A Birthday and A Retelling

OK Back in Maine....we had a birthday dinner for Mom. Dad had done some grocery shopping and hid some things for our surprise celebration.


She even blew out a candle.


And then, Clay retold the story that made me laugh so hard. I think Mom & Dad enjoyed it too.






Mom even said afterwards, "Well, that wasn't so bad". I think they were expecting far worse.

After dinner we gave Mom her birthday present. We contacted a bunch of friends and family from throughout her life and had them fill out "Friendship", "Memory" or "Love" cards and then put them in a book with photos. It was great collecting these and Danielle Stewart, who designed our wedding invitations designed the cards and put the book together for us. She did a terrific job!


Mom couldn't even look when she first opened the package...


Just like me on my wedding day. Geoff wrote me a card and it took me 20 minutes to have the guts to open it because I knew it would make me bawl my eyes out. And it did.



Dad reads a little


Mom is done in by it all...



We had a lovely celebration! Just a few more Maine pics to share before we move on to vacation pics....

Blue Rock Trail

After our "yard sale" we had some lunch and then Mom and I headed out for a hike on Blue Rock Trail. The owner of a large piece of property has created a hiking trail on his property and the "trail" is marked by rocks that are painted blue...to guide you.


Loved these crazy roots


Lost my shoe in a bog almost right out of the gate. Mom rescued it.


Funky broken tree trunk


Following the rocks...



Pretty light


View from the top of Hike #1


Trees grow out of the side of a rock


View from top of Hike #2


A slightly less than relieable looking bridge. We used the rocks to hop the stream instead.


The property owners studio/garage. Love that it looks like a barn.


Complete with random un-used (but color-coordinated) farm equipment


Byebye Blue Rock trail...we had a great time, but have to head home for cocktails now.

Dad's Favorite Four Letter Word

Now, Dad is a bit infamous for his eBay habit. And his dad was notorious for being thrifty (which I think some in my family might say is a nice way of putting it). I have a hard time spending more than $40 for anything. ANYTHING. Including furniture. And rent. So...it's in the genes I think. So, we passed this sign on the way too the Lighthouse and Dad put on the brakes to stop, but mom convinced him we'd stop by on the way back. And stop we did.


A little shopping


The offerings...




Dad peruses


Clay contemplates a doily


Dad and Clay study nuts and bolts


Hayley waits patiently for us to return our attention to her


Mom attempts to put the kibosh on Dad and his "collecting habit"...


And then laughs about it


Dad...in bliss



Still more Maine adventures to come, if you can believe it. And this was all in one day! I guess you really CAN get a lot done when you get up before 7am.

Oh and PS - about Dad's sweatshirt. I gave it to him a couple of Christmases ago. "Knotsowyde" is what they've named their house. And it describes it perfectly. Can you guess the meaning?

The Lighthouse

After our "hike" to the Top of the World, we jumped in the car for a driving tour of the Island. We ended up at the Lighthouse. It's just had a great external renovation and will eventually be able to be booked for weddings, family reunions, picnics etc etc. It looks terrific.


And the view....UNBELIEVABLE




Pretty cool house. And Dad has keys, so he took us on a tour of the inside as well. It is awaiting it's interior renovation but there is such history in this house (formerly the lighthouse keeper's quarters) I almost don't want them to touch it. But they are going to make it a bit of a museum and honor the history, so I guess I will let them go ahead with renovations.


Former bedroom....Love the layers of paint and wallpaper, some from the 1920s/1930s I think Dad said?


In the research they did about the history of the Lighthouse, they were able to get in touch with a few of the last Lighthouse Keeper's children (now in their 80s I believe). One of them remembered asking for their own room and that it must not have been much bigger than a closet. We think this was it.


The Lighthouse Keeper would sometimes sleep in this little attic-type room because from that window they could tell if the light was still burning through the night. Obviously particularly important in a storm.


Looking back from that attic room into the hallway....I liked the multiple doorways.


Clay crouches in the doorway to the little attic room.


And so does Hayley


I loved this one...I'm standing downstairs...taking a picture of the upstairs bathroom sink tap through a hole in the floor. Fun!


This may be my most favorite picture of Mom from the whole weekend. I was taking a shot of the old door and padlock and the hole in the wall to the outside, so the focus was on the inside and the outside view would be blurry. She popped her little head right in that hole and smiled at me. So cute! Wish I could have planned that and flip flopped the focus, but still cute!


Dad raises the flag in front of the Lighthouse



Clay making Hayley stay...she is so patient!


THEN they play!


We had a great time. Loved seeing the renovation and the amazing view. But we were off to our next adventure....