Gordie's Pirate Party

On August 8th Cousin Gordie welcomed age THREE with a mighty fine Pirate Party. The fun included painting pirate ships, a treasure hunt, gold coin cupcakes and a boat ride in the harbor. Plus each little pirate got a dancing skeleton t-shirt and bandana to look the part! Aye!...good fun! (Pictured below, L to R: Sam, Teo, Gordie & Henry.)

Popham Beach

I'm doing a "Power Post" here. After a blog hiatus lasting FOUR months, I'm posting several at once to catch up. It's been a very busy time with Apogee in full swing, Sam at a fun, but not-always-cooperative stage, and me with swollen ankles and an achy back. Our baby is due end of August, so it is unlikely that I'll suddenly become a daily blogger - but we will certainly do our best to inform you of the big arrival! Until then, please enjoy my retro-blogging.

We recently took advantage of a rare window of time when Sam & I were able to steal
Daddy away from Apogee for a family day at the beach. Given the very wet summer we've had and Apogee's busy schedule, it's taken us all summer to get a day like this. We went to Popham beach and it was heaven. The best of beach buddies, Sam and Daddy romped in the water, while I found a nice spot to just float my baby bod, happy as a hippo in a cold river...

(For those keeping track, my bump is eight months along in this photos ~ baby due August 30th!)

Miscellaneous Summer

LL Bean does a wonderful, FREE, outdoor concert series every summer. We went to see our favorite kids musician, Dan Zanes, and his band. Great fun!

On the way to the show with Gordie.

The ever exuberant Dan Zanes and his band.

"Balcony seat"~ Uncle Bobby's shoulders.

Other wonderful summer moments...

Popham Beach with our friend Laura.

Doing great on his tricycle - but doesn't beat a fast ride on the back of Daddy's bike.

Still completely obsessed with vacuum cleaners. Any style: shop vac, canister vac, upright vac, central vac, dust buster ~ he's an expert on them all.

The other day I couldn't resist capturing Sam looking sweet in the morning light with blond bedhead and striped jammies.

Boating & Parade

Amidst the busy Apogee season, Sam has been lucky to do a bit of boating with Aunt Kristin, Uncle Bobby and Cousin Gordie. I was able to join for one such outing, and the second time Sam ventured off on his own. Sam is not quite as adept as Gordie to being on the water, but he absolutely loves it and is developing his sea legs with each Casco Bay adventure.

At the helm with Aunt Kristin.

Towing rubber ducky.

The boys on Sand Island.

The cousins take a cozy nap to the hum of the motor.

Sam & I joined Kristin, Bobby and Gordie for the annual Clam Festival Parade. It was quite a show!

More Projects & Apogee Staff

Big Poppy came up early June to have a visit and to help with more projects.

Worker bees, big and small.

Sam takes a break to inspect our neighbor's sprinkler system.

And then, suddenly, it was mid June - spring projects came to a screeching halt and Apogee leader training was underway.

Our stellar 2009 staff. One very happy evolution is that Kevin now has a co-director, Chad Olcott, (picture here with his wife, Susan, on the far left.)

Easter & Miscellaneous Spring

Visit from the Easter Bunny...

Kevin's brother, Will, and friend Pete came up to do the Kenduskeg Canoe race with Kevin. Pete was brave enough to volunteer his canoe, "The Pickle", and the three large men managed to somehow stay afloat. Kevin's dad also came for the weekend to assist and watch the race.

Future race participant.

The ulterior motive for inviting Pete and Will to the canoe race was to get their help demolishing a big rotting shed in our back yard. Always a good idea to get a couple of strapping young men on such tasks. Sam loved hanging out with the big boys and watching the sledge hammer and crow bar action.

Other spring projects...

Shoveling landscaping rocks with Daddy,

and mowing with our neighbor, Mr. Bartlett.

Mimi came for a visit and brought Sam this lawn mower. He loves to mow with Daddy, and luckily our neighbors are good enough to humor this interest as well. Sam pulls an imaginary cord and says, "Let's fire it up!". He then proceeds to make a humming mower noise as he paces the lawn back and forth.

Sam with his grandmothers, Mormor & Mimi.

Farm Visits

A couple of early spring farm visits helped to boost our spirits and convince us that spring actually might arrive, one day. Each year farms throughout the state participate in Maine Maple Sunday. They open their "sugar shacks" and invite the public to come indulge in all things syrup.

Sam admires the steaming sugar shack.

The requisite tractor ride.

Fun, non-syrup demos like sheep sheering.

What is it that they say about pet owners looking like their pets?!

Also took a trip to Wolfe's Neck Farm in Freeport. We visited a few animals, but honestly Sam was most interested in riding a plastic toy tractor and watching the real tractor shovel sloppy manure out of the stalls.

Sam and these exotic fowl took a shine to each other and went for a stroll.