Sunday, September 25, 2011

Maine Vacation 2011

It seems a lifetime ago now, but last month after the lovely wedding in Vermont, Dad hopped a plane back home (he had to work...) while Mom and I continued our drive North to our vacation spot in Houlton, Maine...we were to meet Gramma Mindy up there.

JustRichy was going to end up there for a few days as well, and he spent a lot of time playing with me, and swimming in the lake (Well...holding me in the water while HE swam in the lake...)


As always (or at least in the two times I have been there) Maine was full of exciting things to do! I spent a lot of time down by the dock with my pail and shovel. People seemed to enjoy my rendition of the "Bob the Builder" theme song that I kept singing during my time digging sand out of the lake and filling the bucket.

The only problem that one sometimes encounters is getting debris in one's sandals...this was not a huge problem, but certainly one that got uncomfortable pretty quickly.

Spending time down by the lake was essential...luckily this year, the family finally snagged a working boat, and we got to spend some time gliding around the lake in it...

This time around I was a bit happier because I fit into the life vest a bit better than last year and certainly better than my first year when you may recall me looking like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man (As seen HERE...)


As much as I asked nicely to drive the boat, and showed everyone that my skills were AT LEAST on par with Dad's (Who had been allowed to pilot the boat in the past) it was JustRichy that primarily drove us around the lake...


It was certainly a different way to experience the lake, and I enjoyed it. Something about the hum of the engine and being able to zip around the lake that just adds to the atmosphere...

Unfortunately, it was a rainy week this year. This led to it being a bit chilly, but luckily we had just left the DC-area heat wave, and this was a nice change of pace. Besides, at least I could bundle up after a dip in the lake, and enjoy my peaceful thoughts while sitting on the porch and gazing out onto the lake...Fortunately we certainly knew how to make the best of rainy days...


We spent a lot of time honing our painting skills while avoiding the rain...

And I got to treat everyone to my rendition of Winnie the Pooh, by walking around saying "Tut Tut...it looks like rain..." (I have since moved up to singing "Singing in the Rain..." complete with the dance moves and the "Doo doo do doo doo" part....)

I spent my evenings (and naps) in the smaller cabin, and Mom was kind enough to take me back and forth in the rain as my "Umbrella Escort" She is a nice lady...

Don't worry...it wasn't all rainy, though....Mom and I spent a lot of time together, too...we took whatever chance we could get to swim (OK...she swam, I held on to her)

We also got to make friends with the ducks that always made their way to shore...they were really friendly, and we could tell that they were used to having people around...

When I sat at the table, they put a book on the chair to help me reach the table without using my high chair...I looked JUST like Curious George!!

There were lots of bubbles up there, and I chased them around the deck while Mom and Gramma Mindy blew bubbles for me! Elephant helped me chase the bubbles around...he is a good friend.


I also took it upon myself to pull the oars in away from the lake's edge when we weren't using them...it was quite impressive that I was able to do so well when you consider the size/weight difference between me and the oars....but when I set my mind to doing something, you can bet that I'm gonna pull it off...no matter the difficulty!


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Man alive....look how saturated that ground is!!

Even though we didn't get out to Houlton Dairy this year due to the weather, I had the chance to get some ice cream while we were out traveling, so it wasn't a TOTAL loss....mmmmm!!


Truly a lovely (if a bit rainy) week in Maine....I can't wait to go up there next year!!


Sunday, September 18, 2011

ImagiFest 2011!

As I wrap up some of my longer posts, I figured I'd pop in to tell you all about something I did this past weekend while Mom was out of town helping Gramma Mindy feel better after her operation (Feel better, Gramma Mindy!!)

Dad and I went to this place called "Imagination Stage" that's near us....our friend Kate works there, and you may remember that I went to see my first stage play there several months ago (It was called George and Martha, and it was super fun) In November, I'm going to start taking some classes there, so Dad and I went to this ImagiFest type thing they were throwing, (Basically it was an open house with sample classes and shows, and fun games for us kids) and we had a lot of fun!

In the back alley of the theater there was a big wall called Chalk Alley!


They put out buckets of sidewalk chalk, and just let us all go to town!



There were lots of good drawings there, but Dad and I added our unique voices to the mix, drawing butterflies and adding our names to the wall and ground.


Here I explain my motivation behind the artwork that I was sharing with everyone. I thought that it conveyed my deep sense of enjoying myself beyond reason at this event. I got to run around a lot, and play on the sculptures back in the alley as well being able to express myself with the chalk drawings.

Also....that the chalk was delicious.


When we were done chalking it up, we went inside to check out a preview of a new piece called "Mouse on the Move" It was a work in progress show that they were working on that followed the adventures of two mice out and about in the world. They were trying to get to the moon so that they might indulge in lots of cheese eating, and they used different methods to get there including driving a car and taking a boat. (Don't worry...Dad took the below picture before the show started, so we didn't disturb the actors)


There was lots of audience participation which I enjoyed very much. Some of the kid got to hold flowers and some of us got to hold little bowls (one of whom was me) At one point, the mice needed fuel for their car, and they told us that it ran on flower power...they called all the kids up to put their flowers in the gas tank...later, as they sailed their boat, they came upon a starfish whose babies had gotten frozen in the cold ocean weather...the mice then gave all of us that had bowls little starfish-shaped ice cubes....we were told to blow on it (but not lick them) and rub our hands together over them to warm them up....very quickly the starfish babies melted, and we got to walk up to the starfish onstage and give her her starfish babies back...it was awesome! The show was fun, and the two girls playing the mice did a great job!

After the show and lunch (also made up of samples that various organic food outlets were offering) we noticed that they were doing some face (and hand and arm) painting. After waiting as patiently as a two and a half year could possibly be expected to wait....it was my turn!


Dad asked me to look over the sheet of samples and pick one...initially I wanted a blue seahorse, but once I took a good look at the sheet...I knew what I wanted...I picked a monkey to honor my love of Curious George...Dad asked her if she could draw the monkey on my hand instead of my face so I could see it better, and she wisely suggested my arm, since it would take longer to get washed off it wasn't on my hand...

She worked quickly, but did a very good job...it was very cool watching a monkey emerge from some blobs of paint on my arm, but she did it! She was very nice, and said that I did a good job sitting still. (She was right...I did)



I mean, c'mon....how cool is THAT!?

After another quick visit to the chalk wall, we left and got to get on the bus (which is also a lot of fun, I must say...the first bus ride TO the ImagiFest was a little nervewracking, but I quickly grew to enjoy it for the trip home...it was really convenient.

ImagiFest 2011? A total success!!!!!!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Hurricane Irene...

This past week, after making it through (OK...after sleeping through) the East Coast Earthquake of 2011 (Apparently a rarity in these parts) We moved right into Hurricane Irene. A lot of people up and down the East Coast had a rough time with the hurricane, with both of my Grammas being out of power for several days (though Grandpa and Gramma Debbie have power again finally, at press time, we still haven't heard from Gramma Mindy to see if she has gotten power back yet) and lots of damage for miles around...

We were very fortunate that the storm was mild here, and before it really hit, I had a chance to go out and play for a little while.

In an effort to stave off cabin fever, Daddy took me outside and we ran around in the rain for while. It had cooled off a bit, so the rain was really refreshing! I put on some rain boots, and Daddy put his boots on, and we rain outside as fast as we could! Mommy stayed inside to get some work done, and we went to town!

I ran around for awhile, getting nice and wet in the rain, and got to jump in the huge puddles to make really big splashes!

After awhile, we moved over to the little wooded area between our apartment, and the office building next to us. It was fun to run around under the trees, because sometimes you wouldn't get rained on, and other times you would have really big random drops...it was very cool!

As you can tell in that shot, it was getting a little chilly, so Daddy chased me around for a little while longer, and he was jumping in the puddles too. This was fun to see, since Daddy is much bigger than me, and makes much bigger splashes!

After our last couple runs around the puddles and the trees, we ran inside, and Mommy was waiting for us with towels to dry off with. It was a lot of fun, and I can't wait until it rains again (though I hope we skip the hurricane part)

I was actually disappointed today when we went for a bike ride and saw that all the puddles had evaporated. Ah well...we'll see some again soon, I hope!