More cool pictures from Maine

Lobster traps all over
Having fun with my new Nikon D80
The first sight of whales

Lets talk about Maine

I could write tons, but I will try to keep it brief.
Why did you go to Maine, you ask? One of the sucky things from this past year is my dad's company got bought out by a larger one and he got laid off, after they made him fire all his tech associates. Nice hey? After many months of searching and interviews he was offered a job….in Maine. Many prayers and discussions later he decided it would be best for the family if he took it. His job allows him to work from home so he is able to come back to WI about once a month for a long weekend and my mom tries to get out there for a couple weeks at a time. He was fortunate enough to find a great apartment on the ocean in Old Orchard Beach, ME. I finally got some time off of work and decided to head out there when my mom was going to be there too. I left early on a Friday morning and landed in Boston at 10:30 a.m. Our first stop was Cambridge and visit Harvard University. Wow, what a gorgeous college. I felt really smart just standing in the middle of campus by the library. I bought a Harvard Track and Field t-shirt on campus just to pretend that I ran for the team. What I love about that side of the country is that it is so old, that is where the history of the United States began. After some gulf shrimp and Sam Adams beer we head north to my dads place. He lives in this cute little ocean side holiday town and I like to describe it. About a mile walk on the beach is The Pier where many shops and restaurants are located. Adjacent to The Pier is an amusement park. I felt like I was in a movie from the 80's, like Karate Kid. The next day we were going to Gloucester to whale watch. Gloucester is the setting of the movie Perfect Storm so that night my parents made me watch the movie. Have you seen the movie? If not, go rent it. I was afraid to watch it because I knew it was a sad movie and I knew the ending since it was a true story. I am so glad they made me watch it. The next day we headed south into Massachusetts and visited the two cities Rockport and Gloucester. The day was foggy and misty, perfect setting for a fisherman's town. We walked the streets of Rockport and this is where I got some of my best pictures. After filling up on coffee and clam chowder (chowdah as they say it) we headed to Gloucester. I had chills all over when we drove by the Crows Nest Inn (setting of Perfect Storm). Gloucester is the oldest fishing port dating to 1623. My dad booked us to go Whale Watching and I was so excited to test out my new camera. Still foggy and misty, we weren't sure what we were going to see out in the ocean. What I liked about the whale watching company we went with, "Captain Bill's & Sons Whale Watching", was that they had a field biologist and Director of the Whale Center of New England on board. He has been studying the Humpbacks in that particular region for 20+ years. It took about an hour to get to the spot where they know the whales come to eat. As we approached the spot we saw a whale slapping his tail in the water alerting other whales that he was coming into their territory. I was so excited because I knew we were going to see at least one whale. Not only did we see one whale but we saw two sets of three whales including one calf, three sets of two whales, including another calf and some random singles. At the end of the two hours a calf decided to play with our boat, he was swimming all around, splashing, blowing air, going under our boat and back up again. It was so amazing and beautiful. Finally the mom and her friend had to come back and get the calf, the calf didn't want to go so mommy had to jump on her. It was so surreal.
I will post more about my trip later........

My favorite nephews

Aidan

Ethan

Oh wait, what about this one?

Favorite picture

I was looking through my Maine pictures again and I think I have a favorite. And it's not even a whale picture. Ok, I cannot lie, it's not really just the only favorite but this is one I may blow up and frame. Let me know what you think.

VENT

If I hear one more person say, "I'm pregnant" and then follow it with, "and we weren't even trying." I WILL puke on them.

That is all, have a nice day.

Random thoughts

For some reason I cried a lot yesterday on Father's Day. We are going on our second month of a break. It has been a nice break, I think I'm just scared of what the future is going to bring. More tests, needles, decisions, etc.

I love this weather, and it doesn't last long enough here in WI. June - September are wonderful months. After that we get snow and cold and more snow...... it sucks. Literally 4 months of good weather. I feel this crazy pressure to do things - camping, the Island, volleyball tournaments, cookouts, beach time, etc. 4 months to get all that in before it snows. Ugh.

My running is sucking right now. I feel so tired and heavy and slow on my runs. I have no desire to train right now.

I love my husband more than anything in the world. He is so cute. My poor cat is hot right now and he tried to cool her off this afternoon. He took ice packs and put them in a insulated bag and put a pan on top of it with my cat's favorite mouse hoping she would lay on the pan to keep cool. He is silly but cute.

Friends is my favorite TV show of all time, I'm on my 3rd episode of the night.

Yes yes yes, I will do a write up on Maine.

Thanks all, happy days.

I got a new camera and just got back from a mini vacation

Super quick update, I'll write more when I have a chance. My husband and I broke down and got the new Nikon D80 camera. We have been researching this particular camera for almost a year. My plan is to take some photography classes so I can master the camera. It arrived in the mail last Wednesday just in time for my mini vacation to the East Coast visiting my mom and dad. I took over 380 pictures; Harvard, the beach, whales, lighthouses, old buildings and much more. Here is just a tease of our whale watch.

Washington Island

I don't remember if I have ever posted about Washington Island. "The Island" is located north of the tip of Door County. My in-laws have a place up on the Island and my first visit was back in 2003. I fell in love with the place right away. There is nothing fancy about the Island. It's quite simple and a little behind the times. But that is what makes it so special. The in-laws have a beautiful house on the lake facing East. We spend a lot of our time up there helping them do work around the house. I love to mow the lawn and it's a great workout for me. I usually do it after a 5 mile run which I get to run in the middle of the streets because there is hardly any traffic. We also help plant flowers and bushes, take down trees, cut wood and burn. After our chores we have a "moment" with an Island Wheat Beer. Of course we also over eat with great meals done on the grill.
We "meet" a lot of different animals including large spiders, long snakes, deer, many different kind of birds, and much much more. Here is a picture of one of the biggest spiders I have ever seen outside of the zoo.My brother-in-law, my husband, father-in-law and I love to go to the driving range and see how good (bad) we are at golfing.
The boys hard at work and I'm planting flowers.