JJ on the Up and Up

That grandboy is becoming a grand climber. Maybe Everest in his his future (perish the thought). He's certainly done some unique climbs lately.

Now, this one ↓ isn't too unique, but he was just getting warmed up.

However, I certainly didn't expect to find him on top the shaft of this old mill wheel. ↓

Yes, JJ: you can just about fly.

But really: I said you could get a drink, not get in the drink. ↓

Since we are on a JJ theme, here are two more pics taken that day: our last summer babysitting day with the kids. They played in the Indian River at the Mill of Kintail for quite a long time.

Back to School Portraits

The kids will be heading back to school later this morning. Although I will take pictures, we had a more dedicated photoshoot last week. We went to the park and took our time — at least a little bit — to set up a few shots.

Given the nature of the occasion, it seemed appropriate to use books as props for at least some of the shots.

Then followed the Togetherness theme shots.

And, of course, it was vital to shoot a few solitary portraits.

They were pretty cooperative and fine subjects.

Things We Did Last Week 2

I am skipping some thing such as my birthday, but I will mention our last day, which included a picnic and exploration at Blakeney Rapids, followed by some water play at the Mill of Kintail.

First up: three views of the [Ontario] Mississippi River at the rapids. Kind of nice, eh?

Sue commandeered a lot of kid pics for her blog, and I try not to duplicate too much, but here are a few from Blakeney.

At the Mill, the kids played on the new equipment for a little while and played and hunted (unsuccessfully) for crayfish in the river for quite a long while.

Too much for one post, I know, but it's time to move on because it's Back to School tomorrow, and we must acknowledge that event. :)

Things We Did Last Week 1

We were on kid duty on the final week of summer, as defined by the last week before school. It was a hot week, but we managed to do a few things.

It was time for all all to return some books, pick up new ones, and do a little reading while there.

I said it was hot, so we did manage to get to the pool twice. It would have been nice to take them to the beach once, but it has been under caution for much of the summer. There are a lot of cottages upstream and reports are that their discharge isn't always up to snuff.

We hadn't been to Wheelers Maple Sugar Camp for a whole year, and since it was my birthday, I requested that we go on Wednesday. It's a nice drive; the pancakes are good, and there are things to see and do.

Danica had some scary fun on the zip line

JJ explored and Buppa took pictures

Danica also took pictures. Many pictures.

I think I am running out of pictures to take at Wheelers, but I don't think I had ever gotten this one before.

This guy was cutting metal outside of the old blacksmith shop, which seemed like a good juxtaposition to me. When I saw the sparks flying from some distance I moved closer and asked for another shot, which he kindly set it up for me.  The sparks do show up better in a better quality, less compressed version of the image, but I strive to keep upload size to a minimum on Blogger.

I will return with part 2 at some tomorrow or the next day. Meanwhile, we're in the midst of another heat wave, so we'll pretty much stay cooped up in the AC (AC in the AC as it were) and watch tennis for the next few days — The US Open.

Along the River Walk

Phew! I don't know what it is, but this final summer week with the kids has sure been tiring. I don't even know anymore whether I have been more or less keeping up with your posts or not. We are coming home whacked, but it's almost over. Not that we haven't had some good times with the little ones.

But these photos are my last bunch (I think) left from from last week.

I haven't done too well on morning walks this summer, but I did get out a bit one day. I didn't keep many photos from that excursion, but here are a few.

I saw a young deer across the river. When we first moved here ten years ago, I would sometimes see them on this side, but those days are pretty well gone, so this was a treat. When I say those days are pretty well gone, strangely enough, we did see one in town in the evening a few weeks ago.

When I walk around mid morning, I frequently encounter this fellow and his pack. He is kind of a dog trainer and minder, and his pack changes from time to time as some graduate and others join for his calming influence. The pooches are always well behaved in his care.

I believe this is a heliopsis (false sunflower) or perhaps a rudbeckia although I lean toward the former. I should have had my aperture open more to get a smoother background, but I tend to be forgetful and likely though it was set up correctly. In any case, I think this works well enough.

Before and After Breakfast

Sue and I seem to find ourselves at Dionysos for breakfast about once a month. Since we only breakfast out about once per month, Dionysos is quite obviously our GoTo place.

We park in the municipal lot behind the restaurant and other establishments and walk around the Moore House to Bridge Street. The Moore House is one of the oldest and original local buildings and was moved here a number of years ago. Over time, it has become a combination tourist centre, information centre, and museum.

Perhaps we have been unobservant, but for the first time we noticed flowers and deck chairs out back. So, it was picture time.

We grabbed this photo from the front when we went by.

After breakfast, we poked our noses inside the door looking for a tourist pamphlet or two. I took this photo of Roy Brown, the pilot credited with shooting down the infamous Red Baron, Manfred von Richter, whose photo is in the case to the left.

Outside again, this open window amused us. It just seemed to be an interesting juxtaposition that a place advertising heating and cooling comfort would use windows for climate control. Mind oyu, I approve.

I took one more photo of The Man Cave barber shot before we turned our way home.

Sunrise

I got up very early one morning last week and headed to the park around the corner to see if I might get a few sunrise shots. It wasn't the best outing, but I'll share a few photos.

I was heading to the river, but the first shots that I took were of the pond. The river is just beyond the trees on the other side of the pond.

As it turned out, my photos of the river were quite disappointing. I attempted this long exposure, 4 shot pano, but it was very so-so.

I should have waited longer by the river because when I got back near my car, I saw a much prettier sunrise — over the pond once again. This was 18 minutes after the first shot above: quite a difference.

One more shot before I called it a morning. Gotta love the sun's reflections. If you can make out the little bridge in the background, it is just beyond that that I was attempting my river shots. Unsuccessfully. But I like this one.