'bout ye

At last I get to update the blog, I'm having weird jet lag, one night I'm sleeping for 14 hours, the next for 3, now back to 14!!!!

Anyways here are the pix of our damp departure from Maine and our even wetter return to Ireland,

the bus ride home from Dublin,

Good bye Maine, thanks for a great summer,

more blog.......whenever

Well today is our last Saturday in Maine for this summer, so our host mummy and daddy (Frank and JoAnn Griffin) took us to Portland for the day and we went on the Lucky Catch which is a Lobster boat that takes people out and lets them join in the lobstering. By the way those from back home expecting to see your loved ones, well tough, this is an US US US blog!!!!

Here are JoAnn's pix from the trip


I feel like a surgeon preparing for his next big op....

Frank holding the bait trap and we are about to fill it with fish, it looks a bit like a pineapple when full,

no Phyllis the fish goes in the little bag Frank is holding...

Ok I'll taste it first, make sure it is fresh

Phyllis gets hungry....

we then have to measure the lobsters we caught to see if they are legal...

we had a little thing that let us know if the lobster was more than 3.25inches.....


Phyllis was a real Captain BirdsEye

watch out for that seagull Phyllis.....

...tooo late.....


I help Phyllis get rid of the crabs.....

Frank maintains a level of dignity the situation doesn't deserve...

see, more crabs....

...does my bum look big in this????

...and finally a pineapple....

we finished off with dinner in Demillo's floating restaurant, a very good choice....

more blog soon

Well I promised you a blog extra and here it is, sorry if my typing and grammar are more disconnected than usual. I was at the Red Sox game last night and it went to 3 extra innings so I didn't get home until after 230am!! Oh they won, just as well as it lasted almost 4 hours!!!

So lets start off with some more info from the Moreau family trip to New York, Laura writes,

 Here are more from New York. The Lamborghini was our rental car.  Okay in our dreams!

If you look closely at the one looking down on the city the Lamborghini is in it.

And we even saw the real Batman!

 Well here we go then....

For those who are squeamish look away...here we have Jordan picking his nose and Derek wiping his finger on Marissa's hair!!!!


Laura also sent some pix from earlier in the Summer, these are from Old Orchard Beach and the host family Picnic at Fort Williams,

This was when Adeva and Blaithin were staying with the Moreau family for a few days,

SCott has also sent in some pix of him at Peaks Island and Scarborough Marsh, here are the Peaks Island ones, including him with a Lobsterman!!!!

and here is his Scarborough Marsh exploration day...

And finally some more pix from the Farewell Supper,

Well we all know what Sam likes....

and for those who wanted to know what was under that towel.....

and finally a good night from Fabio...

more blog soon

It's hard to belive it's that time again, the Farewell Party is our chance to say a huge thank you to the host families. It is a little early this year as we fly out on Monday and St. Max Church Hall is busy over the weekend. That didn't stop it being an absolute blast as we turned the hall into a party arena, and even had a dozen or so scouts in for company.

So to repeat the makeover style from a previous blog, here is BEFORE

DURING

and AFTER

The group got involved serving the food

the crowd were getting hungry

see I told you there were scouts

I feel an AWWWWWWWWWWW coming up

AWWWWWWWW, JoAnn gets to hold baby Gemma

and just to prove that they do grow up here's a mummy with her first baby

oh and there was CAKE, there's always cake

mmmmmm I like CAKE, everyone likes CAKE

...it's Brett's saliva I'm not so fond of!!!!

Another AWWWWWWWW alert

AWWWWWWW, Frank get's in on the act with the holding of baby Gemma, I fear their dogs may get the elbow in favour of one of their own

Anyways as you all know I've got a bit of a curly bap this summer, well apparently it had to go for something more trendy as this was the Farewell Party, so I let Lauren and Zoe loose with the straighteners.
More makeover style, so here's BEFORE

well it was kinda DURING, and look at the faces of those watching!!!!

and here's AFTER!!!!!!!

Hey I'm a mixed up Beatle/70s Soccer Player!!!!

Random Lauren/Meghan shot....

and the party begins with Susan opening the celebrations

with a big thank you to the mentors Tim and Taylor

Scott explains the proceedings and introduces Fabio (the pineapple)

Robin springs a surprise on Phyllis and I



Thanks MICP, I love my quilt, it will be on my bed form now on.......

Liz also got a presentation for her perfect timing in giving birth just as the summer program was starting,

Then it was onto the acts, first up Jonah, Fu and Sam with Rock Star

Sam's role seemed to be to cajole the audience

He just wants to be a cheerleader, or groupie!!!

Blaithin delivered a poem on parenthood,

and then Frank was allowed on the podium for the 2008 installment of the Griffin Awards

Scott got one for getting his bits out in the pond, I thought it would be more amazinng if he got one for keeping his clothes on!!!!!

Lauren was awarded for her superb memory skills

and this straight haired bloke got one for playing with his nostril hair

apparently he used to fart in a previous life......
Somewhere in the dark Phyllis received her rear ending award for getting bumped in the back in Kennebunk.....car crashing a speciality

Jonah stayed awake (just) for his Rip van Winkle award

Fu managed not to get all choked up when he received his choking award

Edwin was celebrated for fighting off the stinging insects...

Sam just about found his way to the podium for his GPS skills

Taylor got a hug and an award for being so helpful, should be the Tesco award (Every Little Helps)

go on Kevin, pppppick up a penguin

and another Kevin gets recognised for his barging into the room skills!!! don't go near the toilet when this man is around girls....

Does this woman snore????? answers on a tape recorder to....

Morgan gets recognised for learning which way up a broom goes

Steve receives his for services to Pole dancing

Zoe's skills with the hairbrush and scissors gets recognised,

Liz gets hers for her timely birthing

Gemma gets hers for playing along with the aforementioned timing

AWWWWWWWWW (hey its mandatory after every gemma pic)

Our co-compere for the evening, Kevin, with Fabio introduces the next speaker

Beth Strassler, who thanked those that attended the synagogue session

and presented them with commemerative T-Shirts

Brett was especially pleased.....I can still see bits of cake in his mouth.....

Then some straight haired bloke got given a drum kit...

...and pulled a rock chick....

should they stay or should they go?????

Sam juggles

Sam cycles on 1 wheel

Sam cycles on 1 wheel backwards

and he juggled while cycling too....

Just who are these people????

Oh it's Katie, Kristin, Sara and Tom

They look like they are waiting for someone to dance with....

ah here he is, I knew it couldn't be long before he stripped off and tried on a dress...

and now for some audience participation...

Well after that things went downhill quickly....I'm sure I saw these pair get arrested in a recent rerun of Starsky and Hutch....

oh dear the shirts are off

I really hope those hats stay on......

ah more audience, ahem, participation????

oh no there go the hats

what next?? boxers???

are those flying boxers I see????

Just what is below that towel??? Tune into blog extras over the weekend to find out!!!!

Finally a mix of the old and the new, Kevin Mc, meets Clare Foley who was one of the founders of MICP

and finally finally.....

more blog soon