Happy Feet

Meghan and Jason got me a pedicure gift certificate for my birthday. Today Meghan and I went to cash it in. I've never had a pedicure before, so lets just say...it was fantastic. There was a big comfy recliner, there was wine, and there was a foot/leg massage. Wonderful. By the end, I didn't care if they painted my toes or not, the massage with all the different lotions and exfoliaters was definitely the best part. My feet are definitely happy.

Girls' Night.

When Mike is on call, I try to do something fun with Claire. This past call night we decided to get a doughnut for Claire and a hot chocolate for me and watch Mary Poppins (which she loved). Claire sang the entire time we waited in line for our treats: "Supercalifragilisticexpiali - DOUGHNUTS!!" She had everyone in line with us laughing. And when we got home she said, "Mom, I'm having such a wonderful time today!" Its amazing how happy a doughnut can make a 3 year old.

My Hamster

Saturday we took some time to check out the Children's Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We also spent some time at Prescott Park, which was beautiful. There was actually a wedding party having pictures taken when we showed up, and if you look carefully you can see the groom inside the circle of the fountain below. I believe we will be in the background of many of their pictures, so fair is fair. Besides the flowers and fountains, there was a great view of a bridge. Portsmouth seemed to have quite a few really cool bridges.













































The Children's Museum was really fun too. My favorite exhibit was 'Mind Games'. You strap electrodes to your forehead and compete to see who can be more relaxed. Its gauged by a ball inside of a tube on a table. The ball rolls toward whoever is more relaxed. You can watch what your brain waves are doing on the screen above the table. Claire and Mike competed first, and as you can see, Mike took it very seriously and meditated to be more relaxed. Claire was more interested in what she could play with next. Interestingly enough, Claire was the more relaxed one, winning very quickly. When Mike and I tried it out, it took much longer, and in the end, he proved himself to be more relaxed than me. He didn't even gloat. Or do a victory dance.














They also had a huge Pin Impression board. We played with that for a while. Mike and I more so than Claire. I kind of want one for the basement.




























All in all, it was fun to go to a different museum and see different stuff. On the way home we asked Claire which children's museum she liked better, the one in Maine or the one in New Hampshire. She answered that she liked My Hamster better. And finally, this is a tree in our back yard. The colors are just so bright, its really unbelievable.

Looking at the Leaves

Yesterday we took a trip up to Lake Sebago State Park. It was an amazing day and we wanted to see some fall color, but we weren't sure where to go. The only tip we got was to stay away from Conway, NH. Its a beautiful spot, but its also no secret. Friends of ours who tried to get out there this weekend ran into standstill traffic and had to turn around. Acadia would be great, but its a little bit far for a day trip. Same thing with Burlington, VT. So I just looked at the map, figured we'd have to go north for peak color (its not quite peak here in Portland), and figured Lake Sebago would be perfect. And it was. Except for two things. First, I didn't get the best directions and it took us forever to get there. And back. Mike spent most of the trip looking at me like this:










Second, and probably the reason why it wasn't very busy, most of the trees in Lake Sebago State Park are pine trees.














But it was really pretty anyway. We sat on the beach and walked the trails. And we did see a little bit of color between all the pines.

I love Fall.

Its by far my favorite time of year.













Claire and I have been pretty busy lately. Its definitely a pleasant busy, though, as opposed to the crazy nutball busy so many people seem to be lately. We have a lot of stuff going on between two library story times, playgroup, and taking care of another resident's son. And now that we have the Children's Museum Membership, its almost as if we've taken up a second residence there. It really is a great place, we go two or three times a week to take part in activities. Claire absolutely loves it.

































I haven't posted in a while, and its completely because there isn't any internet access at the Children's Museum.

Finally.

I finally got my sticker. Turns out that in Maine, you have to have your car inspected yearly. And it turns out that if you don't, you can get a $200 ticket. I didn't find that out personally, but I've heard enough "I know someone who..." stories to believe it. So I finally got my car in, and it passed (whew). I'm kind of curious as to what they inspected. I asked, and got a general answer about emissions and fluid leaks. I don't really understand how the program works. I get the idea is to make sure cars are road-worthy, and I think its a good one. And obviously it does work, since its been in place since 1999. But just about any garage is able to do an inspection, and its common knowledge that some places pass cars more easily than others. What stops a mechanic from finding a 'problem' that he can charge you to fix? Sure you can get a second inspection somewhere else, but pass or fail, just getting the inspection costs about $20. Seems like you could really get stuck, if you had an older car and not a whole lot of money. I'm also curious as to if, because of vehicle inspections, there are fewer broken down cars on the road, or fewer accidents due to the car malfunctioning.

In any case, I'm set until next year.

It's MY Birthday!

When Claire woke up today, she was a little concerned she didn't have a birthday present for me, and we had the following conversation:
"Mom (tap on the shoulder). Its your birthday today, but I don't have a birthday present to give you."
"Thats okay Claire."
"Maybe we can go to the toy store...and you can buy ME a present instead!"

We never did make it to the toy store, but we did have to go to the mall to pick up some longer jeans for Claire. While we were there, I saw Bath and Body Works was having a great sale, so we stopped to get some hand soap. Claire walked around the store, looking at everything, and then finally came running up to me.
"Mom! I found the perfect thing for your birthday!"
"Really? What is it?"
"Look!" taking it out from behind her back. "Will you buy it for your birthday?"














Of course.

Its that time of year again.

Today Claire and I met some friends at an apple orchard for a few hours. We spent some time picking apples, but mostly Claire and her friend Ava ran through the long grass and laughed when they got tripped up and fell over. It was the perfect fall day.










































And after, we went Halloween costume shopping. I hadn't really asked Claire what she wanted to be until today. I had no idea what she would come up with.

"Alright Claire, what do you want to be for Halloween?"

"Hm.... I want to be... Like my DADDY!"

And as luck would have it, we found just the thing. And in her size too!















And also, Happy Birthday Jim! Hope you had a great day and felt all the birthday wishes we were sending your way. I think Claire sang "Happy Birthday" about 27 times, and wore her green party dress for the occasion.

Retreat at Rangeley

This past weekend was the annual retreat for the emergency medicine department in Rangeley, ME. We had a great time, to say the least. The weather was perfect. Beautiful sunny days ended with amazing sunsets and the night sky was full of stars. Let me tell you, life as a resident sure can be difficult, and here is the proof:

First off, the drive up was beautiful. I don't think the fall colors were out in full yet, but it was still amazing. There were a few scenic overlook areas. This picture was taken near the Appalachian Trail at Saddleback Mountain.














We stopped to do some apple picking on the way to the camp. (Camp is New England lingo for 'cabin', but that isn't accurate either. I believe a 'cabin' in New England is what someone from Wisconsin would call a 'summer home'.) Apparently, as far as apples are concerned, this season has been really hard on orchards and harvests just aren't like they usually are. We still enjoyed it.

























And when we got to the camp we spent our time relaxing until we had to come back home.

3

Happy Birthday, Claire! We had a great day today. This is what it looked like:

Streamers hanging in the doorway and a 'Feather Party' in the background.



















Favorite Breakfast: Daddy's French Toast with Sugar on Top.



















Children's Museum. Petting and feeding baby goats (they were only 9 days old!)














Rock Climbing



















Lobstering



















Making Music



















The Main Event














Silly Stringing Mike (great present from Jim and Monnie). Claire probably picked off half of it by the time I got the camera.














Most definitely a successful birthday.

Lobstah.

My parents and my Uncle Steve and Aunt Rose are visiting this week. We've been doing our best to show them "The Way Life Should Be".

Before:





























Aftah:














No complaints so far.

The Back Cove

We walked the Back Cove yesterday, which means a 3.5 mile walk around, well, the Back Cove. I've heard a lot about it, and it was pretty cool. There were A LOT of people there. Its the kind of place where you pull into your parking spot and there are guys doing push-ups on the grass, a group of 50 runners (with numbers on their backs) warming up, people fishing off the rocks, people having picnics or playing soccer, and groups of strollers and kids running around. Its a fun place.

You can see the Portland skyline.














You could see a sunset.














But make sure you stretch before you start out.



















And stop to pick flowers, for Pete's sake.

Finishing up the month.

Mike has just a few days of orthopedics left, and then he starts ED for September. Orthopedics includes a lot of splinting and casting, and I guess he hasn't had the chance to do all of them at work, so he practices on me. If you came over to our house at night, after Claire was in bed, you'd probably see me in the middle of the floor with a splint on each arm, and Mike working on one for my leg. Fun stuff. I actually don't mind, the splints heat up all 'comfy-cozy' (as Claire would say), and besides, this is one of the less invasive skills he's practiced on me.











This past weekend we went to the Art Festival in Old Port, and also caught one of the L.L. Bean Summer Concert Series concerts. Every Saturday throughout the summer, there are free outdoor concerts at the L.L. Bean Flagship store in Freeport. We heard Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, who play some fantastic Cajun music. Claire had a blast dancing. Freeport a really cool town, and its only about 20 minutes from our house. Still, its probably one of the longest drives we've taken since being out here. We've been really spoiled with having everything so close. 20 minutes was only half of Mike's one-way commute to school when we lived in Waukesha. Spoiled, that's what we are.