Hannah Rides, Play Basketball with Dad

Hannah has worked this summer at a stable in Granby, Connecticut. Each summer the stable holds a day camp for little children. They ride, learn about horses and generally have a good time. Hannah helps with the horses and looks after the kids.

In return, her riding time is complimentary. Saturday mornings have become the default riding time. Driven to the stables by Mom, Hannah will spend several hours riding. Here's a photo of Hannah jumping. A rumor exists that Susan also did some riding, but there are no photos that exist of this. An inside source tells me that she also jumped. Next week's mission: get photos of Susan jumping.

I'm throwing in this photo of the daddy daughter basketball game. Hannah is celebrating a basket that she made from the top of the key. I've just gotten the rebound.

Hannah & Christina

In March of this year, Hannah's good friend Christina moved back to her home near Manchester Center, Vermont. While she had only lived in Simsbury for about nine months, Hannah and she became fast friends.

Early in June Hannah made the trip to Vermont (about a 3 hour drive) to see Christina's graduation and spend some quality time with her BFF. Dropping her off, and being a complete geek, I realized that there was a historical landmark on their property. Situated right next to her house was an 18th century blast furnace used in the revolutionary war era. It's worth mentioning that her home is right near the Bennington battlefield site, where Hessian soldiers were defeated soundly during the war.

I digress. After the graduation ceremony, Hannah and Christina returned to Simsbury for two full weeks of fun. The two of them palled around and generally had a good old time seeing old friends and attending end-of-the-year parties.

All photo credits go to Susan, who made multiple trips to Vermont.

Erick Graduates High School

Fighting through high temperatures and near 100% humidity, Erick walked across the stage on Saturday morning (June 26th) to receive his high school diploma. Like just about everything else that he does, he took it in stride.

Needless to say, we're proud of him. Nights spent rocking him on my knee seem as if they happened yesterday. A colicky baby, Erick seldom went to sleep easily or on time. Coaching him in little league, camping together, or playing at the cottage in Michigan are some of my favorite memories. I distinctly remember him and me throwing his cousin, Simon Jillson, high in the air and letting him splash through an inner-tube into Lake Michigan (not to worry, Simon loved it.)

Writing about how time passes in the blink of eye is truly cliche. When you're in the midst of it, it's hard to focus on the forest and not the trees in front you. Time does pass. Kids go to elementary school, then to middle school, and finally to high school. We look back and wonder where the time has gone. Love and memories are all that is left. Congratulations, Erick.

Erick is bound for Tunxis Community College in the fall; he wants to become a police officer.

On hand for the festivities were my parents, Larry and Virginia Boulden; Susan's mother, Marisue Besse; Evangeline Plattner, Erick's girlfriend, and Erick's friends Derrick Magnon and Bill Williams. I've tried to include a representative smattering of pictures. Take a look.

All for now.

Penbrook State Forest

Went for a walk this afternoon in the Penbrook State Forest. The state protected area runs for more than six miles atop Talcott mountain. The trail itself was part of the Metacomet trail, named for Chief Metacomet who is said to have watched Simsbury burn from a cave on Talcott mountain during the Narragansett Bay War of the early 1600's.

The trail goes up and down over several ridges and the climbs are moderate to challenging. Check out this photo of the trail right before the summit. If you look closely, you can see a little blue mark on the big boulder denoting the path of the trail. I had to force myself to watch every step.

Once you've put in all that work, it's only a short distance up an incline (of course) to the summit. From there one can clearly see the steeple of the United Church of Christ in Simsbury; downtown Simsbury and cemetery; West Simsbury; and the Barndoor Hills. Taking the pictures was a bit of challenge after the long hike, but the view was fantastic. Looking to the left, one can see across two ridges to the Heublin Tower, built in the 1920's. What a house.

Okay, I'm almost done with the photos. On the way to the summit, I stumbled upon Lake Louise and snapped the photo of the frog that you see here. Little guy was about two feet away just mac'n out on the Lilly Pad.


Finally, someone or several someones had gone to a number of different points in the park and created these funky rock statues. They looked kinda cool, so I took some photos. Is there any significance to them, or were they just done on a lark.

To see a large view of any of the photos in this blog, just click the photo and it will open up in separate window or tab.

Walking in Connecticut - Inter District Ballroom Competition

While browsing around the library for something diverting to read, I came across a binder called the Connecticut Walk Book. For some reason I picked it up and started flipping through the pages.

Inside the book are trail details for some great hikes throughout the state. They range from the duck pond down the street to the 26 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail that passes through the Western part of the state on its way to Maine.

Yesterday (I know - Mother's Day) Susan and I picked a trail out that starts near Barn Door Hill road in Simsbury and continues into Granby's McClean Game Refuge. The walk was awesome - we were just about the only people for miles.

I've posted a couple of photos of really cool things we saw. The first was a turn of the 20th century manure spreader; at least that is what my sources report. A small secluded pond was the second. I wouldn't have taken too much prodding for me to have stayed.

Inter District Ballroom Competition

Hannah's Simsbury team stole the show, beating out other Connecticut High Schools, at a regional ballroom competition. Standing out from the crowd, Hannah was awarded a number of ribbons.

She's enthused about dancing and does it well. Someone, and I'm not sure who, took a ton of really cool photos. I've picked out a few that I enjoy. To see more, please visit Susan's Facebook page, or contact Susan directly via e-mail.

That's all for now. Back in touch soon.

Erick's birthday, Holy Cross Ballroom, Marisue Surgery

Good evening everyone... All two of you.  Really, you know who you are. 

I've got a few interesting things I thought were blog worthy.  First, Erick turned eighteen earlier this week.  It's hard to imagine that he's actually eighteen years old now.  I remember carrying that kid around, changing his diaper, playing catch with him, and picking apples (the day he ate more at the orchard than we bought.)  Seems like it was just yesterday.

Hannah has focused in on ballroom dancing and is just kicking butt.  Two weeks ago, she got up at 03:30 am to catch the 

school bus for the Holy Cross Ballroom Competition in Worcester, Mass.  That's pronounced Wooster, for those of you not in New England.  The kids competed all day long.  I think we finally started driving home around 08:30 pm.

Without doubt, she drank the largest cup of coffee in the world before leaving.  The car bounced and vibrated down the street on the way to the school.  Wait, I'm getting off subject.  The real point is that this competition was for college students, but Hannah and her partner walked out of there with first place ribbons in Jive and Swing.    I should probably also mention that she looked beautiful.  That's Hannah there on the left.  Her friend Amber is on the right.

Susan spent two weeks in Cleveland with her mom earlier this month.  Contrary to public opinion, it was not my cooking that drove her out of the house.  Her mother has struggled with severe back pain for several years.  In late February, she had a spinal cage installed.  Susan and Carolyn hung out with her, took care of the house and helped her get back on her feet.  As of this posting, she's starting to get back out and into her routine.  We certainly wish her the best.

That's all for now.  Post again in a month or so.

January Happenings

Hello all:

It takes some time to get into the habit of blogging.   Posting our Christmas letter as a blog seemed a natural decision.  It required no printing, no paper, no postage and allowed us to embed photos. Environmentally friendly and much quicker. The impetus, and content, for additional postings has not been as strong. Having said that, I think it is better to post some news - no matter how small - than leave our Christmas letter up until July.

Last weekend, Susan and I discovered that our bank was holding a local photography competition for their 2010 calendar.  An amateur photographer par excellence, Susan decided to submit a few photos. Take a look at a few of my favorites below. If any are selected for the calendar, we'll do our best to get them out to those that want them.

---

Cool Shot of Frozen Berries

---

Cold Bird

---

Other Happenings
As you can see from the photos, January has been a cold month. I generally don't pay attention to the weather reports, track precipitation, or look at average temperatures. The heating oil method is much more accurate. Typically, we fill our tank once in December, January, and February. March is the final fill up and usually lasts until October or November. This year, we've filled up once after Thanksgiving, two days after Christmas, and again on January 15Th. At this rate, we might need to top it off again before then end of the month. Falling oil prices make this hurt a little less. Had they remained north of $4.00 per gallon, as they were this summer, we'd have really been stuck.

In other happenings, Gavin has gone back to school. Hannah has started tumbling classes to prepare for cheer leading in the fall. As I type this, Erick sits next to me and studies for his mid term exams.

I hope all is well with you and yours.   Hope to talk with you all soon.