Thursday, July 30, 2009

40th birthday


DSCF0690
Originally uploaded by jillian_werb

I think I forgot to blog about my 40th birthday a week and a half ago. Oops. How did that happen?

I got this fabulous card from Bobby, which I've been sniggering at ever since. And she's been putting these photos on Facebook for the world to see, so I will have to kill her at some stage. Maybe when she's here in August.

Anyway thank you to those who remembered my birthday. To those who forgot it, I'm sure I've forgotten yours too (sorry Pete, and happy birthday for two days ago).

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Jump!


Jump!
Originally uploaded by jillian_werb

For some reason this picture came out really well.

We went to see the Pan Fried Steel Drum band in the Royal River Park today. It didn't rain till towards the end, and the children got to run around and eat pizza - all in all a success...

Then we explored the ruins and played tag afterwards.

Monday, July 13, 2009

SUN!

Yes you read that title right. We have sun. A little rain now and then too, at night, but mostly sun.

Spent Saturday at the Burns camp on Coffee Pond, celebrating Piper's birthday. It was heaven. It was lovely to catch up with Ellen and family, meet up with nursery friends, and watch the kids having a wonderful time.

I did swim. It was cold.

Will try to put photos up.

Sunday I went to look at kayaks. Am thinking of getting a 10' Manatee solo kayak, or possibly even two. It seems though that the kayak isn't the expensive bit - it's the roofrack that really kills the budget.

I also explored the new shopping bit in Freeport. It feels like a proper outdoor mall and I'm sure will be really nice once they let out a few more units. The Nike shop was pretty cool though.

Later I took the kids to Wholefoods where we stocked up on grass-fed beef, Irish bangers, fresh pesto, pastry cases and two-bite brownies. We usually eat complete junk but there are a few things it's worth shopping for in Wholepaycheck.

I didn't feel too well afterwards. I could tell because I sat on the settee for a little rest with Mark, and woke up two hours later.

Mike headed off to Florida for some kind of work-related jaunt, so it's just me and the kids for a couple of days. Needless to say I forgot to call Community Services yesterday to book them into camp for the next three days, so tomorrow we will be banging the door down at 8.30am to book them in, then hot-footing it to the middle school, and I won't get to work till 9.30 at the earliest.

And I have LOADS to do. Loads. Enough that I told Mike I don't want to go away on holiday next week, because I don't want to even start thinking about anything other than work till after next Monday. So we're going to take the time off in August instead.

Which means I should book some kiddie camps for next week too. Hmmmm....

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Fourth of July in Acadia

So far today we've had morning fog, enough sunshine to spend the afternoon at the pool/beach, and now it's thundering. It's never boring here in Maine. We're at Kevin and Diana's house in Northeast Harbor for the 4th of July weekend, experiencing the lifestyle of the rich and fabulous. Kevin and Diana meanwhile are in England watching boat races and Wimbledon.

This morning we went to Bar Harbor's Festival of the Sea and saw our first ever lobster races. It was pretty funny but I can't really describe it. You had to be there.

After eyeballing the queues for seafood we thought about walking into town to have lunch at Route 66, but a brief attempt at the walk brought back memories of last year's disastrous attempt to walk to a restaurant. So I insisted we bail out.

Instead we took our swim stuff to the beach club, where we had lunch, then swam in the coldest pool in the universe, then Mike and I read our books while the children dug up the beach. Gosh it's a pleasure to see the sun again. It's been a long time.

Now we're back at the house, and have eaten pasta with pesto made by Carmen - who the children are delighted to see.

There's thunder rolling, and the skies are changeable - one minute blue, the next black.

Mike and Hannah are thinking about going to Bar Harbor to see the fireworks. Mark was fast asleep on the settee by 6pm - which would explain why he's spent much of this afternoon either arguing or crying. And I'm thinking about having a shower in the 3-head shower room...