Giant Watermelons

My Mom planted these watermelons in her garden this year. I don't think that she meant to get the goliath-like seeds. By the way, for comparison sake, those are Jason's dress shoes in the above picture. This thing was heavy!

Inspite of it's weird appearance, it actually tasted pretty sweet. It was a little stringy though.

Slithering Surprise

On our way to the car, this little fellow greeted us on our sidewalk. Jason and Colin were petting him. The snake tried to look threatening, but it didn't work!

Surprises found on my camera...

I'm not sure what to make of this.

Or this...

Or..ahem..this.Whoa.

This one reminds me of the munchkins' hair from The Wizard of Oz.

This reminds me of the terrible decade of big, frizzed-out hair. Scary.

Animal Activists, Beware!

If you don't like to talk about the death of an animal, now would be a great time to go visit another blog. Better yet, go to the zoo. They specialize in living animals.

On the Maynard Estate, groundhogs are not welcome. They are breeding and digging holes near our house foundation. They cause havoc in the barns and eat my kale. They must be stopped-one by one.

My Dad loaned us a trap. We put it next to Groundhog Headquarters (the middle of the hay field). We put kale and celery in it as the bait. For weeks we sat with bated breath as the groundhogs would stand on top of the trap, mocking us. Yet, they would not enter.

We could have used a gun, but they are so loud. We could have used a bow and arrow, but Robin Hood was all booked-up. Instead, we put the trap near our house and went on vacation. It seemed the only thing left to do.

We returned home to this.

My dear little trapped victim. I hope you have enjoyed your life and accomplished all your goals. I hope you have left a groundhoggish legacy to your chubby offspring. This day is your appointed time to give account for all your deeds.

I won't go into any more details. Suffice it to say that he met a watery end and now fertilizes the woods next door.

What is the moral of the story? A watched pot never boils.

The Vacation Dance

Colin was just a little excited about the fact that we were on vacation.

The Last Leg

The last "leg" of our trip home was a two-day stop at Niagra Falls. We were there on a Sunday, so we attended Dr. and Mrs. Buria's church and they took us to lunch. It was a lot of fun catching up and seeing how they are involved in that ministry.

Victoria was very cute in her poncho. People were taking pictures of her.

The Maid of the Mist boat tour is always something we enjoy, though the "mist" part is quite an understatement!

The last time we went I had a bit of an issue. I am afraid of having my head under water (long story). The mist is so thick that it simulates being under water to me; I panicked and throttled the foreign gentleman who had the misfortune to be standing next to me. Fortunately, this year all the tourists had a safe boat ride.

The Hershey store! Colin was very excited to be in a store filled with that much chocolate!

Sorry for the wardrobe issues! Victoria got so wet on the boat, we didn't want her to be chilled. We bought a tee-shirt in Colin's size and it became a "dress".