Memorial Day Long Weekend 2015

The kids had an extra long 4 day weekend from school to celebrate Memorial Day this year and we took full advantage:)  On Friday, the kids and I met our friends for a fun day of Mackworth Island and ice cream at Lib's in Portland. Our kids were so excited to show their friends the island and the tides cooperated so we were able to enjoy lots of tide pooling. We even got a picture with all of the kids smiling AND looking in the same direction. The kids were having so much fun exploring everything that we stayed for 4 hours!  Things ended with the boys getting soaking wet in the ocean splashing each other... the water must have been so cold, but they had so much fun.

On Saturday Grammy came for a visit and we had a cold BBQ and campfire for s'mores.  Sunday things warmed up a bit and the kids and I went in search of some pond animals while daddy was at work.  Audrey fell in the mud, but thankfully earlier she had insisted on wearing this life jacket so I just pulled her up by her handle;) The kids also took the first dip in the pool this year.  I believe it was around 64 degrees which is way too cold for me, but they all jumped in once and got back out... hopefully it will warm up soon.

Mulch, Coop and Audrey's Room

Spring is in full swing around here and so are the nightly baths everyone has to take because of how dirty they manage to get during the day... I can't wait for the pool to get warm enough to wash of in there before bed.  We got a pile of mulch delivered and the kids immediately discovered that they could ride their bikes down the grassy hill and "crash softly" into the mulch without getting hurt.  They also quickly discovered that much itches and that put an end to playing in the mulch... natural consequences at it's best:)  I got Audrey's room painted this week and her new Ikea furniture put together.  She is so excited about a real space of her own.  Also, our coop is coming together and almost chicken ready!

Grandpa Turns 70

To continue our traveling tour, we spent today taking a day trip to East Millinocket to celebrate Grandpa turning 70!  Audrey got herself dressed and ready to go to the party bright and early, then requested that I take her picture. Once again, we got to see more family that we only get to see a few times a year. For my dad's birthday, my mom had a photographer to come take some family photos, which I am not sure we have ever done.  It is a rarity to have everyone, including spouses and kids, all in the same place at the same time.  Happy birthday Grandpa!

Garden & Coop

While we were gone spring arrived in Western Maine and we felt like we were a bit behind.  We have spent the last week getting the garden ready for planting and cleaning up the yard. James has spent most of the week playing in this big, messy sandbox and having the time of his life.  This is where he goes as soon as he gets off the bus.  There is also this other project we are taking on... building the coop for the chickens we have arriving in June... I guess we thought things might get a bit boring around here;)

Spring Road Trip 2015- Philadelphia

Friday we took the short drive from DC to Philadelphia where we hit up the Ikea as soon as they opened:)  We spent the afternoon at the Please Touch Museum and they kids did almost everything they had there.  The favorite spot was the play city on the lower level complete with an ambulance/hospital. They all took turns being the patient/doctor/ambulance driver, we were impressed at how well they worked together without fighting!

After the museum, we made our way downtown to our hotel.  It was much better than we expected, had a pool and was close to everything we needed... not bad for a last minute booking on a spring weekend!  We were also very fortunate that my cousin Hillary put us in touch with a college friend who was still living in the Philadelphia area and was willing to watch our kids (at the last minute) in the hotel for two evenings while Gabe and I attended wedding festivities.  Seriously, we are still blown away at how the whole thing worked out so well!

Saturday after breakfast we went for a swim and met up with some college friends and their families for a park brunch/lunch (brunch for the childless who sleep in and lunch for the rest of us;)). In the afternoon we saw the Liberty Bell, but only from the outside because the line was so long... Gabe and I thought this was totally adequate, but James may never let us forget that we did get to see the Liberty Bell, but not the crack because you can only see that from the inside... We had to promise that on our next trip to Philadelphia we will plan to get there early enough to go inside. After President Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin is the kids' next favorite person they learned about.  We were able to see his old neighborhood, where his house stood and the walkway he traveled daily.

Gabe and I both had a fantastic weekend visiting with our friends from college who we do not get to see often enough. We realized that we hadn't seen a few of them since our wedding almost 12 years ago!  The ceremony and reception were both at the Horticulture Center and absolutely beautiful.  It was a relaxing and enjoyable time had by all.  Congratulations Brooks and Sara!!

Sunday we got on the road at 7:45am and arrived back home at 7:45pm... it was a long day of driving, but the kids did so well!  We were very fortunate to squeeze one more visit in on the way home.  The Melman family lives just under halfway between Philadelphia and Wilton, so we were able to stop there to visit for a few hours.  They were kind enough to feed us lunch (despite having a new baby) and the kids got to run free and play with friends they haven't seen in almost 2 years:)  Thanks Melmans and hopefully not so long next time!!  The last picture is of the kids at home.  The first thing they did when they got out of the truck was to find a toad and chase it into this bush... I think they were happy to be home:)