Throwback Thursday - Father/Son Campout

This week when we took Dot out for a ride we were driving on Stony Hill Rd. in Wilbraham and Paul said that he would love to know exactly where the boy scout camp was that the Royal Rangers used for their Father/Son Campouts.  He knew that it was somewhere on Stony Hill Rd. and so we set out to find it and take pictures of it.  I wanted to show the pictures to my son Mark and see if he recognized it at all.  

We found it and I got out to take some pictures.  Paul recognized the building and the grounds.  I'm not sure how many times Paul and Mark went here, but I found pictures from 1982 and 1983.  Mark would have been 8 and 9.  Paul thinks it was the first time they went that he made a walking stick.  He cut down a small tree and started whittling it.  Long after the campout was over, he was still putting polyurethane varnish on it to fill in the cracks.  He still uses it.  

These are a few of the pictures I have.

1982 - Mark is in the middle.

Mark is on the right.  The bunks were built right onto the wall, three high all around the room.

Mark is the boy standing.

1983 - Mark is in the front row, fourth from the left.

Mark is the kid looking at the camera.

I hope Mark has good memories of those weekends.  I know Paul does.  

This is the walking stick Paul made.  He still uses it (this picture was taken in 2010).  

These are the pictures that we took of the boy scout camp that we took this week.  Does it look familiar to you Mark?

15th Annual Paul and Marley Zoo Picture

It all started back in 2002 when I took a picture of Paul and Marley walking at the Forest Park Zoo. My mother-in-law, Priscilla, loved the picture and a tradition was begun. Each year I have taken a new "zoo picture." Paul says the last one will be at Marley's wedding.

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October 2016 Scrapbook Pages

Paul and I had such a nice time visiting with family at his cousin Becky's daughter's wedding in Pennsylvania.

The day after the wedding we took a tour of my great-grandfather, William Ross Higgins' home/mansion.  The present owner, who is a billionaire, was so gracious to give us a tour and to tell us what he knew of this house.  After the tour, we drove to downtown Philadelphia to find the Widener Building my great-grandfather worked for Aetna Insurance Company.

Paul, Marley and I took our annual trek to Gordon College.  Usually we go on Columbus Day but since Paul and I were in Lancaster then, we went a couple of weeks later.  As usual, we left Baba to his own devices and Marley and I went off on our own.  We also took our annual Baba and Marley Zoo picture (Baba told Marley that colleges are a little like zoos, so it was okay, lol).

Since we never made it to the Daisy/Prim rally day this October, we had a tea party for the Daisys, Prims, and their moms in the Prims' classroom.  It was a lot of fun and the girls loved it!

This year, unfortunately, we were not able to fit into everyone's schedule a trip to the Westview Creamery, aka the pumpkin patch.  This didn't stop us from buying pumpkins and carving them though.  This was Miriam's first year joining in on the fun.  She decorated her pumpkin (and also her hands and arms)!

Halloween, for the second year, was at Mark and Janelle's house.  This year Mason had some friends (and their moms) from school over for pizza and trick or treating.  I handed out candy again, this time a little more prepared for all of the kids in that neighborhood.