Happy Birthday Mrs. Kingfield

Chris's mom celebrated her birthday by being crowned Miss Kingfield on July 21. Chris' s brother Pat, his wife Meaghan, and his son Kasper made the trip up from Virginia to surprise her. We got all 20 of us together for a family photo. We're even at 10 adults and 10 kids now, but in December when Adam and Michelle have another one, the kids will outnumber us.

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Kingfield.

State Park visits

Chris was on vacation last week, and the kids went to their day camp, so we took the opportunity to do a little hiking (the kids aren't real big on hiking with us). I bought a state park pass this year and am trying to get my money's worth by visiting as many as I can this summer. This is a view from the top of Mt. Battie in Camden Hills State Park.







We picked the wild blueberries up there. Even Baxter found them tasty.




The next day we went to Wolfe Neck State Park in Freeport. Chris says you couldn't call this a "hike" because they even have a wheelchair trail, but I call any walk in the woods a hike.

Daredevil Cam

A couple of Fridays ago my friend Julie and I took Cam, Delaney, and Marissa to this little amusement place in Windham. I didn't get great pictures of Cam on this bungee-slingshot thing because it FREAKED ME OUT, but as you can see, he loved it. I can't believe I actually paid money to put his life in danger.

This stuff is more my speed

Red Sox Report

Coco = no show.

"Stuck in traffic". That's what these kids (and adults) who got up at 4:30 a.m., rode 2-1/2 hours on a train, and sat around in 90-degree heat got. Really, they didn't care about the nutritionist who showed them how much sugar is in Mountain Dew, they wanted Coco. Boo Coco.
This is what they got instead--the two trainer dudes and pitcher Jason Johnson.





It was still worthwhile, though, because we got two free tickets to Saturday's game, and I got a ticket to the gun show:

I'm not sure, but I think that tattoo on Gabe's arm says "Becky".

On Sunday all four of us went to the game, and Cam got down on the field thanks to our friend Colleen (she is so connected). That's Cam right behind the little cowboy guy, and Colleen and her son Jed are to the left.


We had great seats (in the shade) in left field, and Delaney and her friend Jessie were leading cheers so loud they got Manny to look up at them twice.

This Week

Delaney played in her all star game. I'm really proud of her. She hated softball for the first part of the season, but she stuck it out and now she loves it. I'm glad she got the honor of being selected to the all star team. She played at first base for the first time and did a great job. Grammie, Grampa, Uncle Adam, Aunt Michelle, and Shylah all came out on a hot afternoon to watch her play.



Cam got his braces on and went to his first concert (Hawthorne Heights and Story of the Year). He got a signed drumstick. As far as I know, he didn't go deaf.




This weekend is Red Sox weekend! On Saturday I go with some friends (Hannah and Karen) to meet Coco Crisp. Not sure yet if I'll be able to go on the field and meet him too or if I'll just get to take pictures of Hannah from the stands. Hannah raised a bunch of money for the American Diabetes Association and this is her prize. She and her mom were nice enough to let me accompany them. Karen says she wants me to go to help her navigate Boston, but I think it's just cuz I begged. We're taking the train down, and Chris and the kids will drive down and meet me on Saturday. We'll stay over and then go to the game on Sunday. It's Maine Day and there are always a lot of friends from Minot there. Go Sox!

4th (really 3rd) of July

We went to Rangeley to see the fireworks this year. On the way we went to Smalls Falls. We didn't do any jumping. I was too chicken even as a teenager. Wish I had a picture of Baxter at the fireworks. I didn't know eyes could get that big.