They're back......

We always look forward to June when the Matsko's stop by on their annual trek to Bar Harbor......They arrived late Thursday afternoon and after securing their camper in our driveway, we all went over to Becky's for dinner....their first Lobster to be consumed while visiting Maine. Friday morning Guy took Steve with him on his morning walk...after walking 4 miles, Steve came dragging in the kitchen for some coffee....he needed cafeine........

After they spent a few hours shopping at LL's, we took them for a boat ride...it was warm, sunny and perfect for an hour on the bay!

Kristy enjoying the ride!

Linda's enjoying the scenery too

Guy underneath his stupid palm tree!!

Steve's at the helm with Daughter Jessie as 1st mate

The weather turned quickly and we barely made it home before the storm hit.

Guy, Jessie and Steve in the garage watching the rain...

We invited Jim & Pat Thomson to join us for dinner....

The Matsko's left Saturday morning, hoping the weather clears for the week....although they always enjoy Bar Harbor, rain or shine!

Busy Monday

Monday June 23rd was a busy day. After the thunderstorm in the afternoon we saw a beautiful double rainbow. Kathi and I met at Black Point Inn for lunch....the view was spectacular! I had the most delicious Fish n' Chips I've ever eaten (yes, even better than the English Pub in Cocoa Beach)

We went out to Gorham later in the afternoon to help celebrate Spencer's 11th Birthday. He's the youngest of our 10 Grandchildren...how can he be this old? Where did the time go?

Deb and Rick put on a spontaneous surprise party for him...All the Family showed up and Spencer was delighted! Here's Deb, her Mom Nancy and in the background, Amanda (Rhonda's youngest)

Background is Uncle Pat, Spencer and cousin Sam. Uncle Joel and his girlfriend, Theresa are sitting.

Harry and LingLing are banded to the backyard.....I'm sure they would enjoy a piece of the birthday cake.

Notice Spencer reading one of his cards and holding onto his birthday money. Mom looks on...

Blowing out the candles and making a wish...I think Harry's wishing he could get some cake!

He got his BB gun along with a list of safety rules and regulations to follow. He can't wait for his Dad to bring him out to the back yard and aim at that bull's eye.

Grandsons Graduate

It was a busy weekend. We traveled to Vermont on Friday to see Ben's Graduation Saturday morning. Here we are....3 generations waiting for the ceremony to begin. Here comes Ben! That's the only picture we could get of him...it was a good size graduation class...264 of them to be exact!

Mom and her two boys...Chad's on the left and Ben on the right.

The Cioffi's had a party to celebrate...Here's Ben's Dad, Robbie helping to setup...

We stayed with Melinda. She moved to Fairfield last Fall and I can see why she enjoys being here out of the city..(not that St. Albans is much of a city....)

There are a couple of horses out in the back that we had fun feeding carrots....Meg wished she could have ridden one...maybe next time!

Mel lives in this beautiful new 5000 sq ft home. Her landlords live on the 2nd and 3rd floor and the 1st is all hers. Very spacious....lots of closets....

and what a view she has...the green rolling hills of Vermont were beautiful..

Sam graduated from 8th grade Monday night. We hardly recognized him all dressed up in a white shirt and tie.

After the ceremony, we all went up to Sam's house for cake and ice cream to celebrate.

Congratulations Ben and Sam...where has the time gone???

And let the boating season begin....

On Wednesday morning, Sea-bbatical was launched for the 2008 season. The weather was cool, damp and rainy, but that didn't halt any of the launchings planned for the day.

Guy always is a little nervous at this point every year....but no need to be this time around...the engine turned over with a little purr and off they went to tie up at the dock.

Everyone lends a hand until it's all tied up.

If you know Guy well, you know his mood by the tone of his whistle. It was a happy one on Wednesday and he still has a grin on his face. Oh my, how he loves his boat!

The boys went fishing!

Last Christmas, Rick, Deb, Spencer and Hannah gave Grandfather a weekend fishing trip. So on Friday, Rick picked him up and they headed up to the North Woods in Millinocket to enjoy. They stayed at the Nahmakanta Lake Camps . The main Lodge where they went for dinner. Food was excellent and plentiful.

The camp the "boys" shared.....they roughed it without running water and indoor facilities.

Not very often you get a picture of the one that got away.....well, sort of! Rick started pulling it in and hollored to GF to get the camera ready...he knew this was going to be the big one. He set the hook, and started to reel it in. And this is what he ended up with....only a pair of lips!! Yuk!!!

Out on the lake Friday evening...before the rains came.

Now just how much fun is this anyway?? Fishing in a downpour...with black flies all around...

They got home Sunday afternoon with lots of stories and had a wonderful time.

Florida Fun Facts

We've been home for 49 days now, most of them wishing we were still back in Cocoa Beach.

Here are some "fun" facts I've gathered to quickly summarize our winter adventure and then move on to reality in Maine.

We were gone for a total of 114 days.
We were in Cocoa Beach for 91 days.
We drove a total of 9096 miles.
We went through 14 States.
We made 9 trips to Orlando Airport, for a total of 810 miles.
We entertained 32 people, 17 of whom stayed a least 1 overnight.
We saw 2 shuttles and 1 satellite launched.
We visited Kennedy Space Center 4 times.
We saw 0 snowflakes!:)

We have established some sort of routine since we've been home....this is what we've been up to since April 12th... (certainly not as exciting as our winter months....)

We both spent the better part of May being sick. Guy fought another round of bronchitis and I've managed to catch it also along with the flu. It's been a rough couple of weeks and thankfully now we are both on the mend.

Guy started his little part time job a couple of weeks ago. He's delivering parts for Quirk Chevrolet 3 days a week. Not going to become rich with it, but it will give him some extra cash to help expenses with the boat this season....guess I don't have to mention, it will be a little on the expensive side with gas this summer....we'll be spending a lot of time (along with everyone else) enjoying our boat at the Marina. The 2008 boating season is almost in full swing and Guy has been spending every spare minute working on Seabbatical. There is so much to do before it all gets put together and it is able to be launched.

I swear he's been sanding and staining for 2 weeks now...there must be 10 coats on the platform and stairs...I have to admit, it looks pretty spiffy!

Waiting for the Marina to repair the damage done last year is quite stressful to Guy. His launch date is June 4th and he's hoping and praying it gets done in time.

I've been enjoying my Sewing room and have made several projects....this one is a table runner for the Dining room table.

Made a quilt for Nichole...she's moved into a new place yesterday and will be staying in the Orono area this summer working and taking classes...will be graduating sometime in August.

Made myself a tote bag to carry one of my smaller cutting boards along with some rulers and rotary cutters etc....will make it easier to pick up and go to my quilting groups.

Found this pattern in one of my quilting magazines, so made 3 of them. This is a spare...who knows who will end up with this one.

This one got sent to my niece Amy for her Birthday.

Cecile in Calif. got this one for her Birthday....

Made this quilt for Melinda. She gave me this fabric last year...it was a project she was going to do herself, but never found the time.....so I made it up for her...(along with a matching pillowcase)

I'm starting on my Project Linus quilts for 2008. I have until October to finish them this year. My goal isn't as aggressive as it was last year.....I'm hoping to donate 10 quilts vs the 17 I did last year. Too many other projects lined up for Christmas gifts I hope to complete.

Guy marched in the Memorial Day Parade. If you could have watched him, you would have thought he was a politican running for office....