Jackson's ready for vacation. Clothes? Sneakers? No. PJs (we call them JPs) and cowboy boots and my Boy is good.

Yes! Vacation begins!

Important fishing conversations.

He's become addicted to rocks. Which is good, because there are rocks pretty much everywhere.

We call this his "Inspector Perkins"

The child loves shoes. Mine, his, Derek's... In this case, I put his boots inside mine for traveling... so he's really wearing TWO boots!

Mom on vacation... flip flops, book, wine, binoculars for husband-tracking, baby monitor for baby-tracking...

How is this vacation over? Just looking at these pictures makes me wonder what happened to the last week of my life- wat too fast!!!

More rocks!!

Woah. That's deep!!

Break time- Jackson pretty much always has his sippy cup!

We went for a looong drive- from Rangeley up Rt. 16 to Stratton, Eustis, and almost all the way to Canada. Jackson started getting really weirdly cranky, and we were wondering what the heck was going on when he threw up EVERYWHERE- all over his carseat, self, and Liger. Carsick baby... Anyway, I had to wash the carseat cover and Liger in the tub (no washer), and there will be NO naps without Liger... So, Liger went tanning on the dock!

I was lying on the dock the last full day (Saturday), watching a pair of loons and thinking how amazing they are- they were calling back and forth, when I heard something right next to me- it was another pair about 20' from me... Of course I didn't have my camera for that, but at least I got a picture of a loon at some point.

This was the most incredible weather- I thought something was hitting the roof (it was really windy- I thought a tree was falling), we went to the window and it was hail... We had massive tornado warnings and the most intense thunder storms I think I've ever experienced. That morning, Derek was fishing until about 8- that's when the weather started with a couple minor thunder boomers... It kept going for 12 hours.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Derek made a Hail Drink!" :)

Again with the boots...

The night after the storm was finally over...

Have you EVER SEEN a boy with so many kitty cats? And, you may notice, he's in a twin size bed! He slept in it all week, with a dresser and a couple chairs as a barrier. The chairs went up the first night after a rather loud thu-thump and wail... He went right back to sleep though, none the worse for wear!

I may have a new favorite flower! While we were gone for the entire lilac season (we're running really late here this year), we were out for a walk and I smelled something- I looked around and realized we were in a field of lily-of-the-valley, which is one of Mom's favorite flowers. It was pretty cool- I can't really remember ever seeing it in the wild, and definitely never so much of it.

Willis is a fishing master!

Actually his Mommy is pretty much the Master! Biggest fish brought in all week: ME!! Yes, that's right, I rule.

Pretty Brook Trout, hmmm? Again, I rule.

Last night in Rangeley...

And THIS is tonight! Happy Anniversary!

If you look back, round about this time last year, you can see some comparisons... We stayed at the same cottage, same weekend...