Proudest I've ever been

I CAUGHT A FISH!!!

Can you tell I'm pretty excited about it? We cooked it whole and it was delicious, we also threw some into our paella that we grilled.

Goodbye Peaks!

Photo credit goes to my grandfather, Boppo, who took this picture from the deck of Jones' Landing where Mom and Tom had their wedding reception.
Every year we have to say goodbye to Peaks, pack up all our stuff, load up the truck, and drive down to the dock (getting the truck there nice and early so it's in line to make it on the ferry). While we wait we may take one last bike ride around the island, get one last milkshake or hot dog, or just go stand on the dock for one last time that summer. While other travel makes me happy to go back home, Peaks already feels like home except much more carefree and relaxing; having to leave such a beautiful place is always difficult, but luckily we keep going back each year.

How we pack...

Tom in the truck all loaded up to go out to Peaks. Last year we also had to pack formal wear for the weddin reception!

Peaks is a big excursion for us, and it requires a level of planning akin to landing a space shuttle on the moon. The truck is loaded up the night before with luggage, bikes, outdoor games and other essentials. The morning of we load up the cat and all her food and items (this year will be a little more difficult since we also now have a dog to bring, she at least can walk on the ferry with one of my sisters). Once the truck is loaded with household and recreational items, an advance team is sent out to the grocery store (the store on Peaks is small so we bring our groceries for the week out with us) and the struggles to find room for the food among the crab trap and lawn chairs. The whole group reconvenes at the ferry terminal where the truck is waiting in line. After an enjoyable ride out to the island, the truck drives to the top of the hill and we get out bikes so that everyone who doesn't fit in the truck (which is all but one or two people) can bike up to the house. Once everything is unloaded, the lawn chairs are set up in the back of the truck as seating and the rest of the week is spent with people riding in the back of the truck or biking anywhere they need to go.

A Peaks state of mind

So no story for you this morning. I'm just going to let you sit and enjoy this picture, that's probably the best way to experience Peaks without getting to go there. Happy Monday!

One... Two... Three... GO!

Me jumping into the ocean last year, I tried to play it casual and cool to coax my cousins to take the plunge!

Jumping off the dock has become a ritual for us and a right of passage for any new friends or family we bring along (if they're really nervous we bring them down at high tide when it's less of a drop). While I am proud to say I have done the leap many times, even some at a level approximating low tide, I am Captain Wussy Pants compared to some of the younger Peaks residents. Our first year on the island we were just lounging in the sun on the floating dock when we suddenly saw a whole mass of teenagers and pre-teens race down the hill to the ferry terminal and start to swarm around. As quickly as they had come, they began climbing and leaping off any tall surface they could get to; the wooden pilings, the shed on the dock, and some even climbed up to the top of the Peaks Island sign (see my first Peaks post) and as we screamed in shock they seemed to float down to the frigid water before popping back up with a triumphant yelp (or a "Good god this water is freeeeezing" yelp, they often sound the same). With as much frantic momentum as they arrived they would soon depart to avoid getting in trouble with the one police officer stationed on the island during the day. Whether it's your first jump and your heart is pounding in your chest, or you're a veteran who casually leaps in to cool off, or you're a thrill seeker who raises their nose at the pitiful distance of a 20 foot jump at low tide, the dock has something to thrill, excite, (and sometimes scare) everyone.

Is there anything prettier?

While the view from Peaks is gorgeous in all different directions, I love watching the tide come in by the Cairn Beach and seeing the waves crash up. Also wonderful is the beach that's through the woods behind our house. Getting there requires a trek through poison ivy (which I am either immune to like my two sisters, or have managed to avoid thus far). During one amusing trip last summer to the beach to see the starfish pools we decided it would be best to get back to the house a different way rather than to risk going past poison ivy again. In the group was my mother and Tom, my uncle and aunt and their two children, and my older sister. Everything started off well with a little light bouldering and climbing, however we soon came to a spot that looked a little precarious, especially when you consider that two of the people in our group had much shorter legs and patience than the rest of us. My uncle and I started planning out a route to cut across a narrow ledge but our hand holds turned out to be full of broken glass. We managed to get all of us through with only minor casualties (a couple of pieces of glass in my hand and some in my cousins as well). From here it was a big jump down, luckily Tom is tall and was able to help us find ways to shimmy down or give us the reassurance that if we jumped there was a good chance he would catch us/break our fall.

It seemed like we had made it past most of the adventure when my cousin lost her flip flop down a crevasse. My mom and I were all set with leaving it since it was fifteen feet down in a narrow tunnel, but somehow my uncle managed to get down to the bottom of it, and throw it out. On we went, now all with shoes on and had a relaxing stroll across the beach before we came to a dock that would bring us back to the road the house was on. We were in the process of climbing up the side of the dock and half of us were on the beach and half were on the dock when we realized there was a hornet nest that we were disturbing with all our climbing and jostling. Those still on the beach climbed up very gingerly and then standing at the opposite end of the dock we sprinted up to the top and to the woods but were not quite fast enough. So in our efforts to avoid possible poison ivy, we encountered very real broken glass and irate hornets, and yet, we all fondly look back at that as one of the best parts of the trip!

Cairns

A favorite pastime during Peak week is to go to "Cairn Beach" (the name is one we've made up but it's an accurate description). Whether we attempt to build massive cairns and then jump out of their way as they come crashing down, or lecture children we don't know about how it is disrespectful and mean to destroy cairns that people have worked hard on (I must get this trait from my mother who has no qualms about parenting other people's children) we can usually be amused here for several hours at a time. Since the beach is on the backside of the island we often bike past it on our way to or from the house when we're taking the long way and it's so touching to see families working on them together or just seeing what new crazy creation someone has attempted. I am proud to say that the cairn pictured is one of the few successful ones I have ever created; Mom is more of a stone maven than me so I usually watch her work with interest rather than making my own.

Welcome to Peaks

For the last three or four years, my family and I have been lucky enough to spend one week each summer on Peaks Island. Located off the coast of Portland, it is an approximately 25 minute ferry ride to get to the small and charming island. We've had a lot of great memories there whether it be spending all day on the dock crab fishing, biking down to the store in the morning to get coffee and the newspaper, jumping off the dock, rock climbing to avoid a path with poison ivy, and most recently the wedding reception for my Mom and Tom.

Both my Mom and Tom are avid runners and they first discovered this picturesque place when they ran a 5K there. The island is only four miles around so longer runs or races take a little creativity. We have as a family ran a very amusing clam shell relay race that takes place on the fourth of July. Going to Peaks is very different than any other vacations or traveling for us since there's no frantic scheduling or sightseeing tours. Each day is spent in a laid back manner with a nice combination of bike riding, swimming, reading, eating, and marshmallow toasting. I think it's the best family tradition we have so far!