Irene?

She went west of us so we only got a couple inches of rain and wind.  There was some minor damage around and we went without electricity for about 14 hours but nothing to complain about.

I went to the beach yesterday.  It's nice now that most of the tourists are gone.  It was so peaceful.

Love this sky and all the layers of the clouds.

Pretty waves

This was an accident but I love how the ocean is all blurry and sparkly.  It's even prettier if you click to enlarge it. 

I'm happy to report that my MIL is doing much better and might get out of the rehab facility at the end of the week.

Gary got another, tuna, too.  This was a small one at just 230 lbs. but it actually fetched more per pound than the 580 lb. one. 

It's another beautiful day, today, so I think I'll head to the beach this afternoon after some chores this morning.

It's Been Over a Week

since my last post. 

it's been very busy. 

My Kylie girl came for a week and we had such a good time swimming, and reading and going to the playground and playing Bananagrams.

Here she is at the park:

Our friend Deirdre also visited with her two kids.  Tori is almost 14 and Ryan is 11 and Kylie had a blast with them.

We went to Fun Town/Splash Town and the kids had so much fun on the waterslides.

This is Tori standing with Kylie under the pirate barrel.

Tori is a gymnast and here she is teaching Kylie a move.

It's been very quiet since they all left.

So I'm reduced to photographing flowers.

Today I pedaled to the beach and took a few more.

But, it won't be quiet for long; now, we have to prepare for hurricane Irene!

A Walk on the Beach

I was sitting in my camper and Donna was in hers.

It had been rainy for two days.

We were playing Words with Friends on our iPads.

All of a sudden I saw the sun peek through

and couldn't stand being inside anymore.

On my turn I messaged her.

"The sun just came out for a second.  I'm getting off

my lazy butt and going for a walk on the beach.  Wanna go?"

"Sure" came her immediate response.

We saw these pretty flowers as we prepared to walk over the dunes.

We walked north toward the Pier at Old Orchard Beach.

Donna made a new friend.

After fish tacos we settled on a balcony at the end of the pier for Margaritas.  Even though it was still mostly cloudy, there were still many people enjoying the beach.

Then the clouds began to lift.

The sun turned the waves white and sparkling.

We watched the sun set behind the Ferris wheel.

The lights came on.

And the whole world turned pink.

We walked back down the beach in the dark,

drove back to the campground.

She went into her camper and I went into mine.

Then I heard a ding, checked my iPad,

and we continued

our games.

Nautical, Anyone?

The park model trailer we bought for my in-laws was decorated in a nautical style.  Everywhere we looked there was something to do with the ocean.

On the end table

Covering a window

Perched above a window

On a table

Above the door

Above the curtains

Watching from on high

Between the windows

On the floor

In the curtains and on the wall

Holding keys

Crowded on the walls.

Don't get me wrong; I love the ocean but this was overkill!

Luckily, my MIL has plenty of family heirlooms that have replaced many of these things.

Moon Magic

We spent the whole day with Gary's father.

He's so sweet natured but has short-term memory loss.

We have to repeat and repeat and repeat

everything over and over.

So, after Gary left to take him back to his place and get him ready for bed,

I took off and went to the beach with two friends

to watch the full moon rise

over the ocean.

We all needed it.

Mich had worked all day.

Donna had had her brother visiting all week.

And I just had to get away.

As we walked over the dunes, it was just emerging from behind lavender clouds.

We stood on the sand, chatted, roamed around a bit, and absorbed the peacefulness.

We headed back to camp a little lighter than before.

Camp Ellis

Camp Ellis is a fishing village at the mouth of the Saco River.  There is a large dock area which is where Gary meets the tuna buyer and unloads his catch.

I took a few pictures of interesting sights when I was there the last time.

What We've Been Up To

Babysitting!

But not Kylie.

My father-in-law.  He had a mild stroke last summer and lost his short-term memory.  Otherwise, he's fit as a fiddle for 86 years old.

But, my mother-in-law has a UTI and is in the hospital.  She normally takes care of him.  Now, it's our turn.  She's also gotten very weak in the last few weeks so will have to go to rehab for a couple weeks when she gets out of the hospital.

On top of that, Gary's motorcycle broke down for the third time yesterday.  We went to get it yesterday and he got halfway home when the same thing happened.

We had to wait an hour and a half in a Walmart parking lot for the tow truck.

Yeah, it's been fun!

Here are a few pictures I took yesterday and today.  They have no real significance; I just felt like clicking.

I was sitting in the back seat on the way to pick the bike up and thought this was really cool.

Saw these four birds while waiting in traffic.

Raindrops on red chairs

Jeweled grass

Anyone know what this is?  I know lots of flowers but not this one.

Pretty weeds

A Little Journaling

Very little!

This is the sum total of what I've journaled all summer.

More Wedding Pics

The bride, Amanda, waiting to enter the church.

My brother, Tim, and sister, Sally

My son, Nathan, and his girlfriend, Danielle

My daughter, Erin, and me

The groom, my brother, Tim's, son, Dustin, and his bride

L to R. My niece, Michelle, my daughter, Erin, and my brother, Tim's wife, Sherrie

The bride, Amanda, waiting patiently for her groom, Dustin, to join her on the trolley that took them to the Town and Country Inn for the reception.

My cousin, Lucy, and her mom, my Aunt Dotty, my dad's sister.

The girl cousins: L to R Alissa, my sister Nancy's daughter, my daughter, Erin, in her reception dress, and my niece Michelle, my sister Sally's daughter.

The boy cousins: Nathan and Dustin

L to R: Ian, my niece Alissa's boyfriend, Bill, my sister nancy's husband, Gary, me, and my sister Nancy

The bride in her beautiful dress

The pretty detail in the back

It really was a great wedding!