Fresh Air Fund Visit- 2016

We are more than thrilled to have Shakeinne back to stay with us this summer through the Fresh Air Fund!  We picked him up in Waterville on Thursday night and on Friday morning we went out on the boat... eventually.  We drove to Wayne to boat with friends on Androscoggin Lake, but the battery was dead. There were some harrowing moments when we tried to jump the battery with the car, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.  So, we sent Gabe and Chris to Augusta to get a new battery and Shannon and I took all 7 kids and went for ice-cream.  Now, it was 85+ degrees and SO humid, so I will blame that on our problem solving abilities at this point.  We thought it would be fine to have everyone walk to the ice-cream place that is about half a mile (give or take) down the road.  Everyone was hot, but the kids did awesome with minimal complaining.  When we arrived at the ice cream store there were a few workers inside and outside cleaning.  One man came out to tell us that they didn't open for 30 minutes.  One would think that by looking at us with a guaranteed sale of 9 ice-cream cones and his workers present he would have opened for us, but he didn't.  Mercifully, the general store was open and AIR CONDITIONED right next door.  So, we settled for slushies, popsicles and bar ice-cream instead.  We made it back just as Gabe and Chris were finishing with the battery, so all worked out just fine:)  With the poor luck out of the way we had a wonderful afternoon on the lake complete with a picnic lunch on one of the islands which had gorgeous black sand.  We didn't actually get to tube or waterski however, because as soon as we were done lunch it looked like thunder and we made it back to the dock just in time for the sky to open up... We are extremely thankful that the Bennetts live close by:)

On Saturday we had planned to attend the fair, but the weather was looking unsettled, so we opted to stay close to home, go to the movies, swim in the pool and cook s'mores on the fire.

Sunday we made it to the Skowhegan State Fair.  It turned out to be Woodsmen's Day so lots of entertainment in the forest product vein.  We got to see lots of animals and everyone took a turn feeding the sheep.  The day, of course, wasn't complete until we had some of Stevie's french fries.  Thanks to Stevie being related he, generously, gave the kids coupons for free fries AND lemonades!

North Conway Adventures

After our Santa's Village adventures we had to get home to prepare for Sha to come with the Fresh Air Fund, but we couldn't leave without some fun in North Conway.  We took a free chairlift ride to the top of Bretton Woods ski mountain.  It was a gorgeous view of Mount Washington!  We intended to have lunch at the restaurant on top, but one of their 4 items on the menu was a hotdog for $14, so we skipped that and had pb&j in the car;)

We had a stop over at this great little pond.  There was a beautiful picnic area complete with a well stocked trout pond.  Fishing for kids only... next time we will bring the fishing poles!  The kids thoroughly enjoyed feeding the fish and seeing them jump out of the water.  We had our first "successful" mini golf adventure at hit the outlet sales.  Now to get home and regroup:) 

Santa's Village 2016

We have had quite a busy weekend!  Wilton celebrated it's annual Blueberry Festival which is always so much fun!  The whole family ran in the road race on Friday.  James, Ben and Audrey ran the kids 1mile fun run and did really well.  I wasn't sure Audrey would make it the mile, but she was so upset the last time we left her out of a race we had to let her try.  She did so well and didn't ask to be picked up once!  Ben did an awesome job running with Gabe and James did so well running the mile all by himself!  Noah, Gabe and I ran in the 5K this year. I remembered it being a rough course the last time we ran it, but was hoping it wasn't as bad as I remembered... It was difficult to say the least.  Noah did an amazing job on all of the hills and finished with a great time for him given the difficulty of the course.  There were only two 13 year olds and a 14 year old in front of him:)  Gabe was able to run solo in this race and ended up taking first place for his age group!  After the race we all drove down to the lake to jump in and cool down before watching "Inside Out" on the big screen outside in the park.

Saturday morning we got up and out to the parade followed by a birthday party for Nannie with Trey and Lily.  During the afternoon we tried hard to get our boat into Clearwater Lake up in Industry, but that turned into a complete disaster. We aborted that plan and returned home.  After dinner we got together with friends for a desert party and to watch the fireworks.

Two late nights in a row didn't stop us from getting going on Sunday to head to Santa's Village.  It was certainly bizarre to be there without Grandpa, but at the same time it was cool to be in a place that he loved so much.  We know he was there with us in spirit:)  We convinced all of the kids to go on most of the rides.  The log flume took the most convincing, but I think the pictures here speak volumes... ;)  

Summer Fun!

Noah and James have been taking tennis lessons this summer, so on one of Gabe's days off we all went to hit around.  Noah and James were excited to show off their skills, while Ben and Audrey were thrilled to be able to play too.  Last spring our church handed out these "flat Jesus'" for the kids to bring around on adventures during the summer.  The kids have loved to participate and are pretty proud of their coloring;)

The three boys went to a morning of "ooey, gooey, science" so Audrey and I got a rare morning to spend alone together.  We had lots of fun at the gym, playground and eating lunch outside at a restaurant.  That afternoon we crossed another item off our summer bucket list, "invent your own cookies".  We made a big batch of dough together, then everyone added their own fillings.  The additions ranged from oatmeal, to various chocolate chips, M&Ms and marshmallows... and many more.  They all really enjoyed this experiment and having dessert after supper even more:)

Yesterday we finally got the boat up to Rangley lake!  We were happy to be on a bigger lake and were able to explore around some neat islands and tiny islands with camps on them that seem to float on the water.  We got to fish from the boat for the first time, but weren't successful getting even a bite... Maybe next time:)