IMG_9251
Originally uploaded by jillian_werb
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Fall visit from Barbara and Vi
We've just waved goodbye to mum and granny, who spent about 11 days here and enjoyed glorious sunshine and beautiful fall colours. Granny is now 89 and continues to amaze Boston Logan's immigration officers each time she arrives.
While they were here we went to the Maine Botanical Gardens at Boothbay (again). This time we went all the way down to the water then hiked back up the Waterfall Trail, we meditated in the Zen garden, and we had the most delicious lunch in the cafe.
We took a trip to Crescent Beach the following weekend - we all made it down to the beach including granny, who sat with her hat on her head to stop it getting sunburnt. The children did gymnastics, and Mark stripped down to his undies and waded in the sea.
Other than that we ate out a lot, including breakfast at Bintliffs. While we were there one of the cars got towed, so it was an expensive breakfast! We had steaks and ribs at Ruby Tuesday, and as usual granny ate absolutely everything that was put in front of her.
Now they're gone we miss them... I'll post some photos.
While they were here we went to the Maine Botanical Gardens at Boothbay (again). This time we went all the way down to the water then hiked back up the Waterfall Trail, we meditated in the Zen garden, and we had the most delicious lunch in the cafe.
We took a trip to Crescent Beach the following weekend - we all made it down to the beach including granny, who sat with her hat on her head to stop it getting sunburnt. The children did gymnastics, and Mark stripped down to his undies and waded in the sea.
Other than that we ate out a lot, including breakfast at Bintliffs. While we were there one of the cars got towed, so it was an expensive breakfast! We had steaks and ribs at Ruby Tuesday, and as usual granny ate absolutely everything that was put in front of her.
Now they're gone we miss them... I'll post some photos.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
My friend Ken
I just wanted to link to this, my friend/colleague Ken's blog. It's what's been on my mind most over the last week, and it puts everything else in life into perspective.
http://semi-colon.blogspot.com/
Get well Ken.
http://semi-colon.blogspot.com/
Get well Ken.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Chewonki Campground
Chewonki Campground
Originally uploaded by jillian_werb
You can see why the children did so much climbing...
Monkey C Monkey Do
Monkey C Monkey Do
Originally uploaded by jillian_werb
Hannah and Jill on the very highest section. Fun.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Fall camping
Yes yes yes I know it should be Autumn, not Fall. But frankly, if I was in England having Autumn weather I wouldn't be camping.
We had an invite from the Redfields to join them for a weekend camping at Chewonki in Wiscassett, and we leapt at the chance to spend some time with them and also get to actually go camping when it's cool enough to use the sleeping bags.
There were many things we loved about our trip.
Meeting the Gawtrys and their kids, meeting Monica (again) and her kids, and watching the children having such a great time together. An enormous amount of tree climbing was done, and Hannah was very bossy.
The blazing hot Saturday which we spent at the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay - most in the Children's Garden, with its tree house, bear cave, wigwam, labyrinth, and all sorts of other stuff. The kids made delicious cider.
Spending the evening sitting round the fire chatting with the ladies, getting to bed well after midnight and actually sleeping really well. Maybe I should always drink lots of beer when camping?
Our visit to Monkey C Monkey Do on Sunday - involving a lot of terrifying climbing around high up wire courses, held on by harnesses. I was so impressed by the children. Even though some of the sections were scary enough that they sobbed their way across, they finished everything they tried. Ellie even had a second go. And then of course there was the zip wire which I think everyone did about 50 times!
So... it was a great weekend. Can't wait to do it again.
We had an invite from the Redfields to join them for a weekend camping at Chewonki in Wiscassett, and we leapt at the chance to spend some time with them and also get to actually go camping when it's cool enough to use the sleeping bags.
There were many things we loved about our trip.
Meeting the Gawtrys and their kids, meeting Monica (again) and her kids, and watching the children having such a great time together. An enormous amount of tree climbing was done, and Hannah was very bossy.
The blazing hot Saturday which we spent at the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay - most in the Children's Garden, with its tree house, bear cave, wigwam, labyrinth, and all sorts of other stuff. The kids made delicious cider.
Spending the evening sitting round the fire chatting with the ladies, getting to bed well after midnight and actually sleeping really well. Maybe I should always drink lots of beer when camping?
Our visit to Monkey C Monkey Do on Sunday - involving a lot of terrifying climbing around high up wire courses, held on by harnesses. I was so impressed by the children. Even though some of the sections were scary enough that they sobbed their way across, they finished everything they tried. Ellie even had a second go. And then of course there was the zip wire which I think everyone did about 50 times!
So... it was a great weekend. Can't wait to do it again.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The children are paying attention!
I had a lovely moment in the car with Ellie and Mark this evening.
Mark was complaining about someone at school. Ellie listened then said: 'Mark, Mark, I think she was a bully.'
Mark looked interested.
Ellie said: 'The thing is Mark, bullies only have power if you let them. So what you need to do is walk away. Then they don't have any power. I know because my teacher read me a story about it at recess.'
A bit later that evening, after we'd done many other things, I asked Mark what he thought about bullies and he said: 'Well if a bully is being a bully then you should walk away from them and then they don't have any power.'
They're only 7 and 5, but they really do listen and remember.
Mark was complaining about someone at school. Ellie listened then said: 'Mark, Mark, I think she was a bully.'
Mark looked interested.
Ellie said: 'The thing is Mark, bullies only have power if you let them. So what you need to do is walk away. Then they don't have any power. I know because my teacher read me a story about it at recess.'
A bit later that evening, after we'd done many other things, I asked Mark what he thought about bullies and he said: 'Well if a bully is being a bully then you should walk away from them and then they don't have any power.'
They're only 7 and 5, but they really do listen and remember.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Back to school
Kids have been back in school for three weeks now. They did quite well the first two weeks, but last week someone was off sick every day. First Ellie was the snot monster. Then Hannah was the snot monster. Then Ellie seemed fine, but her temperature kept going over 100F while at school so she was sent home anyway.
I suppose I should have given her Tylenol before she went to school every day. Except she didn't actually NEED it - her temperature was absolutely fine every morning before we sent her off to school. Ho hum.
So all in all it was an expensive week for daycare.
Meanwhile Mark isn't really sure about school - he says 'All I learn is punishments and drawing.' He keeps getting sat on the 'take a break' chair because he and Darby talk or giggle or fidget. I'm keeping an eye on the situation.
Hannah also isn't sure about her new teacher. He's got a big act to follow - her last two teachers were fabulous. She says he goes too slow, and school isn't fun. We're watching that situation too.
Bit of a shock being back at work. I had about 25 meetings the first week. Second week I started telling people that I could do the work they wanted me to do, but they'd have to sit with me for a couple of hours and explain to me in detail their exact requirements and help me do the actual work. Well of course they were too busy to do that, so suddenly my meeting schedule eased off a bit.
I am still manically busy though. Our new LMS goes live Oct 4th, and I am responsible for sales training moving over successfully. We have a huge sales conference coming up (yes - I get to go to Vegas for a week!) which means I have to design a website. I have about four different other websites to redesign/design for people. We're rebuilding our new hire training program, and I'm trying to give advice on the best technology to use. I'm writing a business case for this, and allocating licenses for that, etc etc. We're definitely in 'back to work after the summer' fever.
Mike is equally busy AND he got the cold by the end of last week, and spent Thursday feeling very sorry for himself. For some reason I haven't got sick at all. Weird.
The weather is changing - one minute it was summer, now it's definitely fall/autumn. We spent today going through endless boxes of winter clothes, working out what we have and what we need. For a change we have pretty much everything we need. I knew keeping boxes and boxes of dusty clothes in the basement would pay off.
After our organizing we went to Recompense Shores campground to have hot dogs with John and Colette, who are camping there. It's one of those sunny and slightly chilly days - absolutely beautiful. Their campsite is right overlooking the water. We stuck the kids' bikes into the back of the pick-up, and they had a great time riding round the tracks and going to the park nearby.
It's the perfect time of year for camping - actually cold enough to use the sleeping bags. As long as it doesn't rain next week we're going to go to Chewonki, then go up to the Common Ground Fair. Can't wait.
Ice skating lessons started last week - much earlier than usual. They started Wednesday, so of course Tuesday after work we rushed out to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy three pairs of ice skates. Luckily they not only had the sizes we needed in stock, but they were all in the sale. Ice skates for $30 - fantastic deal.
Last night we were shattered after work, so we all went to Gritty's and ate on the deck while the children played. Much quieter than it was in the summer, less manic. It's been a really full-on summer this year.
I suppose I should have given her Tylenol before she went to school every day. Except she didn't actually NEED it - her temperature was absolutely fine every morning before we sent her off to school. Ho hum.
So all in all it was an expensive week for daycare.
Meanwhile Mark isn't really sure about school - he says 'All I learn is punishments and drawing.' He keeps getting sat on the 'take a break' chair because he and Darby talk or giggle or fidget. I'm keeping an eye on the situation.
Hannah also isn't sure about her new teacher. He's got a big act to follow - her last two teachers were fabulous. She says he goes too slow, and school isn't fun. We're watching that situation too.
Bit of a shock being back at work. I had about 25 meetings the first week. Second week I started telling people that I could do the work they wanted me to do, but they'd have to sit with me for a couple of hours and explain to me in detail their exact requirements and help me do the actual work. Well of course they were too busy to do that, so suddenly my meeting schedule eased off a bit.
I am still manically busy though. Our new LMS goes live Oct 4th, and I am responsible for sales training moving over successfully. We have a huge sales conference coming up (yes - I get to go to Vegas for a week!) which means I have to design a website. I have about four different other websites to redesign/design for people. We're rebuilding our new hire training program, and I'm trying to give advice on the best technology to use. I'm writing a business case for this, and allocating licenses for that, etc etc. We're definitely in 'back to work after the summer' fever.
Mike is equally busy AND he got the cold by the end of last week, and spent Thursday feeling very sorry for himself. For some reason I haven't got sick at all. Weird.
The weather is changing - one minute it was summer, now it's definitely fall/autumn. We spent today going through endless boxes of winter clothes, working out what we have and what we need. For a change we have pretty much everything we need. I knew keeping boxes and boxes of dusty clothes in the basement would pay off.
After our organizing we went to Recompense Shores campground to have hot dogs with John and Colette, who are camping there. It's one of those sunny and slightly chilly days - absolutely beautiful. Their campsite is right overlooking the water. We stuck the kids' bikes into the back of the pick-up, and they had a great time riding round the tracks and going to the park nearby.
It's the perfect time of year for camping - actually cold enough to use the sleeping bags. As long as it doesn't rain next week we're going to go to Chewonki, then go up to the Common Ground Fair. Can't wait.
Ice skating lessons started last week - much earlier than usual. They started Wednesday, so of course Tuesday after work we rushed out to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy three pairs of ice skates. Luckily they not only had the sizes we needed in stock, but they were all in the sale. Ice skates for $30 - fantastic deal.
Last night we were shattered after work, so we all went to Gritty's and ate on the deck while the children played. Much quieter than it was in the summer, less manic. It's been a really full-on summer this year.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
End of summer
I don't appear to have blogged all summer. Ooops. So what have we done?
It's been unbelievably hot, and is only now finally cooling down a little. It feels like it was in the 80s and 90s for a couple of months at least.
We had a week in Sunday River, which was fabulous. We rented a really nice house - brand new and completely dust free which meant Mike didn't spend the whole week sneezing ;-)
We went up to Step Falls and did a lot of sliding down really cool little waterfalls. We went to Screw Augur Falls and did some wading. Mike and Hannah did a few miles of the Appalachian Trail - me and the little kids went to see Moose Cave instead. We took a day trip to Santa's Village - always a bit weird in July. And we went to Frenchman's Falls - which involved me, Hannah and Mike all doing the big leap into the waterfall.
We stayed by Jordan Pond, and it was such a little slice of heaven that I started looking into buying a second home there. Obviously we can't afford it, but it's always nice to dream.
And we ate at the Jolly Drayman - an English pub in Bethel. Beef Wellington, Cheese Ploughmans, curry and cider. Excellent.
A week or two later we had a visit from Tiffany and Nicola, who arrived just in time for my naturalization ceremony at the courthouse in Portland. Yes, I am now an American. I even have a passport. Yikes! Tiff and Nic seemed to have a lovely time eating lobster, eating lobster and eating lobster, with a bit of drinking thrown in.
Our second holiday was right at the end of the children's school holiday. My friend Jay brought her family over from Devon, including her husband and three children who are all pretty much the same age as our children. We had a day exploring the Portland area, then we went up to Moosehead Lake.
I rented us a cabin owned by a colleague's ex-husband, and it was a fabulous location - a minute's walk from a beach, with lots of rocks for climbing on, and a jetty for canoeing from.
Moosehead is a spectacularly beautiful lake. The weather didn't really play ball for the first half of the trip, but we got outdoors as much as possible - we took an old steamship called the Katahdin up the lake, we ate at the Black Frog, and we even swam before the rain started. Meanwhile the children all had a blast playing together.
The best bit was seeing moose. We headed out one evening to a place called Casey Camps that I had been told was the best place to spot moose. Pulled into the carpark, switched off the engine, and out came three moose!
Later in the week the weather improved, so we got out in the canoe, took a floatplane ride over the lake, ate lunch on the deck of the Stress Free Moose, and generally had a wonderful time.
The rest of the time the children have done a variety of camps - rec camp, basketball camp, English soccer camp, lacrosse camp. They hung out with Carl and Nadja, and made the most of Carl's brother's pool. They went on day trips to places like Topsham Fair, and Yorks' Wild Kingdom, and Funtown Splashtown.
We've also been camping a few times, and even bought ourselves a swanky new tent that doesn't take an hour and a half to put up and take down. We went to Sagadahoc (possibly got the consonants in the right order there) which is on Georgetown Island down the headland from Bath ie not very far from here. The campground was nothing to write home about, especially the party people next to our site, but the beach was wonderful for the children. It is clam flats, so when the tide goes out it's hideous, but when the tide comes in it's unbelievably warm water.
We were there for 4th of July, so we saw the parade in Bath, in the searing heat. We also had to do the fair (or should I say midway?) which was torturous for adults.
Another camping trip was to Recompense Shores which is beside Wolfe's Neck, with John and Colette. They had their pop-up camper, we had our swanky new LL Bean tent. It was sunny, and we got to eat pie irons, and the men tried taking the children sea kayaking while Colette and I drank wine and napped. I know who got the better deal...
Now everyone is shattered, and also sort of ready for the structure of school to restart. 10 weeks is a long holiday.
Mark is about to start Kindergarten, which means my final child will be in school. He's so excited I can't feel sad in any way. The other two are also looking forward to seeing their friends again. Ellie is moving to the Elementary School, but she doesn't seem too nervous.
So that was our summer. When I've renewed my FlickrPro account I'll add some photos...
It's been unbelievably hot, and is only now finally cooling down a little. It feels like it was in the 80s and 90s for a couple of months at least.
We had a week in Sunday River, which was fabulous. We rented a really nice house - brand new and completely dust free which meant Mike didn't spend the whole week sneezing ;-)
We went up to Step Falls and did a lot of sliding down really cool little waterfalls. We went to Screw Augur Falls and did some wading. Mike and Hannah did a few miles of the Appalachian Trail - me and the little kids went to see Moose Cave instead. We took a day trip to Santa's Village - always a bit weird in July. And we went to Frenchman's Falls - which involved me, Hannah and Mike all doing the big leap into the waterfall.
We stayed by Jordan Pond, and it was such a little slice of heaven that I started looking into buying a second home there. Obviously we can't afford it, but it's always nice to dream.
And we ate at the Jolly Drayman - an English pub in Bethel. Beef Wellington, Cheese Ploughmans, curry and cider. Excellent.
A week or two later we had a visit from Tiffany and Nicola, who arrived just in time for my naturalization ceremony at the courthouse in Portland. Yes, I am now an American. I even have a passport. Yikes! Tiff and Nic seemed to have a lovely time eating lobster, eating lobster and eating lobster, with a bit of drinking thrown in.
Our second holiday was right at the end of the children's school holiday. My friend Jay brought her family over from Devon, including her husband and three children who are all pretty much the same age as our children. We had a day exploring the Portland area, then we went up to Moosehead Lake.
I rented us a cabin owned by a colleague's ex-husband, and it was a fabulous location - a minute's walk from a beach, with lots of rocks for climbing on, and a jetty for canoeing from.
Moosehead is a spectacularly beautiful lake. The weather didn't really play ball for the first half of the trip, but we got outdoors as much as possible - we took an old steamship called the Katahdin up the lake, we ate at the Black Frog, and we even swam before the rain started. Meanwhile the children all had a blast playing together.
The best bit was seeing moose. We headed out one evening to a place called Casey Camps that I had been told was the best place to spot moose. Pulled into the carpark, switched off the engine, and out came three moose!
Later in the week the weather improved, so we got out in the canoe, took a floatplane ride over the lake, ate lunch on the deck of the Stress Free Moose, and generally had a wonderful time.
The rest of the time the children have done a variety of camps - rec camp, basketball camp, English soccer camp, lacrosse camp. They hung out with Carl and Nadja, and made the most of Carl's brother's pool. They went on day trips to places like Topsham Fair, and Yorks' Wild Kingdom, and Funtown Splashtown.
We've also been camping a few times, and even bought ourselves a swanky new tent that doesn't take an hour and a half to put up and take down. We went to Sagadahoc (possibly got the consonants in the right order there) which is on Georgetown Island down the headland from Bath ie not very far from here. The campground was nothing to write home about, especially the party people next to our site, but the beach was wonderful for the children. It is clam flats, so when the tide goes out it's hideous, but when the tide comes in it's unbelievably warm water.
We were there for 4th of July, so we saw the parade in Bath, in the searing heat. We also had to do the fair (or should I say midway?) which was torturous for adults.
Another camping trip was to Recompense Shores which is beside Wolfe's Neck, with John and Colette. They had their pop-up camper, we had our swanky new LL Bean tent. It was sunny, and we got to eat pie irons, and the men tried taking the children sea kayaking while Colette and I drank wine and napped. I know who got the better deal...
Now everyone is shattered, and also sort of ready for the structure of school to restart. 10 weeks is a long holiday.
Mark is about to start Kindergarten, which means my final child will be in school. He's so excited I can't feel sad in any way. The other two are also looking forward to seeing their friends again. Ellie is moving to the Elementary School, but she doesn't seem too nervous.
So that was our summer. When I've renewed my FlickrPro account I'll add some photos...
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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