Swan Boating with Nana

Happy Birthday Mom!

J, Ellie, Christine, Anastacia, Auntie Elaine and my Mom went to ride the swan boast in the public gardens to celebrate my Mom's Birthday. From the pictures that I saw they had a great time. And Ellie got a magnet and a little stuffed swan to commemorate the day. They saw lots of ducks and of course lots of other kids.

After the ride they went over to Newbury Street to have lunch. Elaine taught us a new trick to get Ellie to eat all her food. Elaine told Ellie she loves grilled cheese... Well, Elle took that as Elaine was going to eat it. Sure enough Elle ate all her lunch.

They headed back Everett And she took a little cat nap in the car.

We're glad you had a great time Mom! So did J and Ellie! Maybe this is the start of a new tradition! QUACK!

Mike Simpson

Go to http://www.simpsonsmovie.com
and make yourself a Simpson's character. It's easy and laugh out loud fun!

DOH!!

Mike

Pink Flamingo Parade

Yup that's right... a pink flamingo. Apparently the Southwest portion of the island officially adopted the Pink Flamingo as their icon. Why? They live on an island and the winter's a pretty freak'in cold... To quote Mike from Maine "In the winter all we do is pretty much gamble and drink". I assume this decision cam from either a very bad bet or an excellent mixed drink. Either way we're glad they did it because we've never seen anything like this.

We're heading off the island and we'll hit the parade as we leave. Perfect. We packed and headed off. Go-at a parking spo-at and found a good space to see the parade. The family we rented from had their son participating in it. They had a pink golf cart in the guest house's garage which was the book mobile that encouraged reading. Logan their son would be driving it. That's him in the picture!

A retired couple in front of us encouraged Elle to sit next to them on the curb so she did. She's getting bolder and not so clingy. She sat with them and then some kids to her right. All them got along great because they were collecting candy that was being thrown from the floats. The kids got candy and I got blindsided in the side of the head with a Frisbee. EXCELLENT PROMOTIONAL IDEA! Projectile flyer's being flung from the parade. I was fine, just let me get this Frisbee for Elle.. Whoops.. there's an old lady picking it up and walking away with it. Enjoy that Frisbee at 82. You looked pretty limber bending over and picking it up. Oh well. I actually smirked as she took it. One of those moments you feel your on camera.

The parade was great. Lots of fun businesses and float ideas. And sure enough we saw a group of people on a float singing... Hey those are the people from the Deck House. And wouldn't you know it... They broke singing to say hi to Ellie. We hear "Hello Ellorie!" Too funny. We felt like we were already a part of the small community. It was a great feeling.... well not the Frisbee to the noggin . We also bumped into Victoria And Dave who we rented from. It was nice to just chat with them for a bit now that all the business was over maybe it seemed easier to just talk. Victoria had lost her voice so she didn't have much to say. It sounded like it hurt. She's a Gardner so she must really talk to all her plants. Ha

The parade ended and we walked the flea market atmosphere of tents and tables. Maybe before we hit the road we should have lunch. Good idea... I see a sign that says $8 – lobster roll. J and Elle got hot dogs. $8 lobster roll... I should have gotten 2 for that price. It was good.

We run into our waiter from last and and another singer from the show. They had never seen anything like this either. And couldn't wait to get back to the local madness. We're off. In the car and on the zoo that we promised Ellie we would go to. Not the best or friendliest zoo we've been too. Next time I'd skip it.Elle liked it so that's all that counts.

5 hour drive from the zoo ( no traffic- we did well) . No nap either but yet the wonder child didn't have any break downs. She played on her own and pretended to read her books. J dished out the occasional treat for all of us. Nutter Butter's and Cheddar Fishes.

When we got home we unpacked and I visited Kit to thank her for watering the yard and plants. It was hot and dry here so she did it every other day. We gave her a bottle of wine from the Sweet Pea Vineyard.

Until the next vacation.

I worked on the grapevine today. Pruned it to expose them to more sun. I'm guessing we'll have more grapes this year than 2 years ago which was around 18-20 lbs. There's a ton in the yard.
I'll post a few photos of what we've got so far.

Night,

Mike

The Blog Must Go On – The Deck House

!Read the blog first before watching the clip!

Our last night on the island and J picked something to do that we've never done before. The Deck House.
http://www.thedeckhouse.com/
A restaurant on the water that has a great menu.. the catch is the wait staff are performers and in between serving's they perform songs. Friday night had a western theme. We were the first diners to arrive and we got more attention than we could handle. The server's loved Elle and kept telling her to go request a Little Mermaid song because the piano player knew it. So J and Elle requested it and a few songs later and when she was mid eating heard a few notes and alerted us "This is my song!!!!"

We were still getting visited by other waiter's and waitresses just to talk to Ellie. She loved the attention but when they started to perform she wasn't quite sure of it. Then something just clicked and we couldn't get her to stop dancing around the table and waving at the performers... she became a distraction ( or you could say she became part of the show). Typically performer's don't like to be upstaged but this group took a surprising turn. They wanted to use Elle as a prop and through out the show she would get visited and some one would lift her up during the performance.

In between songs our performing bartender came over and interrupted Elle as she's stirred her pineapple juice as if it were scotch on the rocks and asked her (not me... they saw right past J and I) if when he came over if she would give him a high five.... Ellie's response "sure". They practiced and then the lights dimmed and he was off. Sure enough he danced over and she gave him a high five on cue. At this point we realized the audience as well as the performer's were loving Elle's enthusiasm for the singing and dancing.

In between each number a performer would visit and chat with Elle.... I felt like a body guard...

"C'mon buddy the chicken finger's are here.. I gotta blow on them too cool them off... beat it!

We can't say enough about it. It was a blast. To be honest J and I had no clue how she would react to the music. She might have thought it was too loud or scary... NOPE! And it was a pleasant surprise.

After the show we got visited by other tables wanting to say Hi to Ellie and guess her age. J & Elle went over and thanked the pianist who also played "Mov'in Right along" from the Muppets... We didn't request it but "how did he know?" hehehe All the performer's were saying good bye to Elle and she was still motoring despite it was pretty late.

We got back to the house poured a glass of wine and walked down to the harbor to smell the ocean and listen to the sounds of the harbor one last evening.

It was a perfect last night. She is spoiling us with her absolutely wonderful behavior. We realize that maybw e can do more with her than we give her credit for. BRAVO ELLE!

Enjoy the above video of one of the songs.

Mike

Maine word of the day:

Ho-am: We're home.
And we have more to post. We went to the Flamingo Festival.

Accordian on the ferry

Wundah-land

We woke up with the sun burning through the screen porch in our bedroom. That hasn't happened yet! With the sun out we quickly got up and ready to do a hike up the road. The trail is known as Wonderland. A mild hike that's perfect for kids. It funneled us out to a beautiful rocky beach that was very quiet. Elle and I wadded in the ice cold water that made out knee's buckle while J took pictures of us and the beach.

Moving up the beach we found some tidal pools with warm water in them that we quickly dipped our feet into. Ahhhh. Elle and I climbed the rocks getting closer to the tide as it crashed in. Of course we were trying to get soaked!

On the other side of the path was the bay side which had another beach but no crashing tide. We decided to go over there for small snack and drink of water from J's backpack. We all looked for shells and those black hot rocks. It was like we were 3 kids looking at the rocks and trying to see sea life. We collected a hand full of rocks and shells and a piece of drift wood for future crafts... maybe a Bar Harbor Christmas ornament in the making.

We had reservations for the horse drawn wagon to take us over to Jordan Pond for afternoon tea. How lovely! Back at the house we cleaned tried to look civilized for our tea with Duke & Ted... the 2 horses that pulled the wagon. J got Ellie all dressed up in a green dress that had a print of tea pots. She also straightened her hair and put it back like a "grown-up".

J and I have done Jordan Pond every time we've come here. This was Elle's first. She didn't care much for the pop-vers or the lemonade or the bubble mountains... she liked Duke and Ted.... and the 4 year old Auggie sitting in front of us on the carriage. I think this is the third boyfriend she's had on this trip. Uhg! He wasn't a very well behaved young man to be having tea but J, Ellie & I thought that sharing some toys with him might just cool him off from making googley eyes at Elle.

J & I loved the pop-overs. She had iced tea and I had iced coffee in the hot sun of the grounds. As Elle would say "How Divine". When we got off the tour back at the stables Elle wanted to give Auggie a hug. Auggie's Mom suggested that Elle get on the grass because Auggie gets a bit excited and could possibly knock her over in the act of hugging... OK then! They were from California and Auggie's Mom talked to J a lot on the return carriage ride back. She was traveling with her parents who seemed to really appreciate the nice little girl sitting behind them more than their own grandchild.

We did a lot in the first half of the day and Elle nodded off quickly in the car. So we're back here giving Elle a nap, J's on the balcony reading her Phillip Craig book and I'm updating you all watching "National Lampoon's European Vacation".

Our last night on the island we're going to the Deck House. Dinner and a live show. Should be fun!

Have a good afternoon.

Mike

Little Cranberry Island

The commuter ferry to Little Cranberry Island left at 3:00. We headed out at 2:30 to catch it. Tucked away in SW harbor is the dock. A small mixed group of people were on the boat – vacationers and islanders. The Capt. counted 8 and turned to Elle, J and I "I saw some porpoises on my way over here. We'll keep an eye out for more". J was more excited about that news than Elle was.

The boat made 3 stops. 1. to a near by dock on NW Harbor, 2. Great Cranberry Island and 3. an unexpected stop to let a local and her son off on an island we aren't familiar with. We stayed on the main deck of the small boat. It seemed the locals went up top. The sun was hot anyway. I took a zillion shots of the boats and mountains. When I loaded the camera up for this entry I saw that we had taken 166 pics just tonight... just a few huh?

We chatted with a local woman who was heading out to the island to have dinner with a friend. She was very nice and reminded me of our neighbor Kit. Physically and personality wise. We all scattered when we exited the boat. J, Elle and I Went East to see a jeweler and some painters. We didn't have to worry about Elle too much walking since there aren't many cars and everyone was either on bikes or in a golf cart ( I didn't see any clubs).

We got to the jewelers and it had closed at 4:00.... It was 4:15. The store was not on a foundation and it didn't look steady. A small woman from the house right next door asked if we wanted to see the store, she had a key and would be happy to let us in (she was a friend of the store owner who wasn't around...yup, we're on an island ah ya). HEAVY MAINE ACCENT! SHe mentioned the store was an old shack from the harbor and instead of destroying things they try and have secondary uses. And at some point soon they'll put it on a foundation.

Next we headed over to a gallery. J's sister Cherie had bought a wood cut print from this gallery years ago. It's a beautiful space. The 2 owners were there and invited us in and extended Ellie an invitation to sit at a drawing table and have fun creating some art. She did and they enjoyed watching in her so we could walk the 2 floors of the gallery. Not typically a trait of a shop owner... they usually want the kids hand cuffed to tree outside the store.

I'll spare you the conversation with them but they were delightful and they really enjoyed watching Elle as they are expecting their first grandchild in Sept. They were both islanders and painters with some great work and if we could we would have bought a painting but they were a little over priced. As J said "most of that stuff is kitchen art with dining room prices". Funny and true!

On to Isleford for dinner.

J had steak, Elle had pasta, I had a Quahog and a Caribbean seafood stew dish. Good, Good and Good!

Elle was an angel for dinner. Completely well behaved and we were told as much by the couple next to us who were clearly marveling over her throughout their dinner and until we getting dessert they finally let us know how impressed they were. That was very nice of them. I think they felt they owed it to her since when our waitress was bringing over dessert Elle squeled in excitement but they dessert got delivered to them... It was hysterical!

We timed it right. Right after dinner we had 10 minutes to enjoy the sunset as we waited for the ferry back. When we got on to the boat we saw our Kit look-a-like and she was with her dinner partner who was toting an accordian. Sure enough he went up on the top deck and played. We went up and enjoyed him playing some great jigs while Elle danced around mesmorized! It was perfect and the views were incredible! I took video of the playing and the dancing.

When we got home we wanted to enjoy the evening a little more so we headed down the road and each got a drink. Listening to the waves and the clanging bells doesn't get old.

Wow, I'm tired!

Til tomorrah