Rays of Sunshine

A hazy day at the beach

It struck me that it doesn't necessarily have to be a beautiful day to enjoy the beach. Evelyn loves the sand so much that we loaded up and headed out for a quick morning trip to Popham beach. She mostly loves the warm puddles left behind by the receding tide, and will spend great amounts of time walking from one end to the other.

After taking a break from that, she loves to dig with her shovel and transfer sand into her bucket. When she's feeling funny, she'll also shovel sand onto my knee or foot, look at me, and laugh. We made a few "towers" with her bucket, which she thoroughly enjoyed, and then realized that Daddy makes a big deal of it whe you sit on them to crush them. This became a long game, wherein I built the towers and Evelyn destroyed them.

Kids have all the fun.

Goodbye Camp

After four relaxing weeks, it is time to head back home from camp. This is the scene that greeted me on the mornings that I headed to work in an air-conditioned office with no windows.

I think we New Englanders should automatically get June, July & August off as compensation for dealing with December, January and February. It's too difficult to miss one moment of summer's fleeting flirtation.

Remembering snuggles past...

July 2006



July 2007

Open Farm Day

Sunday was Open Farm Day around the state, so we took Evelyn down to Nezinscot River Farm and White Birch Alpacas for some barnyard belligerence.
Evelyn has been fascinated by the fact that cows and horses eat hay recently. Today she discovered that goats do too! That little observation pretty much rocked her day.

After the hay fascination finally began to wear, a friendly kitten came to ay hello. Evvie loves cats, but her high-pitched enthusiasm usually sends them running. Today's farm cat was as big or bigger a hit than the other animals.



An interesting result of the day came about in Evvie's animal sounds. Aafter we came home and were imitating the barnyard sounds, her "moo" has changed. There's a lot more "mmmmmmm" than "ooooh" after spending a significant amount of time with the cows and studying the way they low.

She's always been a good mimicer of our words, and now she's ready to be the next "cow whisperer".

The Joker

As difficult as it was to let her, I allowed Evelyn to tip her soup bowl up and slurp it. It's terrible manners, but it's manners that I taught her. Fair is, as they say, fair.

Amazingly, she did not pour the soup down her chin/shirt/legs, but kept a steady hand as she slurped. When the bowl came back down, a sly grin painted her face making me dive for the camera.

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Eventually she got cleaned up and I caught her admiring her new hairdo in the mirror. It has become the first place she runs after the successful install of a new ponytail holder or barrette.

Perhaps all the gushing over how cute she is has a downside- vanity!

I Just couldn't find any pants to match...

Getting Ready for the Party!

Saturday was the annual "Sears/Talbot/Prince Family Lobster Feed and Clam Bake Extravaganza"!

Evelyn was so excited that she volunteered to help sweep the deck in preperation.

The day was beautiful with much Maine seafood being devoured by representitives of California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, and Kenya. Evvie finally got to meet her fabulous Great Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle John. She was a bit shy but in cute mode, too.

Orange Popsicle

Is there any better flavor in the summertime than artificial orange? The taste reverts me to my own childhood, and though she doesn't get them a lot, it's incredibly fun to watch Evvie enjoy a treat.

Maine Wildlife Park

Sunday we took Evelyn to the Maine Wildlife Park to see the animals. It is a reserve for animals that could not survive in the wild - whether they were oprhaned, raised by humans, injured, etc.

Evvie really like the cats- although the mountain lion and I had a good stare down. He was looking at Evelyn like she'd make a great snack. It was a new feeling for me as a father and I did not like it. I'm glad that I didn't have to teach him a lesson.

When we got to the moose Evvie got very excited saying, "Moose, moose, moose," and pointing. There was a large male, and in another area, a mother moose with her 1 month old calf.

After that, we fed corn to the deer and handfulls of what looked like dog food to the black bears. Evvie was a little interested, but when we came to the peacocks, she quickly became obsessed with slipping the corn into the cages.

A baby fawn melted out hearts, before we were chased away by an angry one-winged goose protecting "her" brood of ducklings.

As we were leaving, Evelyn really wanted to stop and smell the flowers, so who am I to say no?

Breakfast with Tracker

Evvie's new doggie was begging, so he got a few eggies for breakfast.

Fourth of July Party!

Everybody know that the best thing about the fourth of July is the family barbecue at camp. All the girls sat around eating the guacamole and chips after the parade.

Family of Loons

We've been hearing the haunting call of the loons at night, and Evvie always immediatel looks up and says "Loon! Loon!" A few nights ago they emerged as a family, the dad came close to our camp fishing for the young, which rode around on mama's back.

Grammy has a few books and a dvd on loons which Evvie has been obsessed with for the past few days. We sit around and make our best loon calls, which might make you get confused as to which family is the Loon family.

Bathtime sure is different at camp!

Yeah, the tub may be smaller, but you sure can relax!