End of the Summer Day-Trip with the Dogs

On Labor Day, the entire family took a day trip to Maine…including our two babies (Happy and Lily). We were going to leave them home, but at the last minute, we decided to take them with us to Portland, ME. I think Happy and Lily are New England dogs. They LOVE being by the ocean and lobster. Haha. I’m not sure if dogs can eat lobster meat, but… I gave some to them on this trip. They are doing perfectly fine.

Here are some pictures from the trip (it started to rain when we got to downtown Portland, so we drove around for a bit then drove back down to MA):

 

Beautiful Rockport, MA

 

Another beautiful day in New England… (few weeks late in posting, of course. I really need to stay on top of posting in a reasonable time).
I love Rockport, MA. It’s small and wicked busy during the summer months, but I just like coming here to just sit by the water and relax. I wanted to spend a nice day with the dogs before the start of the fall. I think they may have been a bit hot, but knowing the two rascals, they loved being outdoors.

 

 

 

Lily enjoying the view….

Happy looks so happy…

This is one my favorite pictures of Happy…

Weekend Outing for the Dogs

Few Sundays ago, the weather was really nice and the dogs were itching to go outside. So, we decided to go out to get some lunch. The dogs hung around outdoors with us. I was very surprised at how well Happy behaved during lunch. She usually would have whined about sitting in one spot for an extended period of time, but on this day, Happy just hung out with us without a peep!

Then, after lunch, we took them to Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield. It was such a lovely day. 

I can’t wait till the beaches are open for dogs. One of very few places I can let them roam around leash free. And, Happy goes wild!

Hiking with Lily

After two failed attempts at going to Halibut Point State Park in Rockport, MA, my friend and I ventured to a park in Gloucester, MA. We drove around for almost two hours for a nice place to let the dogs get some exercise. We stumbled upon a sort of hidden park in Gloucester. It was called Ravenwood Park. Parking, unfortunately, was not big or convenient. I mean I say “hidden” because there weren’t any signs that pointed us to the park. The GPS took us to a private road. I don’t think I will return to this place any time soon, but it was still a nice place – quiet, not so busy, calm, pretty place.

Lily began the trail by walking on her own…well, more like sprinting and running – just straight running, no sniffing around. Just running straight. She’s tiny but it was hard keeping up with her! I could just be really out of shape, but I think…I’m pretty sure she just kept wanting to go nonstop.

Even her new friend, Tofu, couldn’t keep up. Tofu just wanted to sniff around and investigate his surrounding.

About 15 minutes into the hike, she decided she didn’t want to “walk” and just froze in one place. I ended up hiking with an 8-lbs Yorkie. I definitely got a workout. Haha. 

She’s adorable though isn’t she? 

2014 Summer Camp Shenanigans

August was a crazy month for me… right after the Maine trip, things started rolling almost too fast for me. It was just work everyday and then BAM! I had to prepare for the start of the new school year. Looking back, I feel like I’ve attended about ten meetings and staff developments. Of course, it was just four…but in my defense those four days were LONG days. Tons of information thrown at me. The phrase “deer caught in the headlights” could definitely fit in this situation. Haha. Nonetheless, I got through it all with much support and encouragement from many many wonderful people in my life. Quick shout-out: “Thank you everyone for always cheering me on!”

In any case, here are some of the fun stuff that went down during the summer camp:
Clay molding, DIY Chess boards and pieces, Make Your Own Game Boards, Life Size Monopoly, and random “portraits”

Clay molding: Guess what these are supposed to be! Nom Nom Nom. Haha

 

The kids had some free time so they decided to do some “Free Draw.”

(The picture above needs a description. One of the boys in the class decided to draw a portrait of his “girlfriend.” A girl in another class who he would like to marry. Cute? Weird? Funny?)

Life-sized Monopoly Game Board (It was too big for me to get the entire board in one picture frame.) Note: The cardboard box with pink strips of duct tape is supposed to be prison.

  

Make your own board game: Few boys decided to make basketball and soccer themed board games. They explained how to play, but I don’t think I ever fully understood how to play these games.

 Last project was to learn to play the chess AND to make your own chess pieces and board. Can you guess what the class was interested in this past summer? Haha.

We invited the younger kids to come into our classroom to play our games. It was a success! I think everyone’s favorite was the life-sized monopoly game. I did see few first graders sitting by the chess board to play a game (or two) of chess.