Boothbay Harbor- 2019

What an amazing day we had today in Boothbay Harbor!  The Maine State Aquarium is always a favorite of ours and we always spend much more time there than expected despite it's small size, but today was our most exciting visit yet. We did the regular aquarium "stuff" and read a sign for squid dissection at 1pm. Since we are a "learn everywhere" homeschool family we (I) couldn't pass that up. Everyone was doing well so we took a break, had a picnic lunch, and headed in for the squid dissection.  What we didn't realize is that everyone would get to legitimately dissect their own squid! Complete with dissecting tools, amazing dissecting microscopes, and a fabulous teacher guiding and teaching every step of the way.  The kids learned to much!  They even dissected out the spinal tube which they then used similar to a feather pen with the squid's ink sack to write their names on a note card.  Amazing and a huge thank you to the aquarium and the state of Maine for funding such a cool community education program!  No trip to Boothbay would be complete without a stop for ice cream waffles.

Mt. Blue, More Camps, and More Reunion

This week we hiked another mountain close to home, Mt. Blue.  This was a new mountain to us and it had a way better view than I expected! It was also a nice step up to challenge us a bit more. Audrey is making all of these hikes like a champ and is so proud of herself when she finishes.

Last weekend we made another quick trip north to celebrate my 20th high school reunion. And, this past week James and Noah spent the week at Titcomb's adventure day camp.  They had so much fun mountain biking, shelter building, canoeing, playing outdoor games, and just having an all around amazing time enjoying the outdoors.

Ben, Audrey, and I took advantage of this time and ventured to Sabbath Day Beach in New Gloucester, Roy's inflatable water park in Madison, and spent lots of time at local parks and the library.

July 4th 2019 and 20th Reunion

We had quite a July 4th holiday this year and we are EXHAUSTED!  On the 4th we started at the parade in Farmington where Gabe juggled with his juggling group.  Then we all jumped in the car and drove to the coast- Five Islands (Georgetown) where we watched Gabe juggle in parade #2. THEN, we drove up to Millinocket to spend a few days at Grammy and Grampy's AND attended Gabe's 20th high school reunion.

While in Millinocket, we ran in a color run 5K.  Everyone did a great job and enjoyed themselves, except for Ben who (although did a great job) complained the ENTIRE time and claimed, "I am never running a 5K again". We were also able to see Grampy Grampy who was visiting from Florida and got to celebrate his birthday with him. An exhausting, but fun trip!

Soccer Camp

Ben and Audrey had the UMF soccer camp each morning this week. They LOVED it and learned so much about soccer.  During that time, Noah, James, and I got in some great bike riding and other "bigger" kid activities.

We found an amazing recipe for Maine potato donuts and they did not disappoint! Another item off our summer bucket list:)