a week off from regular life

This past week my dad and his wife came and visited us. I've never really been close to my father since we haven't lived in the same house since I was 5, but I have to say that this was our best visit yet. Tim took a few days off and we went swimming off the boat at Swan Lake as well as Craig Pond. 

Philomena kept me company several times during my 3X day trip down to the fruit trees to knock off Japanese beetles into a bucket before they ate every leaf to nothing. They took each of the big girls out for some shopping and lunch and we spent every evening sitting on the porch admiring the view, chatting, and indulging in adult beverages. One night we went to the lobster pound for an evening of good food, gorgeous views, 

and conversation that mostly consisted of, "Children put that crustacean down!"

It was a good week, but I fell off the wagon in terms of running, partly because of not wanting to disappear for several hours, but also because it has been so blasted hot. Maine is not supposed to be 90F, especially for more than 3 days. The combination of heat and high humidity means that garden has been growing madly and my diligence with the bucket means that the Japanese beetles are almost gone much to the chickens' culinary chagrin. But since I have a 5K on Saturday and a 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks, I better have my feet hit the pavement more often and lay off the booze if I want a decent performance.