Good friends, a small-town parade, ice cream, and — finally — sunshine. It was a very good weekend.

I really can't imagine a better backdrop for photos than the Rocky Mountains in the summertime.  We hiked from the grounds of the YMCA along the river into the national park. We saw prairie dogs, ladybugs, a snake, and amazing wildflowers. It really was a perfect morning. Thank goodness I had my camera with me…

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not athletic in the least. I have always disliked team sports, and aside from a short (and not noteworthy) stint on my high school track team, I have been drawn to more noncompetitive pursuits, like hiking and horseback riding. However, when it comes to mini-golf, I can…

  For weeks now, Tess has asked me on an almost-daily basis if she's old enough to go horseback riding (or, as she calls it, "horse fashing"). In Colorado, she was finally able to — three times. The YMCA of the Rockies has five sweet ponies (Bugsy was her favorite) and a great little trail…

Last week, we took the girls for a ride through Rocky Mountain National Park on Trail Ridge Road (the highest continuous highway in the country). At the visitor's center, we stopped and made some snowballs. Then we hiked up the steep trail to check out the amazing views of the alpine tundra and the surrounding…

I am still buried under piles of laundry and other debris from our vacation in Colorado, so I have yet to comb through the 848 (!!) photos I took while we were away. I know that all four of my loyal readers are wondering how our trip was, though, so I will share with you…

On Saturday we visited the Portland farmer's market for the first time this season. I had forgotten just how fun — and beautiful — the market is. We shopped for annuals, ran into several friends, and played in the water fountain. Right now, there's very little water in the fountain, and there are a few…

We spent all day Saturday in Boothbay Harbor, reminiscing about the wonderful summer we spent there four (!!) years ago when we first moved to Maine. It was fun to point out places to Grace that she once loved but no longer remembers.   We rode the little train, fed the goats, and climbed on…

{Credit to Adam for the first photo.}

My talented cousin Nathan is a sound engineer and musician. He met his very cool Slovak girlfriend at our wedding, when she was working here in Maine. So I like to take some credit for the path he's taken since then. He's lived in Lisbon, Portugal and Bratislava, Slovakia, working on his music and picking…