Early Release Wednesdays

Noah's school gets out one hour early each Wednesday which means that everyone also gets up from their naps an hour earlier, and more time for playing in the afternoon.  We have been trying to get out of the house on these days since the weather has been so beautiful.  As a result, I have discovered yet another gem of the greater Portland area, the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center.  This is a gorgeous spot for easy walking, beautiful views of the ocean, wildlife and there is a fantastic welcome center and exploration room for the kids.  The best part by far was that it was free and just over the "border" in Falmouth! Really though a great place to let the kids run free and explore, clearly a new favorite spot for this family.  

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend we took a quick day trip to Brewer to attend Lindsey and Brian's wedding.  It was such a beautiful wedding!  Per usual I left the camera in the car for the ceremony, but did remember it for the reception.  We had such a fun time and it was so great to be able to visit with friends and family we don't get to see often enough.  Congratulations Lindsey and Brian! We are so happy for you!!

Fryeburg Fair 2012

We had a fantastic trip to the fair!  Gabe survived his first "camping" trip to the fair and the rain held off long enough for us to get a few days in at least:) Gabe and I were both very thankful for the kind older gentlemen who came to help us back the camper into a very tight squeeze. The highlights we the old stand-byes: the donuts, the goats at Old McDonald's farm (clearly Benjamin was in no way afraid of them), all of the farm equipment and motors outside of the blacksmith shop, and new to our kids this year were the rides.  Noah even climbed all the way to the top of a very high slide and slid down without hesitation (he did not want to do it again though). We made it to parts of Woodsmen's Day, the oxen pulls and did a bit of Christmas shopping to boot;)  Although camping with the kids in the rain can be a bit of a pain at times, we really enjoyed the fair much more being able to take breaks and divide up our time over several days.  Can't wait until next year!!

Pumpkin Painting

It is officially fall.... cold and rainy outside.  We were supposed to leave for the fair today, but given the cold rain forecasted for today and tomorrow we have decided to go tomorrow instead.  We spent the morning painting pumpkins and the afternoon making lots of apple pies and apple sauce from our recent apple picking trip.... What could have been more fun??  We did let Ben paint his own pumpkin this year... It was quickly apparent that he preferred his fingers to the paintbrush I offered..... also that he liked to eat the pain, so..... we quickly traded his paints for some finger paints and took the chance that he wouldn't eat enough of the paint to be toxic;)  

It is funny to look at things that we allow our kids to do now that we would have been horrified to let them do the first time around (and I am sure many of you reading may be horrified too;)).  We have found it much less stressful to go through the following triage in our heads... #1- Could they be seriously injured as a result of this? #2- Could it permanently ruin/damage something we care about or will it just wash later (even with some effort)? #3- Are they having fun? We definitely do more laundry and washing, but everyone seems to enjoy themselves more:) Happy Fall! 

One More Time...:)

We are absolutely thrilled to say that we are expecting baby #4 at the end of March!!! Noah and James are so excited, but Noah has said repeatedly that we have enough boys and he would really like a girl this time..... we will have to see how that works out;)