It's lobster time!

Saturday morning was spent doing some last minute grocery shopping and preparing all the side dishes and setting up for the big feast. Around 1:00 the guests started to arrive for the annual clam/lobster bake. In my humble opinion, there's nothing better than quahogs and Maine lobster steamed to perfection and drenched in butter. They were favorites of mine as a kid and remain so today.














For the most part it was the usual crowd of people this year. Sadly Dave's grandmother was unable to make the trip (she's 93) nor was his uncle Jerry as well as some other family members. However those that did make it enjoyed a beautiful day with great friends and great food.




The day wouldn't be complete without a trip to the beach - which is just down the street! It was extreme low tide when we got there, the girls were jumping from rock to rock.









Cameron went in for a dip while Jordan did what most 17 year old girls do, and talked to her boyfriend on the phone.









Our time with Dave's family was short this year. Only one full day with them really. I missed having time to walk on the beach & to take my usual 15o million pictures of the girls. I have had some really great shots of them playing on the rocks over the years. I wanted to take some more using my new camera but just ran out of time. The sad thing is, with Jordan starting college next fall, I'm not sure what the future holds for us either...



One thing is for certain though, the weekend is all about family & friends. Time to take a break and have some fun with those that mean the most to us.

Heading out...

Friday morning was every bit as wonderful as the day before. I had my coffee out on the deck and enjoyed the tranquility until the rest of the household started to stir. Unfortunately this day was a short one. Cameron & I had time for a trip out in the canoe (this time she sat in front!) and then it was back to the business of cleaning & packing as we had to be in Massachusetts by dinnertime.

I snapped some last photos of the pond & surrounding mountains as I stood on the dock. There are no words to describe the feeling of peace, comfort and contentment that I felt during our few days in Maine. I am so glad I finally decided it was time to make the trip. For the life of me, I don't know what took me so long.








We hit the road about noontime, headed for the annual clam bake at my in-laws cottage in Fairhaven. The trip brought us only a few minutes away from Exeter. Although I felt the pull, I didn't mention it. I figured my family had had enough of my childhood this week and Dave would probably kill me if I asked him to do a drive by.

We got to the cottage in about 5 or so hours. Just in time for cocktails. Our family friends the Henderson's had arrived a few hours before us and everyone was happy and ready for the feast on Saturday.

More fun

After a quick lunch, we were back outside. The girls started out with an old favorite of mine, Minnow catching. All you need is a sieve and some bread & they just seem to swim right in. Some things never change.












Once all the minnows were caught, or at least the little tub was full it, was back to the waters for more canoe rides. Hard to believe Cameron was afraid to go out in the canoe only a day earlier!














Then finally, it was Daddy's turn to get wet. As you may gather by the look on his face, he REALLY enjoyed the cold Maine water. ha ha...







Oh & just in case you couldn't clearly see the look on his face, even if you clicked on the image to get the full size picture, here it is again. Close up.






And finally, one more canoe trip to finish out the late afternoon sun.








It was a fun day that's for sure. Jordan & I managed to get a bit of a sunburn and we were all worn out by the end of the day. And what a beautiful end of the day it was!

Water play

The sun hits our camp & dock the best in the morning and after a quick breakfast it was time to play. With one daring dive off the dock, Jordan was the first one to hit the water.





After a few minutes swimming around she opted for one of the inflatable rafts belonging by my Nieces. Since that looked like such a good idea, I was compelled to join her. I tried my best to get in the raft with as little contact with the water as possible. Unfortunately, since the rafts were made for children and with my being a plus sized adult um.... it was not the graceful process I had hoped for and I got wet. very wet.




I finally thought to bring the raft over to the shallows to get on from there, and off I went, chasing my daughter around the pond. She was trying to paddle herself around with a little bitty paddle, I was going for kick power.




Cameron in the meanwhile, had not yet dared to brave the less than 70 degree water and was still on the dock, dangling her feet in the water. Chicken!




Eventually, she wandered off and got some noodles from under the house and we entertained ourselves with noodle water fights.






After we grew bored with that, I wandered off again. Soaking up the warm Maine sunshine & enjoying the time spent floating on the pond. Until that is, my mean daughter swam up with nefarious intent.... Splash. In the water I went.






That's ok. It gave me the opportunity to try to coax Cameron in to the water.






After she stopped trying to drown me and I got her in a "warm spot" she seemed to finally relax and enjoy the water. This was funny to me because when I was a kid, it was the adults who feared the cold and the little ones who didn't seem to care. I guess she's been spoiled by the warm waters of Virginia.

One morning in Maine...

Day 3 dawned calm and clear. I got up before the rest of the family and had some coffee out on the deck. Mornings are without a doubt my favorite time.
There is usually a loon or two out on the pond, the birds are chirping, the feeders my parents keep are busy and there I sit,
communing with nature.

My father has a humming bird feeder that has got to be the busiest feeder I've ever seen! It wasn't unusual to see 3 or 4 Hummingbirds flying around the feeder although I never did see more than one land and have a snack at the same time. Needless to say, I snapped a ton of hummingbird photos.



There were other feeders that attracted other types of birds. Including this little black & yellow guy (no clue what kind of bird he is, sorry)




And also what I think are chickadee's




After the birds finished eating and scattering seed all over the place, the clean up crew would come along and make sure all the scatter was cleaned up nice & tidy.



But alas. The idyllic quiet mornings never lasted long and soon, the next member of the household would arise and begin her morning dance on the dock and all the wildlife - feather, fin & fur would scurry away.

Our New England Vacation

We just got back from a quickie vacation in New England. We started out on Monday the 18th. Getting up before dawn, we hit the road to to Dave's parents house in Massachusetts. It was just a one night layover stop, but it was the first time Cameron had seen their "real" house! Every other trip up since she's been born has been to their beach cottage. Needless to say, she was happy to check out her grandparents digs, and we all caught up a little bit.

Tuesday morning we left for Maine. To me, this was the highlight of the trip. My father owns a small summer house there we call "camp". When I was little and lived in New Hampshire we'd spend a lot of time there each summer. Most of my fondest childhood memories revolve around our summers at camp. I'm not sure of the exact number but as near as I can tell, I haven't been there in close to 30 years. I would have been in my early teens (I think) the last time I was there.

Although my parents have made some minor improvements on the old place (potable water, a shower, a dishwasher & a washer & dryer - along with cable tv) I found it to be pretty much the same.


We arrived early afternoon, got the car unpacked and explored our surroundings a bit. Honestly, I'm not sure at this point what my family was thinking but for me, it was overwhelming to be there again. The weather when we arrived was a bit chilly. I'm not sure it was much more than 60 degrees, if that. There was a bit of a breeze and the kids were freezing after only a few minutes. That didn't stop Cameron from wanting to go swimming though.

After we explored the house a bit, Dummy & Daughter (Jordan & I) decided to go out in the canoe. Jordan has only been in a canoe once in her life and I haven't steered one in well... 30 years. It was chilly outside with a slight breeze was blowing. The pond was choppy, but nothing much to worry about. We left the dock heading to our left, which was towards the inlet. We paddled up with no problems even though were were going against the wind. After we'd had our fill of paddling around the inlet and checking out all the other houses on our way, we turned back towards home. We overshot our dock by a few so we could check out the house my Aunt Susan used to rent with her family. That's were we got in to trouble... By this time the wind had picked up a bit. We were headed for home when a couple of big gusts of wind stopped us from making any forward progress. We were able to keep the canoe from going backwards but that was about it. Just as the gusts died down and we started moving forward again, another huge gust came along and SPLASH! Dummy & daughter were in the water. Shoes, jeans & fluffy warm coats and all. After checking to ensure Jordan was ok, the giggles ensued. There were more than feathered loons on the pond that day. I'm sure the way voices carry there, EVERYONE came to the windows to see what was so darn funny. After re-gaining some composure we started swimming our now upside down canoe over towards the dock at Beanie Richardsons place. A woman had seen the whole embarrassing episode (which she deemed really, really scary!) and came out with towels and life jackets for us. We righted the canoe and opted to tie up there and walk home. Unfortunately in my cold, dripping, embarrassed state I neglected to get her name. All I know is she was renting Beanie Richardson's place but her maiden name was Whiting and she'd had a crush on one of my brothers growing up. I got out of there at that point wanting only warm, dry clothes for Jordan & me! The rest of that first day passed uneventfully I'm happy to say. Between the clothes line, the some what pathetic dryer and the gas fireplace we managed to get warm & dry.

Day two dawned another somewhat chilly, windy day. Dave & I wandered down to get the canoe & return the laundered towels we'd used mid morning. No one was home so I still don't have the name of the woman who watched us go over. We took a walk along the main road that runs along the south shore of the pond. I noticed lots of building on the far side where they'd have no view or water access. I couldn't help but wonder who owns that land anyway?!



The girls stopped to strike a pose on a really large boulder we saw along the side of the road. After our walk we had some lunch and since it was still too cold outside to go swimming, the girls & I decided to get in the van & drive along the north shore road and explore over there a bit. Normally I'd have taken the canoe over to the little "beach" over there but Cameron was afraid after the capsizing incident the day before. Since it was still windy & choppy we just drove. We parked and spent a few minutes on the rocks at the beach area. The wind wasn't as bad as it had been on our side of the pond. Then we decided to climb "Woodsmans Peake". My mother had requested her ashes be sprinkled up there and over the pond, so the climb was something I really wanted to make. When I was a kid, I can remember practically running up. Now that I'm an over weight, out of shape adult, running was not in the cards. I near about died with the first steep part of the climb but then it evened out a bit & the bulk of the climb wasn't bad at all. The view from the top is amazing. We enjoyed the steady heat of the sun and complete lack of wind while catching our breath after the climb.



Jordan was especially taken with the view & the peace on top of Woodsmans Peak. I didn't think I was going to get her to climb back down again! We both wished we'd had the foresight to realize it would have been the perfect place to try to take her senior pictures. Although I did take some shots of her, none were what I'd want for that occasion. I have lots of notes and pose ideas here at home. I might have been able to pull it off if I'd thought to bring them with me. Oh well...