Some pictures of Fall

A Late Summer Update

It's been a few weeks since our last post and I thought, for you faithful followers, that I would update you on what's been going on in our Burns household. Since Karis's birthday we've been keeping ourselves busy with our new chickens. We've finally built a pen and added a few more hens to the mix, so in a few weeks we should have a little egg production going on.
That's one of our newbies, Pidge. She, along with her mother, are Porcelain Booted bantam hens. You probably could guess why she's named Pidge. Anyway... we're excited to have a few more, and realize that raising chickens can get addicting. We're already thinking about getting more.

Some exciting news... I got a new job working as a math teacher at Camden Hills this year. I'm no longer in the Special Ed. Department, but a full-fledged teacher. It all happened quite fast actually. School started last week and so far things are going great.

We've discovered a new nature center not far from where we live. For the past few weeks we've been taking some short hikes to get some fresh air and exercise. Karis likes to walk Squeakers on the leash because he walks at her pace. She really would like to walk Duncan, but Duncan would pull the leash from her hands and run away.


We managed to survive Hurricane Earl. He wasn't that bad. Just a bunch of rain. We didn't even lose any branches from our trees. I guess we should be grateful, but as a weather geek, I was at least hoping for some excitement.

This afternoon Shannon and I made sumac lemonade from our Sumac tree tops. Don't ask how we found a recipe for that, but we did. If you have Sumac trees around (not the poison Sumac) you should give this recipe a try. It was actually quite easy to make and gave us a new appreciation for the crazy trees in our yard.

Fall is almost here. You can smell it in the air today. Some of the trees are already changing colors. This summer has been really really nice. You can't complain at all. It was very dry though and our ponds and lakes are a little low.

That's about all for now. My car is in the shop...AGAIN!! This time with a sensor issue. It should be done mid-week.

Happy Birthday Karis!

Karis is two years old! Can you believe it? We can't. Everyday she is getting bigger and learning new words and skills. Instead of having a birthday party today we decided to have a day of adventure. As mentioned in the previous blog, Karis has developed an interest in all modes of transportation. Everyday she asks to ride on an orange airplane, a boat, a train or "Thomas" depending on her mood. Our day care told us that Thomas the Train was coming to the train museum in Boothbay. I checked it out and he was going to be there on Karis's birthday!

The other fun and exciting thing for her birthday was that Grammy and Pop Pop were visiting for the week. So we decided that we would include an adventure for them too. Since we were already going to Boothbay for Thomas we would go Whale Watching too. We found a great deal on Whale Watching on Tropicana's juicy rewards site, and bought our tickets.

Needless to say Karis was fascinated by the train museum and Thomas. We could have stayed there all day looking at the antique cars, fire trucks, and trains. She loved the train ride on Thomas, and she wasn't the only little girl there! She got a temporary Thomas tattoo, and a Tshirt saying she spent the day with Thomas.


We had to tear ourselves away from Thomas because we had a boat to catch. It was a beautiful day, and perfect weather for a boat ride. Luckily, it wasn't very crowded, and we had a lot of space to roam on the boat.


We saw two minke whales, lots of harbor seals and porpoises, and a variety of sea birds. Karis was very interested at first, she even found her own little spot to watch.
But, like all two years old, her attention waned, and she started getting naughty. It was nap time. It took us a while, but she eventually fell asleep. She slept for most of the ride.

Towards the end of our ride, we came upon several small islands covered in seals. Pop Pop woke Karis up so she could see all the seals.

Needless to say, after a long day of adventure we were all very tired! We had dinner at Moody's diner, and headed home for cake and presents. Thank you everyone for all the cards and gifts. Karis is starting to understand presents, cards, and cake mean birthday!

Karis's first canoe ride

What a gorgeous day today! We decided to finally take Karis for a ride in the canoe this morning. Karis has developed a fascination with all modes of transportation, and she has been asking to ride on a boat. The was the perfect opportunity. She had a fabulous time, and we enjoyed getting out on the water again.




For the most part Karis spent the canoe ride sitting in the middle looking around. Unfortunately, Karis eventually realized there was water underneath us, and of course decided to lean out over the edge of the canoe when we were trying to make our way across the pond. She never fell in, but came close. Eventually, BJ convinced her to sit next to him, and they sat together for the rest of the ride.



We couldn't have asked for nicer weather today. The views were amazing.



We paddled around a small island. We decided that we will have to get an anchor for the canoe so that we can go back to the island to swim and have a picnic.



We made it back to the beach in one piece, and let Karis have some time to play in the water.

Some updates

So it's been a few weeks since we've put up a new blog, and I know some of you follow what we're doing and like to look at our pictures, so here's an update.

I've been working a lot and keeping myself busy this summer. Finally got the chicken coop up and running smoothly and the chickens seem to like their new digs. Still haven't painted it yet, though. We bought the paint last weekend, but it's been raining and we need to wait for the wood to dry a little. The next couple days are supposed to be nice, so we'll probably get it painted this weekend. It's fun to watch the chickens get bigger each day, and we're thinking that our white hen (a.k.a. Parmesan) might start laying in a few weeks. Wouldn't that be nice!!
Shanon and Karis took a week to head out to Illinois to visit some family for the 4th of July. Karis hadn't been out there since she was 3 months old, and a lot of family was wanting to see her. I didn't get to go. I had to work, plus, Brandle and Amy came up for a visit that weekend. It was a nice visit. (I think they'd agree) We went for a hike, picked wild blueberries, saw a lighthouse, watched fireworks, had a campfire, and hung out. A good long weekend vacation. I suppose what we did was nothing compared to what Shan and Karis got to do while they were in IL.
Karis went rock climbing, took the train into Chicago, and went to the zoo, just to name a few. She got to experience a lot of new things. From what I understand, she was quite spoiled while she was out there too.

It took a few days to get her back into a routine when she got home, but nothing we couldn't handle. We'll all be heading back out there for Christmas this year.

So, we're all back to work, back to daycare, and back to the normal day-to-day.
That takes you up to date on the last 4 weeks or so. In another 4 weeks, Karis will be having her 2nd birthday. Holy Smokes!!!

If anything exciting happens before then, you'll be sure to know.