Vacation at Poland Spring Resort ---

We spent a week at the beginning of the month relaxing and doing as little as possible aside from having fun, thanks to Daddy Poppie and Naughny. Poland Spring of Maine was the perfect place to do so. The Resort was built by the founder of the Poland Spring bottling company, Hiram Riccar, as people used to travel far and wide to come to Poland Spring to buy the water there. There's a lot of history at the Resort, which we enjoyed learning about.

There was a lot of overcast weather while we were there but that didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves. The girls got at least one day of sun in the pool which they enjoyed. Even when it rained, however, it was still nice to just be able to sit back and not worry about anything. There were game rooms, arts and crafts, and a variety of entertainment to be enjoyed. The all-you-can-eat buffets for breakfast and dinner were also wonderful.

Ella Grace and Eliza took to the place and we received a lot of complements on what good children they are! Daddy enjoyed teaching Ella how to play pool, she picked it up quickly. In the "cottage" we stayed in (it was more like a house, to be honest) we found a small library of old books, including a couple printed by the Society back in the 50's and 60's. We also found an older version of the Gideon Bible that still retained Jehovah's name in it's proper place.

The congregation in Poland Spring is very nice and friendly, and Daddy Poppie enjoyed telling the family how much they had seen the congregation grow in the last 13 years they've been visiting. In that time they watched the Kingdom Hall need to be replaced by a larger one that still looks brand new after almost 10 years. We received several invitations to visit with our brothers and sisters the next time we visit, as well as a couple of jars of preserves prepared by one of the local brothers.

Eliza found a giant mushroom she enjoyed looking at every day until it was mowed down close to the end of our visit. Ella Grace enjoyed being able to play board games with the family every night. Daddy bought a book on the history of Poland Spring and enjoyed not have to think about work for a whole week, but was ready to get back to it by the end of the week, a vacation of perfect length.

On the way home we stopped at a local amusement park right on the coast. Ella Grace spent almost all day on the log flume ride, Eliza loved the kiddie rides (the log ride not so much), and Mommy and Daddy had a lot of fun being able to act like kids for a day!

Pictures are here.

A Month of History ---

Ella Grace, Eliza, and Daddy got to dress up for a gathering for the children at the Johnson's. Mommy spent a lot of time putting together their costumes which was greatly appreciated. Ella Grace represented King Solomon, Eliza played Pharaoh's daughter (the one who saved baby Moses), and Daddy was young Timothy. A great time was had by all.

Pictures here.





Ella Grace and Daddy got to spend a day together at Plimoth Plantation where they learned a lot. There are no real exhibits at the museum, the characters simply go about their lives as though it were the 16th Century and will answer questions if asked.

Daddy chaperoned for five students, including Ella Grace, all of whom enjoyed learning about the time and feeding the goats. Daddy and Ella found Bible's in all of the homes among the settlers and where even able to find Jehovah's name in one, spelled Iehouah, at Psalms 83: 18. We also learned that among the Wampanoug people there was no specific age when a child became and adult, nor did they specifically give their children chores to do. The children chose which chores to take on so as to enjoy the rewards of their work. When a boy had taken on enough responsibilities he was then considered to be a man, regardless of how young or old he was.

Pictures here.

This last weekend we enjoyed Uncle Bob and Aunt Delorma's 50th Wedding Anniversary. We took a weekend trip to Brattleboro, VT and Richmond, NH. In Brattleboro we stayed at a motel where the kids enjoyed playing in the pool and went to the Kingdom Hall where our friends Maureen and Kyle attend, though we saw neither as they were out of town that day. We had a great time with the friends anyways, and Ella Grace made a new friend.

After the meeting we headed over to Richmond for the anniversary and had a great time with the family. It was nice to catch up with family we had not seen in awhile, and to get some of our family history. We particularly liked one gift given, a copy of the New York Times that was printed the day of Uncle Bob and Aunt Delorma's wedding.

Pictures here.

Difficult Times Hard to Deal With ---

Sorry, no new pictures this time. Affairs have been too numerous to stop and document them. First of all Mommy was in yet another car accident last Friday and is still recovering from it to some degree. She was back to work the next Monday, but not without pain. There were no broken bones resulted from the incident, just broken cars. Both were totalled. Mommy had procured a ride to work from a co-worker and long-time friend and as they were headed to their destination they were cut off by a car that illegally attempted to cross through the intersection. Their car struck the offending car, a caravan, in it's right-side sliding door. The front of the car Mommy was traveling in was badly damaged, her side taking the brunt of the impact. Air-bags were deployed.

Daddy spent most of the day running between taking care of Mommy and providing for the kids, though help was received from Naughny-Na who took the kids for some time in the evening. Mommy spent most of that day and Saturday resting under the doctors orders. Saturday Daddy, Ella Grace, Eliza, and Naughny-Na spent at the carnival which was in town and had a great time despite the grey and damp weather. The entire family pulled together and got through the crises, each handling it in their own way.

Last week Mommy, Naughny-Na, and Daddy helped Ella Grace pull through a project she had fallen behind in at school. It took some time but in the end it was completed on time and Ella Grace was happy with the results. We still await a grade from the teacher, but regardless of what it ends up being we are proud of Ella Grace for sticking through a difficult assignment and for getting it done on time despite all the difficulties we experienced.

Through all of this Mommy's van was in the Grasso Tech automotive shop receiving much needed repairs. It took about a week and a half during which the family did well using and sharing our one remaining car, the Civic. The van is back with us now but will require some further work.

We also adopted a baby bird for about a day. It had fallen from it's nest and we suspect it may have hatched premature. We had it for about a day and were preparing to take it to someone who would know how to care for it, but sadly it died before we had the chance. From what little we learned it's an enormous amount of work to care for a baby bird, it's a full time job and very complicated. It's a credit to Jehovah's design that birds are able to do easily what is difficult for us acting only on the instinct he gave them.