Muddy Maine

Last weekend my Maine friend Megan offered to take me, Tim and our friend Andrea from Switzerland up to her parent's new dream house in Mid-coastal Maine to go kayaking.

YES PLEASE!

We were lucky enough to have a semi-break in this crazy rain (but not in the clouds) we've been having, just long enough for us to take the boats out for a few hours on Saturday morning. Her house is on a hidden cove on an Island in Harpswell. Pretty dang awesome. We scoped out a route around two islands south of the cove, and the currents were pretty calm. We saw some wildlife and some huge houses along the rocky coast. And lots of lobster traps!

The adventure peaked when we returned to her shore at the end of the trip. We hadn't realized the tide was going out relatively quickly, and we got bogged in the muddy shore a ways out from the house, but within dragging distance. As we all stepped out of our boats to begin pulling into shore, we all sank. It was like quicksand clay. We all lost our sandals and were totally stuck and sunk in this muddy ocean floor. I ripped and pulled my Chacos from the mess and took a second approach barefoot, but amidst squishy bubble plants and snails and oysters between my toes. Whoa was that an experience - adrenaline kicked in and I (relatively) booked it back to shore, dragging my kayack as best I could, and trying not to notice the swarms of gnats covering my arms and legs almost like a blanket. Whoa. Shore. Shore. Shore. Shore.

We made it, caked in mud, and being eaten alive by bugs hungry after so many rainy days. Megan and Tim were kind enough to let Andrea and I take the paddles up to the house to wash off (and escape the mayhem area) while they labored to stack muddy, slippery kayaks on racks. Never did a hose off feel so needed, and a shower feel so good back in the house. Totally worth it!!

We even had energy that afternoon to explore some nature research center trails near Bowdoin College.


We also enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Farmer's Table restaurant in quaint Portland, and super rich hot chocolate at the Chocolate Bar for dessert. Thanks Megan for a great trip! We are so blessed.

Big O and Big I

Dads! They are the best! They work hard to feed you, buy you things you need, they make sure you're getting good grades, they usually say yes when mom says no.

They take you to the dump on Saturdays and for donuts and chocolate milk at the corner store afterward. They let you sit on their lap and drive on back roads when you are 9.

Big O

They take you to work on 'Bring your daughter to work day'; they take care of the house and let you ride the riding lawnmower and teach you to play golf and to like sports. They help you buy a good car, drive it, and they keep fixing it.

They convince you they're paying your friends to come over and play with you. They take you on family vacations. They tell you you are smart and talented. They are men of prayer and integrity; they study and know God's word and model it.

They are generous with their hard work, resources and love. They call, write and come visit you when you live far away. They are patient, strong and long-suffering. They love their wives and have their priorities straight. They protect their families, with God's help, from distress and division.

Big I (aka Jim)

Our dads are the best! They have done these things for us and many many more. We miss our dads and wish them much love, hoping they know how awesome they are and how much they've shaped their kids into pretty dang amazing people (if you ask us).

Happy Father's day!
We love you Big O and Big I!
We our proud to always bear Ormsbee and Isaacson.
Love, your oldest kids (not bad with your first try!)

da b-day girl

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOANIE!!

We love and miss you and are celebrating you all day by working on a little present. Unfortunately it's still in Boston so you will really have a birthday week!

It's also Bunker Hill Day in Boston, so much of the city is taking the day off just for you...you are much MIGHTIER than a battle I have to say. YOU DOMINATE THE BATTLE!

more Boston life

Last weekend we hungout with some new friends - from CO, MA, Vienna, Poland, Africa, all over - that I randomly met on the plane home for Becka's graduation. They invited us for a tour of Lexington and Concord and for dinner, so we said yes! She's into public health and he's implementing water systems in developing countries and doing research at MIT. Whoa!

First stop was Walden Pond, where Thoreau spent a couple years in solitude writing great poetry. Tim was all smiles.

He got a little too comfortable perhaps.

Sure, he'll clean a house in the woods...

Then we were introduced to a NATIONAL PARK in MA! Minuteman Park is a small, peaceful preserve of the start of the revolution "shot heard 'round the world."

We'll definitely have to make another visit, probably on our bikes so we can travel through the fields and homes of war heroes and along stone walls that shout out the history of America.

On a less cool note I've started a window container garden and am growing salad fixins, so I have been practicing with ingredients and new recipes for kicks:

mmm this salad reminds me of Roxie.
I wish I could grow cranberries and goat cheese too (well, practically)

goat cheese asparagus tomato and lemon pasta

dessert! homemade frozen yogurt.

Some other experiments haven't turned out so well, but I'll keep trying! I still have yet to master the bread maker (gotta start small)!

AHOY!

We did it! We made it to Lake Winnipesaukee. Part birthday part anniversary celebration, we had just under 24 hours to enjoy the miles of New Hampshire lakeshore and 267 islands two hours north of Boston. We drove all the way around it in our nifty little zipcar. Here we are at our awesome B&B run by Barb and Bob B.

First stop, YumYum bakery...

...with gingerbread man wind compass.Second stop, soft serve twist and the park. We didn't have any trouble meeting locals right away.

The view from downtown Wolfeboro

Next stop a private beach (aka home of the local high school swimming team)

Extremely attractive! Not so bad looking out though.

After dinner at The Restaurant (that was its name, very good!) we conked out in our crazy huge King-sized bed and enjoyed a 5 star breakfast in the morning. By 10 we were off on a coastal search for Leo and Fay Marvin's home. We never found it, probably because it blew up at the end. But we did find an Abenaki (local Native tribe) view tower and a Castle in the Clouds (mostly just a stone house).

As we drove to the other side of the lake, we stopped in Meredith to explore the waterfront and, at Tim's insistence, the business district. We found a very nice bakery there that sold CANNOLI's!! Yeah! This time dipped in pastachios. mmm. Good idea.

We sat beneath threatening storm clouds and in front of the tourist train route for awhile at our last stop, Weirs Beach, the carnival-arcade beachtown. We watched loons dance and dip for fish in the water beneath us. And that was it. Lake Winnipesaukee.

Just for kicks we finished the trip by stopping at a Shaker Village. Quite interesting stuff, but not sure if worth the $17 to get in (we just peeked from the outside). Simplicity is always a good reminder. So is God's grace. Thanks to Him, we can take a permanent vacation from our problems!