We did it!

It took us five hours but we did it!  We made it to the top of Mt Monadnock.  Thank you for all of your support for the Pick a Peak Fundraiser - We did it for Austin.  We did it for Max.  This is such an incredible experience, we are glad we could have been a part of it.

Here are a few shots of our way up the Mt. There were about twenty of us climbing together for Austin and Max.  We all went our own speeds.  Craig our team leader kept a really quick pace!Ben and John at the top of the MT.  There are different trails to take up.  The top of the Mt is about 3100 feet.  It was very windy!

This was the home stretch those little things up on top were people!  This was the hardest part (going up it took about 45 minutes and there was no easy way.  Our descent was tough, we were tired and the footing was slow going, it was a different Mt going down than up, that's for sure!

Please Sponsor Ben for the 2010 Pick your Peak Cure Duchenne Climb

Please join us in helping to raise funds to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwM-7radruQ&feature=channel 

On June 19 Ben will climb Mt Monadnock in New Hampshire with John and me to support his friend Austin and Austin's little brother Max.  Both Austin and Max have Duchenne muscular dystrophy.  They are counting on the rest of us to help raise money to find a cure for this fatal disease.  One in every 3500 boys is born with DMD and historically the boys have not lived beyond their teens.  

There is hope that raising money we will bring these boys and their families one step closer to finding a cure. 

Please consider supporting Ben and his friends in this endeavor.  Every little bit adds up to a lot.  

You can send checks directly to Ben - PO Box 423 Saxtons River, Vt 05154   or go to our team's website and use paypal or your credit card.

http://www.firstgiving.com/ausmax

Thank you for your support! 

http://www.cureduchenne.org/

Two birthday girls turning one!

Our cousins Delaney and McKenna just turned one and they were pretty excited for the big day that was ahead of them.  They woke up around ten and they were really happy.  At the night time we had a party at a Pizza Place - too bad they slept part of the time!  They had two cakes, a tiny cake and a big cake.  I think the twins really dug it - especially Delaney.  They got very messy.  We were happy to be with the twins on their first birthday and to hang out with them.    - Ben

The World is like a puzzle

Wait a minute, it is a puzzle!  A little gift from friends in Spain - great geography lesson and good lesson in Spanish too - espana, francia, italia, alemania, polonia - it's all so confusing!

More sculpture

This is my first Nature Sculpture Class.  We used rocks and water.  We also used leaves and a tree stump.  It was a group project.  The class is based on Andy Goldworthy's work.  He is an artist that makes things in nature.  He makes sculpture.  He is very persistent.  He uses what he finds outside to make the sculptures and uses only his hands.  Making art like this is much harder than it looks.  You have to take into account the weather and  the objects you will have to use.  Don't get mad if it falls down before someone can see it.  Experiment to find out what you can do to make it last a day or two or plan on bringing a camera.  Some of the sculptures only last a few minutes (like the leaves in the water).

By Ben

Fort Zink

This is a fort that we made that Sam and I used alot.  The cats come in and have enough room to lay down.  Sam and I use it to trade Pokemon cards and just to relax.  We might work on it some more this summer and make it bigger.

By Ben

Wilderness School

 

These are my friends Sam and Jonas. 

 

 

This is the campfire that I started.  I used birchbark and tiny sticks to get it to catch.

 This is the fort that the kids made before I joined the group.  They build it themselves.

 This is the old fort that was used before the other fort.  It was used by the group as a shelter and to make campfires in. 

This is a red salamander that the girls found.  They wanted me to take a picture of it.  I found one of these too, I found it in the woods next to a big pile of logs.  I am not sure if they are common or not.  We only found two even though we looked for a long time. 

 This is when we made bows for archery.  We made a special thing to shoot.  It was a deer made out of pine branches and we used rope to hold it together.  Me and a few other kids were able to hit the target.  I am good at archery since I have taken a class before.  This is one of the older kids named Ari shooting his bow and arrow.  He was able to hit the target too.

These are pictures from my wilderness class.  It was a class that I learned about how to survive if I was alone in the wilderness.  I learned a lot and if I every get stuck in the wilderness I think I would know what to do.  Some of the things I learned were:  how to make a fire, a bow and arrow, and a fishing rod.  I learned what you can eat in the wilderness like dandelions, fish, and other edible plants like root beer.  I can make my own shelter and I can make animal calls.  There is something called Indian Walk that is a way to walk so silently you can sneak up on something so quietly that it doesn't hear you.  I am able to do this well.  I know because I snuck up on Maisie so quietly that I almost made her wet her pants!