Farewell, Maine. Hello, Cville.

I took a few shots of the downstairs after we cleaned up.

It was a good stay, but the stay was over.

Carrie, Shane, and I were ready to go by 8 AM. Grandpa and Grandma didn't wake up until 8 AM. We were on slightly different schedules.

We all left at the same time. And we all headed the same way.

Right to a railroad.

When Grandpa helps plan a trip, the trip includes trains.

Grandpa is a transportation history buff.

He, also, worried about Shane walking on the points near the switch.  I can see where Carrie gets it from!

Nana would have said, "If you make us go to the hospital, I'll kill you," or something of that nature. Possibly, "Don't come crying to me if you do something stupid!"

So I guess Shane will be able to see where I got it from when he's older!

Seriously, though. Shane's very agile and typically afraid of pain. He's super impulsive (which bears watching), but if he thinks he'll get hurt doing something he normally keeps himself in check.

Such as here. When Shane wanted to walk on here, I noticed there were gaps in the middle. I told him to watch the middle and to fall outside or to make to straddle the rails if he had to go inside. Then I stood back and crossed my fingers.

No injuries to report. I think Shane impressed Grandpa with his balance.

The museum was a volunteer run club. That meant there were less guide ropes. We ducked into a warehouse. No one else was there and Shane was up into a car almost before I got in the door with my camera.

Look! A boxcar from the Boxcar Children!

Hands on is in Shane's lane.

We left the warehouse at a run as the rain started to come in. It's rained and flooded VA, but we've managed to avoid almost all of it by being on the road. This was the first time it rained on us in Maine.

We followed Grandma and Grandpa out to a Dunkin Donuts where we said our goodbyes. The original plan had been to drive to Massachusetts and stay the night. The plan changed.

Grandma and Grandpa wanted to meander home over four days. We wanted to make it home in two. They generously used some of their points and got us a reservation in CT.

We hit some traffic and rain on the way out, but we've been fortunate. The traffic on the other side of the road has been horrific by comparison.

Also, we saw a giant lobster.

"Look, Shane! A real, giant lobster!" Carrie said.

"Nuh uh! Look at it's face! There's no pee holes!" Shane replied.

"That's going in the blog!" Carrie said in between laughing!

We took a bathroom break at a Chic Fil A in MA. It was much the same as any other, but there were no kids in the play area! Shane was bummed. He called me in to show me how slick the slide was.

We made it to Danbury, CT in time for dinner. Nerves were frazzled after a long road trip and waiting for a table at a Chilly's. We ended up in a Mexican restaurant called Pancho's Tacos.

Proportions were generous! Carrie's sandwich was too spicy for her, so we swapped plates.

We stopped by a game store and an ice cream store on the way home (you can guess which parent requested each, I'm sure).

I did not expect to see a model set for the Nativity alongside all the other Reaper Minatures Bones line of products.

There was a 25% off storewide sale, so I picked up an Exit game to try. It was the only one they had.

We headed out early the next morning. I didn't like missing church, but it wouldn't have been wise to wait for traffic in NYC to pick up.

That's right, NYC. Google maps took us through the outer reaches this time.

We went over the George Washington Bridge to cross the Hudson this time.

And again, traffic was mostly okay going our way. There were a line of squad cars and traffic was shut off going the other!

The tolls on the NY bridges have been "pay by mail," so that will show up at some point. Really, we need to get an EasyPass if we do this again.

We stopped in NJ to visit Bill and Jill!

They're expecting their son to be born any day now! He was due last Saturday. I'd wanted to stop and visit then, but Carrie and I worked out it we could stay longer on the return trip (if Bill and Jill didn't have to rush to the hospital).

Shane was overcharged. I took the birthing ball away from him when I deflected it from the TV. Then he crawled around on the table a little while before trying to take on Bill.

Bill was the oldest in his family, so he knows how to mess with wee ones.

It's a good skill set with one of his own coming. Jill said that Bill was throwing little kids all over the local pool the other day. The kids kept running up to him, so he'd send them flying!

An hour passed and it felt like less than 30 minutes to me. It had been too long in between visits. The last time we were in NJ was for Bill and Jill's wedding. We'd never seen their new house (or any of the previous places they lived).

Bill let Shane play on Octopath Traveler his Switch some.

We all went to Wegmans for lunch before hopping back on the road. Carrie still has a key to the corvette Bill bought from Dan. She wanted to know who Bill sold it to for no particular reason....

She was bummed to find out the vette was off in Oklahoma somewhere now. It will always be the one that got away from her....

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. There was traffic and tolls. Shane played Pokemon and sometimes we all listened to The Fellowship of the Rings. I was thrilled about the latter!

We got home around 6:30 PM. Carrie found TWENTY-EIGHT EGGS in the coop! The ladies had laid maybe four eggs the whole week prior! Maybe they were popping them out as emergency rations in case we didn't come back?

The animals I had been most worried about were the cats. We didn't find any accidents and they were both healthy when we found them. They clearly missed us. Bucket didn't want to leave Carrie alone!

Our last big trip for the summer was done! We stretched our horizons. Shane has been through 16 states now by my count. We were only in NH for a stretch of interstate, but we had windows. By that standard, my own count is around 31. Carrie came up with 32, but with noticeable differences from mine.

A Rant about the Chatty

Shane does not shut up.

He talks to himself, he talks to people and at people whether they are listening or not. Then he hums and beat-boxes when he's not talking.

Shane's rotated through a few catch-phrases. The ones that bother me know are, "There's something I've got to say...," "There's something I've got to ask you...," and "There's something I've got to tell you."

Just say it.

And that's what I tell Shane, "Just say it. Cut out the preface."

Cut out the unnecessary words, kid! Your happiness is not in padding your word count!

I'm used to naturally balancing out kids with my teaching. When the kids are shy, I'm talkative to draw them out. When they're low-energy, I'm high. When they're agitated, I'm calm.

With Shane, I'm silent.

At least half the time! He's kind of driving me bonkers.

Shane's acquired some of the traits of a parrot. You tell him something, and then he says, "I have an idea.." and repeats what was said.

Which also drives me bonkers.

Then, Shane likes to lecture. Does he get that from me? It's like he's opposed to asking questions. He talks about things like he's an expert and it drives Carrie bonkers. He'll ask you something. You'll reply, and then the little professor will start espousing his research!

Bonkers to the third!

And, as I've mentioned, Shane doesn't know when to quit with chatting.

We were having a real family conversation in the car on the way up. Suddenly, Shane veered way off topic. "We weren't talking about Pokemon a second ago," I said.

"I was thinking about what I wanted to say and then I said it!"

Have you heard of listening, kid? I keep telling you to listen..., but I guess you didn't listen to the admonition.

We had to shut him down a few times as he wanted to endlessly repeat Pokemon stats.

Shane got in trouble on the way home for not stopping talking when we crossed a motorcycle accident.

EMTs and police were all over the scene. Carrie was holding her breath and Shane started to try and describe exactly what had happened as if he'd seen it. "Well, the car must have hit the motorcycle like this and.....then..."

He wasn't getting subtle or even overt clues. I eventually had to raise my voice to get him to stop talking about it. "Do you realize someone was badly hurt or may have even died?" We said a family prayer after that.

On the bright side, Shane doesn't seem to have trouble making friends or expanding his vocabulary. If he learns to ask questions and listen, he's going to be quite the conversationalist.

Maine Stay - Day 5

Friday was a beautiful day. Outside and because Grandma and Grandpa took Shane for the  morning!

I took Carrie for a walk. There's a path to the breakwater lighthouse. It's about 0.7 of a mile and goes well out into the water.

Carrie doesn't like crowded, sandy beaches, but she loves the sound of the water. Rocky, less crowded Maine beaches are more her style.

I'd assumed the path to the lighthouse was a lot more uniform than it really was. It was uneven with a lot of gaps. A good ankle workout.

There were a couple of joggers, but you'd have to keep your eyes downward and your steps sure rather than enjoy the views. 

There were a lot of deep gaps. This was just one I could see the bottom clearly enough I didn't think a crab would get me!

Carrie used her phone to take a panorama shot.

I posed thoughtfully.

I took a shot of Carrie sitting on the rocks near the lighthouse. It was a small attempt to recreate another picture of her in Maine. It was also a chance to let her rest.

She made me sit for a picture of her own after.

The USS Hue City is in the background. The cruiser is 567 ft long and has a crew complement near 373 if Wikipedia is to be believed. I wonder what it would be like to live on a boat like that, but I'm not about to sign up for it.

I made a lap around the lighthouse and took a shot of the bay before we headed back.

Lunch was at a place with a familiar name! The owners weren't from Scotland, but they wore the right kilt in the photo. Carrie recognized it as the hunting pattern. McRuari is a sept of MacLaren.

Shane came home filled to the brim with lobster knowledge. "Did you know they pee on each other's faces to talk!?" he exclaimed.

After a quiet afternoon and dinner, we all went out for a final, pick-up croquet game. I played this time (and won, too!). Shane had a mini-meltdown and ended up inside. Even with giving him two strokes to ours, if he had a bad hit he wanted to redo it. The meltdown ensued when he ran out of mulligans and was called on it.

The plan for the evening was to pack and relax. Not that packing was without excitement.

When Carrie and I went up to pack, there was a bat in our room.

I am that guy. I immediately pulled out the camera. I wanted to get some action shots! My phone only had 8% battery, so I had to prop it up attached to my tiny charging cable.

Carrie and I weren't on the same page initially. I wanted to get it moving, get down, and let it fly out the window. She wanted to let it rest somewhere so she could scoop it up or move it's perch out the window. There were lots of squeals and giggles from us.

I thought it was prudent to get low with a bat flying around, but it sure looks funny in the video! I definitely made some unmanly noises.

The goal was to get the bat outside without hurting it. Bats eat mosquitoes, though. It needed to go out and go to work. 

If you don't watch any of the other videos, watch the first few seconds of this one. We have contact.

You don't see much, but if you want to hear Carrie and I figuring out what to do before the final victory, here it is:

I thought it was fun. I know that sounds odd, but I enjoy that sort of thing. Reacting to a novel solution, problem solving, and finding a solution are fun! No one was hurt. Not even the bat. Shane was pumped and hyper, too (so you know who he gets it from)! We were charged up, while Carrie was worn out.

Carrie and I stripped the bedding and searched the room for bat poop. We got all of our stuff out of the room, cleaned up, and put some stuff in the laundry just in case. Grandma called the owner to give them the bad news, "You've got bats."

We ended our final night in Maine with a great story!

Maine Stay - Day 4

Shane signed the guest book for the gnome garden first thing in the morning. He wasn't happy about it either. Forced or not, it was the right thing to do.

The guest book didn't count as his daily writing, but Grandma made blueberry pancakes for Shane's daily breakfast.

Bon apetit.

The day was supposed to be a scorcher...over 85 degrees and humid. In Maine! Maine! I heard that there were plenty of houses in the area without air conditioning, because they don't need it. I didn't verify, but Maine!

Shane, Carrie, and I left early to go to the Lobster Festival. There was a free shuttle from the elementary school. Carrie was reluctant from the start. Festivals aren't her thing. Grandma and Grandpa really wanted us to go, though, so we left early to beat the heat as best as we could.

The shuttle was a school bus. Shane wanted to sit in the very back. Carrie acquiesced. 

She regretted her decision immediately. We went down some bumpy roads. Shane chortled with every bounce. Carrie's stomach did likewise.

The festival wasn't a long drive. It was $8/adult and $2/kid (age 6-11) at the door.

The festival was more about food and crafts than playing, but Shane and I make our own fun!

Carrie found a science tent. There was a table devoted to the many uses of seaweed that had a treasure chest lotto. You got to pick random keys and see if any worked. None of ours did.

Then the big hit was the touch and feel area. Shane had already held lobsters, but scallops?

Scallops open, close, and squirt water!

Shane was in heaven. He wanted to share the wonder with everyone around him!

We stayed by the tanks for half an hour. Shane went through a couple of friends. He noticed that there was a different colored organ in some of the scallops. One of the teen volunteers and I were curious, so we looked it up. It was the gonads. The color tells you the gender. The teen seemed pretty interested. They like their seafood around here.

It was $20 for 20 tickets and 5 tickets per ride. Carrie balked. I didn't want to pay that either. $5 for a 3 minute ride? I might have to ride with him?

You know what's cheaper? The movies! Grandpa and Grandma arrived as we were leaving. That was okay, though. They got to go eat lobster. We dropped by the Zack Shack on the way to the cinema.

We wanted to see Teen Titans Go to the Movies!  It was great! Exactly what it advertised to be. Shane's seem some of Teen Titans Go! so he knew all the characters.

There was one odd line at the end, but we'd looked it up online and I wasn't worried. Carrie gave Shane a hug and he missed it (which made us laugh extra hard!).

Random: I noticed my sunscreen from kayaking was still on the car.

I overdid it. The car shows more marks than I do, so I don't totally regret it.

Gassing up: The taxes were posted. I went ahead and took a picture for posterity.

Carrie has been on a blueberry pie hunt since we arrived. "You'd think we could find one in Blueberry Pie central!" she said.

We finally did. Sixteen dollars at the Rockland Cafe!

We went to Hannaford and picked up some vanilla ice cream to complement. Grandma had picked up blueberry ice cream from Dorgan's, but blueberry on blueberry? Reckless.

Grandpa agreed. He asked for the vanilla!

We picked up a cheat whiffle ball bat with some width to it for Shane.

Which nearly resulted in another lost ball.

We saw where this one went and sent Shane in to get it.

I was the pitcher today. Carrie clipped one and dented our brand new (and cheapo) ball!

We had a quiet night in after that.

I thought that I'd be sharing all sorts of video game experiences with Shane around now. Instead, video games are what he does for me to take a break. The kid runs me ragged. I've played some stuff with him, but I thought there'd have been more shared ones. I've looked at his Pokemon game on the DS for maybe 5 minutes total.

That will probably change as he gets older. To be honest, sometimes it's hard to watch him play without wanting to give advice or take over (that's another reason I don't always watch).