Coast Guard Icebreakers

This morning we read in the newspaper that three Coast Guard icebreakers were working on the Kennebec River! They were clearing ice south of Gardiner to try to move a big ice jam there that has been causing lots of flooding.

We were all pretty interested in seeing some icebreakers in action, so we got out the atlas to scout out a spot by the river to watch them.

After breakfast we bundled up real well (the temperature was about 10 degrees) and hit the road. First we found the ice jam itself, located just south of Hallowell:

It was really neat to see all the ice clogging up the river. We could also see where some of the flooding had happened over the last few days.

Here is somebody's ice fishing shack that didn't get moved off the river in time:Then we found the icebreakers right away! They were still tied to the dock at the Gardiner boat launch, getting ready to go to work. There were a few other interested local folks coming to check them out too.The boats were both cutters: The CGC "Tackle" and the CGC "Bridle". The CGC "Morro Bay" is a bigger ship, and can't get this far upriver, so it was breaking ice downstream past Richmond. These boats look small, but they are built to break ice and their hulls are very strong.In the background is the Gardiner Bridge, which is the farthest upstream that these two boats could go. In the photo below you can also see some of the damage to the handrail that the ice has done recently. The locals told us that this handrail was brand new, just finished this fall.It was too cold to stay for long, but we did manage to meet some real Coast Guardsmen........and to see them swing into action when the captain gave the signal.......and get ready to push off and go to work.Unfortunately the kids hit their limit with the cold temperature so we had to hurry back to the car and crank on the heat, and we didn't get to see any actual ice breaking happen.Still, it was a fun adventure just seeing the ice, the river and the boats ready to go!

Moonlight Snowshoeing

On Saturday night the wind finally let up and the moon was bright and beautiful, so we decided to do some moonlight snowshoeing. Nana stayed over to watch the kids, and our friend Amy joined us for the two-mile loop around our neighborhood.

Here's what we looked like when we left the house: Nine o-clock at night, and all bundled up for 9 degrees....brrrrrr!

We really planned on walking by moonlight, so we didn't bring any lights with us at all. Unfortunately, the first part of the loop is in the woods, so the moon didn't provide much help. With a little stumbling around (and the help of Chris' GPS), we managed to find our way.Since the last time we snowshoed here (in the daylight) the snow has been depleted by rain and the river has risen. Outlet stream wasn't much higher, but the Sebasticook definitely was. We really had to be careful on the banks.There were also several newly fallen trees, which made for some interesting crossings.The last part of the trail comes up the wash, which also had less snow and more water than last time. It was a very challenging walk!But this made it all worth it: We knew that Amy had worked in the woods, and that some of her work had involved "hooting" for owls, but we didn't know she was this good. Here is her Great Horned Owl hoot:

And even better, here is the mating call:

She even got an owl to answer back to us on one of her hoots. Pretty cool, Amy!

Colby Athletics

We have mentioned in the blog before how lucky we are to live so close to Colby College, which has a large D-III athletic program. Today was one of those days when three varsity games were all happening in one afternoon (in the same building!) so we went over to check it out.

Colby has a very nice athletic facility that includes a pool, fitness center, squash/racketball courts, a basketball arena, and an ice rink all under the same roof! We are always impressed whenever we come here. Best of all, going to the games is completely free to the public.We arrived during the first half of the women's basketball game. They were playing Amherst College, from Massachusetts.Right away we ran into Emily's classmate Luke and his dad Henning! It was great to find people that we knew there.The women's teams are nicknamed the Mules, just like the men's teams.At halftime we found an area at the end of the court (behind a giant curtain) where we could shoot hoops during the break. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our ball with us so we just ran around a little. Next time we'll be sure to bring our ball!During the second half we were joined by Uncle Seth, Nana, and the cousins, who came up to check out the games too.You know the kids are getting serious about watching when the non-stop popcorn eating starts.At 3:00 the women's hockey game started, so we walked over to check that out. They were also playing Amherst, who is currently leading the league.The game was really good-- Amherst was obviously a better team, but the Mules put up a good fight (we left before the ending so we don't know how it turned out).Once again, Emily had lots of questions. It's great to see her actually absorbing some of the details of the sport.Kate mainly just concentrated on cheering (and eating popcorn).Eventually we were joined by two more preschool classmates--Noah and Leo (and their dad). By this point we made up the largest cheering group at the game!After all this action the girls were starting to go downhill, so we had a quick M&M fuel-up at the snack bar........then stopped in to watch a few minutes of the men's basketball game (also versus Amherst)........and then we managed to run into yet another (former) preschool classmate! Annie was Emily's BFF in school last year, but now she's in kindergarten so we don't see her anymore. Em was thrilled to see her today!Since the girls had behaved so well at Colby all afternoon, we decided to go out to Mexican food for a treat.Nana joined us for a lovely meal.It was a nice way to finish off the fun afternoon over at Colby.

Valentine Supplies

The kids are gearing up to start making their valentines cards--25 each for their preschool classmates (plus two for the teachers) is a lot of cards to make! Mom decided that we should go to JoAnn's and get a new set of markers and maybe some stickers for the big job.

The problem with JoAnn's is that there are lots and lots of things to look at........and most of them Mom doesn't want to buy, but the kids think are super cool.We finally found the sticker area, and the kids settled in to decide. There was a lot of hemming and hawing as they considered every different sheet.They finally found what they wanted: Princess crowns (to share), pumpkins (Emily), and smiley faces (Kate).Time to check out and go home, but too late in the evening to actually start working on the cards. Maybe this weekend!

Starting the Treehouse

Mom and the kids have been planning this year's treehouse, and the recent warm weather has made Emily and Kate very anxious to start building it. Tonight they brought their tools down to the shop in hopes of getting started.

They pulled a bunch of cut-offs out of the scrap wood bin and went to work. And yes, their tool kit includes a tiny purple hairbrush.They tried the blocks out in a bunch of different combinations.Emily has decided that she wants a ramp to the treehouse instead of a ladder, which Mom agrees is a great idea.Kate figured out a way to involve her favorite basement toy, which is the shopping cart. She went "shopping" for more wood scraps........then delivered them to Emily's jobsite. Good teamwork girls!Like most basement games, this one ended up in a round of chase, which is pretty fun too.We can't wait for spring, when we can start building our treehouse for real!

High School Hockey

Tonight after dinner we went over to the local ice rink to watch some high school hockey. The girls love doing this, and it's a pretty cheap evening of entertainment since they get in free and Mom is only $5.

They like to tell everyone how old they are. In the photo below they are announcing their ages to the raffle girl, who looks suitably impressed.Then they "played" the race car game while Mom got popcorn. Someday they will figure out that this game actually takes quarters, and then we will be in trouble. For now they are quite happy to just shift gears and turn the steering wheels.They made their usual request for "juice" from the machine, and were again denied. Mom's official stance on this is that water from the drinking fountain tastes just as good, is better for them, and is free.

Then we made the long climb to the top of the bleachers....

...and settled in to eat our popcorn and watch some hockey (Skowhegan vs. Mt. Ararat).The girls like hockey, and tonight Emily was especially full of questions (What does the goalie do? Why are they wearing striped shirts (the refs)? Why is he sitting in that box (penalty box)? etc. etc. etc.). But you can see in the video below that the popcorn is probably the biggest motivator to come to the rink. They really love their popcorn!

The game was pretty good, although Skowhegan was dominating and we happened to be sitting with the fans from the other team, so we heard a lot of complaining about the referees.

Even though this is officially boys' hockey, the starting goalie for Skowhegan is a girl (and she's really good). Girls' hockey is a varsity high school sport in Maine, but not every school has enough players to field a team. If the school doesn't have a girls' team, girls can play on the boys' team if they are good enough.Skowhegan had their pep band on hand, so we went and checked them out. Em and Kate thought the band was pretty cool, and they even did a little dancing. Then it was bedtime, so we waved bye-bye to the hockey and headed for home.Mom is hoping that someday we will be going to the rink to see Emily and Kate play hockey!