riding casually through a corner of 1968

 I have a friend who owns a 1968 convertible.  This morning I dropped my children at soccer camp for the day, and drove to her house with my head scarf on.  I knocked on her door and said "Good Morning Thelma!  It's me... Louise, and I'm here for a drive."  She grabbed her keys and off we went.  Honestly, it was a perfect morning for a drive, and the perfect way to reclaim a tiny bit of 1968.

Family, indeed.

We were gathered this weekend to celebrate Tanner's next big adventure.

There were MANY missing, but we thought of you all and shared good, happy hours together.

I love this big crazy bunch of people.

Farewell July, Farewell Elder Nephew

 Tanner will be the third child/grandchild/cousin/missionary in his generation of the family to serve a mission.  He enters the Missionary Training Center in Brazil on August 1st, and will spend two years in Londrina, Brazil.

LUCKY LONDRINA!!

party's in the air...

The New Hampshire contingency joined us for the weekend.

JoJo turned seven.

Welcome to this crazy family, birthday boy!

Couch to 5K Running

WE did it.

We started training on May 15th.  Today was race day. The process was NOT pain-free, but

WE.DID.IT!!

 (and then we slunk to the floor and admired the great and varied assortment of running shoes while they awarded the prizes.)

We were happy to discover that the proceeds from the 5K benefited the Special Olympians in Shrewsbury.  A side note: Sweet Mesquite won a package of funky tie dye running socks AND came in 2nd in her age category!
'Twas indeed "a hot race for a cool cause."

First Impressions

There is nothing finer than a garden-fresh tomato.  I've always thought so.

In the summer of 1988, I was freshly returned from my mission in Colombia, eager to begin my last year of college; working temporary jobs to make ends meet.

Because it was summer, the garden was in full operation.

When I was young, I remember marveling at my dad when he would slice them up fresh from the back yard, sprinkle salt and pepper on them and then eat and enjoy them like they were a fine steak.

I don't have many memories of what I packed for lunch that summer of transition, but Mr. Dub does.  He claims the first time he saw me, I was on a lunch break sitting outside the Northboro Raytheon facility, eating a tomato like it was an apple.  He claims it was love at first sight.  That's a first impression story for which I owe a great debt of gratitude to one of my dearest loves, the summer tomato.

Hail!  The first two summer tomatoes, fresh from our little garden patch.

Welcome, Friends.

hairy funny

I've been distracted...

Can you blame me?!?

Look who's in town for a visit.

The highlight of my weekend

I drove to Raymond, NH to pick up these beauties

from a week at Girls Camp on Lake Onway.

I missed them!

how many cub scouts does it take....

to set up a four-man tent?

Answer:  ALL of them.

the beehive trail

 Before we left Acadia, we decided to hike.

We voted unanimously on The Beehive Trail because of the "cool iron ladders and railings" embedded into the rock face of the mountain overlooking Sand Beach (as seen in the Visitor's Center movie).  We headed up the trail, and stopped abruptly at the bottom of the face of the mountain, slightly surprised at what was ahead.

 We made the decision to divide and conquer the mountain.  Half of us went straight up the face, and the other half went around the back and up The Bowl trail.

Below you can see Mr. Dub reading the trail marker.  The Beehive trail continued straight up that mountain in the background.  We spotted the little tiny hikers making their way up the face of that thing, and stood in awe.

 Don't think for a minute that the back route was a piece of cake... we all arrived equally sweaty and tired.  Some of us enjoyed a more wooded, shady trail, and some of us enjoyed terrifying views from rock ledges.

 Some of us stopped for some DELICIOUS wild Maine blueberries along the trail.

We ALL enjoyed the view from the summit.

WE.LOVE.MAINE!

popovers at Jordan Pond

The last time we happened past Jordan Pond House (20+ years ago) we didn't bother to stop for popovers.  Our loss.  We weren't about to let that happen again.  MMmmmm.... 

on-target for summer fun

My Morning Boy and I are at cub scout camp every day this week.

 Bulls-eye!

synchronizing bladders

This was the trickiest part of traveling with seven people.  Our destination was six hours from home.  It felt like we were stopping every half hour to take care of the issue that just wouldn't quit.  Thankfully, we had many fun stops planned along the way.  Going home, we got serious and banned drinks altogether.

Kayaking in Bar Harbor

 Boy, I'll tell you what.

This was definitely a summer highlight.

 There's nothing like an evening paddle in Bar Harbor.  We kayaked out around Bar Island and circled Sheep Porcupine Island until just about sundown.  Maine is amazing no matter how you experience it, but with the sun turning the ocean all sparkly, this was an extra special vantage point.

 We all paddled in tandem kayaks except Enrique, who set off solo.  Leeli was my partner, and she bent over backwards (literally) every time she wanted to talk to me, because I couldn't hear her over the sounds of the water and the breeze.

Bar Harbor, we love you so.