Note To Self

If I ever start ruminating about expanding OscarFest to the size of previous years, remind me how lovely this weekend was...or kick me. Three guests + Oscar and Clarke + Angus (almost family) were the perfect amount of boys for the weekend. They had enough for teams but small enough to move en masse from activity to activity. There were no outliers but there was enough for The Pack to make behavior corrections if needed. (a la Dog Whisperer) At one point, a statement was made, and the whole group descended upon the misguided soul. "you are so intolerant." "that is messed up." "what are you talking about?" Hilarious. No parenting needed...almost. The amount of food that was consumed was fairly alarming, of course, but as usual, the Adirondacks were really all that was needed for entertainment.

Catamount Mountain was great. Definitely more challenging than I anticipated for the city dudes and due to a later start and high winds we stopped short of the summit (it hurts just typing that) but made it to a bluff with a fantastic view. The guys loved the rock climbing and the picnic and felt pretty proud. Clarke and Angus wanted to continue but we wanted to descend in time to make a Whiteface Gondola ride.

During the birthday cupcake/presents celebration, Oscar cut to the chase by ordering, "Praise me!" There were late night gossip sessions, and hot cider by the gallon, and movies and gameboy talk, and most importantly, no car vomiting this year. Praise me!

Addendum...

Flaming Leaves Festival? Yes please! I'm adding to the agenda. These kids better be well-rested.

T-Minus 48 Hours

...Till OscarFest 2009! RSVP's in, menu planned, mountain selected (sort of). I marked a few mountains I thought would work from my ADK Mountain Club Book, "High Peaks Region." One, Catamount Mountain seemed great and then my choice was confirmed by TourPro! (Mr. Adirondack Base Camp to you). I love the internets!

Oscar is worried his friends won't be able to handle it and is suggesting Owl's Head but, yawn, so we'll see. I will appeal to their 11 year old macho male egos. Other than that, I imagine it will be hide and seek, whiffle ball, some sort of soldiering game, zipline, and maybe a trip to the bowling alley. We have movies and board games at the ready. Clarke is thrilled that his friend Angus will be up also, so he'll have some escape hatch if the middle school dudes start to drive him crazy.

See you soon Barn!

Arrghg

I was trying to get to the barn this weekend but it's not going to happen. First, I need a lower cost solution for weekend transportation. Car rentals in NYC are about $300-500 and it quickly becomes prohibitive. Then, I need more hours in each day - don't we all. Next weekend is OscarFest 3.0. We are planning a short hike with Oscar's city slicker friends and then some general frivolity. I can't wait. I'm looking for about 3-4 miles round trip with a good view, but not Mt. Baker. Anyone? Anyone?

Now, for the real news. It's snowing?! That makes me incredibly happy. Ski!