BIG HANSEN HAPPENINGS!

There have been big things afoot in the Hansen family recently. The first, over 4 years in the making, is Rebecca's beautiful teeth! Here is Rebecca on Sunday...

...and here's Rebecca this evening! After four plus years, the braces are finally gone!

Now this alone would be big news, but wait, there's more. Yes...

ANNE GOT A NEW JOB!

With the tough economy, this was no easy task. Anne has been working really hard job hunting for the past six months, but it paid off. On Tuesday, September 8, Anne will be starting her new job with Millipore in Bedford, MA. Anne is very excited about this new position, one that will build upon the things that she already knows and allow her to learn some new skills in the process. We're all very excited and as you can imagine, relieved!

GRISWOLD 2009 - DAYS 8 & 9

GRISWOLD 2009 - "GRISWOLDS GO FOR BROKE - THE RECESSION TOUR" - DAYS 8 & 9 MONDAY & TUESDAY, AUGUST 10 & 11

On Sunday, August 9, we all gathered together in Vernon, CT (Kate Berstene's relatively new house!) for a Gillen family reunion. We had a very nice day catching up with each other as well as eating and playing bocce! We spent the night in Suffield with Grandpa & Grandma Gillen and then took off from there for Griswold 2009 - Day 8.

Our first stop of the day, after about an hour drive, was Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. It was a very warm day, around 90 and a bit muggy, but the sun was out and all was well. We got to Mystic Seaport a little after 10:00 AM.

We began our visit with a walk through a building dedicated to the preservation of old ships. Here, Erik and Rebecca tried their hands at drilling without power and learned that it's not as easy as it looks!

Then we paid a visit to the Charles W. Morgan, an old whaling vessel that's currently being restored at Mystic Seaport. It was huge and impressive.

I sure hope it has power steering!

The men that worked this ship slept very close to each other in cramped quarters and likely smelled worse than we can ever imagine.

There was a little sandy beach there where kids were netting whatever they could find in the shallow water. Erik and Rebecca held and examined these little crabs.

We saw a very interesting building that showed how the large ropes used on ships were made. We found this building to be fascinating.

We also learned that in the world of large ships, we're relatively small!

Erik got to make a toy boat! (Go ahead and try to say that three times fast..."toy boat, toy boat, toy boat!")

All in all, we had a whale of a time at Mystic Seaport!

From Mystic Seaport, we took a fairly short drive to Groton, CT, to see the Naval Submarine Museum.

After spending some time going through the museum and learning about submarines of the past, Steve decided to go "up periscope" to see if there was anything interesting nearby...

...and in doing so spotted the USS Nautilus outside.

The Nautilus is a nuclear submarine and it's open for tours.

As we entered the sub, they handed us these little electronic audio players. As we entered each new area of the sub, the message changed and told us about the area we were in.

We couldn't imagine sleeping in such tight quarters. Everything was state of the art in the submarine though, particularly given the available space.

Yes, Erik is getting bigger, but it's still pretty tight in the walkways and doorways.

As we left the sub, the kids saluted.

Then we said goodbye to the sub and headed back to Suffield for the night.

After spending Monday night in Suffield, the four of us, along with Steve, Karen, Melissa, Grandpa & Grandma, started Tuesday with a visit to the Basketball Hall Of Fame in Springfield, MA.

The outside of the building is impressive looking.

On the inside, Michael Jordan, who is being inducted in September, is everywhere! It's fitting for one of the greatest players of all time to get this much attention, though we couldn't help but notice that there is little mention yet of the people he's being inducted with. Still, we're happy for him and for the Chicago Bulls!

There was certainly a lot to see, including pictures and memoribilia of the previous inductees.

There were also displays that showed the origins and evolution of the game.

What really made things fun though were the interactive elements of the museum. Here, Anne, Rebecca and Erik performed basketball movements in front of a blue screen. They were then superimposed into a game of one on one with well known players. It was a lot of fun to watch!

Here Rebecca tries her hand at sportscasting, while Erik tries to distract her with his comic relief.

Erik and Rebecca also tried their hands at slam dunking while being pulled back by large bungees. The bungees weren't strong though and both slam dunked easily.

In the meantime, Steve hung out with an old friend.

We had a great time at the Hall Of Fame and as we left, we said goodbye to Grandpa, Grandma and the "Ohio Gillens". (We missed you Amy! See you at Christmas!)

From the Basketball Hall Of Fame, we took a short drive into downtown Springfield to the Springfield Museums. We had attempted to go here all the way back on Day 1 of Griswold 2009, but they were closed. This time we finally got to go and see what we came for, the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden.

It's a nice tribute to Dr. Seuss and all of his characters that we know and love...

...like Horton...

...Thidwick...

...and more!

As Anne said goodbye to the Lorax, we said goodbye to Springfield and headed slowly towards home by a different route than usual. (I-91 to Rt. 2 and then Rt. 2 to I-495) We made a very enjoyable stop in Westford, MA at Kimball's Farm for some ice cream and then we headed for home!

It was another couple of fun days for Griswold 2009! Who says you can't have fun closer to home?!

GRISWOLD 2009 - DAY 7

GRISWOLD 2009 - "GRISWOLDS GO FOR BROKE - THE RECESSION TOUR" - DAY 7 - FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

We began Day 7 of Griswold 2009 with a drive to Saco, ME and a visit to Schooner Mini Golf.

The property had a nautical theme and was nicely maintained.

There was even a hole on the ship itself, though most of the holes were nicer in layout than this one.

The ladies won the match by 6 strokes...OUCH! Rebecca was the overall individual champion.

From Saco, we drove a relatively short distance to Portland, ME, for our next adventure of the day. This adventure involved going out on a lobster boat, the "Lucky Catch", to learn about and participate in a little lobstering in Casco Bay.

We boarded the boat around 2:00 PM and then headed out into the bay.

Rebecca and Erik were quick to put on their working gear and got right to the business of lobstering.

Here is Rebecca helping to fill a bait bag for one of the traps. She dug right in, even though it was smelly herring.

Other things end up in the traps besides lobsters. Here's Erik holding one of the small crabs that was in a trap.

Here the captain of the boat shows us how they measure lobsters to determine if they are big enough to keep. There are very strict guidelines that have to be adhered to.

Erik and Rebecca were both very involved. Erik is seen here loading a bait bag into a trap.

Once that bag was loaded into the trap, he closed it up. Now it's ready to send back into the water, where they leave each trap for around 3 days.

Here Anne displays one of the bands that are put on the claws of the lobsters that are kept...

...and here's Anne using a special tool to apply that band to a lobster claw.

Here Erik supervises Rebecca baiting another trap...

...and then Erik helps to send the trap back into the water.

From the boat, we had nice views of some old forts and the lovely Portland Head lighthouse. We would later visit the lighthouse from land.

Here's Anne getting into the baiting business.

Here's Anne, Rebecca and Erik removing a number of small crabs from a trap. Some of the traps had a lot of crabs and many were removed by hand before being sent back into the water.

Here's Anne sending another trap overboard!

Once back on land, we decided to visit some lighthouses from the shore side. Here we visited the Spring Point lighthouse, which sits at the end of a jetty made of very large stones that were fun to walk on.

From there, we took a short drive to the Portland Head lighthouse, which is next to a lovely park.

After the Portland Head lighthouse, we grabbed a quick dinner and then headed to Hadlock Field in Portland to see the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, take on the Bowie Bay Sox, an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

It was a low scoring affair, but the Sea Dogs finally broke through with a run in the 6th inning that would turn out to be all they'd need.

After the game, we drove home from Portland and got back at 11:30 PM. It was a busy, but very enjoyable day!