Other Adventures from the Wedding Weekend;)

After the wedding festivities quieted, we were able to spend sometime with Grammy and Grampy catching frogs and exploring the North Maine Woods. We took a hike into the ice caves which were so cool, literally.  They still had ice despite the warm summer we have had.  All of the kids headed into the caves with minimal reservations.

After the caves we hiked a bit further down to the pond for a gorgeous view, a snack and some silly poses on the rocks.  We were all pretty tired after the hike and ready for the ride home for supper. Until we got back on the paved road and this happened... not one, but two flat tires... it was a bummer.  Luckily, Grampy Grampy had rented a minivan for the wedding and could come to pick us up fairly quickly.  Unluckily, AAA couldn't find a tow truck to help us and told us to call back in the morning... Well, needless to say, I wasn't super happy with AAA when I called back in the morning to request "emergency roadside help" again. They sent someone this time and they kindly towed it to our favorite garage who went out of their way to fix the truck so we could be on our way home.  So, for future reference, I now know that if AAA can't make it to help you, you can call your own tow truck and get reimbursed... I guess I am glad it took us 18 years of membership to find that out;)  Our adventure certainly made the trip memorable and we were thankful to have such a great weekend to end our summer vacation!

Andrea & Travis Get Married!

To keep things exciting this summer our next stop was back to Smith Pond for Andrea and Travis' wedding weekend!   We had a wonderful time celebrating Andrea and Travis, kayaking, paddle boating, fishing and dancing the night away at the reception.  It was an absolutely perfect day for a beautiful wedding. Congratulations guys, we were honored to be a part of it!

Summer of 2016 Rolls On!

The business of this summer continues on.  We dropped Shakeinne off at the bus on Thursday and all of the kids are definitely missing having him here.  We spent some time catching frogs and building shelters around the yard after Noah and James finished up their Wild camp.  They learned so much and were very excited to pass what they learned on to their younger siblings.  Audrey got her first haircut this week.  She did an awesome job with the cut and requested two braids after, but then refused to let me take a picture, so here is one of the back of her head I snuck in as she climbed into the car;)

We checked some things off our summer bucket list this week too.  We made some lemonade from real lemons and enjoyed it with a picnic lunch out back.  We were joined by Matilda and George Washington who didn't understand why we didn't want them on our blanket eating our lunch.

We have had such a full summer we almost didn't realize that we hadn't been camping once!  So, in the true fashion of doing things last minute, late the night before planning, we decided to go for it.  Gabe was on call, which is probably why he agreed to something so spontaneous;)  We headed to Boothbay on a Saturday, tented for 1 night and headed home.  It was a whirlwind trip, but really fun!  We got in some swimming, visited with old friends, had s'mores, ate in an old tugboat, saw the taffy, ate some ice-cream and visited the aquarium. We did have one day at home to unpack before the kids dentist appointments with their new dentist.  It was Audrey's first visit and she was quite excited:)

Fresh Air Fund Visit 2016- Part 2

After what felt like a low key start to Sha's trip, thanks to the weather, Monday was an exhausting day!  The three older boys started the day at Titcomb Mountain for the recreation department's "Wild" camp.  They studied some outdoor survival skills and really enjoyed themselves.  We picked them up from there and brought them to a tennis lesson.  Shakeinne was a great sport and worked so hard trying something new.  

One of Shakeinne's request for the week was to hike a mountain, so after tennis we hiked up Bald Mountain for some amazing views.  I was a bit outnumbered, but the kids all did such a great job with minimal complaining:)  THEN, we stopped home for a quick supper so that we could get to soccer camp that evening.  Needless to say, everyone slept well this night!

Tuesday we finally got to get some tubing and fishing in.  Gabe had to check the bees so Noah and Shakeinne were his assistant bee keepers. That evening we had more soccer camp and a fun swimming party with friends afterwards. On the last day of Shakeinne's visit the boys enjoyed another day of "Wild" camp where they learned some first aid.  We did more swimming, went to the movies and finished the day with bowling after soccer camp.  

We had an awesome time Shakeinne and can't wait to see you again next year! Thanks for joining us!