North Conway Camping Adventures 2012

This past week we took the camper and Nanny over to North Conway and stayed at the "Saco River Family Camping Area". Our campsite was was riverside which allowed us to play in the water while Ben napped. The Saco River is cold, but very shallow... you can easily walk across it. Noah almost made it across, but got scared part way there. N & J spent lots of time throwing rocks in the river and playing in the shallow water. We took a hike up to some great waterfalls and Ben got a misquito bite... just one misquito bite next to his eye... the one place I didn't apply bug spray..... he had a reaction..... I had to spend the next 48 hours explaining to people that it was "just a bug bite"... he was a sad sack... I had to take a picture. We took the kids on a train ride, then to the top of Mount Washington on a beautiful sunny day.  The kids loved that the campground had a dunk tank, wagon rides and a shopping cart ride...... we had to ride on the shopping cart every night at 7 pm... Can't wait to go back next summer:)

Vermont Visits

The Yukica family came to visit last weekend as one last summer hurrah before the three big boys start school.  We had a blast with them... unfortunately this is the extent of my picture taking.  I think that someone took some better pictures of the weekend, so I will post them if I get them... believe it or not it is really hard to keep track of all 5 kids at once to take pictures;)  On Saturday we ventured to Freeport and treated them to Otto's pizza on the way home. Sunday we hit the beach after an unsuccessful attempt for breakfast at Scratch Bakery for bagels....:( We had s'mores and a campfire that evening. Gabe and Rebecca enjoyed eating the lobster even after the kids played with them on the floor:)  We love you Yukica's thanks for visiting!!

Smith Pond Vacation- 2012

Last weekend we were very much looking forward to some fun and relaxing time at Grammy and Grampy's house.  I am quite sure there wasn't anything we didn't do on this trip.  The weather was mediocre, but the kids really didn't care and it certainly didn't stop them from enjoying all that pond life has to offer.  We spent time exploring around the pond, looking for fish and frogs.  All James found was a caterpillar which he proceeded to gently hold (squish).  The kids all got in the water (some willingly and some unwillingly;)), Ben tried hard to eat his weight in sand, and the boys got many rides in the canoe and boat which is always a favorite activity.  We hiked up to Katahdin Stream Falls and enjoyed some homemade gnocchi making with Great Grammy Civiello.  Per usual the boys were more interested in tasting the dough than making, but they very much enjoyed the process.  Probably the most exciting part for Noah and James was the fishing.  They both caught fish and were very proud of themselves. James caught his fish off of the dock... after which he refused to get back in the water to go swimming because "the fish will bite me". Noah caught his fish from the boat.... it was a good thing because he was rather "unsure" about the whole thing when the fish came out of the water, but was forced to stay and watch it swim back into the water (the last time Noah caught a fish he ran away screaming;)). Overall we had a fantastic visit, thanks Grammy and Grampy!

Santa's Village/Storyland- 2012

I am so excited to be getting caught up and this last post is not even a week behind;)  Last weekend we took our annual Glidden Family trip to New Hampshire to visit Santa's Village and Storyland. It was very hot, but the water park they have added to Santa's Village made it much more tolerable. Benjamin loved the train, and this picture of him on the train makes me laugh every time, this was really a scream of joy!  James's favorite part was that he was finally big enough to ride on the roller coaster..... he was beyond thrilled and his enthusiasm was enough to convince Noah to go on too.  They each had one ride and thought it was enough, but we will take it! James also loved feeding the reindeer and both N & J loved talking to Santa.  Benjamin liked Santa ok at first, but as soon as Trey stopped crying Ben started, so we at least got one of those classic "baby screaming in fear" pictures with Santa.

At Storyland both Noah and James thought that visiting Cinderella was their favorite part.  We hadn't done this before because I didn't think they would care about it and therefore wasn't worth the effort to trek up to the castle..... how wrong I was.  This is a nice picture of them with Cinderella, but I also have  pictures of each of them hugging her and one where James is staring at her with a huge smile on his face:) Benjamin enjoyed himself in the ball pit... he is such a cute and happy guy!

The bottom few pictures are of the last day of swimming lessons for Noah and James of the summer.  They have both done so well!  James did as well as we could expect for being 3 and not a great listener.  Noah is finally putting some things together and getting over his fears.  It was nice to be home and get everyone readjusted over the past few days.  Benjamin turned 11 months and has entered a very dangerous phase... he is on target with the the other two for his age developmentally, but the fact that he is so tall is really causing some issues.  He is tall enough to open the oven, reach the top of the stove/cupboards/table and really anything else you can imagine...... He has continual bruises to his forehead from trying so hard to keep up with his brothers and get into everything they are... this will be interesting over the next several months;)