Soccer Star
by Rob

Yesterday, Abbie's soccer team, the self-titled "Orange Crush," had their next to last game for this season. Both teams had been undefeated. Although Orange Crush has rolled over almost every other team this season, it was clear from the start that yesterday's game would be a bit more challenging.

The final outcome? A 1-0 victory for Orange Crush. The winning goal was scored by Abbie Hileman! (Her first ever).

Sheep Island

By Rob

Today we spent several hours on Sheep Island. It's the island directly across the channel from our cottage, here on Hendrickson's Point.

One of the neighboring cottages is the year-round home of the McCartneys. Their 11 year-old grandson, Ian, has been here for nearly our entire vacation. It turns out that Ian and Nate have been good for each other. They haven't been together constantly, but have spent several hours together each day.

This morning Ian came to our cottage before our own kids were even out of bed. Did we want to go to Sheep Island? Ian's dad, Peter, had arrived a couple of days ago, and he was going to take Ian out in the boat. Nate, Abbie and I decided to accept the invitation. In all of our time here at Owls Head, we had never been out in the water on a boat, and we were all very interested in exploring one of the islands.

The McCartney's boat is moored at the Owls Head Harbor which is very close to our cottage. It's not a big boat, but it easily accommodated five of us and our picnic lunch.

After circling around the back of Monroe Island, we landed the boat on one of the beaches at Sheep Island. The beach is like most in the area, mostly covered in smooth, rounded rocks of every size. We unloaded, set down our stuff and headed out to explore. Abbie and I walked around the perimeter of the island with Peter. It probably took us about 4o or 50 minutes to make it around. We traveled over the rocks during most of our walk; only passing over a trail through the woods for a very short time.

After our walk, everyone helped to gather wood and we started a fire. We ate hot dogs and whoopie pies. After lunch, Peter and I relaxed near the fire on the beach and the kids ventured off to explore and play for awhile longer.

By the time we started back, it was after 3:30. Peter suggested that we take the time to circle back around the island and head back to the harbor through the channel right in front of our cottage. Nate got to drive the boat for much of this time. He did a great job following Peter's instructions and navigating around the buoys.

One of the things that seems to be happening as we return here each year is that we seem to meet more and more people and feel less and less like we're visiting. Peter knows this area very well, and spending time with him made me feel more like an insider than ever before. Not only do I hope that we'll be able to come back here for many, many years, but I'm also hopeful that as we do, we'll be able to have more experiences like we did today.

You might be on vacation if...

... you go out for ice cream twice on the same day.

As of Wednesday

by Rob

Mom and Dad left us today. Actually, we followed them to Bath this morning. They will be staying with Uncle Jim and Aunt Susan for the next few days. We decided to head down with them for the day. It gave us an opportunity to check out one of Kim's favorite flea markets. After picking up a few things there, we headed to Bath for lunch.

We spent the better part of the afternoon with Uncle Jim and Aunt Susan. We had a chance to go for a tractor ride and see the tree fields. It's been a beautiful day, and we really enjoyed our mini-hayride through the Christmas trees. Kim even picked one out for us. I figure that we'll pick up another tree in New York, a little closer to the holidays.

Leaving Bath meant saying so long to Mom and Dad (sigh). I don't know when we'll see them again, but I know that we don't have any specific plans to be with them before next July. That's a bit too far off, in my opinion. It was great to have them hang out with us here on the coast. That's all that we really do on this vacation -- which, I suppose, is why it really is a vacation. It seems that everyone got to do just about as much or as little as they wanted to while Mom and Dad were here. I expect that we won't have any trouble carrying on the same over the remaining couple of days.

A is for Abbie

Crescent Beach
Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Summer So Far
by Rob

I find myself surprised that during the summer it has been more challenging to document our lives through this blog. It seems like it should be easier now than the during the rest of the year when we're so busy at home. I guess that's one of the biggest differences of this summer; we have spent barely a week living in our house. The rest of the time we have been traveling, or staying at "Chez Barnes," because of the renovations taking place at our house.

As is always the case, it's been a good summer, but it hardly has felt relaxing, at least until now. As of today, we are beginning our second week in Owls Head, on the coast of Maine. This place is so special for us. It's hard to understand how we can work at such a pace at home, since when we are here we have no problem slowing down and just hanging out. Once again, I'm not only recharging here, I feel as though I'm healing. And I'm grateful.

The weather is just like I like it; cool and clear. This evening, I walked out and stood on the rocks next to the cottage. It was a perfect evening. No humidity. Calm. Temperature in the low 70's. The sky was a constant shifting of blue, pink, and lavender. Osprey were circling and scanning the water for food. We saw several dive for fish, and others flew by, carrying their catches in their talons. It was the best show I've seen in ages; presented in surround sound and high definition clarity. Unbeatable.

I'm probably not going to go back and document the whole summer in detail at any point, so I'll do a week by week summary for the record books.

• June 23: Right after school ended, we headed for West Virginia with 13 others from BRC for the Workcamp Mission trip. The kids went to SC and stayed with Mom and Dad for the week. Meanwhile, at home, Roger and George gutted our kitchen and the wood floors were revived.


• June 30: After the camp ended and we brought the youth group kids back to NY, Kim and I headed down to SC ourselves. While we were there, we got to see all of my siblings, and a couple of our nieces and nephews. Back at home, the kitchen work continued.


• July 10: We came home from SC and moved into the Barnes' house. By this time, the plumbing was replaced at our house, but the bathroom floor needed to come out so that the final pipes could be accessed and replaced.


• July 15: Abbie went to Camp Fowler for the week. Kim, Nate and I stayed in Schenectady, and spent a lot of time at the house. We packed and worked on the bathroom floor.


• July 22: Kim, Nate and I went up to Speculator to Camp Fowler for the week. Nate was a camper. Kim and I volunteered. Abbie was a "tag along."


• July 29: Back in Schenectady. This week was spent finishing the bathroom and getting back into the house so that we could be out of the Barnes' house for the week of Camp Bellevue. Downstairs the cabinets were being installed, the appliances arrived, and the counter top template was made.


• August 5: We were finally back in our house. Camp Bellevue began at BRC. Kim and I volunteered. Abbie was a camper. Nate was a wandering nomad. At the house, the counter tops were set and appliances hooked up. We finally had a working kitchen on August 7.


• August 12: We came to Maine. On Wednesday, Mom and Dad arrived for a week.

It won't be long 'til school starts. I'm not ready, but then again, when would I be? It would have to be a terrible summer, I suppose, for that to happen. For now, I'm grateful for all that this summer has held, and that we live lives where we can do all of this stuff... and be together so much.

Mowing
by Rob

It's a rite of passage, and today it happened. Nate helped mow the grass. I say "helped," since I did all of the trimming and the first half of the yard myself. Then we had lessons on how to stop the mower, how to start the mower, and how to follow the path. Then I stood back and watched. It was a much bigger deal for me than I expected. Watching him and thinking about how big he is was something for me to process. And it made me remember something of my own experience -- being 12 and mowing yards in our neighborhood. This all led to thinking about much more of what it's like being that age. Ready or not, Nate, here it comes.

When he was finished, he stopped the mower, turned and looked at me, raised both hands over his head and let out a "Woo-hoo!"

"Well, I mowed the grass!"

Yes, Buddy, you did, and you did a good job.

I wonder how long it will be before you can do the whole lawn. I wonder how long it will be before I can just tell you it has to get done and not even go outside to check on you. I wonder how long it will be until you think, "Oh crap, I have to mow the grass."