Project Life Weeks 8 + 9

Here's a look at weeks 8 & 9 for me.

Week 8  was Monday 1/16/12 - 1/22/12. On the first page this week I tried something new and used to vertical photos to make one horizontal 4x6. I did that for all 4 photos on this page. I think it worked out really well and is another great way for me to include more photos.  There is one insert this week that is 8.5 x 11 and includes an C-8 kindergarten update on the front. The back (shown below) is a MESA newsletter that shows the money made from the read-a-thon this year. I thought it might be interesting in years to come to look at this information. 

Another new thing I did this week, (I think it's the first time I've done it) I printed 2x3 or 1/4 of a 4x6 photos on put them on half of a 4x3 space. Again it allows me to include more photos. I really like how this week turned out! I was worried that they would look too small but I don't think that's the case at all!

Here is Week 9 for me which was Monday 1/23/12 - 1/29/12.

I wanted to the tell the longer story of trying to get the toy corner organized. So I included a 6x12 insert this week and included photos and journaling on it. I also included some digital embellishments. I created the whole thing in Photoshop and this time made sure to keep my photos on it at 4x3 then I printed the base w/o photos on matte photo paper and then printed the photos on 4x6 glossy paper and then adhered them to the base. I really like this method. It looks a little bit more like scrapbooking with the different layers and with the photos being on different paper. It probably shouldn't matter too much for this album because no one will ever notice and it takes more time to do but I do love the result. So I think I'll keep doing it this way going forward.

Above a close up of just the insert and below is the close up of the back. I did print the base at 8.5x6 and then added as strip of patterned paper to make up the total 12" of height.

The back of the 6x12 insert includes the journaling for the week and more photos that I wasn't able to fit anywhere else.

Above is the last page of week 9. I included a filler card from the core kit I have. I need to add in some more of these, I love the way it fits in! I have hard time weeding out photos though! I went to one of Katie's basketball games and I included my "admit one" ticket with journaling on it. I like that I remembered to include this!

So that's a look at weeks 8 & 9 for me. I can't tell you enough how much I'm loving this project! Hoping to keep up with it for the whole year! I just love to look at this and love that the kids like to look through it too!

Project Life Weeks 5, 6 & 7

Here a look at Week 5, 12/26/11 - 12/31/11 for me. No inserts for me this week! I remember being a little worried about not having enough photos for this week after the last couple of weeks but it was nice not to have so many! I really like how this week looks!

I created another 4x6 vertical title card from pieces of the digital Turquoise kit. I also used the digital versions of the 3x4 journaling cards to type my journaling up in Photoshop before printing. Another new thing I did this week was to add some text directly to my photos in Photoshop.  I purchased some the Ali Edwards's kits of words and sayings and I'm very happy with the way they came out. I do think I went a little bit overboard though. Not every photo should have text on it! Too distracting! Another new idea I tried this week was to create little handwritten journaling tags by punching out tags from the grid journaling card with the Stampin' Up! Decorative Label punch. I would write my little notes and then cut off the extra and adhere the tag directly to the photo! I love this look and will definitely continue this on in the album. I love the text on the photos too but I'll try to use it a little bit more sparingly.

Here is a look at Week 6, 1/1/12 -1/7/12 for me.  More of the same design elements from last week, I made the 4x6 vertical title card. I added the Decorative Label punch tags with little journaling notes. I did not add any text to the photos this week. I think it was just of matter of forgetting to after I selected the photos and before I printed them. One thing I did do differently this week was to hand write my journaling on two 4x3 cards from the Core Kit. I tired to limit my journaling a little bit this week. In previous weeks I was spending a lot of time writing about what we did each day of the week. I decided that was really what I wanted to include every week. It was pretty time consuming. Also, some weeks (probably most weeks) I just want to talk about the highlights of week or just one story from the week. I'll see how this goes in the weeks to come.

Here's a look at Week 7, 1/8/12 - 1/15/12 for me. I included an 8.5x11 insert this week. Ben's teacher sent home this great page with two photos she took of him with a handwritten note and this was just the sort of special thing I like to include with my photos of the week. Something new for me this week, well sort of, I included some none photo memorabilia, part of a cake mix box and part of a nutty bar box. Not sure I like this short of thing but I'm giving it a try! I also included a 4x3 non-journaling design card.

Here is a look at the back side of the 8.5x 11 insert. I included one of the weekly letter we get home from Ben's teacher. It's an update letter of what they have going and and what they are working on. On the right side I used a title card from the Core Kit. I got a little crazy with the text on my photos on this page. Every photo has text on it. I think it's a little bit too much. I think this page prompted me to start sketching out my weeks on paper going forward and deciding from there which photos should have journaling. I love the look but not on every photo!

So this is what I have photographed so far. I'll post more as I get time!

Project Life Week 4

Here's a look at Week 4 for me which was 12/19/11 - 12/25/11. A note about the photos, if you would like to view them larger, please click on them! This was the week that included Christmas so I had a lot of photos and journaling I wanted to include. My first insert was an 8.5x11 page protector. The front side is all journaling. I created this page in Photoshop. I used some notebook background paper and added the Christmas lights emblishments to the top and bottom. I love how this came out!

The back of the 8.5x11 insert is the letter Ben wrote to Santa this year and Santa's response on the bottom. This is the first year that Ben wrote his own letter! So excited to have this included in this album and not lost is some box somewhere .

The second insert is 6x12 and is the remainder of my journaling for the week. I did what I've done before and printed the main part 6x11 and added a strip of patterned paper to make the total size 6x12. I love the way this ends up looking!

The back of the 6x12 insert contains a copy of our Christmas card that I made this year. After this picture was taken, I added in a couple of my favorite Christmas cards to full up the space. The rest of the Christmas cards we received are stored in a Big Envelope pocket page right now, more on this later.

 The third and fourth inserts this week are Design G pocket pages. Most of the photos are from Christmas Eve and Christmas day. The journaling card on the front of the fourth insert shown above lists each of our favorite memories of Christmas Day. I wrote down Ben's but I asked him what he wanted me to write. I had John write down his own which was a great way to get a little bit of his handwriting into the album!

This is the back of the fourth insert and the last page. The last page also has the title card in it. The Title card is another vertical 4x6 card that I made from the Turquoise Digital kit. Lots and lots of photos for this week! One thing I did differently this week was to add some page embellishments. I printed out some of Michelle Coleman's (Little Dreamer Designs) Christmas tags and journaling blocks. I sized the round tags so that I could punch them out with a 1" circle punch. The other journaling tags where cut out by hand. I just added a few words here and there, where ever it struck me that I wanted to say something. Then I added in some of the circle tags. Not sure if I'm really in love with final product but I like that I tried something different and I like that this album will grow with me as I experiment and try new things. I do need to remember to keep it simple though and not to get bogged down trying to make my album fancy. It does make me happy to add some little details and spice it up some! It makes it a little bit more than just a photo album and more of a scrapbook, which is really the goal.

Project Life Weeks 2 & 3

Here a look at week two for me which was 12/5/11 - 12/11/11. My weeks are starting on Monday and ending on Sunday.

I added Design G as an insert this week. Again I had a lot of photos I wanted to include. I like that the Design G is slightly smaller than the other pocket page designs so the page behind it shows on the end. I like the idea that any inserts I include are smaller than the main pages. The title card on this page is one I made in Photoshop. I did end up buying the digital version of the Turquoise kit from Jessica Sprague.com so I could manipulate the parts of the kit to make them work for me. This does require that I spend more time than I originally thought I would to put this album together but so far I've been really thrilled with the end result. Actually I've been tickled pink and so excited after I've completed each week. I love how it's turning out! I love that I'm getting my photos off my computer and into an album that anyone can look at!

Here's the back side the insert and the second page for the week. I also made the 3 vertical journal cards in Photoshop. I re-sized the 4x3 journaling cards in the digital kit to make them 4x6. I had three cards to fill this week so I wrote out my journaling by hand. My handwriting takes up more space and I wanted to use up the space I had. You'll notice that one of my vertical 4x6 photos on the back of the insert is going the wrong direction. I figured wrong when planning my pages and ended up with an extra horizontal 4x6 so I went ahead and stuck it in even though it was going the wrong way. It doesn't bother me too much. I also included some of Becka's hair we saved from her 2nd hair cut this week.

The following is a look at Week 3 for me which was 12/12/11 to 12/18/11.

I added another 8.5x11 insert this week. The front is paperwork from Becka's 18 month Doctor's visit.

This is the back of the insert and the second page. The back of the insert has a card Ben wrote to me at school and sent in the mail. I actually used a 4x6 title card from the Core Kit this week. My journaling is handwritten again this week on a custom made 4x6 vertical journaling card and a 4x3 horizontal journaling card.

I have enjoyed mixing up the different pocket page designs each week. Week 2 I used two Design B and the insert was Design G. On Week 3, I used a Design B and Design A. I like that it's a little bit different each week. Right now my process for the week has been to open ACDsee which is what I use for viewing, some minor editing and organizing my photos and digital scrapbooking supplies. I view my photos for the week and put any I want to use into the Image basket. Then I go through the image basket and weed out any duplicates or ones I decide I don't really want to use. Then I count out my horizontal and vertical images and decide which ones I want sized 4x6 (my favorites!) and which ones I be happy with 4x3. Then I look at what I have to work with from the previous week (the backside) and pick another design that will work best for what I want to include. So far, I've used Designs A, B and D the most and that makes sense because those designs have the vertical 4x6 pockets. Sometimes it gets tricky, I usually have alot of photos I want to include and so I have to figure out how to fit them in. The easiest way is to include them in the 4x3 pockets. Or included two photos in one 4x6 pocket. When I started, I would print all of my 4x3 photos out on an 8.5x11 sheet of photo paper and have to spend time cutting them all out. Now I use Ali Edward's great tip of printing two 4x3 on one 4x6 piece of photo paper. It works great!! I created a template in Photoshop and I clip my photos to my template and them save for printing! Alot less cutting and it saves a ton of time!

I just finished up my 12 week. So I'm caught up with my album again and I'm so excited about that! I'll plan on getting some more photos posted soon!

Project Life

I don't remember the first time I heard about Project Life or what exactly finally triggered me to give it a try. I do remember following Ali Edwards blog and her journey with it last year. So in November of 2011 when new supplies became available on Amazon, I ordered a big variety pack of pocket pages, a package of design G, a package of 12x12 and a package of 6x12 page protectors, several packages of big envelopes, the dividers and a package of grid cards and got started! I didn't have a core kit at the time and put one on my Seeley Christmas exchange list. I decided not to wait for new year or a Core Kit to start and just jumped right in. My first week started on 11/28/11. My other reason for starting then was I have always wanted to do a Daily December album like Ali does and thought this might be a way to combine them both.

I decided my approach to Project Life was to take photos throughout the week of whatever struck me. At the end of the week, I'd pick my favorites and put them in the album. I was not doing a photo a day approach. I found the first week I had more photos I wanted to use than would fit into two page protectors. So the first thing I had to figure out was how to include more photos. I ended up using most of the pockets for photos. I didn't know at the time what was included in the Core Kit and what options I had for the 4x3 pockets.

Here's a look at my first week.

I did two inserts this week. The first is a 6x12 insert with journaling on the front. I print everything at home on my HP Photosmart printer that only prints 8.5x11. So to make a full 6x12 insert, I print a 6x11 and a 6x2 piece of digital paper on the same 8.5x11. Then I cut apart the pieces and attached the 2"strip of paper along the top or bottom of the 6x11 to make a 6x12. I've been very happy with the way it looks. That's what I did for this insert. I included my bidding number for the Festival of Wreaths and a Costco receipt in one pocket for some some items other than photos this week.


The above photo shows the back of the 6x12 insert which includes the rest of my journaling and the front side of my 2nd insert which is an 8.5x11. I included the flier for the Merry Middlebury Celebration.

The above photo shows the final look at the first week with back side of the 8.5x11 insert containing Ben's read-a-thon certificate and the final page of photos. When I started I didn't know what was included in the core kit or the direction of the title cards. I did get the Turquoise Core Kit from Trudy for Christmas (thanks Trudy!) The only problem I found was everything in the Core Kit was designed for 4x6 horizontal title cards and vertical 4x3 journaling cards and I was not doing things the traditional way. I did add a kit title card after I got the kit for Christmas. It is going the wrong direction but that hasn't bothered me too much. I didn't do any corner rounding or adding any embellishments this week. Although when I got the kit, I did add a sticker and arrow to the picture of Ben and Becka holding hands on the first page.

I'll be back with more looks at my other weeks and my project life album in later posts!

Favorite Photo for a Chance to Win a Free Class

Read this post for all the details.

So the question is "What is one of your very FAVORITE photos of a person that you’ve ever taken? Describe it, or better yet, post it and add the link here, and then tell me what it is about the pic that makes your heart sing."

So here is one of my very favorite photos of Ben that I've taken.



It was taken in 9/29/07. And I just love this photo! It does make my heart sing! I love the angle. I love the reflection of his hand in the puddle. I love the colors. I love that I got right down laying on the ground on my belly to get the shot. I love the lighting and the way his hair is blowing in the breeze! So thanks Jessica for giving me the excuse to share it!

Getting some Digital Scrapbooking Done

I've finally taken some time the last few days to get back into the digital scrapbooking again. Here is the first one I did. It uses a free template from Jessica Sprague. If you are interested you can find if here.



I used Jessica Sprague's free Template+, Title is from Michelle Coleman's Winter Wonderland Kit and all the papers are from Jen Wilson's New Attitude Kit.

The second one I did is from the Type+Writer Class I signed up for last year at Jessica Sprague.com and then didn't have time to do. This is the first layout. It is also a template and then I used the paper from the kit that came with the class. You can read the details about this class or sign up here.



I'm pretty happy with the way both of them turned out. I'm also really loving digital scrapbooking with templates. They make it so easy and I don't have to fret about the design which is a weak area for me. I always spend way too much time worrying about it and second guessing myself. I'll have to start collecting templates now too!

I also figured out today with the help of this blog post how to get larger pictures on blogger. Pretty cool huh?

Photos and Textures

Rather than work today, I've spent some time time playing with my photos and textures. Shame! I know, I know I really need to get the accountant all of our tax information! Anyway it was fun and I've learned alot. Check these out!

Original Photo (no adjustments at all)



Altered Photo with Textures



Interesting stuff to play with! Not sure what I think yet. I think the technique might work better with landscapes rather than portraits but it was fun to play with anyway!

FREE Stampin! Up Catalog & Sale-a-bration

Starting Feb. 1st, if you place your first online order with Stampin' Up, they will send you a FREE Stampin' Up 2009 Spring/Summer Catalog with your order! (So those of you who aren't local but are interesting in Stampin' Up products or supporting my business, you can take advantage of this great offer too!) In additon, it's Sale-a-bration time at Stampin' Up! For every $50 in product you order, you earn a free item from the Sale-a-bration catalog! It's a great time to place your first online order!

Also, if you are interested, if you host a workshop you can also earn more free product for workshop sales over $300!! If you want to host a workshop but don't have the space, contact me, my house might be an option for you! There's even some great deals right now if you are interesting in becoming a demostrator. (If you are interested, let me know and I'll tell you more!)

Here are some helpful links.

To start shopping right now go here and click on the shop now button under my name and contact information in the upper right hand corner of your screen:

If you would like to download a copy of the current catalog (DON'T TRY THIS WITH DIALUP!) Go here and click on the link on the right hand side of the screen.

All of these links are also located on right hand side of my blog page.

If you have any questions for help, please let me know. Also, please feel free to share this information with anyone you think might be interested!

And don't delay if you are really interested! There are a limited number of free catalogs available!

Happy Crafting!

Ben pooped on the BIG potty tonight (twice) for the 1st time

I'm so proud and happy and excited! I can't believe he did it and it was all his own idea and everything. Here's how it went..
I was busy preparing dinner and so he told John he wanted to take off his pants and use the potty. So John help him get undressed and helped he set up the big potty with the insert/adapter/trainer thing and set him up on there. John came out and left him alone and a few minutes later, we hear "Mommy! Daddy! come see what I made in the big potty!" It was so cute! He was so proud of himself! Anyway, I got him cleaned up and we washed hands and the whole time he keeps saying "That was nice of me to poop on the potty" So then I called Gramme of course to share the great news and she said he deserved a cookie. All I had in the house was a box of the 100 calorie packs so I gave him one and when he was done he wanted another package. So Daddy said tomorrow if you go poop on the potty again you can have some more. So he comes out to me and says "I want to take my pants off and go poopie on the potty". So I say ok thinking he already went so he won't actually go more. Silly me! He went back in there and did it again!! Not quite so much as the first but still! So he had to have another package of cookies! We are finally I think officially on the way to getting potty trained! (He has also gone pee on the little potty chair three times in the last week) Whoohoo! But in a way it is bittersweet! My little baby is truly turning into a big boy! I'm so proud of him! Unfortunately he has also started a cold today and went to bed early but has been up crying once already. It will be a long night but I'm still so excited about his potty training progress that it's all good!

I've got to run for now. I just had to record this momentous occasion before I forgot! I just wanted to remember the moment and date so I had to write it down! Hopefully I'll get back into posting again real soon. I've also got lots of photos to share.

Sneak Peak for Mary

Photo shoot with George, Megan and Ansley Cairns

Original


Altered


Black & White


I hope you like them Mary!

Meet Milo

We picked him up at the Humane Society on Saturday afternoon (the 8th of Nov.) for a one week trial. Milo is a stray that was brought in after someone witnessed him being dumped. So we don't know much about him. We had gone to visit him several times and we were back and forth and back and forth about adopting him. Then I asked about an at home trial which obviously they do so we brought him home. Things are going ok. On the plus side he is very good with Ben and he is about 95% house broken. On the negative side he is very high energy (more so than a normal dog that's 9-12 months I think) and he doesn't have much manners (he pulls hard on leash, jumps up when excited and bites/chews on your arm (or other part of your body) when he wants to play/attention.) alot of which is typical of a dog his age. Unfortunately we are very spoiled after 14.5 years with Peter and now 1.5 with no dog. On the plus side, he seems very smart, he seems willing to learn and he's definitely a people dog, loves to be with you every minute. But he will require some formal obedience training and lots of time and work. Is it worth it? I'm still debating. He thinks our bed is his already and he really is a nice dog most of the time. So I just thought I'd share some photos while we are in the deliberation phase. Let us know what you think and we'll let you know what we decide.

Happy Veterans Day

To all the men and women who are serving, have served and will serve our country, a big big thank you from the Seeley Family.

Thank you for your sacrifices to protect our country.

Thank you for providing us the freedom we enjoy everyday and thank you for continuing to protect those freedoms.

We appreciate you, we appreciate what you do for our country.

Thank you.

Major Milestone

Tonight for the very first time Ben peed ON THE POTTY!! He has been spending a little time lately sitting on the potty but all he has ever done has passed gas (well one night I caught him pooping in the tub and swung him over to the big toliet and a little bit made it in the toliet but I don't really count that time). Tonight he wanted to sit on the little potty chair before he got in the bath and he spent alot of time there but nothing came of it. Then after bath he asked to sit on the potty again and a few minutes later he got up and said to me "I did it Mom" I thought he meant passed gas again. I look down and there is PEE IN THE POTTY! I am so proud! We are finally making a little progress in the long process of potty training. WOOO HOO! I'm so excited and proud of him! Anyway, I just couldn't wait to post about it. Had to make sure I remembered the exact date and time and circumstances. And just because, here are some cute photos from bath the night before last. John took these because he thought the mohawk I gave Ben while washing his hair was really cute.

Riding with Krysta

Well, I did it! 6 posts for the month of Sept. I had hoped to make it seven by posting on Monday or Tuesday but I didn't quite make it. But now I can aim for 7 in October!

Anyway, back on Sept. 20th Ben and I drove up to New Haven to watch Krysta ride in a gymkhana. For the first time, Ben was very into riding with Krysta and I got some great photos. Here they are!

Krysta & Eric watching the events
This would be a great photo if the fence wasn't in the way! These next two were taken during the Simon Says class.
Ben is telling Krysta he wants to go ride in the "shop" (the indoor riding ring).

This one is my favorite!
He even rode a little while all by himself! Krysta led Abby and I walked next to him holding onto the back of his pants (just in case!)
All that riding makes a boy hungry for some "hambbaburger"!

We got to watch Krysta ride in Simon Says (she got 2nd place) and Keyhole (another 2nd place finish) and also Sit a Buck (no place in that one). Ben had a great time and it was fun to see Krysta ride at such a fun and relaxed event. So Krysta is talking about Leadline class for next summer! So I guess we'll see! That afternoon we also drove down to Castleton to watch the women's soccer team play. I don't have any photos because Katie wasn't playing. Her foot is still sore but we got to see her after the game. I also got to watch a little bit of the game (it's hard to watch with Ben running around everywhere) and they won 6-0. It was a fun day and beautiful weather. But Ben was very tired from all that activity and no nap.

Next time I'll have to post about Avery's 2nd birthday party and our August trip to Echo with Gramme. Til then...

That's my boy!

A couple of things to add, very late at night, because I just don't want to forget.

First, Ben has figured out that he can take his tiny little A&W mug and push the water dispenser on the refrig and fill it up. So now I'm just wanting for when he figures out how to push the ice dispenser and dispenses ice all over the floor! (I'll be sure to keep the camera handy the next couple of days!)

Second, Ben opened the refrig all by himself tonight. He took out his quart of 2% milk, unscrewed the cap and proceeded to lift it up to his mouth and drink out of it ALL BY HIMSELF. IT WAS HILARIOUS! John and I couldn't stop laughing! (Unfortunately no picture, I was in the middle of doing dinner stuff with messy hands and the camera was not close by. Bummer!) This provides certain proof that this pure male trait is not learned but ingrained in their genes! All smiles aside though, I think I'm gonna have to find a lock for the refrig door!

Third, we affectionately call our cat Nerwin "Tard" (short for r*t*rd) because he really is lacking in the brain department. Anyway, John, Ben and I were outside this afternoon playing ball together. Nerwin was hanging around us looking for loving while we were running around after the ball, throwing and kicking it. Out of the blue, Ben picks up the ball, aims for Nerwin and says "throw to Tard". It took him saying it 3 times for us to understand exactly what he was staying and then John and I just burst out laughing. Like roll on the ground, laughing out loud! He really hears and picks up on EVERYTHING we say! It was just hysterical!

I wish I had a video of us playing together this afternoon. It was such a priceless half an hour spent together. Ben would run so fast and laugh so hard while I pretended to chase him that he could barely breathe. It was just such a great time together. I just never want to forget it!

Never a dull moment when Ben's around! Oh and that's just stuff that happened today!

Maine was Great!!

Maine was great! Too short and of course not nearly enough time to fit in all we wanted to do but none the less, Great! We managed to leave about 12:45 on Friday afternoon in the rain. Ben was too excited to eat lunch before we left but fell asleep anyway in the truck about 40 minutes into the ride. But then only slept about 30 minutes and woke up starving. So we stopped at the Purmort exit on I-89 in NH and got sandwiches at the Subway in the truck stop. Ben ate almost an entire 6" sub by himself! We headed out again but by the time we got onto Route 4 headed East Ben was antsy. Traffic was bad and slow. I think partly being a Friday afternoon and partly a Loudon race weekend. Thankfully we made it to Kittery and stopped at the Kittery Trading post. Ben and I did a little walking around while John spent the entire time in the gun section. After about an hour or so we headed out again and went straight to the hotel. We stayed here. I was very impressed! I love having a separate bedroom, a full kitchen and a small living room. We didn't spend much time there but it was still comfortable! It rained all afternoon and evening Friday. We did go down to the beach and take a short walk in the dark and rain after we checked in and as expected Ben didn't think much of it. After that we headed to the Maineiacs for a late dinner. It was ok. John had prime rib, I had the seafood bake and Ben had (of course) a "hambbaburger". Saturday morning we woke up to beautiful sunshine! I was so excited! So we ate a quick breakfast and headed right down to the beach.

Beautiful Wells Beach (looking to the South)
We even got a parking place right down by the beach. Ben was very unsure about the beach at first (as he is with anything new). He didn't want to take off his sandals. He didn't want to walk in the water. But after a little while of John and I walking barefoot on the sand and in the water he gave it a try. We took hundreds of photos! Here are some of my favorites!











And by the time we left about 2.5 to 3 hours later he was running and splashing and screaming and laughing. It was so much fun! He was soaked and covered from head to toe with sand! We ate lunch at the little take out place right on the beach and then we headed back to get changed and cleaned up. Then we headed up the interstate about 20 minutes to Scarborough where the new Cabela's Store is. John really wanted to go (I wanted to stay on the beach in the sun). But it ended up being worth the trip! The store had a huge display of stuff animals in the center of the store. They also had smaller ones around the store.



They had a big fish tank and one of those laser target shooting galleries.


You point the gun at the target and if you hit it the object moves and/or makes noise or shoots water at you. And Ben absolutely loved it! That's all he wanted to do is "push the guns Mom, push the guns!" Thankfully the salesman John was buying a rangefinder from gave us a handful of tokens for free. Anyway, by the time we got out of the store it was all foggy along the coast and looked like rain. Ben needed a nap so we took our time and drove the slow coastal route back to Wells. This photo was taken in Kennebunkport I think at Pier 77.

We arrive back at dinner time and stopped to eat at the Bull and Claw. I had a twin lobster dinner and John had steak and lobster. Ben had spaghetti and meatballs and I even got him to try a couple of small pieces of lobster. He wasn't crazy about it but he tried it! On Sunday morning, it was pouring rain again. I mean absolutely pouring. John had to pack the truck in the pouring rain. After we packed and checked out, we headed to the Hayloft for breakfast and then drove down to Perkins Cove. We were able to park right down in the Cove because of the rain. We walked across the bridge and around a couple of shops with our raincoats and umbrellas.




Then we headed south. I tried to find Nubble Light but missed the turn (I always have trouble finding it) and by the time I realized it, we were too far south to head back. It probably would have been hard to see it in the rain and fog anyway. On the way back home we stopped to see the Oberheim Family in Hopkinton, NH for a couple of hours. We also stopped briefly at Colby-Sawyer College to see Mom and Katie who were there for a soccer game. Then we stopped in West Lebanon to see my favorite big pet store and have dinner and then we finally headed home. I think we finally made it home about 8 pm. So it was fast and furious but a lot of fun and great to get away for a few days.