It felt more like late March, early April!

I had to listen to Tami grumble for the fifty thousandth time about how she hasn’t been able to wear her snowshoes except one time . . . and aren’t we living in Maine after all . . . and what the heck is going on with the weather lately?

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I didn’t need my scarf, or my ear muffs, or even my boots today!  And there’s only 3 inches of snow right now.  But it is extra super crunchy.

“How crunchy is it,” you ask?

It’s so crunchy, wildlife in the next county  heard us coming.  Tami couldn’t blame it on Cookie this time either, because Cookie was walking on top the snow!

There were tons of ice fisherman out on the lake,

just not in this photo Tami took. They were mostly down by the State Park. There was also a group of people who looked like they were walking the length of the lake.  But super, cautious Tami wouldn’t let us put one hoof, paw or foot on the ice.  Not even the edges.  The minute she sees open water waaaay over by the beaver hut, she gets nervous.

But she did let us walk the red-dotted trail to get there.  Cookie really, really wanted to get in the water, but the current can be kind of strong in this one spot, and the water’s awfully cold right now.  No matter how Cookie pouted, Tami wouldn’t give in.

There were signs the beavers had been out and about.  We could hear the blue jays, chickadees and the ravens calling back and forth.  But alas, no eagles could be seen.

It’s still a touch early, but with all the warm weather, Tami was kind of hoping they’d be out and about.

Perhaps next week!

It was a beautiful day.  Blue sky, crisp cold air, powdery snow.

As we came out of the woods and stepped onto the lake, Cookie stopped to look around.  I knew the feeling.  There’s just something about walking across the lake that first time, and seeing it all from a different perspective

.

We walked right past the muskrat hut . . . .

and rounded the corner of our point by the eagle’s island.  Right in front of us was a family, ice fishing.

Hugging the shoreline, we stayed on the ice.

“What do you say, we keep going?” Tami asked, as she nodded up toward the town beach area.

“Sure!” I said.  We’d never been that far before.  Usually we turned back into the campground at this point, then followed David’s red-dot trail home.

Not only did we walk through the town beach, but we followed the lake right up to where it first narrows

Tami could see a ton of people in the cove ahead, so she decided it was time to turn back.  Besides, the Pat’s game was due to start soon.  She wasn’t taking a chance on missing that.

So we headed back the way we’d come.

We did have enough time for me to snap a picture of Tami and Cookie though.

When we reached what the Wight’s now call the Turtle Release spot, we climbed the banking.  Tami looked back and took one last look at the lake.

There were a few more people out there than before.

We didn’t see the eagles.  And we didn’t see the Pileated Woodpecker (but we heard him plenty!).  But it was a great hike.

We turned for the last few feet home

I sure hope we don’t get the rain on Monday the weathermen are predicting.

Nooooooo, it’s not opening day yet.

C’mooooooooon . . . guess again!

David’s put the 2012 Calendar on the website!

Christmas in July is on there . . .

And Medieval Weekend . . .

Halloween One and Halloween Too!

And Super Hero

And Pirate Weekend, and the Bouncy House and My Birthday and the Ice Cream Parties ~

and sooooooo much more!

Go ahead!

Check it out!

I know you want toooooooo.

I asked Tami on Sunday if she was suuuuuure Santa knew where to stop.

“He does,” she replied, rubbing my antlers.

I asked again Monday morning before she went to work.

“No worries,” she said, as she quickly packed her school lunch.  “He’ll be here.”

When she tucked me into bed last night, I asked again.  I think it might have been one too many times, ’cause she exclaimed, “Maax!!  You know Santa and I are very good friends.”

“I’m sure he’ll remember you . . .if you were a good moose, that is.”

Ummmmm. I think I was a good moose.  I mean, I didn’t stick my butt in the ice chest too many times . . .

and I was really, really polite to all my camping buddies . . .

and I thanked Santa for my books on Christmas in July . . .

But still . . . you never know . . .

I tiptoed out of bed, and snuck into David’s office.

“What’s up, Maax?” he asked.

So, I told him my Christmas worry.

Dave smiled.  “I have just the thing!  I picked it up today for Christmas in July next summer, but you know . . . it’s never too early to set it up.”

WOW!  I think Santa will be able to see this decoration from the moon!  There’s no way he’s missing our house now!

Thanks David!

Hmmmm . . . what kind of cookies do you think he likes best?

One of our seasonal campers, buttoned up tight

the tree that Ed planted . . .

The lakeside trail . . .

The wind was blowing pretty hard . . .

The island with the house . . .

The Eagle's Nest

A splash of color

The ice is forming

A tipped picnic table in the 60's

Interesting . . .

We aren’t sure yet if this round of snow will melt . . . time will tell!  It was a pretty snowfall, to be sure.

“Who knows when it’ll be this warm again?” she said.

Little did we know, the weathermen would be predicting 6 – 12 inches of snow for Wednesday!

I told Tami I wanted to see some wildlife. She told me not to get my hopes up.  “It’s pretty late in the season, Maxx,” she warned.

That Tami!  She’s such a glass-half-full-kind of person!

It was already getting kind of dusk-ish out, but down by the lake, the sun lit up the other shore . . .

the island with the house . . .

Looking off toward Range Pond State Park beach . . .

Tami immediately started snapping pictures, but I had spied something better.

“Psssst!” I whispered.

She didn’t hear me.

“Psssssssssssssssssst!” I said a little louder.

She waved a hand my way.

“OVER HERE!” I yelled.

“Geesh! Wait a minute! The sun won’t be shining like this forever -”

“I don’t think the eagles will be on their island much longer either -”

Tami whipped around so fast, I thought she was gonna fall in the water!

BOTH eagles were sitting pretty, just waiting for Tami to take their photo; one on the nest and another on a nearby tree.   If you look back through the blog, you’ll see that once the babies leave the nest, we rarely see them together again until February, when they get ready to lay another set of eggs. Tami was so excited, she almost missed seeing the cormorant on a nearby log too . . .

And then, on the way back home, we also saw how hard the beavers have been working along the lakeside trail.

This tree that they took down is about eight feet long.  It fell in such a way that it was caught in the bushes, so the beavers are stripping it of its bark, and cutting it into three foot chunks.

So much for not seeing any wildlife, huh?

Still, in all her years at the campground, Tami hasn’t seen a beaver in the wild yet.  She’s heard their tail slap the water in warning, but that’s it.

Beavers are pretty interesting mammals:  They have only one partner, can live about 24 years, their kits stay with them for about 2 years with the parents sharing duties, and they’re second only to humans in their ability to change their environment.

One of these days, she swears she’ll have a picture to show you!

Don said their coon cat loved being on the water.   At one point, they came upon a squirrel swimming across the lake.  Funny enough, they were the second family to report seeing it.  Both times it was in the exact same spot, so it very well could have been the same squirrel.  Do you suppose he thought the acorns on the other side were browner?

Tami loves to get photos to share with other campers.   So if you have a great one you’d like us to post on my blog, send it in!

Tami says it’s the only day between May 1st and Columbus Day, where she can actually close down the store to hang out with all the seasonal campers and on-site employees without fear of being interrupted.

The phone doesn’t ring . . .

no one is looking to check in . . .

99.9% of the campground has checked out.

There’s always lots of laughter

and “remember when’s.

Everyone brings a dish, or appetizer or dessert to share, so no one walks away hungry!

We even celebrated a very, very special birthday this year.

Lee Wight turned 80 on Monday!  So if you see her, wish her a very, very happy birthday!

The Wight Girls

A big shout out to the Walker family for lugging all the cans and bottles to the redemption center, which helps to pay for a portion of the dinner.  And of course, we couldn’t do it without our “chefs”!  Thanks a bunch everyone!

I LOVE Labor Day Weekend, but it always makes me a little sad too.

On the one hand

We had all these cooooooool activities like Egg games

Carrying the egg on your head

Egg Under the Chin race

and a scavenger hunt, horseshoes, and the water balloon slingshot on Saturday.

And if you thought the day was done, think again!

We also decorated our bikes and made noise makers for the bike parade

Debbie made all the bikers raise their right hands and swear not to run her over . . .

had a seed spitting contest . . .

played Ultimate Frisbee with the teens and adults . . .

Uh-oh! What'd B do?

Aaaaaaand, played Candy Bar Bingo!!

with lots and lots of happy winners!

On Sunday we had Story time with Moose Mix, Relay races in the pool, Waterballoon target practice, jewelry making, Bubble Play and we created pin wheels at Arts and Crafts

Awww! Her pinwheel matches her shirt!

How clever is that? She attached her pinwheel to her bike handles!

Purple! My favorite color!

I was so proud of my little campers . . . many of them were waving the old red, white and blue!

I felt like a real, live, rock star all weekend, hanging out with my little campin’ buddies.

So I bet you’re sitting there, in front of your computer, shaking your head and saying, “Maxwell, Maxwell, Maxwell.  With all that cool stuff going on, how on earth could you be  so sad?”

It’s really simple actually.  It’s Becauseit’stheverylastweekendofrecreationandI’mgoingtomissitsomuch!

SOB!

Sniffle, sniffle.

Tami says they’re still open ’til Columbus Day though.  And there’s tons of people who love fall camping because they get to go out fishing and kayaking and canoeing and wildlife watching.  And the kids still get together to play ping pong and manhunt and stuff like that.   Tami has a whole list hiking and geocacheing trails . . . oh, and there’s the cool nights by the crackling campfire to look forward to . . .

Okay, so there’s a ton more camping season left.

What are you waiting for?

We’re going to decorate bikes and have a parade,

And we’re going to do arts and crafts, and waterballoon games, and jewelry making, and story time, as well as egg games and watermelon seed spitting!

Then of course we’ll wave all our flags on the hayride around the park.

But just because Maggie and Debbie go back to school, doesn’t mean we can’t have fun in the fall.  The boats will still be in the lake for a couple weeks, and there’s always a game of manhunt out front of the store.  And no matter when you go camping, you always roast marshmallows!