Up to Portland

We helped move some furniture from Portsmouth to Portland for my sister Michele today. Michele thanked us by getting us tickets for the Portland Seadogs baseball game. It was so hot at the ballpark that we only lasted 3 innings. We had a great time though. Here are some pictures from the day:

The boys battling the sun. (Notice those Yankee hats!)

Jacob, Michele, George and Mr. Lewis.

Michele is not pleased with the Yankee fans!

The boys enjoying a beer.

The other boys enjoying a "Sea Biscuit" ice cream treat!

Kayaking

George and I went kayaking on Saturday morning. The boys were having a sleep over at my folk's house so we had some time to ourselves. It was a beautiful morning and we went for a long trip around the lake. I was so tired and sore today!

Doing my best to paddle.

Jacob on the Lake

George and the boys went kayaking today. George and Benny were in the double kayak and Jacob was paddling one solo! George said Jacob did a good job and got the hang of it quickly. George put Jacob through his paces and made him complete some drills to show he could maneuver, paddle backwards and avoid obstacles. Here are some pictures of Jacob:

They somehow avoided that shark fin in the front of the picture!

Looking good there Jacob!

More Fireworks!

On Sunday night we joined our friends the LeClerc's to watch the fireworks in Portsmouth. We had more sparklers for the kids. George was the official sparkler lighter and I think he singed a few hairs on his legs. No other injuries to report though.

Starting off with ice cream for the kids.

The sparkler fun starts...

Benny overcame his fear of the fire sticks.

Sparklers and glow sticks.

Mayhem!

Enjoying the show.

Family BBQ

My folks and sisters came over on Sunday for some pool side fun. My sister Elizabeth is still living in Chicago so it was great to see her.

My Dad and Benny.

A sunny day and a nice blue cocktail - life is good.

Benny "smiling" for the camera.

Ripley and Charlie Brown enjoyed the day too!

Fireworks!

We decided to launch our own fireworks this year so we went to our local fireworks store in Epping and stocked up. We wanted to have some "real" fireworks so we bought things that looked good but were not too scary or powerful. The nice guy at the register also threw in a handful of surprise items for free.

We first started off with some sparklers for the kids - which Benny called "fire sticks". We then tried out some of the freebie items - a bright strobe light and then some little round shaped thing that flew at us after it was lit. Next were the heavy hitters. We were not disappointed!

Lighting up the "fire sticks" for the kids.

Jacob - showing appropriate caution!

Benny - a little unsure.

Benny and Erin enjoying the smoke!

Some of our handiwork!

And the pool was there as a good water supply if things took a turn for the worse!

Lunch on the Decks

There was a break in the clouds and rain on Friday so we took a chance and headed into Portsmouth to see if we could have lunch on the decks. The sun came out just as we took our seats. We had a great lunch and enjoyed plenty of sunshine, too many nachos and I had a very good coconut mojito.