Which Ocean Did You Go To?

A long running joke in my family is about the ocean. It goes something like this...

Dad: "what did you do today?"

Me: "We went to the ocean"

Dad: "Which one"

Me: "The Pacific"

People ask the question: "which ocean did you go to?" all of the time. When what they really want to know is which one of the many beaches in Maine, did you visit? This year I have been blessed in that I have gone to both Popham and Reid on decent weather days. Considering that it rained most of June and July; this is quite the accomplishment.

Our first trip to the beach this year was with my friends, Amanda, Ethan, Sandi, and Jed. This is the first trip I have ever had at the ocean that the boys actually played contently for a long period of time. We were there for 4 + hours and didn't really want to leave when we did.

A few weeks later Tyler and I tool the boys to Reid State. The weather was a bit hazy, and it started raining before we left, but the trip was still worth the effort. The boys had a great time getting buried in the sand, and playing in the frigid water (50 degrees!).

Caleb got covered in sand. I had to hold him under those cold showers afterward to wash him off. He took it pretty well considering the circumstances (he was naked in the women's room... ahhh!).

Look Gina... A Lighthouse!!

When I was in school I had this amazing mathematics teacher. More than one actually. But the one that I am going to share about today had this weird infatuation with lighthouses. She loved them. We used to go visit her at her home and she would feed us ice cream and show us her lighthouses and every other year, when the school would go to Vinalhaven, she would point out the lighthouses to us. Anyway, this year during Tyler's vacation we decided to teach the boys a little about lighthouses and go see some. Only instead of driving to one we decided to take a lighthouse cruise down the Kennebec River.

The one and only lighthouse on this "lighthouse tour"

The play ship with the knots, helm, and pulleys was a big hit.

The Maine Maritime Museum in Bath Maine offers a couple of cruises down the river. One was 3 hours long and contained multiple lighthouses, and the other was 1 hour long: They were both expensive. We decided that given the boys age we would go on the shorter of the two trips. So we packed our mommy bag, grabbed Karen and took off for a day at the Museum. We had a delightful time. Although it was a bit pricey, we will probably go back when the boys are a little older and can do more.

The actual cruise was a bit of a let down as we only saw one lighthouse, but the boys still seemed to enjoy it. I think that in the future they should advertise it as a tour of Bath from the water and not a lighthouse cruise. Anyway, the boys had a good time playing on the play ship, touring the ship in port and riding on the boat. Overall, I would say it was a great end to a wet, but wonderful vacation.

Josiah is only pretending to be a Captain; he is really a pirate.

I'm So Bluuuuuuueeee

What a surprise we were in for during Tyler's vacation at the beginning of July. Not only did we have a sunny day, but we also discovered that despite the rain the blueberries continued to thrive. After the strawberry season was basically a bust for us this year, lets just say, I was a little concerned for the blueberries. Thankfully, the blueberries are doing great, in fact, they came early and are around to stay for a while.

Our blueberries maybe small, but they pack a lot of flavor. Come on over and pick yourself a handful. They are quite delicious!

Shin Pond Retreat

I am so blessed to have such wonderful generous friends.  Betsy and Dan Rush own a camp up on Shin Pond, and they offered to take us up there for a few days. It is amazing how God works; Let me show you:

Tyler was attempting to plan his vacation, and being very optimistic that it wouldn't rain. Like every year we start by listing the things that we wanted to do. This year's list included a hiking trip, lighthouse touring, shed work, yard work, hitting the beach, and camping?.  Tyler clarified that he would love to rent a cabin somewhere for a few days to explore and relax with the kids. Well, him and I looked into it a little and decided that renting a cabin for a few days was beyond our budget: Then low and behold a few days later this beautiful couple offers their camp for us to use.  Are they not wonderful?

Betsy took us up on a Sunday afternoon right after church, and we stayed until Tuesday midday. We would have stayed longer, but much like every other week in July, it rained most of the time. Everything was wet, and the boys were running out of things to do inside without destroying the palace-like cabin we were staying in.  Betsy and Dan have a wonderful place up in Northern Maine and their generosity with what God has given them is an incredible witness to me.  

Here are some pics from the few hours of cloudy, yet not rainy days, we had:

Andrew frightens me a little. He loved the boat so very much and wanted to drive it so badly. But as you can see, he is way too small to handle that large motor. He now affectionately calls Dan and Besty, Grammy Betsy and Grampa Betsy (we are working on this one).  But he talks about their motor boat along with any other motor boat he has ever seen with longing. This kid is going to love anything motorized.  

Here is everyone standing on the dock trying to catch a poor little sunfish. I felt so bad for this sunfish, they were all pestering her so much.  

Despite the rain we had a wonderful time exploring and relaxing with friends. Thank you Dan and Betsy for your wonderful gift to us.

My Friend (So Long)

We know exactly where you are, and you're gone [my friend]

Don't know exactly where you're coming from

You've gone away my friend

We know exactly where you are, and you're gone [my friend]

- D.C. Talk - 

This is a posting to say farewell to my friend. My little mac friend whom I have had since I first graduated high school all those many years ago.  Although, he will still be hanging around as a brilliant trash can, I will miss the glow of his little light when he is asleep. 

From Beauty to Class...

Here is the much anticipated new machine. Hopefully he will stand by my side for as long as my beautiful mac tower did. Although, honestly, I doubt he will.