birthday month fun - part 2

part 2 of the birthday month fun involved...
you guessed it...
pats season opener!!!

and you know what happens at a season opener
when you're the reigning super bowl champs???
you get a flo rida concert

and you get celebrity sightings like
this wrestling guy (i think)

and mark wahlberg

and they unveil the new banner

and rub it in everyone's face

and way overdo the fireworks

and hand out a lot of gifts

and a crap ton of people show up

besides attending the game
we also took guzzy with us and camped at a nearby campground
and did some pregame tailgating

as well as postgame tailgating

i definitely enjoy attending the pats games
but my heart still belongs to my cowboys
and hopefully we'll make it to a game this year
but not for this birthday month
and btw...the pats cheerleaders
aren't even close in comparison to the dallas cowboy cheerleaders!  :)

this was a mixture of cell phone pics and "real camera" pics
yes, i braved the crowd and took my "real" camera into the game
it was fun for once but don't think i'll do it again  lol

birthday month fun - part 1

it's that time of the year again!
i know it's my favorite time!

BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!

this year i'm going to provide you with a few highlights
of some of the really fun stuff we're doing this year for birthday month

so let's get on with part 1
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labor day weekend we headed up north
to a friends camp
on the penobscot river

where we enjoyed hanging with friends
making halloween plans by the fire
staying up way too late
trying to get the dvd player to work
without a remote
so we could watch a scary movie
pregaming for birthday month fun part 3
and enjoying the great outdoors

what was quite surprising was finding some leaves that are already changing
which i hope slows down since we have a lot of guests
coming in october for leaf peeping

st kitts part 2 - caribelle batik

since we had been to st kitts so many times before
we tried to find some new things to do
so we headed to the caribelle batik and historic romney manor

where they practice the ancient art of batik

whereby they hand-paint wax onto fabric

and then dye the fabric

over and over until they have the most beautiful result

of course we had to pick up some new "hawaiian shirts" for sean
and a dress and bag for me! :)

the batik shop also sits on a historic site
that apparently was once owned by an ancestor of thomas jefferson
and used to be a sugar plantation
other than the building for the batik shop
this station where the owner would watch the workers is the only thing that remains

it also houses the oldest tree on the island
over 350 years old!

and btw...the ride to get to the batik was just as exciting as the batik itself!

st kitts part 1 - nevis

sean and i went on vacation
to a place we've been several times
st kitts
but this trip we decided to try a redo on the vacation that wasn't
and made a stop in nevis for a few nights first

we stayed at the hermitage
where we were greeted with the best rum punch you'll ever have
and a quick reality into how unplugged we would be
the room was great but lack of todays amenities
like ac and wifi
so you sleep with all the doors and windows open

but it did have a hammock

and a view of the volcano
which was covered by a cloud the entire time

and cool windows

and new games for us to learn and play while drinking more run punches

we went for a little hike
to enjoy the surroundings

i also took advantage of spending some time with my new camera

which apparently looked suspicious
as i got questioned by this nice gentleman
oops!

we highly recommend the hermitage if you ever find yourself in nevis
the people were incredibly friendly
and it was a great way to unwind...quickly

__________________
some other random photos from nevis
can you find the creatures?

and just because we couldn't stop laughing
that this island is named booby island
for reals!

hang in there

the ranch

our friend bought a ranch!
and it even has a spot for guzzy to park
we got the opportunity to head out there and check it out over the weekend

her mom's horses are living there now
and it's so fun when they run free in the yard

the dogs even got into it and chased them

duke thought he was a big dog as well
but i was too busy trying to save him from getting kicked to get his pic
it also happened to be a full moon that weekend
so i played around some more with long exposure shots

birthday month - recap

day 1 - worked all day and spent all night (literally) helping my sister set up the reception area for my niece's wedding

day 2 - worked all day and spent the evening at a kansas winery for the rehearsal dinner - we actually found a couple wines we liked even!  this was also my sister's birthday and i got to spend it with her for once!

day 3 - spent the day celebrating young love - my niece and newest nephew got married!

day 4 - got to spend a little more quality time with my brother and his family and then spent the entire day flying back to maine

day 5 - started out as a relaxing day on the dock then we proceeded to take the sailboat and bass boat out of the water for the season (boo!).  ended the day with pat's pizza and the grocery store

day 6 - caught up on ray donovan and of course worked all day

day 7 - attended a paints and pints class with amy where we got to learn to watercolor while drinking beer - how can you go wrong?  oh, and of course there was the work thing all day

day 8 - went to a wine and cheese tasting with sean and amber and the work thing

day 9 - check out my surprise birthday getaway post

day 10 - check out my surprise birthday getaway post

day 11 - check out my surprise birthday getaway post

day 12 - attended our town selectman's meeting, finished watching the series boardwalk empire and did the work thing

day 13 - started cutting back the flower gardens and went on a final wine cruise on the pontoon boat (and the work thing) - the moon was so bright and the stars were beautiful!

day 14 - went to dinner with my honey and got caught up on ray donovan, oh and that work thing

day 15 - ran a bunch of errands with duke and went to bed early (oh that work thing)

day 16 - worked all day and then loaded up guzzy and headed near the new hampshire boarder to visit some friends

day 17 - spent the day helping friends finish getting ready for the party, lounging by the pool, visiting with old and new friends, playing corn hole, having too many beverages and staying up way too late

day 18 - spent the day recovering from the day before, lounging around watching football (yea cowboys won, although we watched the pats) and heading back home with guzzy (and the rest of the family)

day 19 - worked all day then went to check on my garden and picked the ripe tomatoes and then spent the rest of the night working on cpe - that's rude that they make your cpa license due the month of your birth and require so much cpe at the same time!

day 20 - all weekend duke was screeching whenever you would touch him.  we finally were able to get him into the vet.  still don't have any answers other than he has hurt his back.  spent the rest of the day cuddling him and having a meltdown regarding the fact that he's getting older....i'm sure i also worked and did cpe but it's all a blur...

day 21 - worked and did cpe, took the last boat out of the water and started the process of taking all the lake toys to the barn for the winter

day 22 - worked and did cpe, made dinner, went for ice cream and watched the pats (we were supposed to be at the game but with duke not feeling well and not knowing the issue we decided to stay home)

day 23 - was pretty lazy - did the work thing and some cpe, watched the season finale of ray donovan and then went to bed early to prep for the next day

day 24 - spent the entire day closing up camp - from sinking the dock to moving all the outdoor furniture to the garage.  ended the day with pizza and beers with great friends.

day 25 - did the grocery store thing, watched a niece play soccer (brrrrr!), continued camp close up and watched the cowboys!  and of course cuz it was national lobster day we ended the day with some lobster on the marina! YUM!

day 26 - cpe, cpe, cpe

day 27 - cpe, cpe, cpe

day 28 - took duke to see the doggie neurologist and more cpe...

day 29 - finally finished all my cpe!

day 30 - went apple picking!