A November day at the Beach

Today was one of those rare 65+ degree November days in Maine, so Cate and I decided to go to the beach (Rick, unfortunately, was working). Luckily, low tide was around 10:30am, so it worked out perfectly for us, and Cate was thrilled to have an opportunity to dig around in the sand and make sand castles. We also packed a lunch and had fun seeing the many horses that were out on the beach in addition to lots of people and dogs.



What's that? Oh, yes, that would be Cate.... barefoot.... in the water.... in Maine... in November. It was all her idea, and interestingly, she was not the only barefoot person on the beach, and not the only kid to take a little dip in the water! She seemed completely unfazed by the freezing-ness of the water, which is never warm, even in August. Fortunately, the water she was in was more of a pool that is created at low tide, so it was free of waves, which were actually quite huge today!

Thank goodness I brought a dry change of clothes!!

The next Denise Austin?

When I bought Cate her trampoline at the yard sale, it came with a workout DVD. I put the DVD on the shelf, and didn't think much more about it. Cate recently discovered the DVD, and after saying that the girl on the front was "so cute" with her pony tail, Cate wanted to watch her exercise. That quickly turned into, "Mom, get my trampoline," and before I knew it, Cate was working out!!

And this is what Cate had to say about working out on her trampoline.... Where does she come up with this?!? haha!! Actually, the locally owned and operated "TumbleBus" has been visiting her day care, and I suspect they may be talking about moving and being active to stay healthy!

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.