Maine: York Beach

Ever since we moved back East I have wanted to go up to Maine and spend a day on the beach.  There are so many famous beach towns that I cannot wait to someday visit such as Nantucket, Cape Cod, Hampton Beach, and Martha's Vineyard.  When I found out that Jesse was going to be gone all summer and that I would be working much less, I knew that visiting Maine had to be on the agenda at some point.  After pushing it back several different times, I finally took the children to Maine with me a few weeks back and we had a BLAST!  We drove a little over two hours and then perched ourselves at the beach for the entire day.  It was so relaxing to just let them wander and play.  The only thing that could have made it any better was if my hubby would have been with us......next time of course.  One of my bucket list additions after this trip, is to someday spend a good month at a vacation house in Maine with the children and have lots and lots of beach time together.  Maine is just so pretty with it's 3,000+ miles of coastline, amazing seafood {especially lobster}, and quiet charm it's easy to understand why it is known as "Vacationland".

Over the past year we {Jesse and I} have had TERRIBLE luck with cell phones.  Like embarassingly bad luck.  After getting both phones replaced in April due to a malfunction on each, both of our new phones started having problems by June.  Then Jesse's phone was stolen while he was in Baltimore. This left us with one semi-working cell phone.  When Jesse came home in July, I ended up giving him my phone to use for the remainder of the summer.  For this particular trip to Maine, I was quite proud of myself.  I managed to mapquest before I left and then completely navigate my way without use of a phone. 

I really am lucky to have such good children that are willing to drive several hours to play at a beach and then drive several hours back home.  Kindle's were a necessary addition to the trip, but all in all they were phenomenal traveling companions.

Eli loved trying out the boogie board on the little waves as they crashed into shore.  My children are tough stuff.....this water was freezing cold!

Robby's "big muscles" picture

Eli recently learned how to write his name and he had a great time practicing his handwriting skills in the sand

After finishing up at the beach, we took a drive over to "Nubble Lighthouse".  We would have walked around a little more, but Robby lost one of his flip flops between the beach and the car and so he had to ride backpack on me whenever we got out of the car.

Miss M with her top knot 'do

Our ice cream dinner after a day at the beach.

 --the only irritating fact from the whole day interestingly enough happened at this very same ice cream stop. The Olympics were currently in full force and the day of our beach trip was the Women's Team Final.  I was trying so hard to not get online, listen to radio stations, or watch television until that evening so I could watch it in surprise during the nightime showing.  Eli kept tumbling around on the ground as we waited for our ice cream.  Another well-meaining customers turned and smiled at me and said that I should put my son in gymnastics.  She then said "Hopefully he can help the US men's team do better than their pitiful finish this year.  Thank goodness the Women's team made up for it and won today".   I gave her a feeble smile and internally was steaming that I would no longer would be surprised.

I am seriously in love with all the houses up in Maine ♥

Perfect day: beach, ocean, sunshine, ice cream for dinner, and now womens gymnastics. My kids told me I'm the best mom in the world (shocker right?!)

Raspberries on the Brain

Earlier this week (Monday to be precise, at a very early time for us late risers at the Toronto house), we went raspberry picking with my dear friend Maren and her little angel baby Kate. We found out that "Poverty Lane" orchards had a fresh new crop ready for picking and we were all on top of that.  It was a lot of fun and we went early enough that we avoided the humid heat that began to pound down a few hours after our adventure.  Maddie and Robby have become quite the pro's at you-pick orchards and picked close to 2 pounds a piece.  Eli, on the other hand, ate nearly all the berries he picked and by the time we walked over to pay he had about 10 raspberries total in his bucket.  He probably should have been weighed before and after picking because I'm pretty sure he ate through at least a pound of berries! He also had a wonderful time chatting up Maren with some really hilarious conversations. 

Robby, Kate, Eli, and Miss M

 

Robby was hilarious with baby Kate and loved to stroke her softly on the head.  He asked Maren (whom he kept referring to as "Mary") if "she--Kate--was a boy or girl".  Take note of the super cute headband that is strategically placed on Kate's head and her obviously girly clothes and blankets.  It was hilarious to say the least.  And while we are on the subject, I have to admit that this poor little boy has taken after me with a terrible memory when it comes to names.  I have always struggled with remembering names of people I meet and unfortuantely have now passed this trait down to my son.

*****
  Fast Forward to the next day and now I am SERIOUSLY craving any kind of raspberry treat out there. I can't get those berries off my brain. Here are just a few of the things I will be making over the next few days:

Raspberry Freezer Jam

Raspberry Crisp

Raspberry Cream Pie

*****

Mmmmmmm, it makes me hungry just looking at these pictures.  I can't wait!

This Weekend

We had an incredibly awesome, perfect weekend! After a long break from J, we were all finally able to be reconnected as a whole family.  In some ways the past month has gone so quickly, but when it comes to being separated from your other half it really dragged on.  It was hard on the kids to go so long without seeing their daddy, but mostly it was difficult for him to be working so far away from home, friends, and family.  While he was working hard at his internship in Baltimore, we were able to spend almost a month in Arizona, staying at my in-laws and playing with them. It only really hit me how lonely I was after my sister in-law headed back on her plane last Wednesday and I was officially on my own with the kids.  Luckily Jesse drove in only a few days later.  And what a trouper he is.  He literally drove all night long on Friday to make sure he got home to us and could spend Saturday as a family.  The kids were just as excited to see him as he was to see them. On Friday they were buzzing with excitement and I had a very difficult time getting them to go to sleep because they knew in the morning Daddy would be there. I didn't blame them because I also could hardly get my body to go to sleep knowing that Jesse was on his way home to me.  He ended up arriving around 4-5am and only a few short hours later he was he tickling, snuggling, entertaining, riding bikes, running errands with his boys, and spending precious quality time with the children.  They were all so delighted to have a chance to spend with daddy and spent most of the time arguing who got to hold his hand or sit next to him. 

Our welcome home sign that Maddie and I made right before bedtime

 Some of the fun things we did were hiking into Boston Lot Lake with a picnic lunch and swam, and attend the Norwich Fair.  At the fair we ate lots of junk food, road cruddy, rusty rides and played games. To top it all off at the end of the night they had some fireworks that they shot off right next to the fairgrounds.  Maddie was shocked at how loud fireworks are when they are so close to you and actually started crying when they first started.  It ended up being a late night for all of us, but was well worth it in the end.  I was so impressed by how well behaved the kids were through all of this, but particularly Robby.  I feel like over the past two months or so he has really become such a mature, helpful, kind, obedient little boy and was happy that Jesse could see this growth in Robby. 

 The highlight of the games for all was this cork gun shooting game.  The kids have definitely developed a love of all forms of guns after playing with Papa and his BB gun in Arizona.  I am not so sure how I feel about this

On Sunday we had a special meeting for church that didn't start until 11am and so we all slept in A LOT! We didn't roll out of bed until after 9am and to actually wake up Robby to get ready for church.  It was such a nice, complete feeling to arrive at church all together, not to mention helpful to have another set of hands assisting in dressing and grooming the children before.  Once again Robby surprised us all and dressed himself all on his own with us asking him one time! We had a big shocker at church and found out that we were annexed into a different ward and will be going to that one next Sunday.  Even though I am sad to say goodbye to many incredible families, I am also looking forward to change and growth.

Too soon it was time to say goodbye to Daddy and to our fun weekend together.  It's a good thing we are already planning on heading down to Baltimore to visit in just a few short weeks!!

Eli, Robby, Jesse, Maddie
--Robby ALWAYS changes out of Sunday clothes immediately.  Like as in undressing as he is walking from the car to the house :)

Independence Day: Part 1

Fourth of July is one of few holidays where we truly have no traditions as a family.  When I was growing up it always involved lots of family togetherness with barbeques, swimming, parades, and fireworks.  Somehow in my married life, this has not transitioned over to our lives.  As a nurse I am expected to work a certain number of holidays due to being employed at a hospital with 24/7 service.  Because of that, I have worked many Fourth of July's in the 8+ years in my career.  Then the few years I have had off, have found me at girls camp twice and then finally driving home from a family wedding in Colorado last year.  This year I was intent on being able to spend quality family time together since I knew we were going to be in Arizona for the holiday.  Unfortunately Jesse was gone for his summer internship in Baltimore so we knew he wouldn't be able to join us.  The only thing that was a little downer was the fact my parents had already moved to Austin, Texas by the time we came to visit so we really hardly saw them and definitely weren't able to spend any time with them on Independence Day.  

Despite that, we planned a fun day with the Toronto grandparents and Aunties. 

 First thing on our list was good old fashioned ice blocking at Freestone Park.  Ice blocking is the sport of using large blocks of ice to reach relatively high speeds down a grassy hill.  The only required materials that you needs are large blocks of ice, towels and a grassy hill.  You sit on the block of ice (with a towel covering it) and slide down the hill, quite simply you let gravity do its thing.

 When you grow up living in a city that literally NEVER snows you have to be creative with ways to experience sledding.  The kids had a blast and thought it was hilarious to head down the hill on a block of ice.  The only downer was the fact it was overcast in the morning and started to rain, but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying ourselves!

 Robby clung to Esther as usual and they made quite the team down the hill.

The kids especially got a kick out of watching Papa ride down the hill and Maggie {the dog} even joined in on the festivities and ran down the hill several times.  She was exhausted after a few of these runs.....she is getting old after all and not used to the endless energy my kids have.

Last Day of 1st Grade

It's hard to believe how quickly the years are now rolling by, but once again Maddie has successfully completed another grade in school.  

1st grade that is.

We are moving onto bigger and better things according to Miss M.

Bring on the lazy summer mornings/days

Maddie with her on and off boyfriend Damon :)

M's first day of school picture in comparison

Trip to Hawaii: Kauai

On Wednesday, May 23rd, the children and I set out on our journey across the country.  I was pretty nervous prior to traveling when I found out that Jesse wasn't on the same flights or even airport as us.  But after a few moments of trepidation, I took a deep breath and went into full scale planning mode on how we could make this work for us.  I lucked out that day and the kids were straight up awesome on our travel date. We rode the Dartmouth Coach from Lebanon, NH to Boston, MA and it dropped us off at our terminal about 1.5 hours before our flight left.  We struggled slightly with all our luggage until we hit the check in lines for US Airways.  Thanks to some really wonderful airport employees, we were checked in quickly and hurriedly unloaded our two checked bags and headed to the security checkpoint much lighter than before.  Again I had more awesome employees that allowed us to go to the front of the line and a very nice man behind me that helped the kids get their carryon bags up on the counter.  The only sticky situation we got into was when Eli first dumped his soda all over the chair and his happy meal while waiting at our gate and then him standing up with his Happy Meal container and having the entire bottom fall out because it was wet, causing his food to spill all over the floor.  Beyond that it was smooth sailing.  The children entertained themselves with games and movies on our Kindle Fires, playing games on my phone, coloring, matchbox cars for Eli, snacks, and complimentary soda.  It was perfect timing when Maddie announced she was finally bored right as we were landing in Phoenix. All in all, it turned out to be a great day and I am proud to say I'm no longer scared of flying solo with the three kids at an airport.  I would totally do it again in a heartbeat.  We had a crowd of people meet us at the airport and I will never forget the pure joy etched on my children's faces as they ran to greet the family.  Joanna, Abby, Nona, Papa, Grandpa and Grandma were all there right outside the security checkpoint with huge smiles on their faces! It had been ten long months since we had seen Abby, Grandma and Grandpa and it was exciting to finally be reunited.  I cannot even explain how badly I had missed my parents or how nice it was to finally see them.  It has been an incredible experience to learn how to live our lives independant of outside family, but also very difficult to go long time periods without my parents or sister around.  The first thing I did once we loaded in the car is head straight over to my sisters house to see my new niece Keira.  What an amazing experience it was to hold that sweet newborn in my arms and love on her one week old self!

The next day Jesse and I were up early early early and on our plane headed to Kauai.  We felt like it was a wonderful opportunity to spend one on one time with each other before he headed off to Baltimore for the summer. Here's a super brief synopsis of our vacation:

Thursday: Flew in, spent HOURS at the airport with the car rental situation, Adam picked us up, dropped us off at our rental property in Princeville, tried walking to Hanulei, ended up catching a taxi into town, ate at L&L Hawaiian BBQ, had a snow cone (wished it was a shaved ice), caught the bus back semi-near Princeville and walked the rest of the way home in the rain.

Friday: Jesse took the bus into Hanulei, rented us a scooter, we drove over to the GINORMOUS beach house next to "Secret Beach" and hung out with family. Stopped at the Kilauea Light House and snapped a few pics before arriving at the house. I paddled boarded in Hanulei while Jesse, Ryan, Josh, Gina, Kendra all went surfing. Came back and had an amazing seafood dinner complete with crab, oysters, lobsters----Uncle Vince had the seafood shipped from the mainland by one of his friends. T, J, Sarah, Kendra, Josh, Erin, Ryan, Michael all hiked down to Secret Beach and had a bonfire with smores. Drove Adam's car back to our rental due to rain and time of departure

Saturday: drove back to beach house, Tiffany went with Sarah, Kendra, and Gina to nail salon where they got mani's/pedi's. After we went to lunch with all the girls at ........... Jesse went spear fishing with Josh, Michael, Jeremy, and Ryan. Stopped for some local cold coconut at "The Coconut Experience" on or way to the hotel. Got ready for the wedding, drove in the RAIN to Tunnels Beach, soaking wet, watched the beach wedding then headed over to the Tavern for wedding dinner. Had some drama with keys and the scooter, ended up leaving it at the beach. Following dinner, drove over to the beach with it pitch black and followed J back on the scooter. Had some difficulties getting the top to Adam's jeep back on during another massive rain storm. Another late night :)

Sunday: T woke up late while Jesse went back to the beach house for brunch and to take Adam, Ryan and Erin to the airport.  J ended up being gone literally for HOURS that day.  Like until 2:30pm because there plane took off much later than anticipated. Once he returned we went on a little drive, took pics by some bamboo trees and I ended up getting attacked by mosquitos.  Like literally 40+ bites on my legs and arms....no fun. Also stopped at a beautiful beach called Waiakalua Beach, aka "pretty beach" and took some fun sunset pictures.  Ended up being a memorable afternoon full of beautiful, scenic pics.

Monday: Went snorkeling in the AM near "Queens bath" which included a swim/walk through the turtle cave. T ended up smashing her face into a lava rock with lots of blood and some nasty cuts, had a trip to the local grocery mart to get tools to dig the rocks out of my lip laceration. Debated going to the ED but ultimately didn't, had a yummy shaved ice and met up with Brad and Jackie & family at a noodle restaurant. Had fun visiting with friends, T's face/jaw/lip continued to ache :(

Tuesday: Hiked up along the Napoli Coast to the _________ waterfall and beach, was a beautiful 8 mile hike. J and I are a little competitive and probably ran halfway up and back. We were told that we reminded an older couple of a couple of billy goats...made us feel young. J swam in the waterfall water. Both of us slightly tweaked our ankle/foot. Ate L&L BBQ after, went to a farmers market and ate legue??sp?? and chocolate covered bananas. Got fancy ready, then walked over near Queens Bath at sunset to snap HOURS of photos thanks to the mister. Ate dinner at The Tavern.

Wednesday: Packed up place, checked out, then headed towards Lihue for the airport. Stopped and bought a few souvenirs on the way. End of trip and excited to see the kiddos again <3

Anticipation

Websters dictionary defines anticipation as "the act of looking forward; pleasurable expectation" and "visualization of a future event or state".  I have to admit that I have been doing both of those things right now.  Since we moved away from home, I have thought and thought about when I would be able to come back to visit.  Dates were reviewed frequently and when we received Jesse's cousins wedding invitation to be held in Hawaii the end of May, we knew exactly when we would be making travel plans to fly back home.  Now that most of the arrangements have been made, I have been hardly able to contain my excitement that I will get to see my parents and sister in one short day.  I cannot believe that it has been 10 long months since I have seen my family face to face.  To further cap off this euphoric feeling is that fact that my older sister just had her baby last week and I will get to hold this little piece of heaven in my arms in a mere 24 hours!  And I look forward to watching my children rebond with their uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents as they get to spend LOTS of quality time with those we love.  It is has been really difficult to see Eli pretty much not remember most of our family due to being gone for so long at such a young age, so I think this will be pretty great watching him reconnect with them again.  One of my most memorable things growing up was the vast amount of cousin time we shared at virtually every family get together.  I have always felt bad that my children haven't been able to experience this because they only have two cousins (now three!) and we moved so far away from everyone.  It will be really great to watch my kids hang out with Kaylin (5) and Zack (almost 3) now that they are all a bit older. So basically I will be away for awhile and consequently not blogging.  I'll see all of you in about a month!!

Sachem Bear

Back in May we started hearing rumors that there was a Mother Black Bear and several bear cubs roaming in our general forest area.  We didn't really think too much of it until we were woken up by Maddie screaming that a big bear was going through our trash cans.  Jesse and I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs in disbelief.  Sure enough there was a large black bear digging through our trash within feet of our house.  We watched and filmed for awhile until she finally decided to leave, dragging one of our trash cans with her into the forest.

Later that day we had our community garage sale and Jesse came running over saying that he could see all three bear cubs and the mother bear in our back forest probably only 20 feet away.  Needless to say we had dozens and dozens of people come over that day and spy on our friendly neighborhood bears.

After that they seemed to get increasingly brave towards humans and the bear was found frequently digging through random trash cans and even near a barbeque looking for leftovers.

This prompted a mass e-mail to all of the residents in Sachem reminding us to not leave any food (trash) out and to keep our barbeques cleaned up.

After several weeks I was greatly relieved to find that the bears had moved on to bigger and better places.

Although it was fun to have such a large animal so close to us, I was more than ready for them to find another home.

Our Weekend with Papa

Whenever Papa comes in town, we know that there will always be fun things to do.  He is truly such a blessing in not only my childrens lives but mine also.  Some of the fun things we did with him included:

Riding around in his convertible

Fixing BOTH cars for hours a day (at least J and his Dad did this)

Hike to Boston Lot Lake/swim session with Daddy

I ran my 10 mile run with friends Saturday AM in prep for my half-marathon coming up!

Rocket Launchers in the yard

Moe's dinner for FHE

*the kids had ongoing argument/debates about who was sitting in Papa's convertible.  Robby told me that it went "so fast" and that he wants us to buy TWO of them.  I told him to talk to his father about this :)

 The water was freezing cold at Boston Lot Lake when we went swimming.  I did wear a bathing suit but after sticking one toe in the water, I decided to sit on my towel and soak up the sun rays.  My kids were a bit braver and with their Daddy's "help" {aka: pulling them out in the water with him} they all got in.  Eli was not too pleased to be stuck in the cold water and immediately voiced his concerns.....with lots of alligator tears and pouting.

We can't wait to spend more time with Papa (and the rest of the grandparents) coming up the end of May!!