20th Anniversary

While we were in Maine, Bryan and I celebrated our 20th anniversary. It is truly unbelievable to me that it has been 20 years. We wanted to celebrate the day with my parents and the kids in the same spot that we celebrated originally (way back when). Our reception was at the Samoset (by the breakwater) in Rockland, Maine. This time, we had a little picnic snack afternoon on the rocks there, followed by a yummy clam and barbecue dinner in the town. Just like 20 years ago, it was a beautiful day. So lucky to be celebrating 20 years with my best friend!!!

We had a little picnic snack and hung out on the water for a while...

Mia played on the Rocks

Funny to think these 2 weren't around yet when we celebrated here 20 years ago 

or this one...

At the end of the breakwater is a lighthouse ....

it was fun just watching the ships pass by..

Can't believe it has been 20 years!!!

My parents treated us to a yummy clam and barbecue dinner in Rockland! 

And then we checked out the harbor a bit

so pretty!!!

At the end of our reception (20 years ago), we left by sailboat and came back to Rockland harbor - such great memories!!!

Maine

After we left Hilton Head, we flew up to Maine and had a great time there with my parents. We always have certain things that we like to do while we are there (ie. we always go to Camden and climb Mount Battie, Bailey Island, eat lobster etc. Camden loves to fish and shoot also (yes - sounds quite manly :-) It was such a wonderful visit!!!

My Mom and Dad (and Abbey :-)) in Cape Elizabeth. We have decided that Abbey is the only dog that seems to look younger with age :-) She is 11 years old!!! My Mom and Dad look pretty good too ;-)

Beautiful South Portland!!

Family Photo

Mia feeding the Lama (before)

Mia feeding the Lama (after :-))

Our small town has a little free Library - so cute!!!

Bailey got lots of good driving practice on the hilly back roads of Maine :-)

Camden loved the freedom to shoot the BB gun :-)

Abbey has definitely taken over as the favored child :-), She is loved for sure!!!

Camden loves "the land"

My Mom had special treats for the kids when they arrived and throughout our stay :-)

Climbing Mout Battie - one of our favorite traditions!

The view from the top is amazing!

The "feet in cold water" challenge - my Mom always seems to win!!

This Bumper Sticker that we saw made me smile!

My parents' friends always invite us over for a a fun evening and delicious dinner!

And the view at their house is amazing! 

My Mom took us for the first time to Port Clyde

Such an adorable and timeless little village on the coast

We had a picnic lunch there at the lighthouse and had fun exploring on the rocks

Camden enjoyed driving the tractor

And Mia enjoyed cooking with my Mom

Abbey enjoyed the "Dog Days of Summer" at LL Bean.

We roasted Marshmellows in the fireplace

"Giant Stairs" at  Bailey Island

We had a great story made up about a ship wreck, but later found out that they just brought the boat up to the shore to clean the bottom...

Peppermint ice cream - one of my favorites - this is the kiddie cone!!! A favorite stop for the kids for sure !!!

And delicious lobster dinners too!!! Such a wonderful visit!!!!!

Hilton Head, SC

After visiting colleges with Bailey, we made it back to Hilton Head and had a great time with Bryan's parents relaxing and playing at the beach. Bryan's friends' came down for a few days also and we had a really nice time with them too. We went shark fishing one night, and Mia was proud to say that she definitely caught the biggest one (an enormous stingray, that was so big that it took a 1/2 hour to reel in and then in the end it was just too big to even pull out - thank goodnees Bailey and then Bryan's Dad took the reel or Mia would have definitely been pulled in). A good fish story for sure :-). It was a great time!!!

Beautiful!!!!

Taking a pause from the lowtide :-)

Shark fishing

So peaceful!!!

Mia loved the beach!!!

Family Photo :-)

They had so much fun the last night - the waves were really big!

Love these 3!!!

One of the sharks caught ... A little unnerving to know that this is swimming around!

Bailey Time...

After we left our "China Sisters" in Florida, we brought Mia back up to visit with Bryan's Parents (Camden was already there) and spent some quality time with Bailey looking at colleges and (yikes!) getting her learners permit!  I have said it a thousand times and I am sure I will say it a thousand more - there is something that doesn't feel quite right about putting a 15 1/2 year old (that is the age in S. Carolina to actually drive by themselves) on the road without drivers ed and without a driving test that is actually taken on the road (opposed to an empty parking lot with a few cones). Just to clarify what that means to me...if we lived in the U.S., my middle child would be free to drive on his own in February - No offense Camden, but I'm not sure if the world is quite ready for that :-) A little scary for sure!!! Anyway, Bailey was super excited and got lots of practice driving on the curvy and hilly Maine Roads. It is still against the law here in Germany though (until 18 years old) for her to drive, so she will have to wait -but it was fun for a while :-). Anyway, back to our "College Road Trip". We actually only went on a couple of formal tours - one at UGA and one at Clemson. She enjoyed both of them tremendously. It was sad in a way, but also so much fun thinking about everything that she has to look forward to. She loves the idea of a big school. I think her "perfect" would be UGA, but of course there is the question of getting in :-). We also got to meet with friends along the way - we met up with; our great friends the Hatcher family, my college roommate and her daughter (who just happened to be up at Clemson while we were there - such perfect timing), and Bryan's boss and his wife who just retired back to the U.S. after living in Germany 10 plus years. We had such a nice trip and it was so great spending some quality time with Bailey (especially after her being away for a month). Cherishing the time now for sure, but also so excited for her future at the same time!!!

Congratulations Bay!!!

UGA

The tour was especially good at UGA - She really enjoyed it!

We walked over to the Stadium and this nice man offered to take our photo. It turns out that he is a Chaplain there and has lived in Athens most of his life. He had nothing but great things to say about the school.

Bryan and Dale (Bryan's former boss). They took us out to Sobey's in Greenville for dinner. It was funny because their colleague in Germany is named Sobey :-)

We were really impressed with Greenville! 

Clemson

Clemson has a beautiful Campus!

We went to a yummy Barbecue place for lunch with my roomate and her daughter. It was so fun for Bailey to hear all about Clemson from a current students' perspective.

Had to throw this in here too - when we were in Maine, we wnt to check out the Bowdoin Campus. Definitely a prestigious feel to it. We saw students having there photo taken with sport coats and pants - Bailey decided right away that she could never see herself there...  We laughed when she said she would be afraid that she might use the wrong fork or something during meal time :-)