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Monday, June 25, 2007

Get Me Some Oxygen Please!

While in Maine, we climbed (with the assistance of the automobile) to the highest point on the Atlantic Coast north of Brazil. We took the last few staggering yards by foot, reaching the top gasping for air. At an altitude of 1530 feet above sea level, we managed to climb to the highest point on Cadillac Mountain. Victory! The view was beautiful, but seriously….1530 feet?! We thought that was pretty funny. That’s what we call a hill out west.



Just Got Back From Maine...

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Maine. We went with Mom and Dad. The rest of the clan was supposed to come but couldn't. We had a fun time seeing the sights up there.
We went to Camden, Rockland, Penobscot Bay, Acadia National Part, two lighthouses, and lots of other little places along the way.


Here we are at the Rockland Breakwater

At Pemaquid Point

Here we all are out on the granite seawall

Aw! So precious! (Jeff took this awesome picture)

Jeff and James aboard the Schooner Lazy Jack. We were going to take a ride, but it was canceled due to Thunderstorm Warnings. Bummer.

Jeff the Alpaca Rustler



On our trip to Maine, we stopped in at a quaint little alpaca farm store to have a look around. The owner of the farm was quite friendly and offered us a lot of interesting information on alpacas. It was quite obvious that he really enjoyed what he was doing and was quite proud of where himself for doing it. He used to be a high-powered executive and decided to retire early and raise alpacas. Those babies are expensive, let me tell you: $22,000 for one of his females. Anywho, I digress. Since Dad sprung for an alpaca sweater, we got a ‘free’ tour of the farm. We were all asking lots of questions because, well, its very interesting stuff if you are nerds like us. Jeff asked how they found proper vet care, and Dad even asked about the possibilities of artificial insemination. Leave it to Dad! The man was very informative and chatty about his highly valuable alpaca herd. Jeff then asked if he had any problems with alpaca theft. Well, that kind of took the guy off guard. He got a funny look on his face and asked if Jeff was thinking about stealing an alpaca! Jeff, kidding of course, said ‘No, I don’t think I could fit one in my car. They are a little too tall.’ I don’t think it helped that earlier the guy was talking about how he practices alternative farming and we asked him if he was growing some Maui Waui Bud on the back forty. As we were leaving, the guy very thoroughly scoped out our license plate, no doubt running inside to write it down after we left. You never young guy with a pregnant wife and small child might sneak up and stuff one of your alpacas into their Pontiac and drive away!

Weird Signs in Maine


Several places we saw spelled it "lobstah," which is how New Englanders say it.

This place was celebrating its 80th anniversary. The food-not so good, but its the only place in town.

Nothing like a bit of seafood and ice cream to take the edge off your hunger.

Make up your minds people! American? Japanese? Southern? Local? What exactly do you serve?

Thursday, June 14, 2007



Here's the latest picture of the baby-bump, less than 14 weeks to go.

My, how the times have changed....


I will begin by quoting my sister in saying "This is totally random, but....." James' favorite book of the moment is Smokey the Bear, published in the 60's. He carries it around and has two favorite pages which he sticks with. He points to the different things in the picture and asks over and over, "Was-at?" (Translated=What's That?) While reading this book to him, I have had a chance to notice that if this book is ever published again, they will have to do some editing. Mr. Swift, as the father is referred to, is pictured on every page with a pipe hanging out of his mouth. Maybe since smoking is no longer cool, the illustrator can replace it with a piece of straw or something. Also, how is smoking in the forest supposed to 'help prevent forest fires'? That leads to the second irony I found in the book: Smokey's rules for fire safety. One of the rules was to encourage parents and other adults to 'be careful with their smokes.' I just thought that was hilarious. Why not tell kids to tell their parents NOT to smoke, at least in the woods. If the book is republished, they would have to say 'encourage your parents to join a smoking cessation program, and let them know that there is support out there when they need it.' Maybe Smokey could even be wearing a Phillip-Morris t-shirt. Its funny how times change, and the literature of our childhoods is no longer 'politically correct' or socially acceptable. Who knows? Maybe the book has been recalled by now, either because of the smoking references or perhaps if the child removes the spine from the book it could be considered a choking hazard?! At least James will know what a chipmunk is, but I doubt he will take up smoking as a result of his exposure to Mr. Swift's dirty habit.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Buh-eeeee!


We have quite a few rabbits running around here, making their home in our backyard. James loves to chase them around, and lucky for him they don't run too fast. They aren't very scared, so he can get relatively close to them. He sees one, points to it and says 'buh-eee!' So cute! He follows them till they go under the fence, and has gotten really good at spotting them on his own. We'll be eating breakfast and he'll yell 'buh-eee!' and point. Sure enough, there will be a bunny outside the window. Its so fun to watch him soak in all these new things!

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Weekend Road Trip




This weekend, we packed it up and headed for Ocean City, Maryland to visit our friends. We had fun visiting, as well as checking out the boardwalk. We finished off our day with make-your-own sundaes, which involved an explosive hot fudge machine all over my white shirt, James and the surrounding area. Here are a few pictures of our trip. Should've taken one of the hot fudge explosion of '07!

Our trip home turned from what should have been a 3 hour drive into a 5 hour nightmare, thanks in part to a zillion and one redneck Nascar fans heading home from the Dover Speedway. We have never seen so many Nascar bumper stickers, Confederate flags, astroturf, Miller beer flags and other Redneck memorabilia in such concentration. We were so glad when traffic finally thinned out and we were able to make it home.