Family Reunion

30 August 2012--This past Saturday we had our annual reunion at my brother Brian's cottage in Maine, and it included not only all my brothers and sisters and most of their spouses/boyfriends, but also most of my aunts, most of my nieces and nephews, and 2 of my oldest friends, my cousin Patti and my girlfriend Trudie. I had a great time and was delighted to see everyone at least one more time before we leave here next Tuesday.



The highlight of the day was the kayak races held between Emily, Dillon, Kaleigh and David. (David is in the next series of pictures.)



This is Jack, who was actually an assistant to Brian in conducting the races. I think he will be ready to compete next year.



In this series of pictures the 4 of them line up, take off like a shot with Kaleigh out front, but in what seemed like 2 to 3 strokes David overtook her and cruised to the finish line!




Here is Brian paying the kids their winnings based on how they finished in the race. Jack got a token payment based on his participation as an assistant! haha David won the 2 races hands down, and cleaned up financially. haha




We had a surprise 50th birthday presentation for Walter and Julie (the twins!). It was actually a surprise to most of us because they turned 50 back in November, and most of us had forgotten that we had pitched in to have these pictures of their families painted. haha



Bridget takes no time at all to give birthday kisses...digs right into the cake!



The rest of the pictures are just the best I could find of the ones taken...more than anything they were the least blurry, and I tried to capture everyone in at least one if I could. If I missed anyone I am sorry, there was either no picture of you and/or it was horribly blurry and simply couldn't be posted! haha (A couple notes: 1st picture shows me, Julie, Patti, Ellen and Cathy with high school basketball shorts on--notice Julie's "professional" stance--hip up and back, toe pointed! Ellen is somehow in a bunch of these, more than anyone else...what's the deal, Ellen! Jennifer, Marie and Christopher were hard to find...I think they run from the camera if they can...but I got you anyway!!!)




I don't know about anyone else, but I had a great day, so Thanks! to everyone for being there!

Whale Watching 2!!!

29 August 2012--Marie and Emily joined Cathy and I at the RV park in Wells, ME for a couple days prior to the family get-together, so we used the "rain-check" tickets we had from when Hallie, Donna, Brian and Billy went out with us the week before in a failed attempt to see some whales.



Cathy was trying a couple special features on her new camera...here are 2 of them. I like the coloring in the 1st picture, feel sort of queasy looking at the 2nd. haha



We saw a few things while we were out there. Here we were leaning in, straining to determine what turned out to be a dead, bloated seal being used by a seagull to take a breather. Sort of gross!



This Mola Mola Sunfish swam right beside the boat for quite a while...really bizarre looking, it resembled something almost prehistoric. I googled the 2 pictures below mine to show you what it really looks like and just how big it can get.




We saw 3 different types of whales we were out there, a minke whale, a humpback and a finback. The humpback and finback go around 90,000 and 200,000 lbs respectively...is that incredible, or what?!



This was the finback, which we caught a few times curling its back in the water like the others, and then just as it gave the biggest splash of the day...it was just to our left, seemingly out of nowhere, as it raised its tail high and then came crashing down in the water. Unfortunately all we ended up catching on camera is a bunch of water splashing, but it was spectacular to see!



Pretty sure this was the tail of the humpback. They are identified and named by the white markings on their tails, so the captain of the ship told us what this one's name was, but I forget it.



We were actually out on the water for 5 1/2 hours, an hour longer than our 1st trip, but other than tails and rolling backs don't have much more to show. All I have left to post are pictures from Saturday's family get-together at Brian's cottage before we leave, so that will be coming soon.