Brooke's Arrival in Hawaii

MS Vanilla Bean Is In Vermont

I am writing on behalf of Ms. Vanilla Bean, Abby's traveling bear, as Vanilla Bean has trouble typing.

Vanilla has been visiting with the Bradys of Vermont this week. And I've enclosed a few photos here. Vanilla visited the Vermont State House in Montpelier, Vermont. She had the chance to actually chair the House of Representatives (though no one was there!). And she and Abby's cousins went fishing one day on the Huntington River - which runs through the Green Mountains of Vermont. There's a great picture of her cousins heading to the river - and of a fish Vanilla Bean caught. Before leaving, she picked up some of Vermont's finest maple syrup.

I hope school vacation is going well. Vanilla Bean looks forward to getting home.


Sincerely,

Ted Brady
Williston, Vermont

Jesse Bear

Our back yard on Mousam River;
We live 2 1/2 miles from mouth of the river;
Today the 2 rivers are both mostly fishing and recreation.

Brick Store Museum – Schooner Lavinia Built 1883;

Write up about Schooner;

One of three dams on Mousam River – used to be manufacturing mills, now recreation

Kennebunk River

See Jesse amongst these “buoys”!  Each lobsterman knows his own buoys by the colors

Kennebunk River today – mostly fishing and recreation boating
 Lobster boat at dock

We stopped at a fishing shack and this nice man held Jesse close so he could check out a live wiggling lobster! Have you ever eaten lobster?  Delicious!

Another lobster boat at the wharf- the lobsterman told us the Ocean was too rough to go out this day

A close-up of Jesse playing hide and seek amongst some buoys! They will be dropped in the Ocean and attached to a float we call a “buoy”.

Do you see his “lobster traps on his boat, now you see Jesse sitting on a pile of traps cleaned, mended and ready to go out to sea. 

Jesse Bear

The summer compound of George & Barbara Bush. The whole of Walkers Point belongs to the family.
Their sons and daughter and families visit frequently between Memorial Day and Columbus Day.
The house in the background is theirs. The other houses are for their children & families.

In the foreground is Jesse and a plaque from the towns people to George H.W. Bush for his service to us and to our country.
The next photo is a close-up of that plaque.
Then Jesse is sitting on the anchor that goes with the plaque.
The next two photos are of our Atlantic Ocean coast – Rocky in one and sandy in the other with some surfers.

The last photo is Jesse at our library. He stopped to sit on this statue of a girl and a boy each reading a book.

 

Jesse Goes to Kennebunk, ME

Grandma Joan & Mel Uchenick   April 14 – 17^th

1. Kennebunk was first settled in 1621.  The town was first a trading center and later became a shipbuilding and shipping center with light manufacturing.  The original settlers prior to 1621 were the Abenaki Native Americans.  Today Kennebunk is mainly a tourist and fishing town with a population of about 12,000.  We have 5 beaches, hiking trails, fishing, restaurants, fun shops, & more.  We are the summer home of two expresidents:  George H. Bush and his son George W. Bush.  They have been a part of our community since they each were children.

2.  It is located half way between Portland, ME & Portsmouth, NH. - 1 hour NE of Topsfield, MA.  We are less than an hour south of Freeport, home of L.L. Bean.  We are on the SW coastal corner of ME.  It takes many hours to drive to our northern & eastern borders with Canada.  Jesse’s first stop was on the Pacific Ocean and this last stop is on the Atlantic Ocean.  We have 9 to 11 foot tides twice a day.  It is a great deal of fun to print a tide chart and go to the beaches at different tide times looking for shells, beach glass, stones or creatures.

3.  Weather:  Summer days after a cool morning usually get up in the 70’s. We often get 6-8 inch snow storms.  Winter is full of lots of snow & ice sports.  Our town has an ice rink downtown in winter. 

4. We have 2 rivers - the Kennebunk & the Mousam [mouse-um]. The town of Kennebunk is along the south side of the Kennebunk River. The town of Kennebunkport is along the north side of the Kennebunk River.  On the Kennebunk River in the early 1800’s many ocean sailing schooners were built. They sailed around the world transporting goods from here and bringing back other goods – such as lumber, cotton, fabrics.  We took Jesse to our Brick Store Museum to learn more.  We took his picture with the schooner Lavinia picture.  She was built in 1823.  She went down in a storm in 1891.  Schooners sailed by wind power as you know.  They were replaced when motors were invented.

Today the Kennebunk River is deep sea used mainly for recreational boats, tour boats, lobster and fishing boats.

The Mousam River, because it provided water power, resulted in the growth of light manufacturing.   There were factories making shoes, fiberboard suitcases, leather goods from animal hides, ropes [used for farming and fishing] - & many others.  Today those factories are gone because water power is no longer used and factories moved to the south. 

Today we enjoy the Mousam River for fly fishing, canoeing, kayaking.  Both of our rivers are tidal.  We live on the Mousam 2 ½ miles from the Ocean.  Half the time the water flows past us coming in from the Ocean. Then the tide turns and the river flows back out to the Ocean getting lower and lower.  This cycle occurs twice each day – about every 12 hours.

We have enjoyed sharing our area with Jesse.  Now we are returning him to you, Daniel, so you can share his travels with your fellow 4^th graders at Proctor!

Bridge over Kennebunk River connecting Kennebunk town to Kennebunkport

Clam Shack

Tourist Restaurant Dock Square – center of tourist shops

Fisherman and wife Stat

Caramel Explores NYC

We loved showing Jordyn's bear, Caramel, how different it is to live in NYC. We don't live in a house but in an apartment building with over 200 other families! We don't have a backyard so most days after school we go straight to Central Park to play, or if it's raining we go to our building's playroom.

Real estate is at a premium here so our preschool sits on top of a drug store and our school playground is on the roof!

We don't own a car so we walk a lot but also take the bus or subway to get around. We took Caramel on a subway ride down to see the Statue of Liberty and to ride on the Sea Glass Carousel in Battery Park.

We had a lovely time but were excited to send Caramel back to Jordyn to share all of our adventures.

xoxo
The O'Garro Family

Jesse Bear

Hi Daniel, 

 I went to the library today in Kennebunk! I sat on the shoulders of this statue and listened to the kids read!

I went to Agway Garden Store with Grandma Joan and sat amongst the very few daffodils that are in bloom. Spring is not really started here quite yet!

Too busy at the Subaru Garage and the gym to do much today. Tomorrow! I can’t wait to get back and see you Daniel!

Your friendly Bear, Jesse

The Bears Are Coming Home!

On my way home!

Caramel Made it to NYC

Caramel made it to NYC!!!

 Jordyn's bear Caramel is handling the transition from sunny California to cool, crisp New York very well. Spring has sprung here and Caramel is enjoying Central Park and some of our wonderful museums.

Shane

My name is Ali Johnston and I am Ryan's aunt! We have had the honor of hosting Ryan's bear(Shane) for the last few months. We live in Shrewsbury, Ma and he is enjoying his time here! Over the last few months Shane has had many adventures with Ryan's cousins Abi and Noah. Two of his favorites were bowling and skiing.

We went bowling with our cousins Makayla and Cameron! Shane loved meeting new people and got a chance to snuggle! We also let Shane help keep score!

Shane also had a chance to see one of Noah's basketball games and see him receive his trophy! 

Noah and Abi also took Shane to Ski Ward, which is one mile from our house in Shrewsbury. We spend a lot of time there in the colder weather! Shane got a chance to meet Abi's best friend Emily and even took turns riding down the mountain with all of them! 

We have had fun with Shane and hope you enjoy some of the pictures we have taken!


Love,
Aunt Ali

Professor William Bearington and Fabio at Bingo

It was Monday night at the Club house and we had the opportunity to call out some numbers at Bingo. It was lots of fun and the people seemed to enjoy seeing two bears at their Club house especially when they heard of our travels.

Professor William Bearington and Fabio With Eagles

Today we witnessed a pair of nesting Eagles in Forest Lakes. The Complex is getting ready to replace a tile roof on a villa but have to wait until the Baby Eagles are ready to fly. They are protected so the complex cannot disturb them. Once they leave the nest, the Association has petition the Wildlife to relocate their nest away from any of the homes. You see Eagles, catch fish and they tend to drop fish near the homes creating a terrible mess and odor. It will cost the Association some $4500. to relocate and protect the Eagles.

Also we got to feed the ducks that visit Kevin and Katrina's grandparents condo. When we stayed there we fed them three times a day. They laid 12 eggs in the bushes outside our bedroom window. My grandparents took pictures of the eggs, as well as the baby ducks when they hatched as we had returned home.

Professor William Bearington and Fabio

Naples, Florida

After a full day at the beach we are going to share our bedroom with our cousin, Teddy who lives in Florida, full time. We are excited because tomorrow we get to go to the airport and meet Kevin and Katrina as they are spending a week with us. SOoooooooooooooooooo excited!! Hope we can sleep.

Here we are relaxing by one of the three pools in Forest Lakes Condominium where there are 352 units located on 20 acres abutting an 18 hole golf course.

The grounds are beautiful here. It is conveniently located within 2 miles from the beach and very close to shopping malls.

 After sitting by the pool, we decided to go for a swim. The temperature is 85 degrees and this pool is heated to 90 degrees.