Last week my parents (and Aunt and Uncle) were here. Since this was their second trip to Maine, everyone had a good idea of what they wanted to do. Most if it involved no schedules whatsoever, which is always nice on a vacation. As for Claire, Mike and I, we got all the benefits of being on vacation (trips to restaurants, getting to be a tourist, and a week of 'I don't have anything planned') and all the benefits of being at home. We did get to cross a few things off the 'List of Things to do in Maine' that were missed last year, such as the Bug Light. We had Claire's birthday party there last Saturday, and the park did not disappoint. It was a beautiful day. The skies were filled with kites, the harbor was busy with boats of all kinds coming in and out, and there was even a wedding. My family enjoyed watching all that was going on,














the kids ran around (mostly with Jaime),
















the Dads of the group played wiffle ball,



















and everyone else mostly watched.















There was even an obese wiener dog that kept trotting over from somewhere looking for pizza and cake.



















Definitely a successfully birthday party.

We of course had some repeats as well. A day at Old Orchard Beach, a day in Freeport, and lots of time on the Maine State Pier and in Old Port. These things were all much more enjoyable this year, since every day we enjoyed temperatures in the mid 70's and clear blue skies. Last year I think it rained all but one of the days they were here. Also on one of the beautiful fall evenings, Mike and I had a chance to go to a Boston Red Sox game (thanks again Jaime and John!). Unfortunately they lost, but I think on your first trip to Fenway Park, thats almost secondary.














It reminded me a lot of the evening games Mike and I would go to in Milwaukee. I didn't quite forget where I was, though, since I noticed that they did not sing "Roll Out the Barrel" and they did not have a Sausage Race. The entire stadium did sing "Sweet Caroline", however, and that was unlike anything I've ever heard before.

So. School starts for Claire on Monday. She'll be going three mornings a week this year, and has been looking forward to it since I broke the news that she wouldn't be going to school over the summer a week before her last day last spring. She's ready to go back. And I've been planning how I'll use the free time since I started taking pottery classes again. I'm about to see a lot more studio time every week!