Category Archives: Eric

Chipmunk Hunter

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After talking with his buddy Trevor, who was going turkey hunting with his dad, Eric decided to go hunting as well.  We started out with his homemade bow and 1 arrow.  First, he decided he would need two turkeys in order to have enough for a Thanksgiving dinner.  After seeing a deer track he stated that one deer would be enough to feed everyone at Thanksgiving.  But when we passed a chipmunk in the brush the whole focus changed.

A chipmunk taunts Eric.

We didn’t bag any chipmunks, but we had  a fine walk and sat on a log and had snacks.

Barneveld Horsemen’s Association Hunter Show

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Eric has been showing in the Barneveld Horsemen’s Association (BHA) lead line classes all summer.  Sunday they had the last show – the make-up of the make-up Hunter Show.  Eric shows courtesy of his buddy Trevor and Trevor’s mom Ellen.  Ellen lets Eric use Onyx, a 16 year old mare who is bomb proof.

In the equitation class the judge asked Eric for his age (5), how long he had been riding (just starting), his horse’s name (Onyx) and if he planned to do jumping (when he grows up).  In this class the judge decided to give all 5 lead-liners a blue ribbon and their choice of a toy or sticker book.  In the lead-line suitability class, judging the ‘worthiness of the mount’ the participants got a blue ribbon, a chocolate candy bar and a carrot.  If I was judging I would award all blue ribbons too.  All the horses are dead quiet and great started animals for the kids.  But it did throw a wrench in calculating year end awards as everyone got an equal number of points.

Since Eric and Trevor have been showing all year they were in the running for a year end award and somehow Trevor knew that.  What Trevor knows, Eric knows and the two boys were walking around saying that Eric is close to a champion and Trevor is close to a championship.

After the show Trevor came over to our house to play with Eric and when Ellen picked him up she confirmed that Trevor won the year end lead-line championship and Eric was reserve by 4 points.

That means the camping trip with the local ADK Chapter that I was tentatively planning to attend on Saturday Oct 25 will be pre-empted by attendance at the BHA Annual Banquet so I can see Eric and Trevor get their awards.  It should be fun.

Remsen Corn Maze

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Sunday Kathryn and I took Eric and Trevor to the Remsen Corn Maze. Trevor was a little anxious that the corn maze would be scary, but once in the maze his concerns were largely forgotten.

There were four posts with colored magic markers that we had to find. At each post we would mark the map to indicate where we thought we were on the map. Eric and Trevor were responsible for running down the dead ends to determine if there was a post hidden down there.

We found all four posts as well as a couple of uncharted paths that threw us for a loop. The boys won a post card picture of the corn maze for their efforts.

Eric starts school

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The last week of August was gorgeous weather. We mixed house chores and a day at Boucheron’s camp. Kathryn took out the sailboat with Steve. The boat has been stored in our barn for 10 years and some of the cordage had to be replaced.

Eric enjoyed swimming while the sailors floated in the background.

Eric and Kathryn stayed overnight and returned on Monday while I mowed trails across the road. The weather held and Wednesday was so nice that Kathryn, Linda and Eric returned for a day of play before school started.

Like every other kid starting kindergarten, there was a lot of anxiety before school started on the 4th. It shows on Eric’s face as he poses prior to getting on the school bus for day 1.

Everything went fine and we celebrated day 1 by having pizza for dinner. Friday night Eric came home as a tired kid, but stated that he liked school.

We spent Monday evening taking Eric to the emergency room. He was sick during the day with stomach pains and fever and then at 5pm he broke out in rashes – face, eyes, lips all swollen. His hands, feet and groin all covered with rash. The call in doctor said we needed to get him checked out for Coxsackie disease. It is a hand, mouth, foot disease exchanged among children. After long hours, blood tests, etc they said no – it was just a fever viral reaction. He missed school on Tuesday as well and we had a marathon Monopoly game encompassing 3 sessions totaling 3-4 hours. Wednesday things went back to normal.

Visiting the Wild Center

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Saturday we took Eric and Trevor to the Wild Center, the Natural History Museum located in Tupper Lake.  It was a 3 hour drive there, including our stop in Inlet for leg-stretching, brunch and bathroom break.  The boys played Power Rangers in the back of the car and watched Madagascar on the DVD player.  Somehow the movie ended just as we reached the museum parking lot.

There are a lot of hands on exhibits at the Wild Center and there were staff walking around with Screech Owls and a Raven for observation and questions.  There are pond and bog environments, a trout stream and otters to examine. The boys ran from exhibit to exhibit so fast that we went around the museum twice and they saw all new stuff the 2nd time around.

Here Eric and Trevor check out an aquarium with Adirondack Sturgeon and Lake Trout.

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The otters were very active (and hard to catch on camera).

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After two hours at the museum we hit the Tupper Lake McD’s for happy meals, loaded another DVD and drove to Old Forge where we took a break at Mountainman Outdoors.   It was a long ride for the boys, but they did great and hopefully learned a little.

Eric’s 1st Horse Show

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Sunday Eric got invited to a horse show by his buddy Trevor. Eric had never been in a horse show – or even ridden. He was very apprehensive and told me that he was concerned because the horses were so big. He was much relieved when I told him that they all were fitted with a nice Leather halter that they were used to and would listen to him. Besides we would be doing the leadline class together, so I’d be right there with him. Ellen provided a helmet, saddle and pony, Addy. There were two leadline classes – a walk only and a 2nd class where each contestant is asked to walk away from the judge, turn and trot back to the lineup. Prior to the class Trevor said he was ready to trot. Eric and I decided we would walk only as he had never ridden before. The kids rode holding the reins in one hand and holding on the saddle horn with the other. The horses were basically guided by person leading, although the judge rewarded the kids that were trying to pilot their own steeds.

During the lineup in the 1st class the Judge asked Eric if he could back his pony up. Eric replied “No, not really”. There were 7 entries in the class and ribbons were handed out to all kids. When Eric got a ribbon (and model horse) as a prize from the 1st class he decided he wanted to try to trot as “We do good if we do what the judge says”. He lost a stirrup and bounced a lot during his trot but the judge praised him for his effort and he got rewarded with 5th place ribbon. The boys had a blast and talked to each other through out the classes. Eric is ready to go to another horse show “if Trevor invites me!”. More pictures are at: http://www.jimmuller.com/Pictures/2007_07_22HorseShow/EricHorseShow.html