Revisiting August...A Special Surprise

    

When I posted in August I didn't write what was brewing in the wings.  Several months earlier my sisters had called and asked if we could make a trip up to Maine this summer to surprise our parents with a belated 80th birthday party and early 60th wedding anniversary celebration.  Somehow I didn't slip any of the surprise to Mom and Dad during our weekly phone visits and Wayne, Rachael, Katelyn, Jonathan, Ian, and myself made the trip to Maine without them finding out until the party. 

Our dear friends Ed & Sue Walsh blessed us with the use of a camp on the lake in Acton, ME

The 2 boys loved being in the water and we had a challenge getting them out of the lake in order to do other things.










On Friday, Sue and the kids hung out on Sue's farm to have some horse time while Wayne and I took time for a lunch date at Ted's Clams (neither of us had clams, but the shrimp and fish were delicious!).  The boys got to sit on top of Sue's very big Percheron and helped sisters groom the horses.

 Silver is a very special horse to Rachael.  Several years ago Sue and Ed hosted Rachael for a week of horse time in Maine.  Rachael rode Silver and bonded with the dear old boy.  We have a very similar photo of these two taken at that time--they've both aged quite a bit since then!

Friday evening Sue, her daughter Sadie, and granddaughter Abbie, the girls, Jonathan, and I made our way to York Beach to get a taste of the ocean (no trip home to Maine is complete until I have a good inhale of ocean air!).  It was a beautiful summer evening and the beach wasn't very crowded.  The 3 'tourists' had a great time in the c-o-l-d ocean water.  The sunset was beautiful.  The ride back to Acton was quite an adventure because we had to drive through a very strong thunderstorm.  We were glad to get back to our cottage by the lake and find Wayne and Ian waiting for us.

Saturday we headed to Bradbury Mountain State Park--Pownal, Maine's claim to fame.  The family had rented the pavilion at the park so there would be plenty of room for our now very large family (around 45-50 of us!) to hold the celebration.  Family members trickled in and we prepared for the guests of honor...

What a blessing to have our parents here celebrating their 80 (and 1/2) birthdays and their soon to be 60th wedding anniversary! (in January)
 
There were children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren everywhere and a wonderful time followed.  What a blessing to be with the whole family (minus our 3 eldest who had to stay in NY due to jobs and animal care responsibilities).  Cousins that had never met became great playmates.  New family members were introduced to us and we caught up with those we hadn't seen for such a long time.
 
Pictures were taken (I'm waiting to get copies of others since my camera had a shadow on the lens),
but here is one that shows Mom and Dad with most of their great-grandchildren (Seamus joined us later and will be 'photo-shopped' into the 'professional' pics).

The girls joined Aunt Sherrie, and their cousins for a hike up Bradbury Mtn.  It may not be very tall, but there is a beautiful view from the top.

After the party Wayne, the kids, and I went to Dad's & Mom's to visit a bit longer before heading back to Acton.  Dad & I went to South Freeport to buy some lobsters.  I love the view here at the wharf. 

Our time with Mom and Dad flew by.  We knew we had to head back to NY the next day so as evening started to settle in, we said our good-byes and headed back to Acton.

The sky was beautiful as we followed the coast south.  Pictures can never do justice to reality...











This was the scene awaiting us at the lake...a sunset on a wonderful trip to Maine.