Belgrade Lakes 2017

The day after we got back from Millinocket we made a quick turn around for our time at the "Clubhouse" on Long Pond.  We had beautiful days for tubing, water skiing, swimming and general relaxing on the lake.  Gabe golfed on Sunday so the kids and I did a little hiking on "The Mountain" literally across the street from the Clubhouse.  I tried to get them to take what seemed like a more reasonable loop, but they unanimously decided they wanted to do a longer loop too.  Who was I to say no to more hiking?  We hiked for more of the day than I anticipated, but all of the kids did so well.  I carried Audrey for most of the way, but even she didn't mind.  I have been impressed so far this year with not only how well the kids are doing hiking, but also how much they really seem to love it.  

Visit North 2017

With the meat birds in our freezer, we had new found freedom to leave home together.  Our first stop was north to visit with Grampy and Grammy for a few days.  The weather turned out to be much nicer than predicted so we enjoyed lots of swimming, kayaking and paddle boating.  We also got the opportunity to visit with lots of family we don't see often and the kids for to meet Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Phil from Arizona for the first time:)  

We hiked into Blue Berry ledges and got to dip our feet in the cold water.  There were lots of blueberries to pick and everyone got their fill.  The morning before we left we got to fish with Grampy and all of the kids caught more than one fish.  We were not planning to keep any of them, but some of them were so big we couldn't throw them back.  Certainly it was a successful morning of fishing:) 

Golf, Art and the Meat Birds

As always, Gabe throughly enjoyed his time with family and friends at the Civiello Invitation which celebrated it's 50th Anniversary this year!  

While Gabe was enjoying golf the kids and I were getting back into "real life".  Nannie came to visit for a bit, we had a "let's clean out the freezer" dinner and did lots of swimming in the pool. 

On Saturday, Shannon and I took all of the kids to Reid State Park to the beach.  Well, apparently over the last year everyone grew up... we were at the beach from 10:30-3:30/4... like real adults. At no point did anyone complain, fight or whine to leave... no one had a break down.  The kids literally played in the water or sand (and seemed to enjoy themselves) all day.  AND Shannon and I got to visit like actual adults!  It was very surreal and we probably won't be going back to the beach for a while until the stars align perfectly like that again;) 

On Sunday, I had to have the meat birds in Skowhegan by 9am... I had everything prepared the night before as well as a perfect plan (there is a chance I was still a bit traumatized from the pig loading incident and since I was alone, it raised the stakes). The kids were all on board with what we were going to have to do in order to leave our house that early with 20 meat birds in back of the car. Everything was going smoothly until I went out back to load up the birds and saw white feathers and bird parts strewn everywhere. Only expletives were going through my head at the thought raising the birds for the past 8 weeks just to have them all eaten by someone else the night before their slaughter date.  I regained my composure to count the now free ranging meat birds that were supposed to be in the pen for easy wrangling.  Mercifully, we only lost two!  I was so happy I almost cried, except now I was running behind schedule and had to chase the birds around to cage them.  Luckily, full grown meat birds are not super smart or fast. Like old pros, Noah, James and I grabbed chickens while Ben and Audrey opened up the cage door and made sure no one got out.  I am sure it was quite a scene, but everyone did great.  

At the start of our 50 minute drive to the farm I realized that I didn't have my wallet... I had left it at the Bennett's house the night before in a beach bag I had not bothered to turn around and get last night because I thought it only contained towels... Naturally, the gas tank was empty and without a wallet I didn't even have the ability to withdraw money from the credit union... I raided the kid's wallets and scrounged together $10 for gas, which I sent Noah into the register to pay for partially because I haven't bought gas with cash in years and partially because we were now super late.  To summarize, there is no direct route between Skowhegan and Wayne Maine, so I spent the entire two hours waiting for the birds to be processed driving to get my wallet... The upside is that the kids were super patient and the meat looks amazing!  Tessier's Farm in Skowhegan did such a fantastic job I felt like I had walked out of Hannaford with the chicken:) 

Camping!

Our company all left on Sunday, Gabe was back at work Monday, but was leaving that Thursday for the Civiello Invitational, then things are going to get busy again, so instead of taking a break and relaxing at home, the kids and I left on a camping trip for two nights.  Normally we would have left when Gabe was gone, but we still have the meat birds and someone really needs to tend them and Gabe was just working a lot anyway, so we went on an adventure.  I google searched for a campground in the general area of the mid coast and found something cheap, on a lake and available.  

Up to this point I had never camped as one adult with 4 kids solo so, naturally, I had low expectations and figured I could abort and go home at any point.  Maybe it was my low expectations, but we had a wonderful time!  They are all finally at an age where I don't have to watch their every move, they can help with things and they can be more than an arms length from me around water.  Our tent site was right on the lake across from the playground which couldn't have been more perfect.  I even think I got to read two pages of my book this trip... just two and not consecutively, because, well, there are 4 of them and someone ALWAYS needs something... never the same thing and never at the same time;)  But still... two pages:)  

On the second day of our trip it was cooler and overcast for most of the day so we did the Owl's Head Transportation Museum which is always impressive.  We grabbed an impromptu lunch at the Owl's Head General Store on our way to the lighthouse.  As it turns out, their 7 Napkin Burger has won/been voted "Best in Maine" by several different media outlets more than once.  Of course that is what I ordered and it was so good, but the kids would like it recorded that I only used 5 napkins, not 7.  James took a surprising detour and ordered the "Peanut Butter and Jelly Burger".  Yes, it was a layer of peanut butter, burger, cheese, and bacon, all topped with grape jelly.  He loved it and I too thought it was way better than it sounded... I mean, who doesn't love warm melted peanut butter, cheese and bacon!

We did some exploring and tide pooling after visiting the lighthouse.  It was great to "get away" for a few days and explore our beautiful state in the summer!