More about April "bay-cation"

at the circus

a moose at the Wildlife Park



at the playground

Elizabeth building sand castles on the beach


Baxter in the lake

view from the Heights of Land of Mooselookmeguntic Lake

view from the deck of Mooselookmeguntic Lake at sunset

Monday was Patriot's Day and a government holiday, so since I had that day off anyway, I decided to take the rest of the week off, too! As you see from prior posts, we started our vacation with a picnic lunch at Portland Head Light on Saturday. Elizabeth went to Miss Kelly's on Monday and Tuesday so that Mama could have some quiet time (I took a long nap both days--sheer bliss!). We went to the Shriner's Circus with friends on Monday night, and we now know Elizabeth does NOT like clowns at all! She did enjoy the trained pigs. As the audience sang the Farmer in the Dell, one of the pigs oinked into the microphone when it was time to sing, "with an oink oink here and an oink oink there." If you ask her, that was the best part of the evening because the pig was really very silly...On Thursday, we went to the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray with Miss Kelly and some of Elizabeth's little friends from daycare/preschool. What a great day: we saw two moose, several deer, a mountain lion, a fisher, bears, turtles, and other animals, and we fed the fish at the fish hatchery, too. Elizabeth also added a stuffed mountain lion to her animal collection. When we got home, we immediately packed some clothes and toys, fed the cat, put the dog in the car, and drove to Nanny and Papa's house (a two-hour drive). I must say that Baxter is a bad traveler--he barks, pants, drools, and paces the entire time that he is in the car. Thank goodness for the gate between the back seat and the back section of the car. Elizabeth was fine with it, though: she put on her "ear muffins" (headphones) and watched one of her Barney DVDs! On the drive to Rangeley, we saw three adult moose, and on the way home on Sunday, we saw seven more adult moose and one calf--all within five miles or so of my parents' house. We had lunch in town on Saturday and then stopped and played on the playground. If you ask Elizabeth, she had the most fun coloring with Papa and playing Candyland with Nanny...And, as for Baxter--we always know where he is whenever we're there--he's either on the beach or in the water. He is a Labrador Retriever, after all, and he LOVES LOVES LOVES the water at any time of the year. It gives me shivers just to think of it, because the ice hasn't gone out yet on the lake--his swims must be like taking an ice bath. Nevertheless, he spent most of the weekend in the water. The whole family had a great time!