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Monday, August 24, 2009

Pirates and Birthdays and Lobsters, Oh My!

6 comments Posted by Ryan and Katherine Berg at 10:07 PM

Ryan's birthday was a bit ago and we had an awesome day to celebrate it. It was a beautiful day and we took advantage of it. We went to Mount Desert Island, on the eastern side of Maine. We started out with mini-golf at The Pirates Cove. It was one of the nicest mini-golf places I've ever been to. I had Dale in the baby carrier and we golfed together. It became harder as we went on because he wanted to be more involved and had learned that if he really reached out he could reach the club. And to really reach out I had to get kicked in the legs. Yea!
Dale and I danced after we scored, especially when our score beat Daddy's! Then we promptly went and watched Daddy putt from the shade.
Dale is so excited to be a pirate, can't you tell. He was really interested in trying to eat the wheel but this is the only pic we got of him holding onto it. "Yo ho, yo ho... a pirate's life for me!"
With a lilypad in their pond. I have been amazed at how many 'tropical' plants grow here in Maine, it must be the humidity - the yards out here are gorgeous!
And here goes Ryan, under the watchful eye of the pirates.
I finally figured out that if I put Dale's feet between my legs I had a better shot of hitting the ball.
Hmm... look who got in trouble!
Daddy was so pleased when mommy made him pose with the pirate flag they gave Dale. Yo ho!
We then proceeded to Bar harbor where we walked along the ocean shore path. Dale fell asleep in his stroller. It was beautiful, but pretty hot and muggy so we went onto ... ice cream.
A lobster boat.
Bar harbor on Frenchman Bay. It was beautiful and fun to see all of the boats.
After ice cream we played in the park for a bit. Dale crawled around some and then...
...attacked mommy.



and then turned his attention to the camera.

before falling off and being so sad - because it is my fault, you know.
We then walked around the town and went into some of the stores. We found a great children's toy store - practical toys, like hydraulic kits and other nerdy baby appropriate fare.Unfortunately this is when Dale decided to freak out and we had to leave to feed him. I suppose it's just as well though - we couldn't afford anything there anyway. But, back to the story - I was impressed with the lobster, so I made Ryan and Dale pose. So cute, right?
We then proceded to Acadia National Park (like 10 minutes away) and drove through part of it, Dale really needed a nap and it gave us a chance to see the park. Lucky for us it was a free day to enter. Yea for free things! Here are Daddy and Dale near the visitor's center.
While driving we came across some amazing views. I am excited to go back with my mom this fall, it should be awesome - hopefully the leaves will be changing then. I remember the fall that I was living in Mass my roomie and I would simply drive to higher ground to look at the leaves and it was just like a patchwork quilt of vibrant colors. The colors were more vibrant than I had ever seen previously, or perhaps since.
This is part of the view from Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the island (at a whopping 1550 feet). We didn't get to walk around the peak because Dale had finally fallen asleep- but it was beautiful. Another thing to look forward to this fall. It is looking toward Frenchman Bay and Bar Harbor is the tiny town to the left on the shoreline.
Here is a picture of some goobers that magically appeared on our camera.
Onto our next amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience. We went to a lobster pound and ordered... LOBSTER! Dale enjoyed the high chair. I definitely need a high chair/shopping cart cover things because he kept trying to eat the chair (and the table), and even though I 'anti-bac'ed it as much as possible I still felt dirty. After we added the blankie though he only really chewed on it.
We figured that Maine is famous for its Lobster and that if we were going to live here we had to have Maine lobster sometime. Here is Ryan after receiving his meal. (May I say I always thought the animated movies were making fun of people wearing lobster bibs. You have my permission to laugh at us. We certainly did!)
Here is a picture of the meal. Lobster, steamed clams, corn, potatoes. And some other stuff not shown. Might I say that this picture does not do my lobster justice. You can not see how hairily disgusting this creature looks from up close. And the antennae? Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross! And the beady eyes? Blechiness. Nor can you see the hairy legs. I obviously did not get the right pictures. The loster also came with a kit, visible in the upper right. It included a nut cracker thing, a pick to pull the meat out, a lobster bib, and INSTRUCTIONS! Yes, a page of instructions - which I saved to edumacate all of you, but am too lazy to load more pictures right now. Sorry all. But not too sorry.
As you can tell, I was less enthusiastic than Ryan - even from the very beginning.
The verdict: DISGUSTING. I didn't mind tearing the claws off or breaking the shell and such, but the meat and I didn't get along. I only made it a few bites through the lobster before definitively declaring to Ryan that "If I try to eat another bite I am going to throw up." So, I stopped. But, because I am so grown up, that did not stop me from turning my head and gagging when Ryan cracked open the body of his lobster to reveal the arm muscle thingies and the green liver that had to be removed. Seriously, I don't get it. We were told that lobster used to be food for convicts. I just don't understand.
So, I turned my time and attention to a better cause, trying to get a great picture of Dale wearing my bib. (Did I mention that when you crack and take the lobster apart that water flies out at you. Like as if the lobster is spitting up at you for executing it.) But, cute pictures...

So adorable!
(Then, at the end of the meal you are supposed to SUCK the little bits of meat out of the nasty little claws.) Man, we had an awesome laugh at dinner. Between Ryan eating dramatically, and me gagging dramatically we were quite the pair. But Dale is so cute that I don't think anyone cared. Well, that and the fact that everyone else ate outside in the sun - but not my baby!
After dinner the sun was setting and we went and walked on the dock by the restaurant. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day. It was gorgeous!
And there were some amazing ships sailing around. It was so gorgeous!
I got to spend a marvelous day with my best friend and our beautiful joyful baby. I couldn't have asked for more... and it wasn't even my birthday. Happy Birthday Sweetheart - we love you!
And now for some more Dale pictures, not from Ryan's birthday. He loves to eat his baby moniter.

And check out those teeth, they are quite a bit bigger now. Today he cut his first top tooth. The right one, but not the front right one, the next right one. And his left front one isn't far behind. Our sweet little baby is growing up. Faster that I ever imagined he would. And we love him. More than I think we ever imagined we could.
One of his favorite toys is my silicone whisk. Along with my mixing bowls and wooden spoons.
He loves to pull himself up onto anything. He started out with small bumps - me, Ryan, towels and toys and can now pull himself up to standing and cruise along. Slowly, but getting faster everyday. There is a window seat in our front room and he loves to stand there, clutching the seat and watching the cars pass by.


 

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Pics in March

0 comments Posted by Ryan and Katherine Berg at 9:14 PM

I just posted some pictures that I uploaded in March, but don't know how to change the date for August. If you are interested, go to March 2009, post titled *never never land*.

 

Picture Post 3 of 3

1 comments Posted by Ryan and Katherine Berg at 4:52 PM

Monster Jammies:

Drums, whisks and spoons - oh my! Also, note that I am sitting all by myself. w00t for me!




A few weeks ago we went to "The Central Maine Egg Festival" and yes, you read that right. It was in the park about two blocks from our house. Dale got to wear his awesome hat and we went out.


My favorite sign - the gone to Walmart one. Ha!


Being pushed in the stroller is apparently exhausting. However Dale ALWAYS falls asleep in the stroller if we go for an extended walk (not including the grocery store).

Awake again!




This is how his hair looks after he naps. I LOVE IT! It is long enough but still fine enough to curl slightly - I wonder if there will be some curl like Ryan has or if it will be straight as can be like mine?

Dale was playing in the laundry basket and tried to climb out and it tipped over and he bruised his nose pretty good. Sweet little baby!

Dale is growing like a weed, and mobile. In the last week or so he has started to crawl and can pull himself up to standing. He isn't cruising quite yet but is getting closer everyday. He has become impatient with sitting and rolling and we spend a lot of time each day with him holding my hands as he stands. He's got his two front bottom teeth and one on top is coming in (not one of the two front teeth, but the right one just off from that). We estimate that he's about 22 pounds and just over 28 inches long. Goodness golly our baby is growing up!

And, as a side note - the deer in the headlights look is what we get in most pictures - he loves the camera that much!

 

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