Halloween 2010

After much discussion and debate, Cate was an angel for Halloween this year. This was achieved b/c a friend from work gave me this brand new costume thinking Cate would like it, and I held on to it until this afternoon. I figured if I pulled it out just before Trick or Treating, she'd think it was a new princess outfit and immediately want to wear it. It worked like a charm!

But back up to earlier today, and here we are carving pumpkins.





Ok, back to this evening. Other than the turtleneck and fleece that were stuffed under her outfit to keep her semi-warm in the 36 degree night air, she did look like a little angel! Luckily we only visited a half dozen houses on our little street, so we weren't out for long!

Arriving at our neighbor's house to pick up Cate's friend, Nola.

Cate and Nola (dressed as Abby Cadabby)

Playing catch-up

So it's been over a month since my last post, and as you can guess- school started! No wonder I've been absent from the blogosphere. But that doesn't mean nothing has happened. It's been a month of happiness (cousin David's wedding) and a month of sadness (the death of Grandma Sprague), so that means there has also been a lot of traveling. Finally, I am sitting down to get caught up.

Last night, a package arrived from Aunt Tish for Cate. It was this beautiful ballerina costume. It was an instant hit.

Mid-twirl

Today is AutumnFest in Bath, and there was scarecrow-making in the yard of the Customs House. We feel that we really outdid ourselves this year. :) Rick did the mounting on the post and the stuffing, I tied the head, and Cate drew the face (ok, I added the hair, but she really did the face!)


Then this afternoon was the shallop launching on the waterfront. Fourteen Morse High students spent their summer working with one of my science colleagues and a boatwright building this shallop, a replica of the one used by the 1607 Popham colonists to get back and forth between the shore and their ship the Virginia. The Virginia was the first English-built ship in America, and there is a group called Maine's First Ship that is raising funds to build a replica of the Virginia. To start the project, this group of students built the accompanying shallop, and so today was the launching.

Then a group of the students actually got in it and rowed away!

I guess they have been getting rowing lessons so that they didn't drift away when they got out there!

Success!

Trip to Cape May, NJ

Around the middle of September, we headed down to Cape May, NJ for Rick's cousin's wedding. We had just been in Cape May back in May for Sheila's Coast Guard graduation, and we had such a great time, so we were excited to go back. We stayed in a different hotel this time, about a mile further down the beach. But above was the view out our door- love it!!
As soon as we arrived, Cate wanted to get into the pool. Literally, the below pic was taken within 30 minutes of our arrival.

That night, we met up with the rest of Rick's immediate fam and drove over to Wildwood to walk the boardwalk and get dinner.

Cate and her cousin Barrett had a great weekend together. This was just the start!

The next morning, we all got up and headed up to Ocean City to do the boardwalk up there. This was where we came to every summer when Grandma and Grandpa Pappas were alive, so I have so many great memories. And it was great to see so many things that were still the same (including the food!)

The Holy Grail of pizza.

Happiness.

Even Barrett was loving it!

Saturday night was the wedding, which was held at one of the big, beautiful homes in Cape May. Everything took place under a tent in the back yard. Here, Uncle Nate keeping Cate entertained while we wait.

Being silly with Aunt Chrissy.

Cate thought that everyone there was a princess, especially the bride and all the other women wearing saris (Rick's cousin, David, married a woman whose family is Sri Lankan). So Lishani also wore a sari for the ceremony, and Cate couldn't wait to check out her princess dress.

Sunday morning before we left, we realized we needed to actually go on the beach, which we somehow had not done all weekend. So we got packed up and checked out, and then walked across the street to the beach. Below, Cate is chasing the sea gulls.

There was a hurricane (Earl, maybe?) passing out to sea that weekend, so while the weather was nice, the waves were big. Notice below that Cate is covering her ears!

Whoa! Those waves may be getting too close! This one is called, Cate running away while screaming.

Time to head home.

So long for now...

A shot of our hotel from the beach.

Before we left town, we stopped over at the campground to say goodbye to Rick's family, who stayed in Rick's parent's RV.

Papa with his favorite kids.

One last cousin hug before we left.

Girl Outing

One Saturday in early September, Mom, Cate, and I went over to Lewiston to the Greek Orthodox Church for the Greek Festival. On the way, we stopped at an orchard we'd never been to before to check it out. They had some small pumpkins out, so I let Cate pick one out for herself. She went back and forth numerous times until she finally settled on just the right one.

The orchard also had chickens, which were very interesting.

On our way home from the Greek festival, we stopped at another orchard that we really liked. Aside from the freshly made donuts and delicious cider, they had two mini donkeys, which we could not drag Cate away from. She developed a love/hate relationship with them. She didn't want to leave them alone, but she also wasn't quite brave enough to feed them the dandelion greens that we were picking from our side of the fence.

Oh, look! Gramma can do it! (seriously, is that my mom feeding a donkey?! For someone who doesn't even want our dog to lick her, I give her snaps for this animal-friendly offering. I guess this is what grandchildren will drive you to do. :)

I think Cate's dancing in front of the donkey in the picture below. haha!

Time for a break!