It is always so good to be home and this summer was no exception. The weather was nice (at least warmer than Lima) and it was great to be at the cottage at Hedding. I tried to pack seeing as many people as I could into 4 weeks and I think I did pretty well.
My beautiful, amazing goddaughter Christel was high on my list of people to spend as much time with as possible while I was home. She is a little over 2 years old and just so much fun. I've seen her every time I've been home, but I think after this visit she will really remember who I am. She is very vocal (complete sentences and inquisitive questions) and so smart. And hearing her say "Auntie Shell" all the time did my heart good. We went to Odiorne State Park one day and she came to play and swim at the cottage a couple of times. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with her and enjoy the incredible little person she has become. I wish she would stay this age forever.
Even though she had just spent a week hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine, my friend Nicole was still willing to come up to visit me. We have been friends since the 2nd day of first grade when she walked up to me on the playground and asked if I wanted to be her best friend. Of course I said yes and the rest is history. When she visited we spent the night drinking wine and eating pizza at Hedding, then drove through UNH the next day and were amazed with all the changes at our alma mater. And I promised her that our picture would end up on my blog page. :)
One of my favorite days at home was spent taking care of Ralph, my brother's one year old black lab. Ralph is a superstar and I love him to death. He is pretty needy and doesn't like to be left alone, but he is also very loving and loyal. Ralph spent the day with us while Marc and Megan worked and I had a great time taking him on tons of walks around Hedding. He especially loved going down Boy Scout Road where I let him off his leash and he could run and smell to his heart's content. I'll admit I'm a little jealous my brother has found such a great dog.
Being at Hedding means I get to spend a lot of time with the Clark kids, which is always nice. Their cottage is just down the hill and the kids love to ride their bikes up to our cottage and hang out. Ross (the only brother in a family of 4 sisters) rode his bike up most days just to say hi and see what he could scrounge for food. He and I spent a fun afternoon playing Go Fish, which I won, but just barely. Alyssa (in this picture) is the middle Clark child and my parents' godchild, which, according to her, makes her my godsister. She is a sweetie and I think this picture of the godsisters is cute.
We met up with Karen and Rosemary for drinks Wednesday night after I picked Karisti up at the airport, then went to the North End for dinner. After cocktails and wine, we needed some good, heavy Italian food in our bellies. Rosemary drove us home in her convertible and we loved seeing all the sights of the city with the top down. Karisti and I spent the night at Rosemary's, then did some sightseeing in the morning before meeting up with Karen for the Edward Hopper exhibit at the MFA. We hoped to do some more sightseeing in Boston, but it poured rain all afternoon, so we ended up heading for NH.
I was very excited to show Karisti around NH and southern Maine. I took her to a lot of my favorite restaurants and showed her what I thought were the important things to see. It was "Michelle's Tour of NH/Southern Maine" - Nubble Light, Portsmouth, Kittery, Indian food and the Barley Pub in Dover, and Wanakee, of course. Oh, and don't forget Epping, the center of the universe. Our day at Nubble Light was beautiful and it was fun to spend some time in York. I loved being able to show Karisti all these places she had heard me talk about. I think she enjoyed her first foray into NH. :)
