Helping Out

Greg has been working with Howard on a lot of projects around the house. This morning they were cleaning up a bunch of tarps and Eliana wanted in on the action. She helped hose them off and do a bit of sweeping.
Sweeping with Pops
All work and no play is no fun so Greg took her in the woods for some stick gathering.

A Visit to Cousin Lily

Our niece, Lily, is spending the summer at Camp Wawenock. It is her fourth summer there and I've never been able to go out and see the camp. Yesterday was the first day that families could go and visit. The location is beautiful and it was great to see Lily. When we got there, she was rehearsing for her part in the play they are putting on this summer, Thoroughly Modern Millie. Wish I could be there for the actual show, but they don't put it on until August 12th.

What an amazing experience camp must be. They have so many activities like swimming, sailing, windsurfing, horseback riding, pottery, and theater. Definitely something that I hope we are able to do for Eliana. Such a fantastic way to spend a summer.

Lily's cabin
Lily and Eliana
The littlest camper

West Point

On Monday morning we headed to West Point for a tour with the family. Several years ago, Greg and I tried to get in, but all we got was escorted off after the security asked us for a military ID that we didn't have. oops.

This time, we were escorted by Colonel Stiles - class of 1959. West Point is so impressive. The Plebes (new cadets) were there already learning the ropes. Plebes reported to West Point on June 28th this summer for Beast Barracks. They looked so hot and miserable. According to a "Cow", a junior, we spoke with, this year's incoming class has about 1400 students, one of the largest classes in history.

The other cadets, sophomores to seniors, are scattered around the world for the summer taking advantage of other training opportunities. They all report back to West Point for the academic year the beginning of August.

I feel extremely fortunate to have visited such an important historical place steeped in tradition and mystery. We were doubly lucky to visit with Howard and Eileen who fell in love there and were eventually married in the Catholic Chapel at West Point in June 1959, four days after Howard graduated.

We were also able to meet up with a childhood friend of mine, Bobby (now Bob) Underwood. He graduated from West Point in 1999 and is now teaching Philosophy there. It was really great to see him after nearly 15 years!

Cadet Chapel


These are the stairs that Howard used to sneak down during chapel and go back to bed.
Strength Development Center donated by Howard's class of 1959
Boxes used for box jumps - a lot nicer than the ones we used at Crossfit HEL.

Bob Underwood and meFloor at the Association of Alumni building
Checking out the view of the marching Plebes from atop the new library
Father and son
George Washington's statue and Plebes resting in the shade. Washington Hall is in the background where Howard says the whole Core of Cadets, about 4800 students, are fed in less than 30 minutes.
View of the Hudson
Greg and Eileen
A very tired baby

Ready, Set, Go!

Uh oh. Where are your pants, Eli?
All that fun really tires a girl out.

Dad-O is here!

We picked Greg up from the airport yesterday and headed to the Yarmouth Clam Festival where we looked at crafty things and then stuffed ourselves with brown food. Eli liked the fried shrimp.
Cheerleader pose in front of North Yarmouth Academy's scoreboard (Greg's middle and high school)
Eli is so happy that Dad-o is finally here. Mom is pretty stoked, too.

Portland Children's Museum

Today's destination was the Portland Children's Museum. Lots of stuff to check-out and play with. We managed to not get smashed by a giant stage light that came crashing down from the ceiling to the floor about 8 feet from where Eli was playing, so that was a lucky moment. Scared the bejeebers out of me, though. Happily, no one was hurt.
Her favorite part of the museum was the veterinary exhibit. There were about 30 stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes waiting for hugs and Eli was happy to oblige. She didn't have enough hands to hold them all.
Milking the cow
We came home and enjoyed burgers that Pops had made. I'm listening to the loons out on the lake now. They have such an eerie sound.

Greg comes tomorrow morning at 9:36. Can't wait to see him! We are heading straight for the Yarmouth Clam Festival from the airport and plan on eating A LOT of brown food while we are there.

Uh, Eli, you have a little something on your face...

Yes. She ate blueberry pie again today. This time she REALLY liked it. Once she finished demolishing the pie, I took her down and washed her in the lake. While we were there she saw a giant frog that totally freaked her out and to which she pointed and said, "WOW! WOW! WOW!".
Tonight during happy hour she found my goggles on the deck and I helped her put them on. Cracked me up.

A Busy Day (really)

Nana decided to have the driveway redone. Today.
Kyle came over to hang out and Eli was really excited about the robot. He even let her hold Doggy - a great privilege only bestowed upon the most fortunate.
We went to a park that looked out on this view
Nana tried to launch Eli to the moon in a swingWe slid down slides
Pops told stories
I did a 5K race and ran 50 seconds slower than I did last week. Living the good life in Maine (e.g., ice cream, pie and rum) might be taking its toll.
We rounded out the day with dinner at Silly's. As Pops says, "Another great day in the great state of Maine."

Hogan Strikes Again

I am an airhead, but I'm blaming Hogan. You see, since I officially joined Team Stiles almost 6 years ago, I've heard of this devious mythological character called Hogan. He does lots of bad things: leaves the engine running on the party boat over night, crashes sailboats into walls, burns down garages, falls asleep while driving and many other disasters. He's been around the Stiles' family for nearly 50 years. Here's what happened...

Eliana and I headed to Freeport to redeem a gift card to LL Bean (Thanks, Wisconsin Stiles!). We cruised all over Freeport and took a ton of photos: Eliana with the LL Bean boot, Eliana cruising around the plaza, Eliana petting a giant Bernese Mountain Dog, Eliana smelling flowers, Eliana sitting in a giant Adirondack chair and on and on. Only one problem - no memory card in the camera. oops.

Shame on you, Hogan.

Blueberry Pie and Acorns

Eliana had blueberry pie for breakfast. Definitely a fan.

We spent a large part of the afternoon collecting acorns.

I did my long run this morning - 6 miles. It sucked. It's amazing how much the humidity takes the piss out of me. It took an hour, but it felt a lot longer. The sprint length triathlon is looking more and more appealing!

Rain, Rain Go Away

We had some serious rain here today. Over the last few days, the lake has been extremely choppy. In fact, last night during my swim I was tossed around quite a bit by waves. This morning, however, the water was super smooth. I was so excited at around 10:00 to go out and swim. Mother Nature had other ideas. It thundered and then dumped rain for the next 5 hours.

After the worst of it, I was able to get out and swim. It was a little rainy, but that didn't matter - I was already wet.

Raindrops bouncing off the porch
The waterfall off the roof
Tonight, the sky lit up with beautiful hues of orange and pink. My attempt to capture some of the colors falls short.My favorite dock