K-Seas

The Old Salt

His real name is Gordon Murray, but most people know him as either “Bud” or “Gordo” or “G-Man”, or as the grandkids call him, “Papa Gordo.”  Well, most of the grandkids.  Mina affectionately called him, “Caca Dodo” as a toddler, and then Will followed suit with calling him, “Purple Girdle.”  The grandchildren all love him and he the same.

Gordo knows much about a lot, or is it a lot about much?  Whatever it is, he does.  He knows everything there is to know about wood, and as such can build you just about anything .  He has helped us around the house with more things that I can recount. 

Case in point, in the recent ice storm we had many trees come down.  One hit the shed and the boat, damaging both.  Gordon came over the next day, chainsaw buzzing.  He fixed the hole in the roof of the shed, and helped re-cover/winterize the boat.  He also wired our house so if/when we do lose power again, we simply turn on our generator, and a good portion of our house will be operational.

He knows the sea like he knows wood as he literally grew up on a boat, and he is currently building his own boat.  His current hobby is art, and he's pretty darn good at it.

He has been “married” to my mother-in-law, Joline, for about 15+ years now.  Alright, so they aren’t “officially” married in the traditional sense.  But in every other sense they are.   They bicker and squabble and love each other. 

Gordon, Gordo, G-Man, Bud, Papa Gordo, Caca Dodo, Purple Girdle…any way you say it, we love you!

 

Happy Anniversary

It has been 7 great years that we have been married.  I am the luckiest man in the world.  Wendy is a great friend and mom and I look forward to many more years of good times.   Happy Anniversary Wendy, I love you!

The Next Super Heroes??

No words needed for this motley crew...

Happy Birthday Jill!

Jill as Strawberry Shortcake

Today is Jill's 31st birthday!  For those of you who don't know, Jill is my younger sister by six years.  Yes, when I was a wee lass of only six, my dear sister was born.  I remember praying to God for a sister.  I had this mental image of God reshaping a ball of clay into the sister I wanted.   Because of our age difference, we weren't always "on the same page" growing up.  However, now that we are older (well, she is, I'm still 25) the age gap has closed, and we get along like sisters should.  She's having her first baby in October, and I'm very excited for her.

Happy Birthday Jill!  I love you!

-Wendy

Happy Fathers Day Dad!

We miss you!

SURPRISE!

After months of planning we finally had Mom's surprise 60th birthday party last light.  The event was held at Blue Latitudes in Dover (owned by my good friend Ingo-good food- go check it out if you're in the neighborhood).  Check out T5M's blog for photos and more of the story.

One of my "tasks" was to put together a video to be shown at the party.  Making these videos seems to have become my "mark" for special events.  Wendy and Erin came to me with the video idea a few months ago and of course I waited until 2 days before the event to start it.  Needless to say I worked on it right up to the party.  I finished it just in time.  Techie moment: I was able to download this video to my iPhone, plug it into a projector and beam it onto a projection screen-sweet.

Welcome Home Mom!

York Bound

T Minus 1 day and counting....My Mom and Papa G are one day away from their annual pilgrimage (a few days early thanks to Skybus) to their "Red Sox" home in York Maine.  These types of summer migrants are often known as "Snow Birds", not my mom... she moves in conjunction with the Red Sox.  She makes her stay in York about the same time the Sox season starts and heads back to Florida after the season....and oh yeah.. she is a spring training season ticket holder as well....so she is close to the Red Sox about 9 months out of the year.

We are really looking forward to her coming to Maine.  We enjoy all of the summer activities she does with us.  Hiking Mt. A, Deep Sea Fishing, Boating, Beaching (watching our kids...:-)  )  As for Papa G he enjoys many of the same activities but something tells me his summer will be dedicated to building his boat.  I am also looking forward to some sailing lessons from Papa G.  The second place finish in the York Harbor to Nubble Light sail boat race hasn't sat well with me all winter.  This year we win!
 

The most exciting moment will be when she meets her newest grandchild, Beckett, for the first time.

The only downside is that I will have to give them the BIG GREEN EGG back that I babysat all winter (and fell in love with).

See you at the airport Mom!

Hapy Birthday Dad

You are missed...you would be so proud of your 7 Grandchildren...

Easter

We had a a Great Easter.  It was a small celebration compared to Easter 2007 (one of my favorite day's all time..I'll get to that in a moment).  Yesterday we had Wendy's Mom, Dad, Auntie Jill and Uncle Eric over for Dinner.  Great people!  The high lite of the day was the announcement from Auntie Jill that she is pregnant  (due in Oct).  This was very exciting news!

I also want to take a moment to pay homage to last years Easter.  I love a big family and yet I have always been part of a fairly small family.  It was pretty much me,my dad, my mom, my meme and my sister growing up.  As we all got older, meme passed away, mom moved to Florida, Erin moved to Key West which left me and my dad in (at the time NH).  Well a few years back after dad passed away I was the only one left in these parts.  I hadn't been with my actual family for a Holiday in many many years.  Now I wasn't alone either.  Over the past 7-8 years I have had Wendy and spent most Holidays with her awesome family and of course by now I had a family of my own.  The closest blood relative I had was my sister who had gotten married and moved to Philadelphia and had a family of her own. So every couple of months  either she drove up to Maine to see us or we went to Philly.  It was a lot of driving with some memorable road trips. 
BUT I had an evil plan....key the evil laughter....how could I convince Erin to up-root her family from Philly and move to Maine and do the same for my mother in Florida.  Well, turns out it was pretty easy.  I didn't have to do much other than move to Maine.  After so many trips from Philly to Maine the Moore family finally figured out that there is no better place to live than Maine.  The land, mountains, beaches and the ticks were apparently very attractive to a family living in the suburbs of Philly.
So the Moores are now safe and sound about 5 miles away and it's great to have them so close.  The final piece of the "evil" plan came into play last year when my Mom and Papa Gordo got a place in York ME (the next town over where they reside during Red Sox Season).  They are just far enough away to avoid the screams of the 8 grand children and just close enough to the beach to attract all 8 grandchildren to their home on warm sunny days.
So this brings me to last Easter.  I consider it the crowning achievement of my sinister plan. Last Easter we had the largest family gathering I have ever been part of.  Just about the entire family was there ON EASTER! mhuuu ha ha ha h ha!  Since then we have spent several holidays and birthdays together. Good Times!

So this morning I rise a cup of coffee in toast of last years Easter with the whole famdamily!  Here is the picture from 2007:

 

Big Brother-Little Sister

I was looking for a picture on my sisters blog and found this little post.

I don't know how I missed it when it was originally posted but I must say I am devastated by this news.  This would explain why my sister is so different than me.  We are so different yet so alike all at the same time. We don't agree on Religion or Politics.  She is Right and I am Left.  I vote Erin most likely to cause a scene anywhere she goes whereas I try to fly below the radar at all costs.  I remember I went to the mall with her many many years ago and she was not happy about the service she was getting from the clerk at the counter.  My sister demanded that she talk to the manager, the clerk replied "I am the manager".  I can't tell you what happened after that because I hightailed it out of the store.  I can tell you I have never been to the mall with her since!

When we were young and we would go out to eat her food was N-E-V-E-R done right whereas I have eaten bad food before as to not cause a scene (that and I am convinced that if you send you food back the people in the kitchen do unholy things to it-once it's been delivered the food never leaves my sight!).  How are we alike? She introduced me to Wendy, her best friend and my wife.  Her husband Jermaine is one of my best friends, so we seem to like the same kind of people. We both love living in Maine and spending time with each others family's.  So are we really all that different?

Shaun

MUSKRAT LOVE...

 

I was going through some photo albums looking for pictures of Shaun and I as a baby.  I came across his baby album and among the baby teeth, lock of hair and school projects I found this treasure of a thank-you card:

6/24/77

Dear Mrs. Casey,

Thank you so much for being so thoughtful.  I love musk!  I shall miss Shaun very much.  He has everything going for him - talent, looks, personality and a nice, mannered boy.  Keep being concerned about him - he has lot to offer a class.

Thank you again,

Elanor Clark

Musk?  Classic!

-wc

 

 

Uncle Eric and Auntie Jill

The kids couldn't ask for better Uncles  and Aunts than our kids have.  Everyone who reads this knows Erin and Jermaine and how great they are so I figured I would say a  few words about the other Uncle and Aunt of the K-Sea kids.  Eric and Jill are great people and are GREAT with kids.  The kids love it when they come over.  Will has a special bond with Uncle Eric who for not having kids knows exactly how to relate to kids, Will can't wait to see them when we tell them they are coming over.   I am thankful that they are family.
-Shaun