Maine Travels: Old Orchard Beach

Kids on Main Street at OOB!

The first full day that we were in Maine, we went to Old Orchard Beach.  This town has some family significance in that my grandmother's family used to own the Staples Inn, which is currently a bed and breakfast at the top of a hill that looks down on OOB.  Growing up in Maine, my husband and I used to go to OOB every summer so, we wanted the kids to have the experience.

OOB has changed a lot since we left Maine 20 years ago.  There are a lot more condos and the town itself has built up.  There are still shops selling beach ware on the main drag, but the pier and entrance to the beach have changed.  There's now a water fountain, places to sit and a larger police presence than I remember.  The water was still cold,and there was still a prevalence of French speaking people in the area.  My French is very rusty, but its hard to miss the old man in the Speedo commenting on how warm the water is in Maine opposed to Quebec.

Elijah's face sums up my opinion on the improved Pier.

Change is not always a good thing.  One of the main reasons to go to OOB was to walk on the Pier and see the view.  My grandmother use to tell us about the night club and shops that were on the Pier when she was growing up, but she always described the view. The Pier used to be a happening place and I think that's what all the improvements were supposed to be about, but they missed.  There are several restaurants on the Pier and a Bar at the end that advertises live entertainment.  The Pier is so littered with restaurants and nick knack shops that you can no longer see the Atlantic Ocean.  Hello, main draw to walking on a Pier is to see the beach and the ocean.  Now you have to sneak into some outside seating or pay 10.00 for a beer to see any type of view.  All of us were very underwhelmed.

Colin enjoying pier fries and vinegar

To be honest, the only reason to go to OOB is to eat pizza, pier fries and fried dough.  At least that's what we told the kids.  The objective was to make sure that my husband didn't leave OOB feeling like the Goodyear Blimp, but still enjoyed OOB classic food from our childhood. When your 40 you can't eat like your 16 any more, but with the smell of ocean air and grease, your mind will tell you that you can!  Some of the kids were brave enough to try fries the French way (meaning doused in vinegar).  After two boxes of fries were finished we took the kids to the beach to play in the water (really we took them to the beach to make room for fried dough, but they bought the swimming idea).

Someone got thrown in!

I have birthed Southern children.  They are accustomed to the Atlantic of the Panhandle that runs about 70 to 75 degrees. We did warn them that the water would be a lot colder than what they were used to, but some of them jumped right in anyway.  There were quite a few people with wet suits on, but there were just as many with little to nothing on.  Josie put her toes in and decided it was too cold, but before she could make it back up to the blanket, her older brother threw her in. The boys played on boogie boards and now that their older, we didn't have to pull anyone out when their lips got blue.  People at OOB are a lot less concerned with what swimming attire that they wear than the beaches we normally frequent.  Even my younger boys commented on how many moms with stretch marks, guts, and tattoos were wearing bikinis.  My youngest even told be I looked pretty good and my daughter thanked me for modesty at my age (read I was wearing boy shorts and a very sportive bikini bra top and nothing was hanging out or falling out).  We didn't stay on the beach but for an hour.  It was crowded and the kids thought the water was a little cold for an all day affair.  There is an outdoor shower to wash away the beach and free clean bathrooms in the amusement park.

The reason I have fond memories of OOB is fried dough, dipped in vanilla soft serve ice cream.  Can't leave OOB without some.  Elijah also has a fondness for this dessert and the two of us usually eat our weight in the stuff when we can find it.  To my Southern friends there is a difference between New England fried dough and funnel cake.  Both are worth breaking the diet for!  We like to eat our fried dough loaded with cinnamon, sugar and powered sugar.  It's messy and sticky and there is no point in cleaning up until your done!  Your going to make a mess, but it is a yummy mess.  The dough is sweet and hot and dipping it the soft serve ice cream makes sure you don't burn your mouth (because some of us can't wait until its cool enough to eat).  With bellies full we headed to the car for our next adventure..... Portland Headlight!

What's For Dinner

I like to bake.  I like to cook and I like to try new things.  Taking these things into account it should not be a daily battle to answer the question, "What's for dinner?"  There's plenty of good material to choose from on the internet.  I even have a whole Pinetrest board dedicated to food to assist with deciding what's for dinner.  Why does this daily question have to be so hard?

We used to do menu planning for the month.  That helped when I was coaching and my husband's work schedule dictated that he started supper.  There is only so much concession stand food one can eat before your stomach just says NO!  Now when we used to menu plan for the month, each of the kids got a day of the week to pick a meal.  With five kids, that only left two days for me to plan for.  That wasn't too bad, but now the children have tired of menu planning and no longer get excited about assiting with the task.  They will on occasion fight and argue about what we should have for dinner, but to actually plan out a meal that doesn't require one to dirty every dish in the house, or eat out of a paper bag is not in their skill set yet.  Their favorite meal to request is fried chicken, home made mac and cheese, home made crescent rolls and home made cake for dessert.  Who has time for that on a Tuesday after work, and before soccer practice?

Many people ask their husband to assist with meal planning, but my husband isn't really all that picky.  I usually get a whatever you want response.  Well, if I didn't have to cook it I'd like roasted potatoes, home made bread, steak and chocolate moose with a chocolate graham cracker crust for dinner.  Since I'm the one who usually has to cook, calling for pizza looks really good!  Eating out could be a solution.  Problem one with that solution is there are not many restaurants to select from in our area.  Problem two with that solution is we are not rich!

So, if you read this blog (and I hope someone other than my husband is reading this blog) I'm open to suggestions about What's for dinner?

The homemade cake my kids would like for supper

Kids favorite meal minus homemade bread

Engaging in the Dish Battle

After spending the last two hours of mind numbing health assessments for the insurance company, I am currently "supervising" my darling daughter doing the dishes, AT 945PM!  This has become an almost daily battle with her and she is a master procrastinator! Here's Josie's top 5 current attempts at avoiding dishes and engaging in battle with mom!

1. I have never seen someone so young need to use the bathroom so much when it is time to do the dishes.  She pees more than a woman having twins and only when she has to do the dishes.  I have counted twelve trips to the rest room from the time that she started the dishes to the time that I told her she could no longer use the rest room until the dishes were done!  Must be the water she isn't running when she is proclaiming how unfair it is that her only chore is doing the dishes that causes such bladder issues!

2. Three hours ago I learned that the dishwasher (that's as old as she is) has a plate warming feature!  Imagine that, plate warming!  Back in my day we called that the drying cycle and it did not impede our ability to unload the dishwasher and reload all the stuff that you were not planning on washing by hand.  Why we would need a plate warmer when everyone eats cereal or pop tarts 12 hours later for breakfast is beyond me, but apparently the plate warmer feature can't be disturbed?

3. 8:45 and 9:45 are about the same time!  Never mind that the girl is gifted in math and can add and subtract in her head faster than I can punch numbers in the calculator!  The time space continuum is only disrupted when Josephine has to do the dishes!

4. Josie has testing next week!  Really, state testing versus dishes?  Next WEEK?!  This impacts getting the dishes done tonight how?  Yeah!  She really couldn't answer that question either, but I can!  It does not and it will not effect testing next week either!  If testing is that important than said smarty pants daughter will make sure that the dishes are done before 8pm, the stated bed time that she has requested for next week. Oh and mom will remember that she requested such an early bed time!

5. Doing dishes is unfair labor practices because Josie's primary job is going to school and making good grades so she can go to Mercer!  I like how she throws the old Alma Mater in there.  Despite being informed that Josie will be paying for college all by herself and could probably use a skill such as dish washing to cover her $40,000 a year in tuition costs to go to Mercer, Josie feels that focusing solely on her academics is her best bet to becoming a Bear like mom.

I know that I will have to go put half the dishes that she is washing by hand back into the sink for her to redo because she half washed them thinking: One, no one would check and Two, mom wouldn't dare make her food in dirty bowls, pots or pans!  She isn't without resources and has proposed on numerous occasions possible solutions to the dish dilema.  Here are Josie's solutions to the daily dish battle:
1. Everyone take care of their own dishes.
2. Colin do the dishes
3. Mom do the dishes
4. Everyone can stop eating so much so no one will have to do the dishes
5. Hire a maid to do the dishes
At least she has some possible solutions to her avoidance behaviors, but her mother just won't fund or let Josie implement any of her solutions.  Apparently doing dishes makes it a rough life, but the dish battle will wage on until 2018- the year Josephine graduates high school!  Please wish her luck and pray for the avoidance of nuclear warfare from mom!  Thanks!