Less than 12 hours after the girls returned to Brooklyn from summer camp in New Jersey...
woosh...
they were back in the car and heading up to Maine for their August adventure.
This year we decided to go straight up to Maine and bypass the overnight at Nana and Papa's house in Natick. So, seven hours later, Goldie pulled up to the cottage and our Maine adventure began.
Saturday: We didn't get to Old Orchard until about 5 PM. Nana and Papa were already there and the girls quickly scampered out of the car to reacquaint themselves with their summer home. There was a new couch, some rearranged furniture, a beautiful new set of doors on the garage, and a really great landscaping job courtesy of Cousin Linder. The car was quickly unpacked and off we went to our first meal at Huot's in Camp Ellis.
Sunday: The weather turned rainy so the girls finally got to see "Brave" at CineMagic in Saco. Stella gave it two thumbs up, but meek Marni was a little scared by the more intense scenes, so she didn't give it a favorable review.
Monday: On Monday we finally made it to the beach and the girls demonstrated their new-found swimming confidence by diving into the waves and body surfing. After we dragged them off the beach and cleaned them up, we headed to miniature golf. Daddy won (as usual), but Stella was the only Shepard to get a hole-in-one.
Tuesday: On Tuesday Stella and Marni got to do their favorite thing... crabbing. But our timing was bad and when we showed up at the dock in Camp Ellis, it was absolute low tide. The dock was so low that it was actually sitting on the bottom of the bay. There were few crabs to be found. We stayed for an hour, but only caught two little monsters. Ice cream managed to make everyone feel better afterwards.
Wednesday: On Wednesday history was made when the four Shepards rode together on their own bikes for the very first time. We drove over to the Eastern Trail, mounted up, and headed out for a 5 mile ride through the beautiful Maine scenery. The girls did fantastic! Neither one had ridden any serious distances before, and they did 5 miles without a whimper. There was an incident though (we love incidents). Marni got cut off by Stella and veered off the path, down the embankment, and into the brush. It happened in slow motion as Lisa and I watched. We both thought she would stop after she hit the first plants, but she just kept going and going and eventually fell over in the thick of it. Luckily, the brush cushioned her fall and didn't contain any thorns. She was shaken up but not hurt. After a few minutes, brave Marni was back on her bike and riding again.
Thursday: Just a lazy beach day. Not much to report.
Marni hydrates with the Camelback
Friday: Friday was hiking day. We loaded up with snacks and lunch, filled
Daddy's Camelback with Gatorade, and headed for our favorite hiking
location in Cape Elizabeth. Again, the girls did great... and no one
ended up in the brush.
Saturday: Saturday was Stella's first on-street bike ride as we headed a mile down
the road to The Salty Bay for lunch. Marni opted out of the event and,
instead, rode on the back of Lisa's bike. Once again Stella did
fantastic! She kept up a great pace and wasn't nervous about the cars
whizzing by. Nana and Papa, and Karen and Glenn joined us for lunch and for the weekend. Eventually everyone ended up at the beach and there was a lot of splashing going on. Stella, Marni, and Papa did some amazing body surfing. Later, we all headed to the Blackpoint Inn to celebrate Nana Bev's birthday.
Marni and Bess
Sunday: On Sunday, Marni's classmate Bess and her family dropped by on their way to their vacation in Belfast. We kept it a surprise for Marni and she was overjoyed (and a little confused) when her friend showed up. Everyone headed to the beach again for many hours of fun.
Monday: Daddy was supposed to be on a 6 AM plane home on Monday, but the flight was cancelled the night before. Eventually Nana and Papa drove me to an Amtrak station outside of Boston. But not even Amtrak could get me home in time as my train was terminated at New Haven due to storm damage on the tracks. I finally got to the office at 4:30. Joy.
So I think the theme for week 1 was "independence". Both girls now dress themselves and groom themselves without assistance. They bike without fear and they dive into the waves without hesitation.
They are a lot of fun to be around.
Waiting to eat at Huot's
The hike in Cape Elizabeth
Lisa almost gets hit by a clam dropped by a seagull.
Making friends with Wilbur at the local hardware store
The first family bike ride
Annual measuring
Papa is not too concerned about the granddaughter in the surf
