Wednesday Oui? Summer Vacation Part 2

I ended the last post of vacation as we were leaving camp on June 30 so, I will begin there.

Wednesday, June 30:
That was a day I, along with one of my very best friends, long waited for. Eclipse, the third installment of the Twilight Saga hit theaters. I was exhausted from arriving home, unpacking, and then racing off to meet Hilary for the movie so, we met at Panera Bread to eat a light dinner, and we both wore our pajamas. I don't need to elaborate on the movie because, well, it was amazing. I do want to give a shout out, however, to Hil, my 243. I love you dearly and you know that.

Thursday July 1:
The morning, of course, started with Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit. We had decided this would be our day for the whale watch I'd been dreaming about. We packed up a bag and headed out to Rye to hop a boat out to the whales (Amber, Chris, and Kyle don't kill us.) After the whale watch we headed to my very favorite pizza joint-- ever-- where I ended up getting hot cocoa on a 90 degree day because I was chilled to the bone from the boat.

Fin whale

The Isles of Shoals; a place that fascinates and terrifies me. Now, I'm reading up on the creepy history of the Shoals.

If you look carefully you can see the water from the blow-hole of a fin whale.

Mr. Humpback. He was SO CLOSE to the boat

My love

BRATSKELLAR!!!

Pizza and ice cream bon-bons at Bratskellar = the best way to end a perfect day!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday July 2-4:

These days we simply hung around our house, did a lot of yard work, sorting, and cleaning. We also spent some time outside eating on our new patio, spending time with our "kids", we did some shopping and some reading. I also invested elbow grease into planning my sister's baby shower.

Dog treats made with love from Auntie Amy! (and carrots- they love carrots)!

Our dinner. Yep, bruschetta.

Feasts for the puppies!

Monday July 5:

Aaron and I decided, despite it being almost one million degrees, to hike Mt. Major. It's one of my favorite mountains because the hike isn't too strenuous, but still offers amazing views. So we headed out after a big breakfast-- the drive alone is beautiful.

At the summit of every/any mountain I always crave fruit.

On the way home we decided to stop at Locke's Farm and pick some blueberries. They were as big as your eyeballs and sweet as cherries. Yummmm!

I was so hot after picking blueberries that I began to feel nauseous. Not to mention I'd lost all of the water in my body because of the hike to the summit of Mt. Major. Aaron and I decided to poach in a local lake (entry was only allowed by residents- something I would normally never do) but, I thought I was going to pass out. So, we suited up and poached Locke Lake. It was an amazing swim and I felt so much better. Aaron was so proud of me and kept saying, "This is so spontaneous of you. You're breaking the rules!" I think he fell a little bit more in love with me that day.

It was a perfect end to an amazing vacation

Wednesday, Oui? Summer Vacation Part I

I had one of the most truly relaxing and recharging vacations last week. So much so that, for the first time in MY LIFE, I didn't want to go back to work, which was a really odd feeling for me. Usually, about halfway through a vacation, I miss my kiddos and I miss working. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like spending time with my family-- I just LOVE to work. I can't really explain it. This time, however, it was so different. I didn't miss work. Perhaps it's that I'm getting older, or my biological clock is ticking more loudly (still holding out for Alaska next summer, so don't get your hopes up) or maybe my 29th birthday did more of a "job" on my psyche than I thought it did but, I didn't want to go back to work. I valued every morsel of time I spent with my friends, our family, our puppies and my husband.

Here is a run down of our vacation; a quick summary. I'm not going to include every detail because, frankly, you don't want a play by play of the last 10 days and, for time and privacy sake, I'm not posting it.

Saturday June 26th:
We arrived at our camp in Maine. That day was mostly spent unpacking and settling it although, we did stop over to my mother and Dan's house for a bite to eat.

Sunday June 27th:
After waking early to go for a paddle on a crystal clear lake, we headed to the next town over to visit my best friend, Alyssa, who was renting a camp on a neighboring lake. Her entire family was there so it was really nice to see her mom, sister and brother (her husband too!) But especially Mum, Mo and Tristan. We had a nice family dinner and Aaron was able to meet some of the people who served as my surrogate family when I was doing my undergraduate work in Maine. It was amazing to see everyone.

Myrtle the Turtle

My dream home ;) Yep, that's "Camp."

Later that night, after heading back to our neck of the woods, the usual "camp game" of Jack Straws commenced and we even lit a fire to take the chill out of the air. Bony Bing was grateful. 

Monday June 28th:

The day was a bit brisk and chilly with showers on and off. It was the only day we didn't have sun so, I won't complain. It was a great day for shopping. I love to shop at some of the stores up there because I don't have them down here. We had a nice big breakfast- using meat from the chickens my mom raised, milk from her cows and spinach from her garden, we had delicious spinach, cheese, chicken and egg breakfast burritos. Coffee, for some reason, always tastes better at camp. After that, it was off to "town" to see what we could see (and buy). In the end we bought a lot of things for the camp and a lot of things for Jessi. ;) We did stop at some of our favorite spots in Skowhegan.

**A little about Skowhegan: (population <9000). It was largely occupied by the Abanakis of the Norridgewock Tribe (Norridgewock is where my mother was born-- a border town to Skowhegan.) The name Skowhegan means "a place to watch for fish."  I really enjoy "going to town" and exploring the small town life of a place so rich in native and local culture. The camp isn't actually in Skowhegan but, a smaller border town.

An Eagle in the "Eagle Tree". I always insist on stopping to check on him.

When I was little my sister and I used to call this "The Indian that Pepe built." My Pepe built a lot of things in Maine but this statue wasn't one of them. This is actually a monument tribute Maine's Abanaki Indians, who were known to have helped the Pilgrims make it through a couple of bad winters. The signage reads "Dedicated to the Maine Indians, the first people to use these lands in peaceful ways."  :)

Yes, this is what one of the Hannaford stores looks like.

One of our favorite haunts with a giant tree. The park is a memorial place; you go there to see one tree and it's so worth it!

The pictures never do justice to the tree. It looks way bigger in real life!

We ended the night by making a big dinner and invited Mom and Dan over. We listened to the loons, watched the ducks and, of course, played Jack Straws!

Tuesday June 29: 

This day I woke up incredibly early (5 am) and went out on the porch with the intention of reading until I fell asleep under the quilt. The porch is my favorite place in the camp because it's so close to the water that you feel like you're on the lake. When the loons chime in, it's perfection.

I ended up reading an entire book. I had taken The Sign of the Beaver from my mother's house to pre-read it for my nephew. He has recently become fascinated with the concept of "Cowboys and Indians." So she bought this book for him that explains the real story of the natives, not the commercialized story. I wanted to read it first to make sure it was age appropriate. It's a small chapter book, about 130 pages, but the story is amazing! I bawled my eyes out got a bit choked up at the end. It is a great story. A bit too old for a 7 year-old but now my mom intends to read it to him and explain it.

Alyssa (and Ramsay) came over for a late then lunch Aaron and I went off for another paddle, this time exploring "Indian Rock" and "Whale's Back." Just as we reached back to the shore at Camp the skies opened up. Aaron and I went off to kill an afternoon rain shower by doing some more shopping and exploring in Farmington, Maine. Later that evening we stopped by my Mom and Dan's farm to say goodbye. We were leaving in the morning :(

Ramsayyyyyyy!

Whale's Back (a GIANT rock) and in the way back, Indian Head Rock.

The Peace/Charles Farm Animals

Peek-a-boo!

Gimme a kiss!

We ended the night by playing Jack Straws and packing to leave in the morning.

For the sake of time, I'll stop here and continue tomorrow with part two of a very Oui-worthy vacation.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Summer Plans

With today being my first day back to work since June 25th (Boooo!) I'm already looking ahead to my next vacation while planning some weekend/day trips in the meantime. My good friend, Amy, recently posted about things she wanted to do this summer and I'm going to do the same.

Some of the places below were taken from 100 Places to Visit This Summer in the Discover! New Hampshire Vacation Guide and others are places just I want to see (or see again) between now and our anniversary weekend in October. I figured that was a reasonable amount of time to check these items off my list.

While on vacation last week Aaron came up with the idea to start an "Adventure Day." So, in addition to "Date Night Monday," we are each going to pick one weekend day a couple times per month and come up with an adventure; planning the entire day and surprising the other with the plans. Maybe some of the trips below will be used for our Adventure Days!

Click on the name of each to visit the site. Enjoy!

1. America's Stonehenge- Haverill, NH
2. Cathedral of the Pines- Rindge, NH
3. Currier Museum of Art- Manchester, NH
4. Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum- Warner, NH
5. Polar Caves- Plymouth, NH
6. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum- Boston, MA
7. Norman Rockwell Museum- Stockbridge, MA (I went in 2008; one of my favorite places-- ever!)
8. Bar Harbor- Maine. I've been here over 15 times (I lived about 45 minutes away when I did my undergrad in Bangor, Maine. I miss it terribly and it's one of the most beautiful places on Earth.)
9. New England Aquarium- Boston, MA. I'm a sucker for marine life, what can I say?
10. Salem Witch Museums- Salem, MA. (I went years ago and LOVED it! I want to explore the entire town.)

Some of these places are free and others will require small admission fees and gas $$. There are a few places on here which we already have plans/dates set to explore. We are so very lucky to live in a geographic region where so many beautiful and interesting things are available to us.

We'll keep you posted about our adventures. Also, stay tuned for a run down of the vacation we just took. We did some pretty neat things!