Ain't We Got Fun

Okay, if my big goal for this summer was to wallow in pleasure and have tons of fun, I feel as though I'm succeeding.

Let me prove my point by sharing with you just two of the most recent examples of some of the kind of fun and frivolity we've been experiencing around here.

• Example of Fun #1: Candle pin bowling in a foreign country with some extremely fun, and surprisingly athletic and competitive (Dana, I'm talking about you!) women.

Okay, so the foreign country is Canada, the St. Stephen border crossing being about 30 minutes away. But candle pin bowling? Very exotic!

I just realized I have absolutely no photos of us actually bowling. But, here is the group of gals that participated in our over the border bowling extravaganza. Don't they look like a fun group?

It was such fun hurling those tiny balls down the lane at lightening speed (this may be a slight exaggeration). However, I paid for this "hard and fast" bowling strategy with a pretty sore shoulder for the next couple of days Ouch! Actually, a few of the girls I spoke with after our night 'o bowling fun complained of various sore body parts. Who knew bowling was such a workout?

• Example of Fun #2: Heron and Lindy attend the KahBang Festival in Bangor. Just the two of them. And they spend the night at a campground outside of Brewer. Just the two of them. Now that's fun.

Yes, the fact that one of our favorite bands (of the moment) was participating in this festival a mere two hours away was just too tempting. We decided to leave our little guy with his grandparents and have a night to ourselves. This is something we don't do very often. In fact, we've never done that before. But this is just the kind of effect Chromeo has on us. We felt like this was our opportunity to show them some "bonafide lovin'".

The whole festival is nine days total, featuring tons of bands, art and film. So we only saw a fraction of what was on offer. But along with our beloved Chromeo, we enjoyed Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Surfer Blood, and My Morning Jacket (who were the big headliner act).

There we are. Two lovebirds out on the town with no child in tow. Look out, Bangor! Actually, Heron looks a little worried, doesn't he?

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper

I was quite taken with the intricacy of the staging and lights. Really quite beautiful.

While enjoying Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, I took the opportunity to sit and knit. The weather was absolutely lovely. Sunny and warm with some gentle breeziness.

We scored a great (free!) parking spot very close to the venue. We had only to walk through a little park and cross the street. At one point we decided to head back to the car for some snacks and bevvies.

Chromeo. And yes, those are illuminated lady legs holding up their synthesizer thing-a-ma-jigs. They're pretty classy like that.

These pictures stink, but I feel compelled to share them anyway. Dave 1 is on the left. P-Thugg is on the right. Did I happen to mention that these guys use lots of robot voices? And that my son wants to dress up as P-Thugg for Halloween?

The headlining act, My Morning Jacket. I must confess we, only stayed to hear these guys for a little while. For us, Chromeo was a pretty tough act to follow. Besides, we were ready to get on with the camping portion of our adventure. And as you may recall, I love camping!

I can count on both hands the number of times I've been to a really big concert. And though this one wasn't huge, I was nonetheless impressed with the incredible quality of the sound. I could literally feel the bass in my chest. It was at times a little alarming, but also invigorating and exciting at the same time. Also, just being around so many other folks who were just as pumped to be there as we were was truly awesome. It didn't matter how old you were, what you looked like, or where you came from. When Dave 1 and P-Thugg (yes, that's right, I said P-Thugg) asked us to put our peace signs up in the air, we all raised our arms in the air at the same time, all of us under the spell of the music. I'd forgotten just how incredible live music could be.

But of course, the most fun thing about our Bangor adventure was that it was just the two of us. We sort of planned this little adventure on the spur of the moment, threw a tent and some sleeping bags in the car, and just did it. I'd like to say it took me back to the old times, back when we were courting. But honestly, we never did this kind of stuff when we were younger. We're much cooler now...

Next stop on the train to funville is the Blackfly Ball in Machias. I've never attended this particular extravaganza, and from what I've heard this should be quite the adventure, indeed! Hope to see some of you there!