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Flowers

Bear Mountain Backpacking

Alix had never been camping; I had never planned a trip all on my own. 

The first day was absolutely lovely and I found a sweet Leatherman multi-tool in the woods. The final ascent to camp was tough. I remembered it being tough, but we had the same "are-we-there-yet-I-may-die-out-of-spite" feeling. Getting to camp was a relief and we had a very relaxing evening, until I realized that I had unknowingly emptied almost 3 liters of water out of my Camelback and into my sleeping bag. And this was BEFORE it started raining. Luckily, Alix's ingenuity and our rain jackets provided me with a slightly less uncomfortable sleeping situation. We gorged ourselves on pita pocket pizzas and Reeses (Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. D!). As the sun set, we watched the clouds roll in, obscuring the view of the Hudson and the neighboring mountains.

Around 3 in the morning, it started to rain. Not a big deal. Rain is nice, and in 12 hours we would be back to indoor plumbing. We were definitely not at risk for trench foot. At 7, however, I heard thunder. Very aware of the fact that I was on top of a mountain surrounded by a cage of metal-ish poles, I rolled over, tapped Alix on the shoulder to wake her, and said, "Hey. We gotta go."

And go we did. We high tailed it out of there in pouring rain and the casual reminder of thunder. After the storm passed, and we meandered through the valley on our abridged hike out, we had a really nice time.

It probably sounds like a terrible trip. It absolutely wasn't. I was not unhappy at any point, and, more importantly, Alix says she'd do it again. Awesome.

I used to live here

From first to fourth grade, I lived here. 

Notice the beautiful carved details on the door.

We had swings on both trees.

Too many rings to count.

Before we went camping for the first time, we tested our sleeping bags on the screened-in porch.

Through the broken lattice-like window, the stairs.

My room was the two windows on the right. You can see the shelves in the closet in the right window.
TJ and I shared this room until Grampa built a room in the attic just for me.

I remember watching Princess Diana's funeral in the living room with my Mom while she took care of my newborn brother. This was also where I last saw my favorite stuffed animal and where I laughed so hard Yoohoo came out of my nose.

We covered the old well with the top piece of a patio table.

The driveway is overgrown now.

This tree was great for climbing.

This corner used to have a downed tree and a blackberry bush we turned into a fort.

We dug a 4 foot deep hole just past the tree in the center.

The window at the very top was my room in the attic. I could see the train tracks from there.

I'm sure no one who drives past this condemned house realizes how great it was to live there.

Trampoline! Video!

My family got a trampoline for Christmas. Then it snowed and we didn't see the ground for about 3 months.

On Easter, however, we had the whole family together and this is what we did:



While you're at it, check out the rest of my brother's videos on Adventures for Awesome.

Homemade Chai Syrup

Update: If you're looking for more recipes, check out my other blog, Feeding My Love. Also, check out my more recent posts here on Chocolate and Bacon. I write about travel, crafts, education, history, books, and more!

Very tasty! I eyeballed the ingredients. Also, it doesn't get syrupy, exactly. More like a little thicker.

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