Trip North

We made our annual summer trip to Millinocket a bit earlier than normal this year because Gabe and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and we got to go away for the night by combining the trips:)  The kids did lots of kayaking/canoeing and other water activities.  Audrey was the only one who really cared about swimming.  We took a trip up to hike Gauntlet Falls and it was beautiful.  I am not sure the kids agreed with it's nickname as "the Grand Canyon of Maine", but it was impressive in it's own right;)

On our way home we FINALLY were able to go to the whoopie pie festival!  We have been eyeing it for years, but it wasn't worth the trip for just the festival, but this year we were driving back home at the perfect time!  James and Ben entered the kids whoopie pie eating contest and (thankfully) didn't win, but they were pretty happy about the free half of a whoopie pie they didn't have to share with anyone;)

James Turns 9!

James turned 9 today!  He is growing to a pretty amazing guy.  He has worked so hard over the past year to get himself to where he is today. He is kind, loving, and very thoughtful.  He often takes the troubles of the world on his shoulders and struggles with black and white answers to questions that are often grey. He loves space, legos, and any type of science.  He is an awesome brother and the kids feed off of both his humor and imagination.  He is definitely a kid who will change the world some day.  We love you James and can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you!

James' 9th Birthday Party

James had his dream birthday party this year!  The Incredibles 2 finally came out and opening weekend was right before his birthday, so we invited some friends and had a party at the movie theater:)  We all had an absolute blast and really enjoyed seeing such an anticipated movie in our own private theater.

James has been struggling and feeling a bit helpless towards the problems of the world so he decided to ask for donations to the Western Maine Homeless Shelter for his birthday.  Everyone was so generous and James was so thrilled to carry all of these boxes into the shelter.  Thanks for all who came and helped James to help the Western Maine Homeless Shelter!

Graduations!

This was the week of graduations!  Audrey finished up her year of Pre-K and was so proud to sing her songs, show off her fairy house, and have her picture with Mrs. Barber.

Then, last weekend the kids and I made the trip up to Millinocket for my niece Maria's high school graduation party. Before we made it to the party, we finally made a trip to Jo-Mary Lake Campground. The last time we were there Noah was 2 and James was a few weeks old.  We had the entire place to ourselves!  We did some fishing, walked across blood sucker brook, and explored the woods. The kids were so happy to roam free and play at the beach for a few hours.  We saw so much wildlife on this trip: 3 moose, 4 baby foxes, a few deer, a bunny, and a partridge with her babies.

We also got be boat back this week and Audrey was trying to be efficient and see just how many lifejackets she could carry down the driveway:)

Boston, Violins, and Birthdays

We spent Memorial Day weekend this year in Boston visiting the Carlile Family.  It had definitely been way too long since our last visit to Boston!  Per usual, the kids picked right up where they last left off as if they have been close friends forever (because they have!).

Noah had his spring orchestra and chorus concert last week.  He has really been working hard and enjoying playing the violin and singing in chorus.  He has also started taking piano lessons this spring.  He was a little sad at this concert because it marked his last day as an official student of the Academy Hill School... on to the middle school next year!

The other pictures are of the kids having a funeral for a bird that flew into our window, Gabe trying to get a chicken down from the rafters in our pool shed, and our first golfing trip of the year with "Grandpa". We made the trip to Brewer for Lily's 5th unicorn birthday party and the kids had so much fun swimming!

James ended his first half year of violin with a class demonstration.  He is doing really well and is excited to learn!  The last picture is of our new family member "Fred". During our trip out west we finished the Harry Potter series and the kids are naming everything around our house in tribute to the fallen characters in that series;)  Fred is our robot pool cleaner that we hope will help keep the pool under control this summer.