Paintball 2007

On Sunday, Oct. 7 we assembled the troops at Waterbrooke to head out to play paintball. It's very important to start out with prayer for protection from injury in the woods. This is Bruce, one of our youth leaders at the church before we loaded up the cars to head to Special Forces in Buffalo. Once we arrive at the paintball field, we load up in an old army truck to drive out to the woods where we get our army issue paintball guns and helmets.
Here are a couple of the girls getting ready to make their mark on the paintball field. We are given instructions, divided into teams, and sent off into the woods to play a game of "Capture the Flag" with a twist - if you get shot with a paintball, you are out for the rest of that game. Each game lasts about 15 minutes.
Here you see the bunker I was hiding in to help protect our team's red flag out by the rocket silo. Paul was in a nearby bunker. Some guys from the other team snuck up from behind and nailed me! I still have a bruise on my leg from being "shot!" And here I thought hiding in the bunker wasa safe bet.
Here we are out in the "safe zone" after getting out. They have lots of old army things sitting around. The kids have a great time. It was really hot last Sunday - 85 degrees, but I wore an extra army jacket they have there, just to be extra padded in case of paintballs hitting from close range!
You really have a new appreciation of the men and boys who are fighting for our country after a day of simple paintball. Plus, we talk to the kids about the spiritual war they are in every day.
It makes us very aware of the necessity for putting on the armor of God!

What's next for the Casey's? Stay tuned....

Golf Mania

It's official! The first annual CBCH Open Family Golf Tournament has come and gone. It really was a family affair - Corey came up with the idea, Jane and Chuck hosted the event, Joyce and Paul provided the traveling trophy - a miniature golf bag that doubles as a remote for the TV - and everyone else brought food, of course. Here's the gang at the par three course in Cannon Falls. A little rain didn't stop us! Infact, it was a blessing in disguise. Nobody else was out on the course on such a dreary day, so we could all golf together and take as much time as we wanted without holding anybody up. Good thing we played best ball or we might still be there!
Hey Jane - I got the picture of Chuck's umbrella inside out, but I was in such a hurry to click it before he fixed the problem that I forgot to zoom in on the situation. Oh well, it really was funny.
We had another problem with soggy greens and slow moving inhabitants who didn't care to move out of the way of our putts! Paul hit one drive that almost completely buried itself. If you want to see more pictures and tales of the links - check out Jane's blog at the Bracken Bunch. Of course, no family gathering is complete now without a picture of one of the little dudes. This one is Maddox, Corey and Heidi's soon to be one year old. He is definitely NOT camera shy, and loves to show off all his new skills. Go to Corey and Heidi's blog for lots of fun shots of Maddox's latest accomplishments. Jane also has a link to Katie and Phebe's blog from Florida. I haven't figured out how to add that one to my list of blogs yet, since Jenna was the one who put them all on here.
We missed Ted, Angie and Matthew as well as Tom, Kim, Katie and Griffin. Hopefully we can plan next year's extraveganza on a date when the whole bunch can tee off! We had a great time in spite of all the divots and whiffed shots. By the time we got to the 8th hole, we were actually starting to look pretty decent, if it wasn't for those darn worms!

Summer Fun with the Caseys

I know you're wondering what else we did this summer besides travel. Well ... let me fill you in! Shortly after returning from NY and parts East, we organized a youth group camp out/lock in at church and took 30 kids and adults on a canoe trip down the Cannon River. It was a beautiful day, and we didn't tip once, though a few others had an adventurous ride. We stop at an island about half way through our 12 mile journey for lunch and body surfing. This year the water level was just right so Paul didn't scrape bottom as he floated through the rapids!

In July I cleaned the garage and painted the patio to cover up the stain we spilled last fall sealing the deck. No pictures from those exciting events, but the next shot is from another youth group extraveganza. We had the kids come to church and sweep spider webs off the building and weed the landscaping before we headed to Valley Fair. Paul and I did NOT go on any rides that spin us upside down. It's not that we're chicken, but those on the ground would not appreciate what happens when I get dizzy on rides!
The first full week of August I directed Vacation Bible School. The theme was Make a Splash for Jesus and we turned our church property into a water park for a week. One of our men hooked up hoses and a pump from the lake to create water slides and the kids had a blast - teen helpers as well as the children. Nobody went home dry, even if they just got squirted with a squirtgun. The songs, stories, crafts and treats were a perfect way to fill the kid's lives with living water!
The last weekend in August before school started we spent up north at my friend Joan and Tim's cabin. It was perfect weather, and great relaxing with adults for a change! Paul and Tim put in a day of golf - 36 holes and Joan and I shopped. We had several pontoon rides to see the eagle's nest just around the bend from the cabin. I got a few small pictures, but Tim has a professional zoom and got some magnificent ones of the eagle and the loons, too.
The sunsets were amazing - a perfect way to end the day, sitting around a bonfire and watching God's handiwork.

Out East Part 3

We took a walk back in history when we visited Plimoth Plantation. We talked to actors who portray actual historical characters and they respond as if itwas really 1627!
We spent a day traveling from Lexington to Concord, just as Paul Rever did on his famous ride - except we actually made it to Concord. He got captured along the way. A group of Patriot reenactors were on site at a tavern along the road to Concord. It was a real family affair with moms, dads and kids sharing the lifestyle of 1775 activities.
We had fun golfing at several courses during our trip. This one happens to be in the Bershire Mountains near our time share. No hole-in-ones on this trip.
On the way home we spent the night at a KOA Kamping Kabin near Notre Dame so we had to walk around the campus to see the sights. This next picture is of the library which faces the football stadium. The mosiaic is often called "Touchdown Jesus" because it is visible from inside the stadium over the Notre Dame end zone!
Well, this concludes the pictures and tales of our trip ... finally! Most of you have probably all seen the complete set of 300 photos. It was a great time, and I have made a CD of just the historical parts to show at school this fall on my SMARTboard (a whiteboard that connects to a computer and can do all sorts of cool things!) Stay tuned for the further summer adventures of the Caseys. Hopefully I can get everything posted this weekend before summer is officially over.

Travels Part 2

Here is the continuation of our adventures out East. After leaving New York and the girls, we journeyed to Massachussetts to a timeshare in the Berkshires. We enjoyed playing a little golf and exploring the Norman Rockwell Museum before heading to Boston and a stay with Paul's cousin Dede. The first thing we did was head to a Red Sox game. The sausages were outstanding - the Red Sox lost!
On Thursday we spent the day walking the Freedom Trail. It really made history come alive. From Boston Common to the Old North Church we stopped at every location to read and absorb the incredible history tucked away in modern Boston. Here is Paul Revere on his famous ride.
You walk across the bridge over the Charles River and climb aboard Old Ironsides before hiking up Bunker Hill (which is really Breed's Hill). The ship is manned by modern day Navy guys who have to learn her history as well as how to sail with 1800 style rigging!
On Friday we headed to Plymouth to see the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock, as well as exploring Plimoth Plantation and eating some incredible seafood at the harbor. It was the 50th anniversary of the Mayflower II this year, and they were sailing this 1600 style ship several weekends this summer, too. It is amazing how over 100 people lived for two months onboard this little ship.

At Plimoth Plantation, the people who work there play the role of real historical Pilgrims and need to act like it is 1627. You can talk to them and they will respond from the point of view the original Pilgrims had. The Wampanaog Village has Native Americans who demonstrate life in the 1600's also. This man was building a dugout canoe by burning and scraping out the center of a log!

I guess I will post Travels Part 3 next week before school starts. After that, who knows if I'll have anything more to tell about that would be interesting to put in a blog! My sister already did the pickle canning event (though she didn't get the picture of the pickles in the bathtub, so you can look forward to a shot of that sometime in September - heh heh).

Travels Part 1

On June 4 we headed for New York to bring Alison her stuff, as she got a permanent job at the Olympic Training site in Lake Placid. We stayed at Christie's new cabin at Bloomingdale, a small community outside of Saranac Lake. Alison was working a lot and couldn't spend very much time with us, but she did get us in to the Olympic venues for some fun. Here we had a bobsled run on the 1980 Olympic track. Good thing we had a professional driver and brakeman. We went 65 miles per hour around all those curves!
The next day we drove up to the top of Whiteface Mountain - where the downhill ski events took place in 1980. The last 26 stories you have to climb, or take an elevator. Of course, we chose to climb! What a awesome view.
In the background of the next picture you can see Lake Placid. It's a good thing we had our own personal guide. Christie had been up there before, and could point out all the sights.
You can see all the way to Lake Champlain and Vermont from the top. The temptation is to just sit on a rock and soak in the beauty of God's creation.

While we were there we also had time to golf, visit Paul Smith's College where Christie works, hike in the Visitor's Interpretive Center which is part of the 14,000 acres of the campus, go out to eat several times, and worship together at Chrisitie's church on Sunday. It was really a very special time. We love the Adirondacks and can now enjoy it year 'round by reading Paul's Father's Day gift - a magazine subscription to a very cool magazine all about the area. But ... our vacation wasn't over yet! Stay tuned for the next posting with a visual journal of historic Boston!

Blogging Mania Hits the Caseys

I have decided to jump into the 21st century and join the blogging scene. It has been such fun reading all the other family blogs, I just couldn't be left out! For my first post, I'll tell you all about our adventures installing a backsplash in our kitchen. On Sat. July 14, my nephew Ted and new nephew Andy (Jenna's husband) volunteered to come over and help with the project. Did I say help? THEY DID ALL THE WORK! Andy came to help Teddy and learn how to use his stone cutting tools, since he and Jenna are doing mega projects at the house they bought in March. (Go check out their blog - they are doing a fantastic job!). Jenna came along to help me babysit Teddy's boy, Matthew (it was such a tough assignment!) Teddy came back on Monday to grout the wall, and Paul and I chiseled it all off on Tuesday night (that was a chore!) and then on Wednesday night we used a cleaner to get rid of the grout haze. Finally on Thursday morning I gave it two coats of sealer. Whew! This is the finished product - we love it!The gray squares have leaves imprinted on them - a little tough to see in this photo. You'll have to come visit to get the full effect.

Stay tuned for an account of our recent adventures in New York and Boston. It may take me a while to recover from the trauma of doing this post 6-7 times before I got it right!