Halloween at Boootanicals!!!!

How do you combine a holiday which is meant to be scar, with little ones 2-1/2 or younger... with their short attention spans, early bedtimes and need for constant supervision???? Why... you take them to a late afternoon event at the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay! Grandad dresses as a beekeeper and Nana as a flower, so no one will be scared. Jess and Pete were Girl and Boy Scouts, (in the proper gender) and Lexi and Della were the cutest little Girl Scout Cookies you could imagine! Drew and Vanessa were characters from Curious George with Lawson playing the lead ... a very good part for the little monkey I must say! Kat and Pat were a Prince and Princess with Peighton as the dragon... surely the Prince will not slay this dragon! I still did the pumpkins... and made cupcakes for the "after-party"! It was a good transition from scary adult parties at the Lodge

to something much more "kid-friendly". We are already thinking of ideas for next year when the party returns to the Lodge.

Remembering to Look Around

Since we began building the Lodge, one of the things we have paid close attention to, was to make sure that we take the time to appreciate how far we've come. I think that is probably why we started the tradition of our "Cocktail Garden Tour" at the end of almost every working day from early spring until the snow falls. It gives us a chance to just admire how the gardens are coming along and to look up at the Lodge itself and admire how handsome it is with its seasonal plumage, be it daffodils and forsythia in the spring; beebalm and catmint in the summer; or mums and swiss chard in the fall. For the past five years, we have been so intent on getting projects done on the Lodge that we have not taken much time to visit our favorite haunts, such as Pemaquid Point. The photo was taken just at sunset and is just one of those moments you are lucky enough to capture in a picture that each time you look at it, you will know what a beautiful world exists beyond Oak Hill.