Great day on the Merrimack

Yesterday the kids and I meandered down the Merrimack River in Newburyport, Massachusetts, with my mother and her friend on a houseboat-type craft.

The boat, dubbed "The Treehouse," on the public dock in Newburyport.

It was a little chilly for a swim but it didn't matter. The kids were enamored with The Treehouse and found plenty to do aboard.

What kid doesn't love the singing fish plaque? Every time L. passed by this one hanging in the galley, she had to hit the button to play a song and stick her finger in its mouth.

Taking pictures always keeps the girls busy. We have about 20 pictures - no exaggeration - that G. took from the sleeping quarters below deck like this one.

L. enjoyed driving The Treehouse and even the first reluctant G. enjoyed her chance to do it too. Actually G. was driving the boat on our approach to the public dock and it was suggested she turn over the wheel because the boat traffic was heavier and the buoys much closer together.

"No I got it," she said.

It took a little more convincing from the real captain of the boat to turn over the controls.

Captain L.

We did a little window shopping once we docked and the kids found a shop that sold tons of fairy stuff. They've already put in their Christmas present orders with Grandma.

And of course we had to stop at an ice cream shop for a frozen treat. Since we can't find a good Italian Ice in Maine, we opted for some in Newburyport.

Note to self: Lament about being land-locked in June next year in hopes that all our family and friends offer to take us out on their boats to cruise Sebago, Casco Bay and the Merrimack River again next summer.

Sunflowers and a Lucy update

I asked L. to take some photos of the sunflowers in our yard over the weekend. They really are blooming now (thanks to all the chicken poop fertilizer) and as tall as last year. Although we liked the suggestion/comment from Nancy about making a sunflower house, we never did get our act together to plant them correctly to do it.

 

L. said this one was a "sunflower picture with Chion." She always finds an excuse to take another photo of one of our cats (like we don't already have about 1,000 of them). I suppose you can see that tiny flower in the background...

And we have an update on Lucy the Lucky Chicken that the girls wanted to share. Fino put a plaster cast on her leg yesterday and now she can hobble around the coop.

I'm always learning something new about my chicken friends - and my husband's many talents.

Chicken in pink

It has been a rough week on legs at the Almeida homestead, first L. and now Lucy our chicken.

Fino discovered the chicken's leg broken yesterday morning. Nurses L. and G. assisted with the splint and helped to secure it with an old sock from L.

When I got home from the office yesterday, I was told in great detail about poor Lucy's injury and how the nurses and Fino helped her. There was a lot of speculation about how the injury happened but Fino really wasn't sure.

Lucy was resting comfortably in the coop last night and the nurses have now given her a new name.

"Lucky Lucy the Chicken"

And I'm sure she's feeling lucky and the envy of her friends. She's probably the only chicken in Maine wearing a pink sock right now.

Dogs and Kids get-together

Yesterday we got together with Nancy, the Dog's Life blogger and her daughters at a playground (one of my kids' favorite places). It was a beautiful day and everyone had fun.

G. was in her glory with Nancy's dogs Charlee and Finney.

G. also took a couple of photos of Charlee doing some tricks, which we all were really impressed with.

I also wanted to thank all those who posted comments or emailed asking about L.'s accident earlier this week. Her knee is sore but she was climbing and running around the playground yesterday so she is definitely on the mend. And her friend is lending her a new pair of ice skates with a firmer boot for open skate next week. She's sure she won't fall again with better skates -- and although skeptical, I'm going with it.

Good beginning, rough middle, happy ending

The day started off sunny and warm and the kids had a romp through the sprinkler with their friends in our yard.

But our plan this afternoon included spending some time indoors - to ice skate. Their skating friends had let us know that the Ice Arena at USM was opening today for the season and asked us join them for open skate. The kids were thrilled at the prospect of ice skating in August.

After digging out the skates, the girls of course had to find their favorite skating outfits.

But during the last 5 minutes of open skate, L. fell down - hard - on her knees. She's not a big crier when in pain (she's broken her arm 3 times and the crying didn't last more than a couple of minutes in any of those incidents - even the one that required surgery) but this fall had her in tears for longer than usual. That of course prompted me to overreact and take her to the emergency room. (And BTW, none of those broken bones were sports-related - a slip in the shower, a leap off a playground swing, a fall off a chair.)

Of course I planned ahead for a long wait at the ER with a quick stop to the library on our way into Portland. L. agreed it was worth the 5-minute stop for a couple of books to pass the time once we got there.

It turned out that nothing was broken but she'll be in some pain for a while and have a nasty purple bruise.

After leaving the emergency room I called Fino to let him know about L.'s accident at the rink. Before I could tell him exactly what had happened, he interrupted to ask apprehensively. "Oh no, did she break her arm again?"

I had thought the same thing when I had first seen her crying on the ice. And crazy as this sounds, I was happy to report it was only a couple of badly bruised knees. Those broken arms for L. were almost as traumatic for her parents as they were for her.

So L. is staying off the ice for at least a week - a real hardship during sunny August - and now vying for a better pair of ice skates.

"My skate boots are too wobbly mom. I need those hard boots like Katie has so I don't fall like that again."

Whatever it takes for some no-broken-bone insurance, I'll take it. E-bay here I come...

Cruising Casco Bay

Fino, being the land-lover that he is, wasn't so keen on the idea of cruising Casco Bay on his friend's new sailboat at first. I jumped at the chance and coaxed him into it. I love boats and being on the water and this was an opportunity the girls and I didn't want to miss.

The afternoon was fabulous and we all had a great time.

The kids have been asking us for years to buy a "house car" and have a fixation on any cars or boats with sleeping quarters. So during our 3-hour boat ride, they spent a lot of time below deck playing house. Once I evenutally coaxed them above deck, they enjoyed sitting up front and checking out the sights.

Unfortunately we only spotted birds on seal rock yesterday.

The girls and I were highly amused at this seagull's perch. Our friend said it wouldn't be so funny if it were our radar. My car knows the mess a seagull can make first-hand.

The kids enjoyed the new perspective on their favorite rollerblading trail at Bug Light.

L. enjoyed the lighthouses and pointed out that they were in order of height - Portland Headlight, Portland Breakwater and Bug Light - when we spotted them all along the shore. My camera's lens wasn't wide enough to capture them all in a single shot.

The girls and I decided we were going to take a ferry ride to explore Fort Georges another day.

Our friend said that this water taxi was making a larger-than-acceptable wake while passing us. The kids asked, "what's a taxi?" Yup, they're growing up in Maine.

Stockpiling blueberries

We picked 10 pounds of blueberries yesterday and have plans for another visit to stock our freezer at a u-pick farm in Limerick. At $1.35/pound, picking your own is a real bargain.

L. loves frozen blueberries (she calls them little popsicles) and eats them year-round. And we all love blueberry muffins and cobbler so it's always been worth the effort to pick as much as we can in August and September.

Since Fino was home early from work yesterday, we dragged him along to help. He thought the sun was too hot so he caught some shade between the blueberry bushes.

Some blueberry fans prefer the wild blueberries but we have found picking the low bush fruit is hard on the back because we don't have a harvest rake. And although we have a lot of wild berries in our backyard and pick them regularly (although the chickens eat a lot before we can get to all the ripe ones), we rely on the cultivated berries at the u-pick farm to stockpile.

If you've never been blueberry picking, bring containers with handles for your little ones to use. Beach pails and cookie tins work great and prevent some of the spilling accidents that happen while picking with kids.

Blueberry picking season runs through the end of September at u-pick farm around the state.