We spent a few days in Auburn, Maine, visiting with Dave's brothers and their families. 

On Saturday morning, we went to a farmer's market. It was bustling with activity. Everything was locally grown and produced. We got a bunch of fresh veggies to make a salad for the cookout we were planning to have that evening. 

While trying to decide what to have as the main dish for our cookout, Dave's brother Jesse spotted the locally fished lobsters and decided they were just the thing. 

Eating lobster had been on our list of things to do in Maine, and we're very grateful for the generosity of Dave's brother Jesse to buy this lobster to share with us. Like so many things on this trip, getting lobster worked out better than we ever could have expected. 

Dave's older brother, Chris, with some of our lobsters. 

Jesse with his wife Kirstin and kids Haley and Alex. 

Everyone make silly faces! 

Dave with his two brothers during our cookout. This was the first time the three of them had spent time together in 13 years! 

Chris did a wonderful job cooking the lobsters. Here, he's showing Dave and I, lobster newbies, how to properly crack the shells and eat them. Chris also made delicious, juicy steak to make this dinner into a true surf and turf. We had corn on the cob, fresh farmer's market salad, and crackers and dip made by Kirstin for sides. Better still, we finished eating and got everything cleaned up and back inside just minutes before a torrential downpour began. 

Chris and Geneva's daughters, Leanna and Jenna, with Alex, Dave, and I. Jenna just celebrated her 15th birthday this weekend. Happy birthday Jenna! 

Another afternoon, Haley, Leanna, and I went to the park together. We went on the swings, took a long walk, and climbed up this neat spider web structure. Afterwards, we went out to have ice cream and sit in the air conditioning to escape from the muggy afternoon heat. 

Haley is very creative and artistic. Everywhere we went, she picked lots of wildflowers to put in my hair. 

She also picked some flowers for Kirstin's hair. They looked great. 

There was a really neat veteran's memorial in downtown Auburn. This was the one day of nice weather we had, and the sky looked so invitingly blue. 

The U.S.S Maine, commissioned in 1895, was the first modern American battleship, and the first modern navy warship to be built in an American shipyard of materials produced entirely in the USA. 

The veteran's memorial also told the history of the Willy's Jeep, which was first produced by Willys-Overland as a response to a call from the Army for a replacement universal military vehicle. 

In the 1940's, over 350,000 Jeeps were produced as part of the war effort. Each Jeep cost the military $738.74. The name Jeep apparently comes from Willy-Overlands' term GP, which stood for general purpose vehicle. When slurred together, GP sounds like Jeep, and the name stuck. Willys soon realized there would be a huge civilian market for a version of the Jeep, and began promoting it as a work and recreation vehicle as early as 1942. 

These stunning waterfalls, another source of hydroelectricity, bordered the veteran's memorial. Remarkably, this is also the Androscoggin, the same river we kayacked in New Hampshire. 

Dave caught this interesting local graffiti. The artist was making a negative statement with "Hardly Local," but Dave decided to turn the message around into something positive by taking a photo of only the "Local" part of the graffiti. The place you are is only as good as the energy you put in to it.