Adventures in New York - featuring Hurricane Irene!

 Fletcher and I traveled to New York in August, just in time to experience Hurricane Irene.  You hear so much negative stuff about hurricanes nowadays, but you know what's great about them? It gives you an opportunity to wear a fire fighter raincoat and drag dripping wet branches around the yard, all in the name of "cleaning up".

And you get to see Grandma and Papa's pond spill over...

...which makes for some awesome pooh-sticks...

...which is so exciting, you might actually hope for more rain.

High water also equals an excellent opportunity to throw random things in the pond - sticks, rocks, and the occasional mushroom.

And speaking of mushroom, how cool are these?

 Rainy days also mean there is plenty of time to raid Papa's stash of bicycling event helmet decorations (serious cyclists will know what this is about).

Serious, no-nonsense cyclists like this one. 

 Also entertaining? The mystery poop we found in the backyard. We spent many minutes over several days speculating about the origin of the poop.

Papa seems to think woodchuck, but Fletcher and I aren't sure. I do have a close-up snapshot, which I can send to any interested parties who might want to weigh in on the debate.

Fletcher put on a concert for us, accompanied by Neal on my phone.

And then it was back to the bridge, because there were more things that needed throwing.

 The playground next door is always popular...

...and so is just hanging out in the front yard.