Halloween 2008

And some random October photos from Zina's birthday are now online here! We had a great time hosting Raz and Zina's friends for trick or treating through the building. Our neighbors were their usual gracious selves and the kids all came back with pounds of candy.



I finally go to dress as my movie hero and role model this year, and Raz went as Luke so there was even an appropriate familial aspect to it.

Milda and Zina were an evil and adorable (respectively) Cruela D and Dalmation Puppy (click the link) and she really enjoyed the trick or treat.

Dad & Sis look on

Here are Zina and I watching the soccer game. It was very tense!

Raz Playing Soccer

Here's Raz going for the ball - he had a good first half, getting one great breakaway and running the ball all the way down the field to almost score a goal.

Raz the Soccer Player

Here's Raz in his Aston Villa team uniform getting ready for his first game. Game time was 8:15am on a Saturday morning so Milda and I were unwilling to be photo'd ;-)

Emerson Hotel - Outside

Here are Raz & Zina on the steps of the hotel lodge - all ready for the wedding.

Raz in Formal Setting

Here's Raz at the Emerson Hotel for OV and Tara's wedding. He enjoyed the posh surroundings very much.

Just a Cute Photo

Not sure where this is, but thought it was cute.

Most of the Crowd

At the Celtic Festival at Hunter Mountain after a very long day of chasing children. I think they won...

Minigolf Pro

Raz played minigolf a few times this summer and got pretty good. He definately enjoyed the game - enough so that he recently told me he thought I should take up minigolf instead of real golf.

Who Says Camels Are Not Friendly?

Raz is feeding a baby camel...

Hot on the Train

It was a hot day and Milda and Zina went for a ride on the kiddie express...

Riding a Camel

Eva and Raz shared a camel ride one day at the Catskills Zoo - not sure if that's the name of the place, but it was definately a camel.

Triangle

Zina found a triangular rock - "Triangle" she said. She was very excited about it and carried it for the next half hour or so repeating "traingle" every few seconds.

Zina's First Hike

Zina decided she wanted to get down from the backpack and walk - so we let her. She managed to walk about a half mile over some very rough trail before we scooped her back up and carried her the rest of the way. She slept well that night :-)

Family Hike by Old Catskills Lodges and Escarpment

Here we are posing by the 500 foot drop on the Catskills Escarpment, the site of several old hotels popular in the 19th century. Woderful views and great light hiking.

Raz & Campfire

Here's Raz first thing in the AM by the firepit. In the evening we had had a good fire going, but in the AM I couldn't get my camp stove going and we were out of firewood so breakfast consisted of a cereal bar and some water. It was only an hour walk back to the house so we had a nice brunch around 11AM.

Raz at Campground

As you can see, it was dark by the time we reached the campground. I set up our sleepingbags and the fire by flashlight and was glad I had brought a candle lantern. The night was very nice - quiet and cool - though in the middle of the night I awoke because something was gnawing on the wooden lean to structure. I had visions of bears, but it turns out there was a woodchuck living in a hole under the lean to and it was just polishing its teeth.

View from the Boulder

Here's the view from the Boulder - looking Southwest.

Boulder with a View

This boulder provided an excellent spot for a view! Here Raz is in his Pajamas after our night camping.

Hiking up Diamond Notch

Here's Raz at our halfway point rest stop. It was getting late and we were getting worried about reaching the top with enough light to set camp, but spirits remained high.

Streams

On the hike up this was one of the streams we crossed - there were a number of springs along the way and we filled our water bottles at the one closest to our camp.

Hiking in Diamond Notch

Here we are hiking up in Diamond Notch behind the house we rented - there was a great trail that climbed around 1000 feet towards the peaks around us with a small campsite and lean-to at the top of the notch between 2 mountains. Raz and I hiked up there and camped one night - cooking dinner over a campfire and sleeping in the lean-to - before hiking down the next morning for a much deserved breakfast. There were some steep patches on the trail and carrying Zina added a greal level of challenge (she's getting heavy ;-).

Hunter House

Here's the house we rented this August with our friends Andrew, Charmien, Eva and Remy. That's them walking down the driveway. The house was about 2000 feet up in the pass behind Hunter Mountain on the way to Phoenecia. The view from the porch was awesome out over the mountains looking west.

Looking for Berries

Raz & Eva exploring the yard at the house we rented in Hunter this summer. There were blackberries and raspberries growing wild all over the neighborhood so we would often go for walks to pick the berries.

Raz Painting from Art Show

Raz painted this canvas this summer in his art program. It's about a 3'x3' oil painting of a jungle scene with a waterfall. We liked it so much we hung it at home!

Raz Skipping Stones on the Hudson

This spring we were upstate and went for a long walk by the Hudson River where Raz spent some time skipping stones.