Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Part 3

And here's that magnificent view, up close and personal.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Part 2

Going up in any lighthouse is a real treat. However, the view from this particular one is the piece de resistance.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Part 1

If you've never looked at a map of Maine's coastline, you might be surprised to know there are tons of points and peninsulas - almost 3000 miles' worth.

Jed and I decided to explore a new one recently and headed down to New Harbor, which happens to be home to one of the most photographed lighthouses in Maine.

Riding out the Storm

Jed has been keeping his mind off the hurricane warnings this week by building every Lego set he owns. He finally finished the last one today...thanks to everyone who made this possible! :)









We spent the afternoon letterboxing and learned something useful...a hurricane is a perfect time to search for boxes in public places, as there probably won't be anybody else around. It's also a good time to catch a nap without being harrassed by the cops.



Jed was the proud finder of this box, overlooked by both of his elders.







It's now 11:15 pm...so far, so good on the Irene homefront.

Running on Empty

I'm about to keel over from trying to pack as much fun stuff as I can into the last two weeks of summer vacation. We've got one more week to go...I hope I make it. :)

Yesterday I took Jed and Grace to the Union fair, which was quite fun but even more so because it only comes around once a year. ha Then we took a dip in the pond to cool off, and even I joined in on that part...in fact, it was totally my idea that we go. I can't tell you how pleasant it is to float around in a tube for two hours while kids take turns pulling you around just because they want to.

Tonight Jed and I dragged Tracy to the fair for the grand finale - a demolition derby. I think it's my first one, and it was a riot. The best part is they raffled off a chance to be a driver in the last competition, and a teenage boy won. And not only did he win the chance, he won the competition! It was hysterical. I told Tracy next year I'm going to put $5 down for my chance behind the wheel.

On a completely unrelated note, I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we started letterboxing again. One of our recent finds was located in Rockport Marine Park, home of the famous Andre the Seal. Andre was a harbor seal rescued by the Rockport harbormaster in the 1960s, who spent his winters at the New England Aquarium in Boston and his summers (like so many other smart folks) in Maine. The amazing part was that he made his way up the coast every year for 25 years by himself, voluntarily, even though he was kept in a pen in the harbor and taught tricks to entertain the summer visitors. Apparently he enjoyed it, much to the delight of the crowds.

Jed sure wishes there was a seal at the harbor now. The concrete one just isn't the same. :)

101 Books on the Shelf

I never thought he would do it.

I thought Jed was out of his mind when he signed up to read 100 books this summer through our local library's summer reading program.

I thought it would be a snap to meet his goal when he came home from the library that first day and read 20 books.

I thought wrong. The rest of the reading was done a little at a time, with a huge push at the end.

I think next year I'll remind Jed to sign up for a more modest number of books. :)

So the library had a grand finale last week to the summer program, and Jed and Grace had a great time singing, making bubbles and taking a few swings at a pinata.

I think the end of the library summer reading program heralds the end of the summer.

A Rose by Any Other Name

I've lived in the Southeast, the Midwest, and now the Northeast parts of the US. Although there's only 1500 miles at most between these areas, it's funny how different the language can be in each. As you may well imagine, that is especially true here in the Northeast.

One of my favorite Maine colloquialisms is their penchant for calling grandparents "Grammy" and "Grampy." So when Brad told me he and Jenn were expecting, of course one of the first things I thought of was that Tracy was going to be Grampy Staley. I couldn't wait to tell him the good news! :)

One of my favorite things about Tracy is his quick wit, and he did not disappoint. When confronted with the dubious honor of this new moniker, he responded in his usual droll fashion with the request to be called Grumpy Staley instead.

And so, without further ado, I give you Grumpy Staley and Dycey Doodle:

Heavenly Days

So I guess I'll restart the posts with the best part of our summer thus far...babysitting the grandbaby!

Dyce is four months old now, and we had him to ourselves (more or less) for 6 days. Bliss!

It's Good to be Back

Well, it appears I've taken quite a break, eh?

I didn't exactly plan to...but when I discovered Google Reader and decided to use it to keep up with the blogs I read instead of having them listed on my own blog, I had no motivation to go to my own blog anymore. Until I discovered something else just the other day...Blurb. The idea of having my blog posts published in a book is so appealing to me, but it won't amount to much if I don't actually write something once in a while. :)

It's been a good summer, and amazingly it's still warm enough in Maine to feel like summer, which is a good thing because we have a good-sized list of things I'd like to do before this season is over.

So while I get to it, you can feel free to feast your eyes on this grandbaby of mine...