Erin loves the arts

I brought Erin and Kelsey to their first practice last night for White Christmas.  They sat there and went over a song over and over again.  I thought they would be bored and ready to quit trying to learn a tough new song and just sitting there with strangers.  But, when Erin got home, she wanted to go hear the song right away on YouTube.  It fits her so well.  Broadway Baby.  She watched many different versions and then sang it some more in bed.  On Saturday the cast was asked to bring tap shoes so I think this was an inspired substitute for the girls.  Thanks God.

So I decided to upload a practice from her spring dance recital.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8f5p5TwKKQ

My girls are nice and they are glamorous

Just as we were getting ready to leave Iowa, a friend of Kelsey's invited her to do a fundraiser for a group.  It was a version of glamour shots.  Of course there is the promise of a free picture.  Then they took at least 8 fabulous photos of each daughter.  So we splurged for the CD Rom so we could use at will.  It was a nice ending.  I am hearing that Erin looks like my niece Kristin and Kelsey favors me in some of them.  She always thought she didn't look like the family.  I am glad they got the chance to do this.  Soon we can get some developed and use them in our new house.

Can rafting in September make you sick?

This isn't really us because I didn't want to ruin our camera.  But this is what we did.  We took the kids white water rafting on the Kennebec and then the Dead River.  We had a great time.  We stayed in our camper for the first time all season.  So it was below 40 in the morning when we got up and we had no heat.  So the water was a little chilly.  Is that why two of my kids had fevers and sore throats this week?  After all, the other one had the sore throat last week. So, whether it was a wise decision or not, we all had great family time and after the hectic summer we had with so much up in the air, we needed the time away.  By the way, in our picture, we would all have helmets on.  Uncle Bob insists on it.

Matthew and his turtle

Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Ws0NMML0A
One of the reasons we moved here was for Matthew to be able to find things in the local river.  Wow, he really found something.  Good thing we do not live in Florida.

This is our new house

This is our new home at 22 Elliot Lane in Bowdoinham.  My grandparents lived in this town 30 years ago.  I have found some people who remember them.

Rip Tide can be fun but dangerous

Hurricane Bill on Sunday gave us the chance to jump really big waves at Popham Beach on Saturday.  We had to be careful to not go too far out or the rip tide would suck us right out into the ocean.  This was a new experience and we were safe enough to have a lot of fun.  We went to Reid State Beach first but they wouldn't even let us pur our toes in the water.
Welcome to Maine

Arrived in Maine

I will try to keep this brief because I have little progress to report. We are in Maine. Got here last Thursday. I have begun the task of looking for a house and it turns out, I am picky. I did not think I was picky, but apparently so. I have driven around the area where Tim works and it has its good and bad points. We will look inside houses tomorrow and Friday.

It is unseasonably cold and rainy here. Yes, this is Maine and it is cooler anyway. But this is different. Very cold and very rainy.