Little Annie Oakley

I finally was able to get a weekend off from work recently and spent Sunday as a Daddy/Daughter day.Since my vacation earlier this year I haven't had much time to enjoy myself and hang out with the family, work has been very busy - which is a blessing (I am extremely thankful for my job - I just grow weary of the 80 hour work weeks).  I received an invitation to sign Ariel up for a Junior Hunting Day Pheasant Hunt last month and after discussing it with her and we decided to attend.

I use to enjoy bird hunting but now that I no longer have a hunting dog I have focused on bigger game and waterfowl so I was excited to have the chance to introduce Ariel to a form of hunting she had never seen. Ariel and I made a couple trips to the range to practice her wing shooting skills and when the day of her hunt came I felt pretty confident she would feel comfortable with the gun and enjoy her time in the field.

We woke up early on the day of her hunt and went out to breakfast together. I am always amazed at how chipper she can be when she is getting up at the crack of dawn to go hunting or fishing but is generally miserable when she gets up for school! We enjoyed the 90 minute drive across state during which we talked about what to expect, listened to music, beat each others arms up with VW "punch buggies" and generally basked in each others company.

When we arrived we signed in and a safety inspection was performed on her firearm, then she was tested on what she learned in her hunters safety course earlier this year. Once the safety orientation was completed the sent us out to the trap range so they could verify she knew proper gun handling and safe operation of her firearm. Ariel has been around firearms since she was very little and knows the importance of safety first and practices it at all times - she made me proud and her diligence towards safety was notices by the instructors at the event also which I learned later in the day.

We were finally heading out to the field where we would meet the instructors, dogs and handlers she would be working with. We arrived at the check point out in the field and another safety lesson was given as well as instructions about hunting with a dog. There were several types of dogs which were being rotated between groups, a German short haired pointer, several labs and a English springer spaniel. Ariel was paired up with a young boy named Greg and as they headed out you could tell they both had butterflies in their tummies as they were excited, nervous and full of anticipation!

The first bird that went up was a big cock pheasant, he launched himself into the air and headed right towards the group of people standing at the field check point. Ariel had her gun at the ready but was aware of her surroundings and stopped herself from swinging which made me proud and was a great relief to the instructors (there was an instructor behind her who would have stopped her gun from following through if needed but there was never a need to intervene.) After an adventure with the other shooter (for another time I don't really want to post it here) Ariel was up as the primary shooter again. Her bird exploded into the air and as it took to flight the sound of her gun echoed through the field as the bird came crashing back down to earth! Ariel had just successfully shot her first pheasant. It was a hen pheasant which might not have all the shiny colored feathers but are beautiful in their own special ways. Everyone congratulated her as she held her bird and admired its feathers. After several minutes we moved on to the next field and another large rooster was flushed, the primary shooter missed and Ariel followed up with her shot but the bird continued on flying all the way to the wood line to roam free another day!

The sun was high in the sky at this point and before departing the field area the instructors told me to go back to the check in area we were finished eating. When we arrived at the club house area there was an instructor who was taking the birds and cleaning them for the kids while teaching them how to do it for themselves -  Ariel watched and listened as he dressed out her bird despite the fact she has seen it done time and time again with chickens, ducks, geese and an occasional turkey. Once her bird was finished they wrapped it up and we put it in the cooler I had in my truck with some ice to keep it cool. We washed up and enjoyed a nice BBQ style lunch that the sportsmen club provided for us. After we finished eating we enjoyed conversation with several of the other families that were there then we headed over the the check in station as we were instructed by the field guide. Much to our surprise they were waiting for us because they wanted Ariel to go back out and fill her second tag. The instructors and dog handlers were so impressed/comfortable with the way Ariel conducted herself they wanted to give her another chance to fill her 2 bird limit!

As we walked back to the truck I was full of emotions, I remember my first hunting trip as a licensed hunter with my dad and know that the memories made today will be cherished by Ariel for years to come. There was also a lot of pride, pride in the fact that my daughter was kind to those around her, safe and conscious of her surroundings at all times, an excellent shot and just proud to be her loving father! 

We cleaned her second bird and made our rounds thanking everyone who made the day possible for her and headed home. Once we were in the truck we discussed the days events, the lessons learned and thanked God for the day spent together and the yummy pheasant dinner that was now in our very near future!

The sound of Silence

This past week has been very quiet around the home-front while the kids are away at summer camp. Ariel went to New England Keswick this year with her best friend Taylor while Alex chose to go back to Pine Brook with his cousin Noah. Rebecca and I have been enjoying the quiet time spent together and thankfully my schedule has allowed us to actually see each other this week which made the week that much better. I have to admit I miss having my kids around and not just because they help with taking care of all our animals but I'm grateful that they choose to go to camp every year. We forgot to bring a camera with us when we dropped them off but I did manage to get a couple pictures of Alex with my blackberry before leaving.

Boy's Night Out

Thanks to my crazy schedule I have been lazy with finishing my posts and putting them up here on the blog. Today I am getting my company vehicle serviced so I decided to take a little time and share my night out fishing with the Boys last weekend.

I took a vacation day so I could enjoy some time relaxing over the holiday weekend and on Friday afternoon I drove down to the shore and went on a charter fishing trip with a couple of my cousins and a family friend.

The weather was beautiful which made for calm seas, a spectacular sunset and an overall great night on the water. As it was the 4th of July weekend we also had the enjoyment of watching over a half dozen different fireworks displays along the CT and Long Island shorelines. The fishing wasn't as good as it had been on previous fishing trips but I still enjoyed spending time with everyone. The crew of the charter boat were a pleasure to be with and they made our trip that much more enjoyable - I think a family trip with the kids next year is definitely in our future.

The Pitter Patter of Little Feet...

Or should I say the "Lack Of the Pitter Patter of Little Feet!" In no way are we expecting - that would take a miracle! The kids have been on vacation in sunny Arizona with my brother Stephen and his family the past 2 weeks. This has made the home front very quiet with the exception of the regular crowing of the roosters of course.
I have still been dealing with back pain but I am feeling much better and have been busy with work as well as lots of chores around the house. I also have several posts that I started with some of our vacation adventures that I hope to finish and share with everyone in the near future.
Till then I am keeping myself busy with Ariel's chores caring for the chickens. I have a broody hen that I am going to try to let hatch out some of our eggs and see what kind of strange mutant mixes we end up with.
The kids have been enjoying themselves and will have some great memories of the time spent with their Aunt, Uncle and cousins. I am very grateful that my brother "adopted' the kids for the past 2 weeks and especially for the opportunity for them all to get to know each other better.
Hopefully I will find some time to finish a post or two before they come home and I look forward to posting some of the pictures from their many adventures as well.

An Extraordinary Life - All things Abe

An Extraordinary Life

That was the banner above the photos of Abraham Lincoln.

One of the things Alex was most excited about on our vacation was the chance to visit the Lincoln Memorial. Alex has been infatuated with the 16'th President of The United States since he first learned about him several years ago. The Smithsonian Museum of American History had a lot of information and displays that were about Abraham Lincoln which kept us all intrigued for the first day of our museum tours.I think what intrigued me the most was the "life masks" that they had of him. There was one that was cast during the first year of his presidency and then one that was cast less than two months before his assassination. It was sobering to see how much his presidency visually wore on him and aged his body. I realize that society has changed a lot since the 1800's but I think that our current Government officials could stand to take a day off to spend some time at the Smithsonian Museum which is within walking distance from their offices and get a refresher on American History and learn what it takes to be a true "Man of the People."

After seeing how much his physical appearance changed over his Presidency and all the trials and tribulations he faced throughout his lifetime not to mention the stress his family faced with laying his body to rest (it took 36 years which is longer than I have been alive) is the reason I decided to use the song "I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)" in the slide show.

Weekend with Miles the Monster - Let's Go Racin!

Here is a slide show of pictures from our weekend at the races in Dover Delaware. It was a combination of NASCAR Truck Series and Nationwide Series Races as well as qualifying and Practice sessions from the Cup Series. We had great seats and our favorite drivers - Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick had their pit stalls right in front of our seats so we were able to catch all the action of their pit crews during the race! Kyle won the Pole Position for both of the races we attended and ended up wining the Cup race on Sunday as well! The kids really enjoyed the Hospitality Package that we purchased with our tickets. It's called "Take a Kid to the Races" and included games, rides, give aways, food and lots of other fun activities.

Below is a video of Kyle Bush's Victory Burnout after he won the NASCAR Nationwide Series Race on Saturday!

I think we will be making a yearly trip to Dover for our NASCAR fix - the racing was great, we were able to see the entire track from our seats, the people at the track were great and we were able to exit the track in less than 20 minutes rather than the normal hour of grid lock!

Blackberry Delight

No this post is not about a delicious dessert but as I am typing about tonight's events it makes me as happy as harvesting the first handful of summertime treats. I am laying here in bed in pain but still smiling after hanging up the phone from a conversation with a complete stranger. This stranger was named Mrs. Michele Simms and she was a blessing to talk to.

Why would I talk to a stranger you may ask, well it all stems from when my blackberry went missing while I was on a crowded metro train last week in Washington D.C.
I assumed it would never be seen again. Immediately after realizing it was gone I used Rebecca's cell phone to call AT&T's customer service and have the line suspended.

Normally losing my cell phone wouldn't have bothered me but the hard drive on my laptop recently died and I hadn't taken the time to transfer all my contacts from my blackberry to my new hard drive so with the loss of my phone I also lost 5 years worth of contacts and information.

After returning home from our trip I have been either in bed or at the Dr's due to my back injury. I was very surprised when I checked the voice mail for my home business line and found a message from AT&T with the phone # of a woman named Michele who needed to talk to me because she had something that belonged to me.

You guessed it she found my Blackberry and wanted to return it to me! I had been praying that it wasn't stolen and that I had just lost it and hopefully would some how recover it but I admit my prayers weren't said with much faith that they would be answered. So my first response was to ask God for forgiveness in doubting His caring about the little things in my life after that I called and left my contact information with Mrs. Simms! After missing each others calls I decided to give her one more call tonight and this time we connected. I am very grateful for her act of kindness and really wished there was something I could do in exchange for her kindness. We ended up talking for a few minutes and she told me how she had come across my phone and saw the picture of the kids on the display. We had a nice conversation and after I told her about the blessings in my life she agreed and exclaimed "God is good!" We continued our conversation for a few more moments and despite never meeting her in person I can honestly say that this woman loved God and that she made an effort to live her life in a manner that others would see this.
The past several months I have been conscious of my actions and have been trying to be kinder to those around me and live a life more becoming of Him, while this has not always been an easy task I can take comfort in and learn from the kindness of others. It may just be a small electronic device that brought us together but the lesson learned was so much more! Thank you Mrs. Simms and I look forward to meeting you some day and hope you are blessed for your kindness and selflessness.

This is a picture of the Rainbow that we saw the evening I lost my phone while driving from the Nations Capitol back to our hotel in Virgina it just seemed fitting to include it into today's post.

Racing and Hospitals and Chiropractors - Oh My!

We arrived home at about 02:00 this morning from our fun filled family vacation. We were able to stop into the 2nd location of the air and space museum on Friday morning while in route to Dover. The museum is located at Dulles Airport and was featured in the 2nd Transformers Movie. The kids were very surprised when they entered the hangar and as we walked around I was amazed and found a few surprises of my own. Friday and Saturday we had a great time and really enjoyed watching the kids as they experienced their first Nascar races at the Monster Mile!
We were extremely thankful for the great weather we had all week and the ability to travel without any issues. I went to bed last this morning and was feeling a little sore and my lower back was bothering me - when I woke up later in the morning I was in a lot more pain but decided to take it easy and stayed in bed. After about an hour I was in so much pain I could no longer hold back the tears and decided it was time for a trip to the hospital. Rebecca took me to the hospital. I was released from the hospital and the only thing that was different was I had been given pain medication to help with the discomfort. Rebecca called our Chiropractor - Dr. Curry at his house and he met us at his office and was able to adjust my spine and pelvis which provided some relief and helped me walk without assistance. So now I am home in bed and despite being given a doctors note to stay out of work this week I am going to try to get some sleep and see if I am able to perform my scheduled jobs tomorrow. I know my evenings will be spent relaxing until I am feeling better so I will begin posting some pictures of our vacation adventures throughout the week.

Vacation week leaves little time for Internet

I have taken lots of pictures this week of our adventures as have the kids. Thankfully we are enjoying every moment of our vacation and I have not had much time for the Internet - thus my lack of posts. Don't get me wrong I love sharing my adventures but I think I will take the time to post some of the photos when I return so I don't miss out on anything while we are still on vacation. The past several days have been spent enjoying all the different museums, yesterday we spent the entire day at the zoo and today we showed our gratitude by visiting Arlington National Cemetery. We also walked to several of the different monuments today. The only down side of the week was today on the Metro I had my Blackberry stolen (or it some how fell out of my holder unknowingly) I was using it for directions when we entered the tunnel for the Metro and shortly after arriving on the Mall I realized all I was left with was an empty leather case! Tonight we went and visited our friends Matt and Christa who live about 5 miles from the hotel we are staying at and enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal while relaxing with friends - Well Rebecca and I relaxed while Matt played tag games with the kids out in the tennis court. Tomorrow we are going to try to visit the Air Museum at Dulles airport and then we will be off to the NASCAR Truck race in Dover Delaware in the evening.

Road Trip

We decided to take a road trip this year for our family vacation and spend a couple days in our Nations Capitol - Washington D.C. We packed our bags yesterday and after a great night's sleep we took once last trip to the chiropractor and hit the road. The kids were excited not only to be going to D.C. but also about all the sights on the ride there. They were able to take in the Manhattan sky line for the first time this morning and get the reality of what I consider filthy city living! We took our time driving today and enjoyed the nice driving weather.

Once we arrived at our Hotel we drove into Old Town Alexandria and loaded our Metro smart cards for our daily commuting. I decided that rather than hang out in our room we would drive around and get to know the surrounding areas in the Capitol. The kids were amazed at the sites and sounds and enjoyed catching a glimpse of Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, Capitol Hill, The White House, as well as driving up and down both sides of the National Mall. I think the highlight of my night was when I drove past the Pentagon and Alex realized that it was a real place - not just something out of the movies! I look forward to the next couple days of getting to wander around the museums, memorials and not only entertain ourselves but get an education doing it. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and hopefully give everyone a couple of updates throughout the week.