Beautiful

I call her a little one, but she's not really a little one anymore. Sometimes I think I am going to be sad to not have "little" kids under foot, and then I think of Olivia and how much fun it is to watch her grow up. Thats when I realize that this next stage is going to be fun too. The truth is that I will always miss having little ones underfoot, but the other truth is that I'm also excited about what's coming next =0).

Lobster Traps

After our wilderness island experience, we took a tour through the coastal waters.

First we rode the "Mandy Jean" to see the seals basking out on rocks.

Then, our Lobster man Patrick, took us to pull in some lobster traps!

We all (especially Liv) got front row seats. Patrick explained the process, some of the details, and we all got to watch him at work.

Liv even got to band all of their claws!

Beckham fell asleep about 2 seconds into our ride, and rode the rest of the way laying on the lobster table =0). Who knew it was so comfortable. Gwen spent her time singing songs into the ocean.

We even purchased the lobsters from Patrick and ate them last night for dinner. It doesn't get any fresher than that!

When we got back into town, we went to the local Methodist church to a "Cutlah Lobstah dinnah" Where we ate Lobster, fish chowder, blueberry cake, corn on the cob and home made bread to benefit Cutler's fourth of July celebration for next year.

The thing I took away from it all, is that I love Cutler, I love the people there. Kind, helpful, quaint people. The people in the town seemed more like family than neighbors, and they treated us more like neighbors than strangers. We had more than one offer for free use of strangers' bathrooms, and more than one offer for free lobsters to take home with us. We loved our time there and already have a special place in my heart for the sweet little down east town of Cutler.

As a side note, I found it humorous, that when one of our friends went up to get his meal, they had run out of corn on the cob, so they offered him another lobster as an exchange. I thought their sloggan should be: "Cutler. . .the only town where corn and lobster are equals."

My Girl

She has an adventurous side.

A Coastal Experience

My friend Joanna is from Cutler, Maine.

Population 500.

Her Father's occupation, along with every other resident: Lobster man.

Her parent's house sits right across from the ocean, their windows all look out to the sea.

The drive there, along 1A, was beautiful.

She organized a "Coastal Experience" where she invited us along with 40 other friends and family to her home town.

We took a trip on a lobster boat to a wilderness island.

Sat in the sun, collected rocks, cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on an open fire.

We played in the sea, found shells, enjoyed the gorgeous view and the salty sea breeze.

It is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. I will chalk it up to one of my favorite days ever.

Summer Staycation |August 2011|

Part of our week on the lake

Making the most of the boat

And the sun

learned how to drive the boat

tried to calm my nerves after driving the boat

A day at Aquaboggen

Went down the slides 50+ times with the girls

Then discussed which one was the fastest

and why BR gets dumped at the bottom every time

watched the little boy sleep on a pool side chair

with a towel draped over his little body

Drove the next day to story land

Spent the day with our favorite storybook characters

called it a great time for all

finished out with more time on the lake

drew flowers with Nana

slid down a slide off the dock with Pugga

and called it a week that went by too fast

(my new favorite pictures of the girls)