Just another morning in Maine...at 743 AM Callum was adorned in 'tickle mitts,' a Rudolph nose, and his Santa hat. And Maira had dumped her whole pet net of stuffed animals. And in a VERY rare show of relaxation, Orso decided to veg out on the rug. That was a joke. I never thought anything could be less active than a cat. Then we got a Saint Bernard....

This morning I took the kids and the dog out around ten--before it got too hot--to do a hike. This was Orso's first hike. He loves to ride in the back of the station wagon..he jumps right in back, and he lies down. We went over to the Messolonskee Stream trail in Oakland, which borders along the (you guessed it) Messo stream. For just being ten minutes away in Oakland, it is a really magical and enchanted type of place, with dark forest glens, bridges over bubbling brooks, steep cliffs heading down to the stream, and lots of twists, turns, and switchbacks. A very 'technical' trail for this close to home. You definitely feel like you are farther north/west in the mountains someplace. We want to get the kids as into hiking as we can, in hopes of taking them to do some White Mtn stuff when they are older! Orso had a great time, sniffing and peeing and marking to his heart's content. He walked two whole miles which, for him, is quite the accomplishment. He did, however, sleep for the rest of the day...haha. Here we are at one of the bridge crossings...

And here we are at another crossing. Maira's new thing is to give the 'thumbs up' for all her pictures. She randomly--and without any rhyme or reason--started this two days ago. Sure.

We did a lot of other cool summer activities this morning. We fingerpainted. The kids built a 'fort' out of the bunk beds. We put together lego helicopters. We played GO FISH out back at the picnic table. And then, to round things off, we saw the Carlton ladies (Andy is at a conference) walking Lola the Pug and we got to talking to them...we found ourselves over their place shortly thereafter for a lovely pre-dinner swim. Another great summer day...