birthday weekend celebration

my actual birthday fell on a friday this year
so sean planned a weekend getaway for us
so we hopped into the jeep

and headed for the balanced rock inn in bar harbor, maine

where there was a surprise awaiting me to start the weekend off right

and there was even a little something for duke

my birthday dinner was at the jordan pond house

who is famous for popovers

which duke loved!

i had the scallops

while sean opted for lobster (of course)

after dinner we went for a quick walk to the pond

on saturday we finally got a chance to go to bar island

bar island is an island that is accessible via a sand bar during low tide

it's a great little hike with resting spots

with great views of bar harbor

someone used to actually live on the island
which the remnants of the buildings still remain

we also did a lot of walking around going to the little shops
having beverages
eating ice cream
and catching up with a friend we hadn't seen yet since we had been back
it was really fun not having to make the drive back home
and just hanging out and enjoying this fabulous tourist town!
sean didn't do too bad!

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in case you are ever planning to enjoy bar harbor with your 4 legged friend
we highly recommend the balance rock inn
extremely pet friendly
and a fabulous inn

a kansas wedding

last week i spent time in kansas
because my niece got married
i know, i can't believe i'm old enough to have a niece that got married either!
and old enough to have a niece that is out in the working world!

my sis and i visited her at work and got pampered
i also helped with setting up for the reception

well, i helped by laughing at whatever this was that they were trying to do
but i do love this picture of my brother-in-law admiring his handy work
yep, he built that wall of lights himself

i got cake duty
cake cutter extraordinaire right here!

i secretly snapped a photo during the ceremony  :)

other highlights include
carriage ride down main street

father/daughter dance - many tears were shed

and glow stick send-off

here are some other pics i took that i liked

summer of babies - part 4

here's an update on the baby ducks
they grew really fast
and you can't even tell which one is the mom anymore!

day trippin'

it was kinda icky over the weekend
so sean and i decided to take a day trip

to castine

a quaint little coastal maine town

and what good would a coastal town be
without a lighthouse, right?

and a very steep path down to the ocean

we highly recommend the golf cart tour of the city

you will learn all sorts of things
and get insider knowledge about the surrounding area
and the locals

they have famous writers and playwrights and award winners and such
and perhaps you can help the local blacksmith

and queue the sailboat...

and because you just never know what you'll see on the side of the road in maine...

summer of babies - part 3

the baby loons have arrived!!!
and there are two!!!
i can't tell you how excited i am that there are two!
they are just little fluff balls at this point
and how sweet is it that as they are so little
they ride on the mommas back

summer of babies - part 2

we have some loon babies incubating!
well, we don't actually know how many there are just yet
but i can't wait!
here's one of the parents keeping the eggs warm

and we believe this to be the other parent
trying to cool off after his turn protecting the eggs

the summer of babies - part 1

mother nature has been busy this summer
reproducing

it's going to be so fun to watch these ducklings grow up this summer

there are 9 of those cute little fur balls!

and they have one amazing mother
watching after them
i now know where the phrase
keep your ducks in a row comes from

she brings them up to our yard for a snack
it's funny when you're working away at your desk
and you turn around to see little ducklings
inches away from the sliding glass door
plus they are so cute napping on our beach
just as long as they don't poop anywhere  ;)