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;)

Noah's Bus

Noah has had a great week so far at his "new school".  Each day he has said that his favorite part is riding the bus.  I wasn't able to get a picture on the first day and he was upset about it, so I snapped one today and here it is.  The former Cathedral School space is gorgeous and all of the kids really seem to enjoy it... hopefully we will get back some sort of consistency soon.  No word yet on where they will be at school next week, but our family will be at the Fryeburg fair until next Wednesday.... can't wait!!

Owl's Head Transportation Museum

 

 

We took a last minute morning trip to the Owl's Head Transportation Museum for their Earth Movers and Shakers event on Saturday and it did not disappoint! It was raining when we left... Gabe checked the weather for Owl's Head which reported a 15% chance of rain so we didn't bring rain coats.... I should have known better... the weather wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't cold and the kids had a great time.  James's favorite part was the "train in a case" and Noah and James both really liked being able to get into the excavator.  After lunch we traveled back to Portland to meet our dear friends who are moving away, for a picnic at the playground complete with lobster rolls:)  Sunday morning we got up early again and headed to the Cumberland Fair to play with Jonah and Amelia one more time before they left for Connecticut. We will miss you Melman Family... come visit soon!!

Noah's Week Off;)

 

 

 

We woke up Monday morning to the news that there was a "small electrical fire" at Noah's school, so school was cancelled for the day... great we thought, another day at home:)  Later that day they decided to cancel school until Wednesday..... then they decided to cancel for the whole week.  Well, we took full advantage of having an extra week of Noah home.  Everyone else in the area had school, so it was a great chance to do all of those things that would otherwise have to be saved for the weekend and be very busy.  We attended music class on Wednesday (which Noah had been a little upset about missing), Thursday we went to the Bounce Zone in Saco and had the entire place to ourselves, and today we went apple picking.  The timing could have been better since Noah was just starting to get adjusted to being at school... he did get to go for 5 days at least:) Overall it was just a very fun week!  We are looking forward to a busy weekend too.  The most exciting part for Noah I think has been that they have another day off on Monday, then Tuesday they start at the old Cathedral School in Portland for who knows how long and he gets to take the bus.... he is beyond thrilled... pictures to follow:)