Ashley and I just took our one real vacation of the summer and went to Maine. We started in New York visiting friends in the Catskills and then headed to the coast. We took an hour ferry to get to North Haven, an island off Rockland, and settled into Nebo Lodge which is a darling, magical place, unexpected. We have friends who go to another island in Maine every summer, Ilesboro, and they say that it is like Brigadoon as it seems to rise from the mist as they travel over on the ferry every year.

We felt the same way about Nebo on New Haven. The food is mostly local and delicious and the chef is famous. The rooms quaint, just as you would find in a cottage with curtains blowing in the windows, painted floors and bright quilts. We had fun riding bikes around, visiting a farm, walking on the pebble beach and playing golf!

From North Haven, we traveled to see dear friends who live in Camden on a lake. It was heavenly too. A group of old friends assembled, rainy days and books, sunny days and swimming and sailing. All in all, we had a "very,very fun time," in the words of our favorite six-year-old narrator in one of our favorite movies on Vimeo. Don't miss it if you have not seen it.

This Sunday, Louise travels to Texas where she will work with the faculty of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas A&M, and on Tuesday, Ashley and Louise both travel to Buffalo to work with the faculty of School 33 for three days! We will fill you in on all of that and more with our next blog posts which will, with mixed emotions, not be about summer fun anymore. Happy August and welcome school year 2013-2014!