You can see here how saggy the Cosmos in the back row are. They were much worse than this picture when I finally pulled them.
Well, Labor day has come and gone. We had a great weekend up in Maine on the island and a nice day trip to Story Land in New Hampshire. We left Friday evening with the threat of hurricane Earl on our backs. I was a bit leery of leaving, wondering if we were going to come home to a fallen tree on our roof or a flood in our basement, but lo and behold, Earl was kind to us. I walked around the yard today and it doesn't even appear that we had rain, let alone a hurricane. I'm glad we took the chance and left on Friday instead of waiting it out until Saturday. As always, our stay in Maine was fun and relaxing. We spent Saturday at the lake and the wind was gusty. Remnants of hurricane Earl you know. You'd never think waves on a lake could be so big, but trust me, it was like an ocean. Sunday we spent the day at Story Land. We haven't been there since our children were small and I couldn't help but wonder what changes had been made in all those years. I can confidently tell you, none. With the addition of a couple of new attractions, the place was virtually unchanged. It was as if time had stood still. The Old Woman who lived in a shoe, the Little Red Shool house, Cinderella's castle, the pirate ship, the swan boats, the polar coaster, even the fiberglass alligator in the lagoon, were exactly the same. I guess I can say it was somewhat of a comfort to see that time and technology had not stepped in to rearrange my memories of the place we so loved taking Krista, Erika and Ashley when they were small. It warmed my heart to be able to tell Cora that her mom sat on the very bench or stool or tuffet or rode the same ride that she did, when she was small. For me, I was glad to see that nothing had been modernized.
Summer seemed to have started early this year with April bringing with it unseasonably warm temperatures. We had yard parties, cookouts, picnics and beach days. Lots and lots of gardening and plenty of time to relax on the deck. I cherished each day and thanked God for such a nice long summer. The other day however, to my surprise, I found myself longing to wear a pair of pants. As I noticed my petunias were no longer blooming, a few red leaves had fallen on the ground, the sun setting earlier and the stores filled with back to school supplies, my internal clock changed gears and suddenly I felt the desire to welcome in the Fall season. I can't wait to clean up the gardens, plant fall flowers and go apple picking with all the grandchildren. I'm looking SO forward to Erika and Persson being here for the month of October. All I've been doing is thinking of all the Autumny things we'll squeeze into that time. It'll be so much fun.
Our only two pumpkins. Aren't they cute?
A visitor to our garden this year. Can you see the Garter snake?
Check out those waves on the lake.
They came splashing in just like at the ocean.
This picture was taken at Seabrook in NH, the day before Earl actually made landfall in MA. The waves were great, but the undertow was VERY strong.
Cora milking the cow at Story Land. We had been telling her all day about the pretend cow she could milk. When we got there she wanted to know why it was water and not milk coming out, hehe.
Riding the Bamboo Chutes. .JPG)
Cora and Ashley on the Polar Coaster
The king and the queen. 
Unless he's been replaced with an exact replica, this is the exact Humpty Dumpty I sat next to when I was Cora's age. 
Next summer we need to come home and ALL of us go to Story Land! That would be so fun! I can't believe the last time we were there were little kids; feels like yesterday.
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