Happy Birthday PaPa

on Saturday we met Papa, Michael, Karin and Asser in Portsmouth to celebrate. Had a great time. Portsmouth is such a cute little city. I felt but jealous of Portsmouth's cuteness.

Papa was wearing an H because he was HAPPY

fake mustaches are fun

ran into a state trooper from 1975

G aged quite a bit. he is now a very serious old man

Can you guess who this is?

Karin is NOT wearing a fake mustache. this is the real her DEAL WITH IT.

though it was only 3 of us standing in line we ordered 8 ice creams. it took a long time. I felt a bit bad for the people behind us.

Michael is SO nice giving the friendly giant a lift.

No comment.

We've been Hoopled

I will only bore you with a few of these images.

part of Susie's backyard

on the Dead River. this pretty little hidden beach looks ideal. yes?? no! there were so many gators and snakes here. SCARY

In North Carolina. This reminded me of a fairy tale.

Spanish moss is so pretty

animals

here are some animals we encountered:

aren't we brave. the hippo was called lou. short for lucifer. ooohhh

okay... so I hate the disney channel, disney marketing, most of disney movies. but I forgot how much I loved the park. I found that it was even more fun as an adult. why? because it's just plain ole fun AND you get to see the faces on your kids. sort of like these faces.

the castle was so pretty. my favorite memory was when the boys and I decided to ride Dumbo and it worked out that we were on Dumbo, in front of the beautiful castle, in the air as the fireworks were going off. besides Aaron's being terrified of being up so high and desperately trying to lower our elephant, it was absolutely magical. all we could see was the vast sky filled with exploding colors and a fantasy multihued castle.

after a long and wonderful day we waited for our boat ride back to the cabin. I was amazed by how many people brought babies. I can't image it was much fun for them

Gabriel was speechless after Space Mountain. but the wait almost was what put him over the edge.

because you deserve to smile today. :)

sorry it's taking me such a long time to write about the trip. We have returned to a very busy week. plus our friend David is staying with us until his opening! Once things slow down I will, I promise.

Here the boys are running with Jane and Don's miniature horses. yes... running with horses. heaven

i liked their doormat. Chris and I thought one could be appropriate for us.

speaking of running into things...poor Aidan

Next time we travel south I would love to spend more time in Virginia and the Carolina's. there is so much to see. At Jane's I read a piece on Gullah Island. would love to go. I think it was the trees that really captured my heart. Besides Jane, Don and the horses of course.

We're in Virginia. Got to Jane and Don's around 7pm. i wish I had my camera out to catch the boys faces when they saw the miniature horses. they are about the size of Gabriel. I'll take some today.

We found spring! It's so beautiful in southern Maryland and Virginia. I love the trees. Jane has a gorgeous yard. lot's of stuff from my youth so I am having all sort of memories. Right now I am sitting @ my grandmothers dining room table. Jane has a photo of my mother and me on my first birthday sitting at the end of this table (like I am now).

we kept seeing signs that said, "Friends meet at Horne's". Of course we found that funny. so when Chris needed a cup of coffee he stopped in. The lady didn't' have change for his purchase and asked him to wait while she ran home to get it. Chris suggested she check in another register and surprise, there was some money. oh... Aidan needed to go the bathroom so we stopped off at a store, there was a sign by the rest room that stated, "blankets are not paper towels" I think it was a way of saying only flush toilet paper. I think.

oooohhh, not so pretty but earth friendly.

we have two different directions for getting there. AAA triptix has us going NY, NJ on 84. mapquest has us on 95 straight through. Once we hit south Jersey they follow the same route.
if you have an idea of which the the better route would you e-mail me? I don't htink I ever went by 84 but will if it's quicker.

thanks

another option from the Drudge Report, the Drudge Retort

Now I am going to start researching places to eat on the way down.

My Mom and I took G and Ethan to see Meet the Robinson's yesterday (cool animation was it's only plus). we were surprised to see that so much destruction was caused by this storm. Many huge trees on the ground. very sad.


so much work to do. I think we may be in better shape than it looks... it looks pretty bad. down to the nitty gritty details and cleaning. I am not really sure where to start so I'll spend some time here.

we are all very excited to leave. hoping we can track down spring somewhere.

Max's photo's

Exactly

Big

Saddness, ground zero

A root of a tree from 9/11

Hans tells Max all his secrects

Karin and Anilla are cute

This is not a color one would find in nature

View from Anilla's window

Where's Max's head? I see Swathi!

It looks like we have found an answer to our lawn issue, clover. though I do hate the thought of being trendy , it really may work for us. plus, sending the boys out to search for a 4 leaf clover can be a great way to spend a hot summer afternoon.

I am not worried about this at all. nope, not me. not at all.

Max and Karin are due to leave NY Sunday night. I am sure they'll be fine. yes? I know if I suggested they leave early they would be sad. I may just have to make them sad. They are having such a great time though. This morning I was a little sad (therefore I should want to make them sad?) because Max is having such a great time he doesn't' want to talk to me on the phone. I am rambling. sorry, just imaging what college will be like. Maybe I should emotionally cripple him so he stays with me forever. yes, good idea.

Last night I watch the Illusionist. if you have seen it or read the short story please tell me what you thought. I feel a bit disappointed with the happy ending and wondering if that's how it happened in the story. what? you say I should go read the bloody story? umm... okay, another good idea.

this is not us. this is.
sort of cool that there is a Longfellow Books in both Portland's.

i just dropped Max off at the bus stop. He and Karin should get to New York around 12 or 1am.

RIP Mr Vonnegut

big decisions

Max is going to Cheverus. I paid the deposit yesterday. Still sounds strange to my ears but it does feel right. He is very happy. he is going to the jazz concert tonight, checking out his new digs.

We are going to Florida as planned. Ari looked on the Disney website and found a good amount of stuff he'd want to do. plus, we will bring something to protect his hand (bubble wrap?!). Of course we then remembered that the point of this trip was to see family. I can guarantee that they won't jostle his arm. chris's dad has obtained golf carts for the kids to drive. oh my.

shopping is not fun

i tried to get some clothes for our trip today. was able to find the boys some things but I hated everything i saw. At least I hated it on me. didn't' find anything downtown, tried the mall (major yuck), always hear people say they find things at Target. All i found was crap. I guess I am not really sure what I like. i think I need a fashion consultant. Wonder if they do goodwill. That's most likely where I'll end up.

I am wondering if it is Portland or me.

Easter

We had a nice day. The boys has fun coloring eggs and were left beach pails with flip-slop, beach towels and candy.

Regrettably some cracked. we thought they still looked pretty

G loved them all

Then Aidan, and I met up with some friends for a chilly beach romp. the kids played with odds and end they found at the beach. they made a teeter-totter, catapult, measuring devise. Here G is being measured in stones. they did try to catapult G but A. i wouldn't let them and B. it was too low to the ground. Gabriel was very disappointed.

Aidan too

Aaron had his cast changed this morning. He has an S shaped scar on his hand. sort of harry potter-ish. he will have his hand in a sling for about 4 weeks and cannot get it wet nor go on any rides at disney (direct orders from the doc) how's that for disappointing news. I am going to check out the wild animal park and Epcot center for him.

snowstorm in April

so not to get his cast wet Ari wore a bag on his hand


Chris, Ari and G made a way cool fort. it had big walls and compartments

plus perfect snowballs

G even grew some snow freckles

Gabriel said that April had the best April Fools joke ever. We thought it was Spring!

Aaron is doing well. He made it through school yesterday and the pain seems to be lessening.

yay!

Here's Aaron when he just woke from surgery. he had to try to eat some crackers and drink ginger ale. He must keep his hand raised at all time for at least a week and he can not move any of his fingers since he has a screw in his hand and finger movement could upset how they heal.

all in all his is doing great. Last night was tough , I hated it. He could not fall asleep because of the pain. having your son cry himself to sleep and not be able to help his sucks. Though it does remind me to be thankful that it is only his hand and it will get better. we are giving him Tylenol with codeine, it seems to be working better this morning.

The doctors have been amazing. His doctor from the emergency room at Maine Med (Dr Chris Bowe) even called last night to check on him.

Joelle taught me to knit on Sunday. Came in handy yesterday. I really wasn't focused enough to read. knitting is very good activity to do while you worry. I am making Aaron a scarf. i hope anyway. joelle and I only had a few moments before one of the Little's needed us so I have a very basic knowledge. not sure how I started with 40 stitches/loops and now I have 55. it's looking sort of oval. hmmm....