Boat Parade!

Every year on July 4th, there is a boat parade held on the pond.
All are invited to participate; the only equipment necessary is some type of floating vessel.

Signs of patriotism are always welcomed....

I love the flagpole made of a branch..


.
The girls are getting ready to paddle out and join the parade..

Here come the rest of the boats!

Love this one...the bathing beauties...are not quite as beautiful as you might think!

Not quite sure of the green theme on this one..

Love these next three....

The girls followed the rest of the boats halfway around the pond...

After a 20 min paddle, they headed back to our dock for some fun..

Admiring the view....

Yup...needed a change

JUST in time for the big day next week, I changed from a redhead to blonde.
(Even tho this looks a bit red still in this picture..it's the lighting, really it is....)

Another shoreline

Jim traveled to Florida on business several weeks ago, and I tagged along!Not only was it fun to hang out in the hotel by myself for a couple of days, but we got to see our besties who lived just a couple of hours from where Jim's meetings took place.
After drinking in Maine coastline when we were camping, I came across the pictures I took in Florida and was amazed again how different the Florida coastline is from the one you see in northern New England.

Florida has: beautiful sandy beaches, gentle waves, water actually WARM enough to put your feet in..unlike the bone chilling, feet aching, numbing temperature of Maine water even in August.

A few pictures from the beach....

After lots of hugs and I miss you guys SO MUCH when we got to our friends house, we headed to a gorgeous beach for a picnic supper and to watch the sunset.

The sand is amazing...like baby powder. Hi Timmy! (above)
Hi Tara! (below)

Hi Dina! Hi Tim!

The sunset was incredible...a few shots to share...

Wow, right?

I love, no really love, the ocean

I love camping by the ocean....

.....and contemplating the ocean from the vantage point of a kayaker.

...I feel blessed that we can keep our kayak so close to our campsite.

..sunset paddles...

.....stormy paddles (with our pup).

I love the feeling of peace that being next to the water brings...

And the peace of a campfire right next to the ocean?...the best.

The ocean has many personalities and colors....

Incredible blues....

and green-blues at low tide.

I love being on the water with my kids....

And we love exploring uninhabited islands.

One speaks of catchlights in someone's eyes in a photo..but I love the catchlights sparkling from the water.

.....and contemplating far off places over the expanse of the sea.

By the way...I love popovers, too.