i know, i know, i am neglecting the blog again...

i'm sorry. i try to average at least one blog entry every other day over the course of a month, and july has been a bust. barely one a week. it depresses even me. first it was the laptop in the shop, then the christening, now i have no excuse. i got out of the pattern. then also, i'm reading more at night than i usually do. first i got hooked on the twilight series, then i realized how if i stopped doing everything except read in the evenings, i can get an awful lot of reading done. plus we're at the library at least once a week for story hour, and i can't help but pick up a book or two... i think the reading is as much to blame as anything else.

speaking of reading, one of the most recent books i read was about the polio vaccine. very interesting story! polio was quite the scourge in its day, glad that it's not in my hemisphere any more. speaking of vaccines, maggie is due for her chicken pox shot when we get back from austria. i don't know if that one is on the state schedule, so i'm not sure if the government will pay for it or not. hm, i'll have to look into that.

well, it's not me you all tune in to read about, so on to the children!

they are loving maine. maggie wants to be outside from the moment she wakes up, even if it's raining, and nina wants to live at grandma and grandpa's house. she practically does.

we've been doing a lot, trying to take advantage of this "summer." rain and a high of 59 might not be summer to some, but that's what the calendar says... so, we've been to railway village at least once a week, usually on the damp but not raining days. we get gummyworms and then ride the trolly, go to story hour on fridays, and play at the fish playground. of course, we play on the swingset almost daily (even in a light rain, what's a little water), and once went to the botanical gardens. kids loved it! oh, and we finally took nina to play mini golf. like most things, she had a great time but got bored about half way through.

also, nina's friend from preschool cate came for a visit one day last week, and the girls had a blast together. her family has a place in brooklyn (maine, it's near blue hill apparently, i didn't know there was a brooklyn maine...), so we're planning to meet up again over labor day weekend for the blue hill fair.

and of course, we head out for our big vacation in 2 days! nina is very excited. she loves to stay in hotels, so she's really looking forward to the boat. and of course, she can't wait to see her oma and opa. i can't imagine maggie really comprehends that we're going to take a boat across the ocean and visit oma and opa, but i think she's going to enjoy herself too. she pretty much likes everything except the car, and even that has improved over the last 2 weeks.

so yeah, that's all. i really do intend to start writing a lot again. definitely going to update during the cruise to let you all know what we're eating. i mean, doing! hahaha.

also, the camera is broken (dropped one too many times i guess, the battery cover won't stay on anymore. we could tape it i guess, but you know how that goes... it works for like a week, but the batteries last like, 1/4 as long, so it's really not worth it). we're getting a new one, so just wait and see the amazing pictures we're going to take. for a week, before it gets broken again.