S'mores and more!

Last night we thought we'd try and do something productive. We have a fire pit in the back yard and it had been laying in disrepair (half of the cinder blocks are broken and the walls were semi collapsed from a couple seasons of snow, and there were large weeds growing all around and through the fireplace). We thought we'd take Kaylee down to play outside on the grass, and that we'd at least re-stack the bricks and clear out the weeds and grass, and when we went down to check it out, it had already been fixed up and cleared out by our neighbor, Glenn. (Yay, Glenn! You rock!) So we decided that maybe we could have a campfire, since it was all ready to go, and we had lots of wood.

In this area, you're supposed to get a burn permit before making a fire. In Caribou, it was a seasonal thing; you get the permit and keep it posted near where you make fires. In Limestone, we weren't sure about where to get it and what the regulations were, so we did what we always do: we live next door to the police station, so we went to ask the officer on duty what the deal was in this area. He wasn't sure, so he did some calling around for us, and then offered to drive Ian over to the Base Fire Station (Loring AFB - now defunct) which is still manned 24-7, to pick up a burning permit. When Ian got back, he told me that our burning permit was only good until midnight and that we need to run out there and pick up a burning permit EVERY SINGLE TIME we have a fire. Which makes sense, in one way, but is totally annoying at the same time. Anyhow, now we know where to go and how it works here...

So long story short, we got some supplies from our camping gear and decided to cook our supper (Kaylee had already eaten) and treats over the campfire. It took a while to get the fire going, as our wood was still too green, but we eventually succeeded with some fire starter bricks (the sawdust/wax kind), and we had fire roasted hot dogs, toasted buns, and s'mores for dessert. We invited our neighbor, Kelly, to join us as well - after all, the more, the merrier, and it was such a nice evening for a visit by the fire.

The mosquitoes and black flies were out in full force, but we had a citronella torch burning behind us, and it really helped. I only had one mosquito bite and Kaylee had two blackfly bites on her little head when we went back inside. It was cool to watch the bats swooping around eating mosquitoes as twilight got darker and darker, and there were even a few fireflies left, flitting around and blinking.

Kelly brought her camera and posted the pics on Facebook, which I am sharing here with you all... Thanks so much for the conversation and pictures, Kelly!

Georgine getting the first round of hot dogs
going on a hot dog/marshmallow roaster...

Ian holding our very active Kaylee!

Roasting our all-beef Oscar Mayer weiners... mmmmm,
they smelled sooooooo good as they started sizzling!

Kaylee trying out her first marshmallow. :)

Giving it a little lick, to see what it is...

Mmmm, this marshmallow tastes pretty
good, Daddy! (see all the little bites she
took off it?)

Pure sticky cuteness!

Molly, who is Kelly's owner... :) She seemed to enjoy
the campfire and especially all the graham crackers
dropped on the ground by Kaylee...

Ian toasting up another hot dog bun
while Georgine and Kaylee watch...

Georgine about to re-place the hot dogs on the skewer
for Ian so they won't fall off into the fire.

Kaylee likes campfires!

Molly just chilling out by the fire (actually by the bag
that had the leftover hot dogs hiding in it...)

Molly intently watching Georgine finish making her
s'more, hoping for a s'more incident to provide her a
sticky, melty treat!