Vacation

ATTENTION!

Our Family Vacation has been posted. I still have our two hikes (Wednesday's and Thursday's outing) to post, but thought since those make up half of the vacation photos, I would post them later. They were definately my favorite part of the trip, so I want to be sure to share the memory. Enjoy!

Love,

Sonia

Last Day of Vacation

Saturday we left for home, sad to leave, but anxious to get back. Before we left, we took pictures of all the great hiding places. The kids loved the "bridge" that walked from the stairs/bedroom to the loft and was above the open kitchen/living room. This was the highlight of "our log home in Maine". Kevin enjoyed the loft, this is where the TV is! I liked the loft, because it kept the family upstairs and I had peace downstairs.

View from the "bridge" looking down at the living room.

The loft had a large floor space, but as you can see, not a lot of head room. Camden and Riley loved hiding behind the TV and Couch (on the other side of the room).

Riley enjoyed this spot on the stairs. She would sit there and eat and drink, or play with her toys. I was always nervouse she would fall, so I teneded to tell her to go up or down, but not on the stairs. Peaking out from behind the couch, up in the low head room loft.

View from our front porch. Every morning I was the first out of bed and would drink tea and breath in the scent of Pine. On the clear days, there are mountains on the horizon. It is so beautiful.

We drove home Saturday through Canada, and had a little rougher time with the kids traveling than when we came to Maine. Riley had to pee every 20 minutes, and the kids kept screaming and fighting. There did not askn"are we there yet?" as often, and nap must have been a french term that day. None the less, I did manage to snap a picture of downtown Montreal from the van.We crossed over to the United States through Ogdensburg, and stopped for dinner before the last hour home. We figured we would be home by 6:00, perfect timing. Well...we found a little fair going on and of course took a 2 hour stop to enjoy. Delaying our trip home and driving through Riley Melt Down time. Here are a few pics from the fair. We made it home safe, and had a blast on our trip. We even had a day to unpack and settle back in. It was a great family trip, and very memorable for all of us!

Swimming

Swimming was the highlight of the day with the kids! We went every morning (except Tuesday) for about 2 hours. We had one incident with Riley jumping into the pool on the first day, but by Friday, the kids were natural water bugs. We met a woman who helped teach Riley how to float in the pool, Riley fell in love with her and wanted to swim the breast stroke and the back stroke when the woman swam her laps. Watch out Michael Phelps, here comes Riley!

The kids loved running to the club house wherer the pool is.

Here is Camden waiting to go into the pool area.

Here is a picture of the pool and hot tub behind Camden...we were the only ones there every day except Friday.

The kids waiting patiently...

Camden sitting on the step...

Look closely, Riley can touch the bottom! She was so excited to be able to do this, but she would not let go of our hands. Monday she jumped into the pool and thought she could swim. It scared her enough to respect the water, but she is still fearless.

I can't believe I am posting this picture, but we all did enjoy swim time.

Kevin enjoyed the hot tub the most...and swimming with the kids.

GOGGLES ARE TOO COOL!

Its a water bug!

Its super water bug!

Riley swimming with Dad.

Bundled up and ready for lunch. Bye Pool! Here is a video clip of Camden swimming under water. He could touch the bottom for about 10 feet of the pool so he got pretty comfortable jumping into the water and taught himself how to swim under water. He would not try with his head out of water, but loved "diving." Here he is diving and swimming to Dad.

Days of Relaxation

Monday and Tuesday we just lounged around the cabin and took it easy. Monday the weather was sunny and cool, so we thought we would go to Kelly's Landing for breakfast, and then to the local market to pick up some essentials for the week. Riley enjoyed two breakfasts (those are not kid breakfasts either and yes both plates are hers, really!) AND SHE ATE EVERYTHING! Here are the kid outside of Kelly's Landing, excited to be at Moosehead Lake. On our way into town on Sunday, we spotted a moose. Unfortunately, I did not get a good photo of it, so there will not be any wildlife to share from this trip. Tuesday, we all hung out at the cabin for the morning. The kids ran around playing hide and seek, while Kevin lounged in the loft. I read and napped. It was a rainy cold day, and since Greenville, Maine is a little remote with limited activities indoors, we decided to drive to Bangor and walk the mall. Here are the kids with their umbrellas.

The Road Trip!

Sunday, Kevin and I woke bright and early (4:30 a.m.) so that we could shower and get ready for our 9 hour car ride while the kids were still asleep. We ended up waking the kids around 6:20 when we moved them from their beds to their car seats. Here they are bright eyed and very AWAKE! Here is our Pilot, excited to get to Greenville.

The kids entertained themselves for most of the trip. Here they are listening to their DVD via headphones, a first for us. This allowed Kevin and I to listen to music or talk without background noise...it was GREAT! Here I am, the navigator to the pilot, and mediator to the back seat club. The kids each have a back pack strictly for travel that is filled with toys, games, books, and other fun filled items to entertain them on our car trips. I keep it packed and ready all the time and they are only allowed to use these items when we travel (so they do not tire of them). Here, is a picture of a train that Camden drew all by himself. Kevin and I are still suprised he drew it! The sad thing is, it is better than any train I can draw!