Allegany State Park Camping - Part 2

Camping -Part 2

On Saturday Bob prepared us an excellent breakfast. We had eggs, bacon and homefries. Makayla had cereal of course, but the rest of us enjoyed a yummy meal.
After breakfast the 4 kids painted on nylon backpacks.
After lots of painting the bags were hung on the line to dry.
Some were very creative - others (Tanner) not so much! LOL

Allegany State Park Camping - Part 1

Bob & I with our children headed to Allegany State Park for a long weekend camping.
Bob, Rachel and Brandon left on Friday, August 15th around 10:30am. Tanner, Makayla, and I left on Friday around 2:45pm. This worked great for me - Bob had both tents set up and everything of his unloaded before we got there! :-)
We had two tents set up - One for all the kids to sleep together and a small tent for Bob & I to sleep in.
Soon after we arrived, Bob & I set up the screenhouse tent and unloaded my car and started to prepare dinner. Dinner was Hamburger, hotdogs, Pasta salad and salt potatoes.
After dinner we (Bob & I) sat and relaxed alittle while the kids rode their bikes.

This is a picture of our 'home away from home' for 5 days.

Rochester Crit

Bob & I had another busy weekend - It is summer you know! :-)

Friday night Bob cooked us dinner - Pizza made on the grill - WOW - They were awesome!
I've never had a grilled pizza before but now I can't wait to have another one!

Saturday night Bob took me to the Rochester Crit.
It's a road bike race in Rochester - downtown. Bob has been to the other Rochester Crit's but I hadn't. We drove into the city and parked someplace close to the event. We then took our bikes and rode to where the race was. It was alot of fun riding my bike on the streets of Rochester - which were closed due to the race!
The pro's finished about 10:45pm and after that we rode our bikes (in the rain) to the Dinosaur BBQ. Again...another first for me! LOL
Great food - good drinks and many laughs!
I can't wait to go again next year. :-)

Farmall Hill Racing

Last night was the 1st of 3 racing scheduled for this August at Farmall Hill.

This was Tanner's first MTB race - other than the Fat Tire Festival. He was sooooooooo excited and couldn't wait to start.
And
It was Bob's first night racing on the new VOODOO frame.

The night started off very cloudy and gray but the officials decided to start the race anyway.
About 30 minutes into the race.....the skies opened up!
It rained so hard that you could barely see.
Needless to say - they stopped the race but not before we were ALL completely soaked! LOL

Hopefully next week will be better weather!

Bob and his bikes

Bob had alittle mishap with his Bianchi MUSS single speed bike frame a month or so ago.....
Because of that, he had to buy a new frame. His new frame is a VOODOO frame.
Bob's Kona bike -King Kikpua is now getting older. 'The King' is starting to make noises and it's time to upgrade. So......
Bob spent most of Sunday taking 2 bikes (Kona and Bianchi) and creating 1 new one (Voodoo).
I'm attaching pictures of the MANY bike parts and of the newly created single speed MTB - Voodoo.

Ledgerwood and Seabreeze

On Saturday, August 2nd - Bob, Rachel, Brandon and their neighbors Jake and Alyssa went to Seabreeze for the day. This is a yearly tradition that Bob does for Rachel & Brandon's birthday.
This year the day started off alittle rainy and cloudy but ended very warm and sunny.
Everyone had a good time! Amusement parks can be sooooo much fun!

While they were gone.....

While my children were at their Dad's house for two weeks, I decided to CLEAN their bedrooms.
Their rooms were a complete disaster, to say the very least.
I couldn't see Makayla floor and I knew that I was going to break an ankle some night checking on her if I didn't get it fixed.
Tanner's room....his closet was full of stuff and the organizer I bought for him 8 months ago was still sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor.
Soooo..........after many hours - their rooms were done enough for my liking.
Tanner & Makayla came home on Saturday morning and were VERY excited!
Now if they can only keep them this nice!

Class Reunion

This weekend was my (Heidi) 20 yr. class reunion. I graduated from Marion High School in June of 1988. Where has 20 years gone??? LOL
I was part of the 3 person planning committee for this special event. We started planning this adventure over 2 years ago.
Our weekend started with a tour of our Highschool followed by 'Happy Hour' at our local bar Finns.
On Saturday we had a family catered picnic at B.Forman park in Pultneyville. We had awesome fun and alot of laughs. We even had 2 pinatas for the kids to break. The amount of candy those kids took home was unbelievable. :-)
I'm attaching a picture of my girlfriend Bryony & I (Bryony's daughers beside her), a picture of all of my classmates who were at the picnic and a picture of the kids searching for candy!

Tanner & Makayla

Tanner & Makayla are spending two full weeks at their Dad's this summer.
They left on Saturday July 19th - after the Fat Tire Festival and will be back on Saturday, August 2nd.
I miss them!! I can't wait for them to come home!
Just wanted to share.

Birthday celebration

Sunday July 20th was the day we celebrated Rachel's upcoming 13th birthday!
We had a late picnic lunch at Bob's house. In between raining drops - we all swam in the pool. It was a fun time for all of us.
Hopefully......I'll post pictures soon!

Fat Tire Festival

Saturday July 19th, was the 3rd annual Fat Tire Festival.
It was another busy year for Bob!
Bob was in charge of planning, designing and marking the two race courses again this year.
He made the Competitive course alittle more difficult and the Recreational course about the same. Bob spent many hours working on this - including ALL day Friday the 18th.
It's amazing the amount of time and effort is needed for this type of event.

Last year & this year, I have volunteered to help at Registration and wherever else I'm needed.
I must say that registration went MUCH smoother this year than last.

This year was alittle different in the fact that I decided to be brave and enter the recreation race.
I've been riding my bike more and more so I thought this might be fun. Tanner was alittle concerned that I might beat him.....HMMMMM - NO!
This was Tanner's 3rd year racing. He was 6th out of 14 in his age group (19 and under). Not too bad for a 10 year old. His time 19 min. 20 second.
I didn't do as well - BUT.....Atleast I finished!
My time was 24 minutes even.
I had one little mishap - I crashed into a tree trying to avoid a young boy who was riding ahead of me. Long story but....I'm ok!

Bob didn't race this year - he thought it would be best to just stay around and help where he was needed. I saw him near the end of the course. I was very happy to see him! He said 'You look good - how are you doing'. My answer - 'I crashed'.
Soon after I finished - Bob came looking for me to make sure I was ok. He's just a good egg. :-)

Later that evening - Bob & I rode our bike down to the bike shop for an after hours volunteer party. We ate lots of fun and had a few cocktails as well.

If I continue to ride......maybe I'll race again next year!

Weekend in PA - Sunday information. Final part

Last part of our trip info.........

Sunday morning we (Bob & I) got up early and went for a bike ride. We rode for about an hour. It was great riding with Bob and enjoying the beautiful scenery!

After our ride, we packed up - and headed down for one last quick visit with my Grandma in Loyalton before we headed home to NY.
Makayla (once again) didn't want to ride with me. :-( She insisted on riding home with her Grandparents. No worries!!!

We had a very pleasant ride home. Bob made it home around 4:30 and Tanner & I around 6 (by the time we stopped to pick Makayla up).

Weekend in PA - Saturday information - part 2

Continuing..........

After the Hero of the day fixed the pipe - He & Tanner went Mountain biking together in Danville. Tanner was soooooooooooo excited that Bob was willing to take him along. They both seemed to have a good time. Bob soon found out that Tanner is willing to ride/try anything! LOL.

While Bob & Tanner were out and about - Makayla, My Mom and I went to Loyalton (Assisted Living home) and set up my Grandma's room. We made her bed, put her clothes away, installed her phone and put up family pictures. Makayla loved helping! She also loved the fact that the 'Home' has a dog who lives there!!!



After everyone was back to my Grandma's house - we packed up our lunch goodies and headed off to the Bloomsburg town park for the birthday picnic. We had a good time - we laughed, ate yummy food and opened gifts. I decided that Bob,the kids and I would leave early in case my grandmother didn't want to go to her new living arrangements - Loyalton. I thought I would spare my kids of their Great Grandma yelling! (She didn't by the way.....she was too confused to know where she was or where she was going).


We had big big plans Saturday night so leaving early wasn't a problem.......



*The first picture is of my Grandma (white sweater - no glasses) and her twin (my Aunt Meriam). They turned 91 the day after this pictures.
The next picture is of Tanner and my Aunt Beryl (Grandma's sister who is 95 years old).
Next picture - Makayla playing in the nasty water looking for crayfish.
Next - Tanner watching Bob slice onions for lunch.





We spent our afternoon and evening at Knoebel's. Knoebel's is an amusement park about 20 minutes from my Grandma's house. Knoebel's is alittle different that most amusement parks because you don't pay for parking and you don't pay to get into the park. You only pay for rides! This makes it much easier on the adults who don't need to ride EVERY ride! We had a ball!!! We got home around 9:30pm. It was a looooooooooong day for sure. :-)

To be continued......

Weekend in PA - Saturday information.

Let me continue..........

Saturday morning started early for some of us.
Tanner had slept outside in his tent, which was fine - except for the heavy dew. ;-)
He was up at 5:10am with a wet tent and since I couldn't sleep.....I got up with him.
(I did quietly ask Bob when he was getting up and he calming and peacefully replied - not yet. LOL) Makayla was sleeping with her Uncle Tim's dog - Daisy and she wasn't moving either.
So....Tanner & I decided to go for a bike ride. It was a beautiful quiet cool morning. We rode down to the Susquehanna River and rode beside the town park and then over the Rupert cover bridge. After that we went past the fair grounds and back to Fernville. Tanner & I then decided to take the Rails to Trails trail along Fishing Creek. We had a nice ride - We rode for about an hour. When we got back....Makayla & Bob were still sleeping!

After everyone was up - Bob & I went down to the Farmer's Market in town. We got lots of fresh veggies. YUMMMY! Bob even bought me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers for my birthday. We were back to my Grandma's house by 9am and then the Bob became the hero of the day!
A pipe had broken under the sink and water was leaking everywhere. Bob looked at it and said it could be fixed in 10 minutes. Trust me when I say that my family are NOT plumber. NEVER ever in my life have I seen a 10 minute plumbing job - that was until that morning! Bob & I went to Lowes and got the parts and then Bob fixed it in less than 10 minutes. He really was the hero of the day!!!

Ok.....I'll write more soon!

Weekend in PA - Friday information.

It was another good weekend in PA!
I must confess and say that Bloomsburg PA has always been a good stress reliever for me. I'm far enough from home that I don't let the everyday stresses of life bother me. I think everyone needs a place to 'escape' to! Bloomsburg just happens to be mine. :-)

Bob, Tanner & I arrived in PA on Friday around 12:30ish. Makayla didn't want to ride with us, she wanted to ride with her grandparents. ( I'm sure that was because her Pappa would stop along the way and buy her candy treats! LOL. ) Soon after arriving, Bob went Mountain biking in Danville while the rest of us had lunch. Bob was saving himself for a 'Quaker Steak & Lube' dinner later that night!
Early evening, Bob, myself, Tanner, Makayla and my Mom & Dad went to the Quaker Steak & Lube for dinner. Yuuuuuuummmmy! There was lots of fun and not enough space in my belly to get it all in, but it was fun trying.
After dinner we took a trip to Danville to visit my Grandma who was still in the Rehab facility. She looked MUCH better than she did on Monday. It was nice to visit. We didn't stay long but we didn't want to overwhelm her either.

Ok.....I'll write again later about the other parts of our weekend.

Trip to PA

Good morning!

I just thought I would give everyone a quick update.
My brother Dan & I took a trip to Pennsylvania this past weekend to visit my Grandmother who isn't in the best of health. My Mom and her brothers have decided to move my Grandma to an 'Assisted living' facility. She has spent the last 2 weeks in a hospital and now a rehab facility to help her regain her strength. She was been falling and we found out that it is due to a bad valve in her heart. It's been a looooooooooong two weeks to say the least.
It's hard when you live 200 miles away. A trip this weekend was necessary for my health! :-) I'm very close with my Grandma so I needed to see her for myself.
My Grandma doesn't want to give up her independence - which I do understand since she will be 91 years old on Sunday, July 13th. However.....it's time for her to get some much needed extra help. I witnessed that myself this past weekend when I watched her struggle to even stand up.
She's a strong willed woman and I respect her very much. So....this should be a challenge to get her the help she needs when she doesn't feel she needs it!
All in all.....
It was nice to spend some time with my brother - enjoy many laughs and to see exactly how my Grandma is doing.
I will be heading back down to PA this weekend with Bob, Tanner & Makayla.
On Saturday, we will be having a multi-person birthday party.
Bob will be 41 on Thursday,
I will be 38 on Saturday
and my Grandma and her twin - Aunt Meriam, will be 91 on Sunday.
One big cake for all 4 of us!!! I can't wait!
I'll update the blog on Sunday with pictures!

New game added

Check out the bottom of the blog!
You can now Mountain bike WHENEVER you wish!
Don't know how to MB- not to worry......instructions are listed with game.
Enjoy!!

sad news

Sad News to report -
Bob, Rachel & Brandon had to put their dog Checkers down on Friday.
Checkers was an older Beagle who was in very bad health.
It's a very sad thing for everyone involved - however it was very much needed for Checkers..
He was in pain and was very limited on his movements - he's in a much better place now.
Hugs & Kisses to the Ledgerwood family.

Bees..bees..and more bees

Bees....bees.....bees...and more bees!

Never a dull moment at my house.

I had today off from work (last day of school) and on my way to get the mail I heard some funny noise. I turned around to see a HUGE swarm of bees in my front yard. Ok...At this point, I should share with you that I'm not a huge bee or bug fan. They scare the Shiz-Whiz right out of me. So with that said - I ran to the house and from the safety of my livingroom window, I watched all these bees flying around. Thousands of them - it was actually an awesome site to see.

My parents came over to see Tanner & Makayla's report cards and my Dad checked out the bees and said they were honey bees. I spoke with Roma (A co-worker who is a beekeeper) and she suggested finding a beekeeper locally to see if they wanted my bees. While, it just so happens that my Dad has a friend who is a beekeeper so he called him to see if he wanted my bees. Sure enough he did!

Randy lives in Naples so it took him alittle while to get to me but when he did - the bee education we learned was amazing! Tanner & Makayla were very brave and stood near the bees to watch Randy work. My Mom & I both got brave and even moved alittle closer once we found out that the bees were more interested in finding a new hive then stinging us. Hooray for that!

To make a very long story shorter......The bees have a new hive - Randy's pretty white wooden box! They moved soooooooooo quickly once the queen moved in. They started working immediately on filling up the hive with goodies. Randy will be back in a few days (at night) to take the hive back with him to Naples.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Summer 2008 dance recital

Makayla finished her second year of dance classes from Sandy Stramonine School of Dance this weekend. The dance classes ended with a recital held Saturday afternoon.

Makayla takes a Tap & Ballet class.

She did an excellent job and we'll all very proud of her.

Dance classes have helped Makayla to have more self-confidence in all areas of her life.

One dead groundhog

Well......Thursday night was the night for critters at the Jensen house.

First there was the ants in my bedroom (YUCK)

Next - Tanner & Makayla found a huge snake skin in the yard - again YUCK

And then to top everything off - Shelby killed a ground hog.

It's a very long story but lets just say that Tanner & Makayla were more than happy to move a log so Shelby could kill a young ground hog.

Once it was dead....they brought it to the house for me to see.

They were soooooo proud of Shelby!

Father's Day

Father's Day afternoon lunch was held at Bob's parents house.

Everyone had a great time!

Pictures are of Bob & Tracy (Bob's sister) & Bob's Dad and Andrew (Bob's nephew)

24 hour race

June, 14 & 15th, Father's Day weekend, was the annual 24 Hour Race held in Naples, NY.

This year Bob & I were the pit crew for Victor Gaspar - Owner of Trailblazer Bike Shop.

Bob took care of Victor's bike and water bottles. I helped with the food.

We had a good weekend but............Next year will be different.

Next year, Bob will be racing again!!

Pictures of Bob working on Victor's bike
and
Victor taking a much needed break.

It was a rough course - appox. 8 miles long.
Each lap took about and hour and a half. Some longer - some shorter.... depending on the time of day and weather. This year it rained alot! Thank heavens for bike washes and showers!

Sorry

Sorry!

I've been crazy busy with school events - dance recitals - work - ect.....
I'll post many blogs tonight!!
Check back tonight or tomorrow morning! :-)
Thanks,
Heidi

Racing again

Racing
Sorry....I've been alittle behind on this one!
Bob raced Wednesday night last week (June 4th) and this past Wednesday night (June 11th) in Mendon near Mendon Ponds Park. The first week, he got a flat tire and was unable to finish the race (BUMMER!) and this week, he finished but he's not sure what place he was in - NOT last so that GREAT! There is one more race in this series - next week (Wednesday, June 18th).
Go Bob Go!!!

Our First Overnight

Our First Overnight.....
Well...it finally happened! The Jensen family had an overnight at the Ledgerwood house.
Bob & I have been dating for about a year and a half but due to some goofy circumstances, the Jensen family hadn't spent the night at Bob's house. Bob & the kids have stayed with us many times but ~ we changed all that this weekend. Now don't get the wrong idea....Bob has invited us over for dinner - it's just the overnight that we hadn't done. :-) On Saturday, Bob invited us over for swimming, dinner and an overnight. It was great to see him after a few days in Liverpool. All 4 kids play well with each other so it makes things much easier. Even Checkers was better with Shelby. We had a BIG dinner on Saturday (We are happy food people) and Bob made us breakfast on Sunday. All of this and the kids swam alot on Saturday afternoon and all morning on Sunday.
We always have a good time when we get together. I look forward to doing it again sometime this summer.

Peonies

This is my favorite time of year. Why??? You ask???? Because the Peonies are blooming!!! These pictures are from my flower gardens. Even Shelby got in the picture!

NYSLAA conference

I'm home from another great NYSLAA (New York State Library Assistants Association) conference. This year's conference was held in Liverpool, NY. I took a tour of the Salt Museum Wednesday afternoon, had a Luau in my room Wednesday night, swam in the hotel pool, had great meals, awesome times with old friends from all over New York State, and at the end of a busy few days, I received the Craig Koste Award (Given to 1 Library Assistant from New York State each year for outstanding service). I was very honored to receive this award.

Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Cold

Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Cold ~~~

Heidi, Tanner & Makayla went over to visit with Bob, Rachel & Brandon tonight. We had pizza for dinner (very yummy) and then the kids decided to take a dip in the pool. Air temperature was approximately. 65 degrees......Pool temperature 66 degrees.
Can you say COLD???

Racing season has begun

Racing Season Has Begun!

I'm happy to report that racing season has begun. Bob raced 2 out of the 3 Farmall series Spring bike races. Ok.....so he didn't finished exactly like he had hoped but..........he also hasn't been training as much as he has in years past. Atleast he's out riding and enjoying himself.

Coming up soon is the 24 hour race in Naples called 'Hardcore 24'.
The 24 hour race is scheduled every year for Father's Day weekend.
Bob has decided, for two equally important reasons, NOT to race this year.
One being....lack of training time on his bike
and
Two.......Rachel & Brandon don't want him to spend his Father's Day at a race.
Bob will be spending all day Saturday and Saturday night at the race this year as support to Victor Gaspar. Victor will be riding this year for the second year - Solo.
Bob will race next year.
This is only a year off, not an end to the 24 hour races.

Hopefully Bob will race in other races this summer and fall! :-) We all know how much Bob loves to ride his bike and race.