’s Field Days Canoe Race 3.2 miles upstream on the Black River Feeder Canal.

We were beaten in the C2 class by Paul Olney and his daughter Joanne and
Joe Siegel / Mark Olney.  Paul Olney set the ADK 90 Miler record in 2004 when Skip & I paddled the race.

Saturday night Kathryn and I went to Matthew Tryon’s wedding.  It was a nice ceremony.  Matt was joined by several members of his Civil War renactment troop, that added to the atmosphere.

Sunday Eric & I went in the BHA Hunter Show leadline classes.  Eric got a 2nd in the Equitation Class, out of 6 participants!  I credit Eric’s good posture, my draped lead line which enabled Eric to ’steer’ and the mare Onyx with all contributing to Eric’s win.  In the Leadline Suitability class, I believe the horse is judged as being ’suitable’.  Eric got 4th as the class order was nearly reversed as I believe the judge was just trying to even things out.  All the horses in the suitability class were quiet and well behaved.  Eric got a red ribbon and sticker book in the 1st class and a carrot and chocolate bar in the 2nd class.  Below Onyx enjoys her carrot, models the ribbons, and Eric is a happy boy.

Eric has been attending the Barneveld Park Program this summer - an informal program 9am-1pm each week day.  It has provided a forum for games of capture the flag and 4 square and some crafts.  Eric started off the year playing lots and lots of 4 square, but I think either the older kids have taken over more as the summer went on or the shine wore off the game for him.  Eric made a nice tie-dyed T-shirt for himself.

This is the last week of the park program and they are going out with a bang.  On Tuesday 30 kids and parents boarded a bus for the Old Forge Water Safari.  Eric was on the go from 10am-3pm doing the rides.

Thursday they get a visit from the Zoo-Mobile and have an ice cream party.  Friday is a pizza party and water balloon toss.  A great program!

We promised to take Eric to see the fireworks at Floyd Field Days.  It rained steadily all Sunday afternoon so there was some doubt the fireworks would be held.  We met Jennifer at the Field Days at 8:30 and found that  none of the rides were working due to electrical problems due to the rain.  So we ate junk food.  Eric played a couple of games and we hung out until 10pm when the fireworks went off.  It was a nice 40 minute show.

I tried to capture some of the fireworks with my digital camera, but it was difficult given the lag time in my Canon Powershot camera.  Kathryn would announce when a flare was going high, and I would try to capture it. Some of them worked out OK.

Sunday we went to BHA Hunter Show and Eric went in Lead line Equitation and Lead line Suitability versus his buddy Trevor, and two 2 year old girls: Trevor’s sister Maggie and Andrea’s Julia.

Rachael holds the horse and Eric keeps a hand on Maggie. Everyone was happy that Maggie stayed awake this time.  In a show a month earlier Maggie fell asleep in the warm sunshine as she was being led into the class despite Rachael and Eric’s best attempts to keep her awake.

Below our neighbor Andrea holds 30 year old Katie, who holds two year old Julia.  Julia was ready to rock & roll- she kept telling Andrea ‘RIDE’ while waiting for the class.  The judge asked Julia what her number was (a three digit exhibitor number pinned to her back) and Julia patted the mare and said ‘KATIE’.  In the Lead Line Suitability class (where the horse was judged), the 30 year old Katie took 1st place.  Good for her.

Below Eric shows a smile (and missing teeth) during one of the laps around the ring on Onyx.

Eric got a 2nd prize in equitation - a red ribbon and a coloring/sticker book.

It starting raining as we finished our classes.  We posed quickly for the picture below and then beat feet. They ended up canceling the rest of the Hunter Show.

Trevor, Cole, Jenny or Joanna, Coach Cory, Joanna or Jenny, Patrick and Eric