Some of the beautiful foliage that we have near my parents' house. The forests, etc., are one of the reasons that I love Maine. It's nice to be able to walk down the street and go on a hike. Columbia's like that, too, with lots of parks and trails, but Maine has pine and birch trees.
This is a picture of my brother, (step)dad, and cousin Mark's feet. Mark and my Aunt Collette were in town and we decided to go out to this "delicious" Italian restaurant, Paciarino, in downtown Portland. Mom made reservations for 7:30, which we were a few minutes early for. Did we sit at 7:30? No, we got to wait until 8:15 before we actually got a seat. Around 8, this one party, who we thought was who were waiting on, left, and this other table decided that they liked that table better, so they moved and another party took their old table. Where I was mildly annoyed before, now I got downright mad about how another party that came in after us got to sit down before we did. I had to go into the bathroom and pray because I was so ticked and I didn't want to be rude or ungiving to my family. I think my bad mood may have also been linked to the fact that I was very hungry, because when they brought the dipping bread, I started to feel better. In their defense, my mom thought they were down a server and every other time they'd been there the service was excellent. So maybe we came on an off night. Because my parents are my parents, they ended up overtipping (because gratuity was included and they tipped on top of that) and from what I calculated in my head, they didn't even bother to comp us a couple of meals for our inconvenience. I find *that* annoying.
I may have mentioned this before, but my brother is annoying in the he doesn't like getting his picture taken. Here, he decides to shoot me with a water bottle when I'm taking a picture of him and my cousin Mark. Aren't brothers great?
My dad peers up at the handwoven tapestry they have hanging in their great room. The tapestry is from Saudi (I believe) and is one of many hand-made rugs they have here and back in the compound in Jeddah. Both of them think she's absolutely beautiful. I am ambivalent.
On our way up to Freeport, we stopped at a nursery to pick up a few plants. My mother is an avid landscaper (with binders and binders of information and her own unique organizational system). This was one of the last pictures that I took with my camera before the battery died. I thought I had my other battery with me, but nope. No battery and no charger, so for the rest of the trip, my only camera was the one located on my iPhone. Arg!
My brother was in the process of renting a place in Orono (he attends the University of Maine) and so we traveled up there to check out an apartment. It's the second story of a nice old house that reminds me of my grandparents' place. If I was moving to Orono, I would move there. I like the feel of the place.
After checking out the apartment (which my brother did end up renting), we went for a hike in Dorothea Dix Park. We hiked out to the Penobscot River. Another beautiful hike. Great weather for it, too. And while hiking, we found this random bowling ball in the woods.
On Sunday, the Casco Bay Church of Christ (Portland's new church whose inaugural service is September 8th) had an outdoor service in Fort Williams Park. After church, my mom, my brother, and I explored the park, more specifically the area around the Portland Head Light, one of the most photographed lighthouses in all of Maine. This picture was taken on the shore of Casco Bay, with my brother poses in this off manner. The lighthouse is down to the right of this picture.
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