Riley and Avery

So, some things are bothering me about the Harry Potter books as I am re-reading them.  I just watched all the movies with Riley and am just starting The Goblet of Fire.  So, here it is...

Yeah, so I'm changing the date on this post.  Yes, probably cheating, but whatever!

Shhh, don't tell Riley that we went without her!  Monday was the best day to go, and Riley had school.

The beach was absolutely deserted, so we had it all to ourselves (nearly).  It was quite chilly, but that didn't stop us from shell-hunting.  Ben also found some interesting bones.  We definitely need to come back in the spring or summer.  Ben and Elizabeth said that they wanted to come back there too.

I almost forgot about the lighthouses!  We couldn't possibly let Ben and Elizabeth leave Maine without seeing the famous Maine lighthouses!  Of course we went to Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in the country, supposedly.  We also took in two more that are in the immediate area, two much smaller ones.

We went to downtown Portland to take a carriage ride through the arts district to see the lights.  We got there before dark, so decided to spend some time in the public market while we waited for sunset.  We'd never been to the public market before, there's lots of cool shops and a cool vibe.  We'll have to go back and hang out again.

The girls were almost as excited as Elizabeth to see the horses.  Kudos to Elizabeth for somehow finding out that there were free carriage rides!

I made the pies in the morning, two pumpkin and an apple pie.  We didn't freak out about Thanksgiving, running around like crazy people yelling and stuff because we're all stressed out.  I never understood that.  I'm very much in favor of a relaxed Thanksgiving!  Thankfully, Ben did the turkey, and did it very well.  I don't touch raw meat.  We had green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes (and gravy, of course), and I forget what else.  I botched the whipped cream, though.  I "didn't have" confectioner's sugar, so I tried to blend up regular sugar and it just didn't work.  Of course, I found nearly two full bags of confectioner's sugar in the pantry a day or two ago.  Dur.  We also ate at a normal time.  I never understood the insanely early meal time on Thanksgiving.  I called my grandparents to wish them a happy Thanksgiving, and they said that they ate between 11 and 12.  That's just wacky.

We, of course, had to drag Ben and Elizabeth to Crescent Beach State Park!  When we got to the park, we found the gates closed, announcing that the park was closed for the season.  What?  So, we parked the car outside the gates and walked in.  The walk wasn't too bad, and we had the beach all to ourselves.  For some reason, Riley chose to wear sandals.  Whatever.  I learned long ago that she best learns from her own mistakes, so kept my mouth shut!  Ben spent a lot of time gathering shells for James.