The day of our long-awaited vacation has finally arrived! We traveled to Maine to spend a week with Erich's parents today!!! It was a LONG day. We had a 6am flight, so we had to wake up at 3:45am to just barely make it in time to board the plane. Then, after 2 plane rides, we rented a car from Portland and drove 2 hrs to Port Clyde, where we boarded a ferry boat and rode to Monhegan Island, a 1.75 miles long by 0.75 miles wide island located 12 miles off the coast of Maine in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where Erich's parents own an amazing cottage (see photo below). We haven't been here in six years...much too long! After the very long trip, we were all really excited to step off that boat and see Oma and Opa!
I feel most myself on this island. I LOVE this place... The second I stepped off the ferry, I felt myself unwind. I love breathing the fresh, cool sea air, hearing the seagulls, living the simple, slower-paced life, walking everywhere (no cars on the island), being surrounded by stunning nature, the wild flowers, having a zillion photographic subjects at every turn, hiking any of the 17 miles of gorgeous, pristine trails through the woods to breathtaking views of the cliffs..... It is just heaven. I am really looking forward to this vacation. I may not come back home. ;)
It's SUMMER! Today was the last day of school for my son; we went to the award assembly to honor all the achievements of the students this year. I'm going to gloat. ;) Our son made A Honor Roll all year long, received the Pizza with the Principal award, received the Gold Principal's Young Reader Award, and most importantly, received the Outstanding Citizenship award for his class!! I'm so proud of my amazing boy! At the end, the principal did her graduation "magic" and had the students spin around, and as she yelled "Shazaaam!", they all turned into...... SECOND graders! This is a snapshot I quickly took right after they all spun around and made the "transformation". :) My baby is going to be a second grader next year.... Wow.
This afternoon, in our yard, we saw this little turtle. I'm not sure what kind he is... He looked like he'd had a rough life...his shell was very beat up and his face was all sandy. He stared me and my sons down with attitude as I took this picture and then he slowly crossed to the other side of our grass into the mulch. Funny little guy.
This evening while I was taking pictures of my older son and the rest of the team practicing on the baseball field, I turned around to check on my other little doodlebug and found him peeking out of the dugout to watch the boys batting. Would you look at that cute face? :)
I went to see my alligator friend again tonight after putting the kids to sleep. I couldn't find him at first, but then I spotted him hiding in the reeds. He was making the water vibrate around him, causing all sorts of ripples. I thought the reflections were really pretty. Such a peaceful way to end the day...just me, the alligator, crickets, and about a trillion no-see-ums and mosquitoes. ;)
I volunteered to blow up 150 balloons with air and fill 175 water balloons to be used for Field Day at my son's school tomorrow. It's been an interesting evening/night. :) I have a huge blister on my finger from tying all the balloons... Thank GOD my husband brought a scuba tank and air-filling valve home from work so we didn't have to blow the balloons up with our lungs ourselves.... We got the kids to help with the water balloons - we had an assembly line going. It was a very soaking experience - ha ha - but so fun! Drank some wine and watched a movie while we filled the air balloons. Here is my husband buried in bags of balloons tonight after we finally finished filling them all up. Hilarious. Not at all an artistic/pretty photo, but it tells the story. :) It's gonna take a few trips to school in the morning to deliver them all!
I watched another beautiful sunset tonight. It was the perfect way to end a great day. We wound up having a completely different day than planned since the baseball games were cancelled due to flooding on the field. We were disappointed, but it wasn't a total wash. We made the best of it and went out on the boat all morning and got to do some snorkeling and swimming! Very fun!
I feel most myself on this island. I LOVE this place... The second I stepped off the ferry, I felt myself unwind. I love breathing the fresh, cool sea air, hearing the seagulls, living the simple, slower-paced life, walking everywhere (no cars on the island), being surrounded by stunning nature, the wild flowers, having a zillion photographic subjects at every turn, hiking any of the 17 miles of gorgeous, pristine trails through the woods to breathtaking views of the cliffs..... It is just heaven. I am really looking forward to this vacation. I may not come back home. ;)
