Vacationland

We finally purchased National Park passes during Tom's visit and they're being put to good use. After Tom departed Sunday, our good friend Julie and her boyfriend Mike came to spend the night on the following Thursday finishing their vacation in Bar Harbor at 'Park Place'. Having spent the previous night at the Harborside just down the street, it was quite a few rungs down the hospitality ladder. We hoped that after a couple of gin & tonics an Aerobed was passable as a place to rest for the night.

Julie & Mike left mid-day on Friday and we welcomed Uncle John & Aunt Val for an overnight stay on Friday. Poor Val suffered not only the long drive to Maine but also the fact that her hosts forgot her birthday. Sorry Va!!! We know burgers and frozen fries don't make for memorable birthday dinners, next time lobster, we promise. Their counsel on our house project has been invaluable and I think John was glad this visit didn't involve chainsaws or heavy lifting. The only progress we could mark on the building project during their visit were the sill plates on a bare foundation. John did manage to find another rather large and rather dead tree for me to cut though (which I did Sunday afternoon). After visiting our house project, we made our way to Seawall in Manset and stopped at the top of Cadillac Mountain for a hazy view of the Maine coast. Following that we headed over to the loop road near Otter Point for a picnic lunch. Sig pulled a Jackson Pollock with his GoGurt (yogurt in a tube) at lunch and covered John, Val & Laura with active culture. We never seem to bring enough baby-wipes to cover the messes our kids make. Sig enjoyed trying to communicate with the seagulls in what Val termed a 'really creepy evil laugh'. We continued on the loop road by Jordan Pond, Bubble Rock, Bubble Pond and finally back to our place where it was nap-time for the kids.

Good seeing all of you, next time bring your paintbrushes and hammers...we're going to need some serious help if we want to be in our new home by November.