Happy Father's Day to my husband, who really is a great example, a loving father and husband.

One Big Turtle

We spotted this snapper as we were driving home from dinner on Saturday. It was crossing the road so we decided to stop and move it to a safer location, but before doing so we took some pictures.



That's one large turtle!

Mount Desert Island

This past weekend my family and I drove to Mount Desert Island for some family adventures. It's only about 45 minutes from our camp so we'll definatly be going again! We didn't have a plan before we left, but it was fun to pick and choose places on the map to visit. We explored Wonderland which was a short walking trail into a secluded beach. It was nice to have the place to ourselves. We stopped for strawberries on the side of the road, they were delicious!


We also stopped here at the Sea Wall. We are our lunches to the sounds of waves crashing on the rocks. At each place we stopped Juliette insisted that we stay because was still more exploring to do. We had to convince her that the next place would be as good or better then the previous.


My husband is really good at spotting hermit crabs. I don't think I found a one, he found nearly a dozen! I loved hunting for sea creatures as a kid, and these were one of my favorites.


We also spotted some fairly large green crabs, shrimp, and periwinkles. I was surprised by Juliette's reaction to the crabs, she usually will touch or hold anything, but she stayed clear away from the crabs.

A Maine Summer

Please excuse our absence from the blogging world. We're been renting a cabin on the water in Maine and haven't had access to the internet.

To catch up quickly, we've been enjoying the sunny days by the water and usually head to town for the rainy ones because they've been especially cold. For some reason is runs about 10 degrees cooler here in Dedham than in town. Some mornings it has been in the mid-forties.


This is by far our favorite spot at "camp". We love watching the schools of fish swim by, the bullfrogs bask in the sun, the loons dive under the water after fish, the muskrat pups splash and play, and the fat tadpoles as they complete the last stages of frog metamorphosis.

Another Lawson Family Adventure:

It has been so wonderful to have my husband at home these past couple weeks. I love this time of year: when classes are out, finals are over, and my husband stays in his pjs until 2 in the afternoon! (He deserves it for all his hard work while in law school).

I really love going on family adventures. We've done this quite a lot since he's been out of school, but soon he'll begin his internship in Maine. We're quite excited for this opportunity; a real taste of what being a lawyer is like.

We visited the Amokseag Fishways in Manchester, NH. It's a two-floor visitors center where people can come and learn about the migration patterns of anadromous and catadromous fish, like the Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey, and the American Shad. They also have some live, native reptiles too, including the Timber rattlesnake! Who knew rattlesnakes lived in New Hampshire?!

The Fishways had a historical exhibit about the native people that lived during the 16th century. Juliette got to dress a man and woman cut-out figures in clothing that they used to wear, made from animal skins and bone.

Papa and Juliette checking out the game in the fish ladder room.

An Atlantic Salmon on one of the fish ladder's 54 steps to bypass the Amoskeag Hydroelectric Dam.

Juliette and I playing the River Game. I think I'll make my own because it was a lot of fun and we learned about the kinds of things animals and reptiles in this area eat.

I loved these learning bins, but we didn't have enough time to do them all. They also had a good size selection of puppets and a puppet theater to make up your own story!

We'll definatly go back again because there was so much to learn. For more information, see my other blog, Resourceful Mom, at: http://resourceyourself.blogspot.com/2010/05/amoskeag-fishways-public-programs.html or go to: http://www.amoskeagfishways.org/

End of Finals Fishing Trip

To celebrate the end of finals and the completion of Dan's second year of law school (Woohoo!) Dan decided to take the family (Juliette, Ginger, and I) on a quick fishing trip on the Merrimak River. Here are some shots of Juliette and her papa.

Fishing Highlights

Highlights from our fishing trip include:


Finding a small patch of these beautiful Jack-in-the-pulpit plants,

catching a few fish,

and Juliette finding (or nearly stepping on) an Eastern water snake!