We pulled out of Brooklyn on Saturday headed for an overnight stay in Natick. On Sunday we headed up to Maine with Nana and Papa in tow. After a brief stop at the New Hampshire State Liquor store (for mommy and daddy's happy juice) we all pulled in to the cottage by late morning.
The weather was nearly perfect all week with the exception of a gloomy day that sent us up to the Lobster Festival in Rockland and the Stefanoff/Imhoff tribe out to the movies.
Stella and Marni immediately got back into the beach groove and were thrilled when their favorite pink bedroom took shape again.The 7 girls were great together on the beach and in the cottage. They built sand castles, jumped in the waves, played with their skate boards (what Marni calls boogie boards) and searched for sand worms.
On lobster night, Stella was particularly thrilled to mercilessly chase Jessie and Lauren around with a lobster claw. They don't like seafood.
Speaking about seafood, week 1 was quite a wildlife learning experience for the Shepard girls.
A couple of days later I suddenly found a live and large surf clam at my feet in the waves. We placed the 6" clam in a beach pail with sand and water and were fascinated all afternoon as it dug its way down into the sand to hide. Once the tide started coming in we took "Clammy Davis Jr." down to the water and buried him in the sand for safety.
Our marine biologist daughters continued their education at the Lobster Festival at a "touching tank". The tank is only about a foot deep and low to the ground allowing kids to reach in and touch the inhabitants. Stella and Marni were super brave as they held live muscles, star fish, snails, scallops, clams and lobsters. They would not touch the sea urchin though.
On the last day of the Stefanoff/Imhoff stay, we ventured into Portland to take a duck boat tour. Unfortunately, a missing wallet incident caused 5 of the group to miss the tour, but Jenna and Jasmine made the trip because they were riding in our car.
Things got a bit quiet after the 5 girls left town, but cousins Becca and Lily took over and kept Stella and Marni occupied (along with cousins Alex, Janet, and Elise).
Saturday night was "downtown" night. Froggie ride. Other rides. Ice cream at Dairy Queen.
Daddy flew back to NYC at dawn on Monday. Now I get about fifty million phone calls a day from the girls via the office phone in the cottage. Yesterday I was in tears laughing so hard during a call with Marni.
That girl cracks me up.
(This post contains video that can only be viewed from the website.)
