Hot Air Balloons in East Dover!

 I took all of these from our dooryard - it was amazing to see.

 this was fast Sunday morning while I was getting ready for Church - ran outside to snap a few pics.

Fall & Winter

Just some pictures from last fall and winter of the hearth Dad built and the snowblowing fun he had - first time for him.  Sure beats shoveling!  Now if I can just get him on board with the idea of a riding mower... :)  I must say, the new stove we bought from Dave's World heated our entire house very nicely - we only used the oil furnace once or twice all winter long - we love it!!  Nothing like a cozy wood fire on cold winter days or nights.

Dad's Hearth Project

Thomas having a mid-morning snack while Grampy works on the hearth

 The Hearth project 1

 2

3

(more to come)

Fall Activites

 Brigham roasting a marshmallow to perfection

Grampy, Susannah, and Benny

 Benny, James, and Thomas

 wild turkeys

 Tucker, Dillon, and Uncle Bob helping work up the wood pile

Autumn Views from East Dover

End of Summer 2012

We grabbed the last nice day before school started here, to return to Popham Beach with Susannah's family in tow.  It is such an awesome place - so huge in fact that there is an east beach, a central beach, and a west beach - and when the tide is out you walk forever just to get to the ocean - all fine sand for miles it seems.

Dad and I hiked across the beach which connects to what becomes an island at high tide. 

 Benny started digging this hole and Brigham soon pitched in to help

 they stayed at it

 as you can see

 finally Benny was satisfied that it was big enough!

The waves were so beautiful and fun to play in

 Thomas and Ethan found the hole was the only way to keep the breeze from grabbing their beach ball  :)

 The tide eventually filled the hole and these 3 quickly found themselves mired in the sand - on purpose of course.

 As the tide rolled in, the surf became more dramatic - several surfers showed up as we were leaving - some catching the waves for several seconds before wiping out.

 It was a fun day for all of us - one funny thing that happened - I opened a medium bag of M&M peanuts, ate a few (of course) and left them on the quilt we had spread out on the beach while I went to our car to retrieve our camera.  Meanwhile - a very rude and very bold seagull picked up the bag and strewed M&Ms along the beach for him and his friends before dropping it several yards away.  Half the candy was gone. Dade noticed later there was a bit of sand when we got to the bottom of the bag.  Wish I could have caught it all on video.

The tide ultimately forced us to pack up and leave - stopped at DQ in Topsham for blizzards all around, then headed back to Dover to begin another year of school for the kids.  Great way to mark the end of summer vacation.