the hike and the basin

A waterfall leading into the basin...

goofy.  this was before they got wet.

ohh la la

we went for a hike up the base of Cannon Mtn.  I really dont think the pictures do it justice.  A couple of us fell in this process. I am not naming names to spare the dignity of those involved.

Chad's oldest brother Jeff

The Basin...Henry David Thoreau actually spent alot of time here during his solitude. 

The men had to show their manhood with a cigar...

Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire

Took us three attempts to get this just right.  

Brett and Ryan

loading up the tram...it was the last run of the day and we had the whole thing to ourselves

view from the top.  I actually saw an airplane that was flying lower than we were

beautiful lake about 1/4 the way up

on top of the world.  or so it seemed

campfire

When we got back from Moose Alley we had smores by the campfire.  This is Benton with Devin.

Siblings....Jeff, Renee, Chad and Craig

Jillian and Benton

Seth and Justine

Uncle Craig and Ryan being goofy

Cousin Brett with Jordan and Ryan

our first day in new hampshire...

Craig and Brett playing football with the children

Uncle Jim walked the kids down to the pond to feed the fish.  This is all the Rainville grandchildren minus Kristi, the oldest.

A little backyard wiffle ball

the "redneck" slip and slide

after the mud bath

The Rainville Family

the boys caught and tortured snakes all weekend.  ryan got bit, but since there aren't any poisonous snakes in the area, he quickly got back in the game after the shock wore off.

isnt this look priceless? he didnt like the snake wrapping it's tail around him

we ended the day by driving up to moose alley on the canadian border to see if we could spot some moose. never saw any, but this was the scenery so nobody complained.

the bear...

We got to Columbia pretty late. Everyone had stayed up waiting for us, so naturally, we stayed up even later before going to bed.  We heard about the bears that Uncle Jim had been feeding in the backyard.  That is all it took for Devin, our child that usually sleeps until noon, to wake up unassisted at the buttcrack of dawn...literally.  These bears only come into the backyard at dawn and dusk.  So, Devin proceeds to wake Chad and I up at 5:00 in the morning to let us know that he has spotted a bear.  Chad takes the camera and walks down into the backyard to get a good picture.  I was so scared the whole time he was out there. Uncle Jim says this one was only about 250 pounds, which is small compared to the 400 pound one he has seen.  Needless to say, the children never played in the yard unattended during our visit. :)