Sunday Funday!

On Sunday the 4^th Canaan had a football game in Lewiston at 1030 in the morning, he had to be there at 930am.  Even though I got out of work that morning at 7am we decided to make a day of it and go Apple picking after.  Even though the day started out quite chilly it turned into a beautiful afternoon. 

We got the field by his allotted time and I was surprised to find a 1^st/2^nd grade tackle game in progress.  It was Lewiston vs. Brunswick and as it turns out it was Caiden’s team, and even though he had broken his arm at the previous game Caiden was still there cheering his team on.  Krista enjoyed the opportunity to snuggle with the Wesley boy. 

Canaan has been awesome this year on the field, he plays both offense and defense and on the kick receiving team.  He plays right guard on offense and nose tackle on defense.  I’m so proud of him because win or lose he tries his best and always has fun.  Between practically every play when he is on defense you can see him dancing on the line waiting for the offense to clear their huddle. 

Mom and Cousin Paul with Sammy also came to watch Canaan and his teammates defeat Lewiston 6 – 0 in a hard fought contest.  Canaan made a few tackles including a joint sack on the quarterback, which cost me $5.  On offense the kid opposite him was much larger than he is, but he wasn’t intimidated and did a fantastic job blocking him out and clearing the hole when needed.

At the games conclusion we headed south to Cumberland for some apple picking at Orchard Hill Farms a place Kate and I discovered last year.  We had gone to Sweetser’s to pick apples last year and discovered when we got there that they didn’t allow people to pick their own as the trees were very old and they didn’t want people to damage them.  Sweetser’s is known for having rare and old apple varieties.  They directed us to Orchard Hill Farm. 

At Orchard Hill we discovered the gravenstein apple which is my now my favorite apple.  It’s crunchy, juicy, sweet and a bit of a sour tang.  Not only is it a delicious eating apple but when Kate baked anything with it, it was amazing!

Orchard Hill was hopping with people, cars parked up and down the road.  We managed a spot right in front of the building.  I bought our bag and we filled it overfull with gravensteins.  Kids had a lot of fun, Canaan found this little tiny apple for Wesley.  The trees were loaded with apples!  After putting them in the van we took a ride of the free hay wagon pulled by a 1951 John Deere tractor.  The ride went right through the orchard, and we were warned that if anyone reaches out and grabs a tree, and he know’s…it’s tempting, he will stop the wagon and leave them there. 

We found a spot on the side of the building on the lawn and broke out the picnic lunch giving Wesley some back and tummy time before heading home. 

Kate made us an amazing apple pie for desert and some pretty fantastic cheeseburgers for dinner.  By the time my head hit the pillow for a quick pre-dinner nap I had been up for 27 hours. 

It was a great day, with beautiful weather and I am thankful we were able to do this.

Later readers!

Canaan took this photo, Kate really likes it because we were all laughing while Canaan was trying to position the phone the get us all in.  It was a genuine moment!

Wicked fun Weekend!

 It was a busy 4 days and with my vacation day I had three nights in a row off!

Thursday wasn’t too bad as Canaan just had football practice.  However, it runs from 530 – 730pm so it does interrupt dinner time and the normal flow to the evening.   After practice I bought us all Ice Cream at Debs, it will probably be our last of the season.   NBC Sports was streaming the NFL season opener of the Patriots vs. the Steelers, fast game with the Pats winning!

Friday I took the kids to school and daycare.  Then I ran some errands around Augusta stopping at Shaws, Dollar Tree, & Big Lots.  I stopped at Editor’s Note to play some pinball and buy a comic, I also set up to have him set aside a couple future books. 

The pinball machine called Pit Stop made by Williams Electronics and released in 1968 is based on car racing where the goal is to complete laps around the track.  10 laps gets you a free game, I myself played 6 games two of which I had won.  Very simple but very fun game.

Friday night was Youth night at the Gardiner Football game, the played Skowhegan and I’m assuming lost as they were down by several touchdowns when we left after the end of the 3^rd quarter.   Addison cheered the first half of the game and Canaan with his team were called out at Halftime.  As I’ve said before it’s quite an experience going to a game, they had 4 different food shacks to get just about anything you wanted. 

Saturday was BIW family day at Funtown in Saco, once again Dad & Linda treated us. The weather was nice, sunny and clear but not hot.  The kids had a blast hitting the rides side first with the catered lunch of hot dogs and burgers in there.  Dad bought them Ice Cream and then they headed out before we took the kids over to the Splashtown side. 

When we first got it we went over to the carousel, everyone was ahead of me as Gram-Gram had called to talk about Blacklist.  When I caught up I watched Dad helping Addison up on a horse and when I looked back he had mounted the horse next to hers.  I could not believe what I was seeing!  Kate took Wesley on the ride as well sitting on the bench. 

We went on a few other rides.  Addison drove me around on the roadsters and we rode the balloon race together.  Addison drove Dad & Linda on the Antique cars while Canaan chauffeured Kate on the same ride.  The kids road a bunch of other rides each some multiple times.  When they went for ice cream I went into the arcade and played a single game of Family Guy pinball, I got the high score and earned a free game based on score.  They also had a play until you win candy claw that had frooties in it!!  I won two frooties.

Over at Splashtown the kids and Kate played in Pirates Cove and went down plenty of slides, plus some swimming in the 3 foot pool.  Kate and Canaan waited an excessive amount of time to slide down the corkscrew.  I honestly can’t believe that Canaan went through with it.  We spent close to 3 hours at Splashtown before calling it a day.  Canaan made the comment that this was the best Summer ever.

On the way home we stopped at Wendy’s in Topsham.  For whatever reason the staff decided that we waited too long for our food, I didn’t think so, and gave us each a small or mini Frosty.   Kate dipped a French fry in her Frosty and said that she didn’t know why but that dipping your fries in a Frosty was delicious.  The odd thing in this scenario is that Canaan, Addison, & I each picked up a fry and dipped it in the Frosty, we didn’t even question just how odd her statement was.  Incidentally she was right!  Something about the sweet and salty mixture was really good. 

Wesley was so good all day today we made sure he got some blanket time for about half an hour.  You couldn’t have asked for a better baby.  That and he is just so friggin cute!

Sunday Canaan had a football game at 9am at home in Gardiner against Bath.  Canaan played a great game putting pressure in the backfield, making a few tackles, and recovering a kick off.  I couldn’t be more proud of him for trying hard, doing his best, and it was clear that even though they lost the game he was having fun out there.

By the time Addison’s game started for her to cheer it was basically a recipe for disaster.  The game didn’t start until 11am, by then Addison had been at the field for 3 hours.  The 5^th & 6^th grade teams stop the clock so the game took close to 2 hours instead of the hour her coach thought it would be.  Basically it was too long for her and she had had enough.  Unfortunately Addison was forced to leave with just a couple minutes left in the game because of her behavior. 

Kate, Wesley, and I went to the Litchfield Fair as Kate wanted some fair food.  I hadn’t been to a fair in over two years and hadn’t been to the Litchfield Fair in years! 

We had a good walk around looking at all the expo halls, rides, games, and of course the food.  I found a truck was served deep friend milky ways and couldn’t resist the urge.  It was delicious!  Kate had a deep fried twinkie and enjoyed that as well.  We indulged in a few other fair food classics.  In the 4H room I ran into Amanda Wade, a school chum I hadn’t seen in years.  We had a brief chat and it was nice to see her and her roommate.

Kate had her first experience with pull tickets and she was immediately hooked.  She’s never been to a casino either and told me it would be best to keep her away. 

When we got home I had time to watch a bit of the Packers vs. Bears game to finish off the a great few days before catching a nap so I could get through the night at work.

Just an awesome and busy few days. 

Later readers!

 

Grafton Notch State Park

August 30^th marked the final day trip of the Summer for Kate and I.  With my schedule it’s hard for us to find the time for these adventures because it’s best to go on them on my second day off so I’m not tired all day.  Our next possibility is October 11^th after Canaan’s Football game.

On this day though we focused the majority of our trip at Grafton Notch State Park located in Oxford County not too far from the New Hampshire border.

Our first stop took us to Andover and Lovejoy Covered Bridge.  Along the way we found another windfarm, this one is I believe called Saddleback Windfarm.   I know some people don’t like the windmills and think they are eye sores, but Kate and I really find them neat.

Lovejoy Bridge was first constructed in 1868 in Andover spanning the Ellis River at 70 feet long it is the shortest covered bridge in Maine.  This is still an active bridge and we drove & walked across it which is what we do when we visit a unique bridge.  There was a group of girls getting their senior portraits taken.  The river was low and the banks were high and very sandy. 

We next traveled to Grafton Notch State Park with is located on Route 26.  The State Park is unique as a major route runs directly through the protected land and scenic spots on both side of the road.  We visited three of these places on this trip. 

Our first stop was Screw Auger Falls which features the Bear River running through a gorge featuring a series of drops leading to a 23 feet waterfall.  It’s very pretty here with several places you can sit and relax as well as a couple shallow pools to swim in.

Next was Mother Walker Falls, I read on line that it is a v shaped gorge 40 foot wide and 980 feet long that gradually descends 98 feet.  It wasn’t very impressive.

The final stop was Moose Cave which is a cave located in 45 foot deep canyon of bedrock that follows a 600 foot long gorge.  The cave was named for a moose that fell into the cave.  All three of these sights would be better to see during the spring thaw as without a good flow of water they are not much to look at.  They were all very nice though. 

 

There is a bakery on Route 26 in Newry called Puzzle Mountain Bakery that we stopped at on the way out of the park.  We picked up a couple whoopie pies and scratch made maple crème cookies.  Baked good and jams are located in a roadside booth with payment received down the driveway in an honor box located outside the actual bakery house.  

Kate got the standard chocolate whoopie, which she loved, I went with my favorite pumpkin.  The filling was the same for both, I’m not sure the make-up but it was good.  The Maple Crème cookies were good but sadly a couple were partially ruined in the cooler. 

On the Sunday River Road spanning 100 feet over the Sunday River is the Sunday River Bridge which was out next stop.  Built in 1872 this bridge is no longer open to traffic and is also known as the Artist’s Bridge. 

The river was also low here and we were able to go down onto the rocky floor. Kate put Wesley’s feet in the river and he was not please, not one bit!

Wesley was needing some time out of the car seat we stopped in Bethel at a spot on the river with picnic tables and a playground.  We spread out a blanket in the shade of some trees and fed the boy then letting him have some back time for about half an hour. 

We stopped at Snow Falls Gorge off Route 26 in South Paris as our last scheduled stop of the day.  Located a rest stop with a picnic area Snow Falls was named after Captain Jonathan Snow who was killed by St. Francis Indians in 1755. 

It was a great day we both really enjoy these day trips and I look forward to the next one.