Maine Day 1

Saturday morning we packed up and headed up to Maine to spend a few days. Lucy, Ben and Amy graciously invited us to share their beach house with them and Grammy and Papa too! I'm not sure if the girls were happier to be at the beach or out of the car after the 4 hour drive!

The kid couldn't wait to go down and check out the tide pools. They didn't find too many creatures but liked climbing on the rocks.

Killian liked all the wet sand and rubbed it on whoever he could.

The tide was coming in so we headed to the beach for a bit. Killian hasn't been to an ocean since last summer and he wasn't too into it at 11 months. He loved the waves crashing into his feet!

I didn't bring any of the kids life jackets because I didn't think they would go out in the water. I was proven wrong right off the bat. 

Caroline loved jumping the waves and didn't realize that the wave had the capability to knock her over! 

Chris finished trying to extract a submerged lobster trap and came over to play.

The kids started to get cold so we headed back to have dinner. Caroline loved Hannah as usual. 

After we ate we headed to get ice cream. Killian was in overdrive so he ran around crazy until we finally went home for bed!

Strawberry Picking

We try and get to pick all different berries throughout the summer, and Strawberries were first up! We headed down to the farm close to us, just planning to pick a few to eat. We were going to leave the jam making up to grandma!

The kids got their baskets and set off into the patch.

Chris made the mistake of tossing a bad strawberry and Killian saw him. Killian spent the rest of the time throwing strawberries.

He did eat a couple too.

Charlotte was a great picker and very serious!

Caroline ate more than she picked and her face and body was covered in strawberry juice!

We didn't take too many home, and they didn't last too long but we had a great time!

Lake and River Adventures!

Yesterday we went up to see Aunt Dee, Uncle Bill and Dan. It was a gorgeous day and they took us to a lake we had never been to before! Uncle Bill and Dan went fishing while the rest of us hung out at the swimming spot and played. Uncle Bill came back and caught a salamander for Charlotte. She surprisingly doesn't mind amphibians or reptiles!

Chris took the kids out in the canoe for a ride. Charlotte is 100% her mother's daughter and was freaking out the whole time she was in the canoe. Chris finally brought her back and took Caroline out by herself, she of course couldn't get enough!

We had to walk in a little ways and Charlotte loved finding all sorts of rocks for her rock collection!

We headed back to Aunt Dee's moms (Grandma Pat as the kids were calling her) and headed across the road to the river. The kids loved this even more than the lake I think! 

Killian slept for about 5 minutes in the car and then just couldn't stand to miss the excitement. 

Sticks, mud, rocks and water, what could be better?

The kids ended up in their undies and we tried to get a photo of them like I have from almost two years ago, days before Killian was born!

We walked back up the hill through the tall grass, Charlotte complained on the way down but marched right up on the way back! The kids found Grandma Pat making hot dogs over the fire and were fascinated.

After some food and Popsicles we headed home. We all had such a nice day!

First Lake Day

Charlotte has been out of School for a week, Caroline finished yesterday so we figureded today was a great day for a trip to the lake! Killian was thrilled when we showed up. He was so excited!

Charlotte hasn't learned how to swim yet but has gotten much more comfortable in the water. I did tell her that she can't use her floaties in the water anymore and needs to stay where she can touch. She wore her swimming assist life jacket that provides little flotation and used a noodle. She was so pleased she swam to the booeys.

Caroline loved every part of the lake. She played in the sand and was right back in the water.

Killian played with some of his friends from the Library, he worked hard not to throw sand at them. 

There were some kids making tunnels to the water so we built one too. It is difficult to build anything when Killian is around because he gets the most joy out of knocking it over. Charlotte was very patient and finally he left her alone!

We came home and the littles took naps.

Chris went to work a little early this morning so he could leave early and go back to the lake. The kids couldn't wait to go back. It rained on and off for the afternoon but luckily it held off for the evening swim.

Chris ran out into the water and dove in, he really does not like cold water. The water wasn't terrible, it would have been perfect had it been just a little warmer!

Chris took the girls out to practice their swimming. Caroline only lasted so long before she was freezing and got out!

Charlotte did awesome and even plugged her nose and put her whole head under water!

After everyone was frozen we got to work making some sand castles.

Killian waited patiently to smash each one Chris made.

The kids had fun but we decided to leave when the other two groups of families/couples who were there were a little too loud and inappropriate for our liking! We had the whole lake almost to ourselves which was nice. We headed home for dinner and to rinse all the sand off!!