Thomas the Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine came to Lake George this year...and so did we! Together with Tristan's friend Cary (and both families), we all treked to upstate New York for a ride on the famously Useful Engine.



Tristan was concerned that the whistle would blow at any moment and remained cautious throughout the trip:



Otherwise, Tristan was literally glued to the window...


After the ride, Tristan, William, Cary and the crew enjoyed some other amusements, including a bouncy castle...and Thomas related shopping. With lunch conlcuded, we stopped back at the train station to see there phenomincal model train recreation of the local area. Again, Tristan was glued to the window...



Cary's mom provided the weekend accomodations, thanks to a generous relative with a log cabin in the area. It was cozy with 5 adults and 4 kids...and one bathroom...but the kids had a blast trying our the new "bridge expansion set" from their Day with Thomas adventure.

Painting with Pop-pop

Tristan thought is would be a good idea if he helped his grandfather paint the garage door. Initially, Pop-pop thought this was a good idea as well...







The door looks as good as new, so apparently, the teamwork paid off. Thanks Tristan and Pop-pop!

Pond Redux

There have been a lot of projects around Stately Payne Manor recently. First, the winter freeze cycles destroyed our front steps and they were repaired by a quite impressive stone mason. Then the gutters needed to be replaced. This week, work continued on the back deck, replacing the rotted surface. And we had the pond repaired. Quite a bit of activity!



The pond needed help. Over the winter, many of the stones that defined the perimiter of the pond decided they would prefer to be in the pond. Additionally, a persistent leak in the ponds liner needed to be fixed. And finally, some of the plants surrounding the pond had given up the ghost.

While we were at it, we added a waterfall and stream to the pond, at the same time upgrading the filtering system. There are even lights!

At least one frog has come back to enjoy the pond (he has set up house inside the new skimmer). Hopefully more will decide to make this their home. Tristan would be quite happy to hear that. And you can actually see the fish now. Yes, there are actually fish in our Koi pond. We weren't quite sure about that until the water cleared up.

Mother's Day

M is for the million things she gave you...

We celebrated Mother Day this year with dinner at home. Steak, baked potatos and corn on the cob were the main course (actually, that sounds like a Father's Day meal).



William apparently enjoyed himself...Hopefully, the moms did as well.

Mini-Mowers

No, we have not embraced child labor, Tristan and William are trying out their bubble mowers on one of the first warm days of the summer (94 degrees!)



The shirtless look started with William being too warm in the outfit Tom picked out this morning and then he got his onesie dirty. Then Tristan had to copy his baby brother.

Fishin'

While Jennifer was out of town, Tom took the boys up to Macedonia State Park to go fishing with Tristan's friend Rory. Rory's dad, Andrew, has supplied the equipment in the past, but this time Tom brought his own nets ($1 butterfly nets from Target).

William figures out the net thingie



Tom and Huck?





Tom is also thinking of become a portrait artist:

Family Tree

Tom's latest obsession is the family tree. His sister, Deborah, started this a long while ago with the goal of seeing how far back the family went. Tom's simply want to understand how his boys are related to Jennifer's sprawling branch of relatives. Check out the tree at http://paynebancroft.myheritage.com.