Maine Vacation: Portland

While on vacation near Sebago Lake in Maine, we drove 40 minutes to see Portland, ME. 

Eating BBQ! 

The kids loved this restaurant because they have a kids play area AND let them color on the walls. LOL.  

We took the ferry to check out the many islands off the coast, and the lighthouses!!

Cute, stubby little lighthouse...

Sailboat!

Loved seeing the islands...

Girls got to ride a pony named Crickett. Madison was enthralled!!

Hooray for Maine!

Maine Vacation: Cabin on Panther Pond

We had the incredible opportunity to visit Maine this summer! Here are some highlights of our trip...

The 7+ hour car ride...

The kids did great on the road trip there, minus one carsick moment from Andrew. They had lots of snacks, coloring books and road trip sign bingo game. Napping helped too!

We got to the cabin on Panther Pond and it was adorable! 

Clear warm water! The dock out there was so much fun!

The lake was so clear, up to 20+ feet. The girls had a blast swimming out to the dock and jumping off!

We visited the Maine Wildlife Sanctuary and happen to go on a Pow Wow day. It has been a long, long time since I've been to one of those ;)

Daddy's Boy

Pelts at the Pow Wow... they were pretty soft and gross at the same time.

Moose in the Mud! We had to see a moose while in Maine, thankfully, it was behind a fence. I've heard they can be aggressive, and they are large.

Beach Babies! The cabin's main house had a lovely beach area and tons of sand toys. Girls spent hours playing in the sand and building castles and making sand pies.

Andrew loved being outside and liked the flag on the dock!

In addition to swimming, Jarrett and I took turns with each of the girls in the canoes. I just love paddling with my sweeties! The lake is just so peaceful and serene, and hearing the Loons was lovely. Enjoying God's creation in the morning is the best!!

Dock jumpin'!

We did A LOT of hanging out at the beach...

The cabin owner gave us a large tub to fill with water and toys for Andrew to play in. He was in there for about 20 minutes before he discovered he could reach his hand over and get a handful of sand. Which went straight into his mouth. Yuck!!

The girls grew closer this summer, and enjoyed sharing a room in the cabin. When we got home after seven days together, they wanted to have sleepovers in each other's rooms for the next week!

Sweet Sissy's

We really enjoyed family dinners in the evening on the screened in front porch!

Taco.! 

There was no TV and spotty Wifi in our cabin, so we really unplugged and the kiddos had a blast playing. Here's our crew:

Andrew did fantastic out of his element, and was his easy-going self!

He loves hats

Bathtime in the sink!

My favorite picture of all, taken by J at sunset. Maine you are beautiful!!

We also did some sightseeing while up north, more posts to come! 

Andrew Brooks, 10 months

Andrew Brooks, 10 months

Stats:
Weight,  21 lbs?
Height,  29 inches?
Teeth 6, 4, top, 2, bottom
Eyes, Blue
Hair, Blonde
Clothes, 12 months
Diapers, size 3/4

Likes: Eating, splashing, laughing and being tickled. Cruising, pulling up, tearing paper, putting stuff in his mouth. Clapping, baby-talking, smiling and waving and playing with sisters. 

Dislikes: Laying still for diaper changes, waiting to eat, being tired, when parents leave the room, when sisters take away my toys, pulling up on unstable things, taking long naps, sleeping through the night. LOL 

Eating: Andrew's love of food has only increased with his age! Everyone says boys will eat you out of house and home, and boy, it seems correct about now! He will eat cheerios, oatmeal and fruit for first breakfast, then have a pancake (yes a whole one!) for second breakfast later on. LOL. He loves all vegetables we put on his plate, and some of his favorites are grilled cheese, pasta, fruit and cheese. He self feeds the most, and I've noticed that he really uses his left hand. Maybe we have a lefty? Still nursing 4 times per day, but will begin the weaning process next month.

Spaghetti Face!!

Hey Guys! Whatcha doing?

Sleeping: Andy is taking two naps, one at 9am and one at 2pm and will sleep for around 1-1.5 hours if i'm lucky. He goes to bed around 7pm, and been waking up at 5am. He's been an early riser since he's been born, and it hasn't changed. I decided to embrace the early mornings and Andrew and I head downstairs for coffee and Cheerios ;) He plays with his toys and I do my bible study, and we have some quiet time before the house gets busy. 

I heart bathtime!! Let me in that tub!!

Hee Haw!

 New Stuff: CRUSING! Trying new foods! NURSERY at church! PULLING UP, STANDING and letting go! MIMICING sisters! PLAYING PASS-IT with anyone close by! DIGGING in everything!

Andrew in our church's nursery... he lasted about 15 minutes before we were paged. LOL. We still trying

Playing Car Car!

Andrew loves hats. 

Personality: This month we've been seeing a lot of Andrew's sense of humor. He has been sitting still for long periods of time to read books, and there is one book called "Llama Llama Time for Bed" that has an illustration of Llama in the tub squirting water. Every time we turn it to that page, he starts giggling. He is a curious guy, and likes to dig in purses and cupboards. When I am cooking dinner, I pull out the plastic tupperware lids and let him pull them out and put them back in. He also opens drawers, and has gotten his fingers pinched a couple times ;( Andrew loves to be outside, and has so much fun exploring...things with his mouth (gross!). Grass, rocks, sand etc. are all fair game for him to put in his mouth, so I have to watch him like a hawk. He holds his mouth closed so tight, you have to pry it open to fish things out and it makes him mad. LOL. Ah, boys!

Love you Andy B! xoxo

Grammie's Visit

Grammie visited us the third week of July, and we had so much fun together! There were lots of stories, snuggles and tons of laughter! 

Grammie's Girls

Grammie made her famous "Cow Girl" scrambled eggs with her helpers...

There was a talent show put on by Lindsay, where we all had to participate and perform a talent. I am not sure what Andrew's talent is... LOL.

A serenade of "Brush Your Teeth" by Lindsay, Madison and Grammie. Heaven knows she listened to a ton of Raffi while we were kids, and knew all the words. Haha!

Andrew liked it and clapped 

Mom reminded me of an old Girl Scout song and we did a duo of "When an Austrian went yodeling..." It took me a minute to remember it, but I did remember the Bear part...

Lots of laughter!

In honor of Grammie's visit, I thought I would make Gigi's Texas Cake for the girls. It was a favorite growing up (especially Uncle Matt...I promise to make it for you when you come to visit!), and I figured out how to make it gluten free so I could enjoy it too. It was so, so good and you couldn't taste the difference! I loved passing down this delicious treat. I think it would have made Gigi smile to see her great grand girls getting seconds ;)

Seconds please!!

We did some good eating on Grammie's trip, and had Hibatchi! The volcano of fire was a hit!! There was a huge thunderstorm that hit while we were inside, and after dinner we had to make a run to the van in torrential rain! We were soaked and laughing. Ah, New Jersey summers. 

Grammie took us to Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor hotel/water park for a night. It is such a cool place, and geared specifically for families with young kids. There was a ton of stuff to do, and we made so many fun memories!

Girls stayed up past their bedtime to do a story time in the lobby with the characters...

Inside our room was a "Wolf Den" and it had bunk beds and their own TV. 

There was a dance party in the lobby after dinner...

And we went Glow in the Dark Mini Golfing. It was the girls first time to mini-golf, and they had fun! If felt like it took us ten hours to get through the course, but hey, patience is a virtue :)

Daddy took the girls mini-bowling...

We didn't bring our phones into the water park area, but here is a picture of it behind the girls. There were kid-size slides and they had fun "racing" each other down. Also, Jarrett was able to go on some of the adult rides (I was too chicken) and the girls, Jarrett and I rode a family-style slide while Grammie hung out with Drew. The girls and Grammie loved the wave pool! 

Fun memories with the family!! Thanks Grammie!

We are so lucky that our Grandparents make the trek across the country to visit us! We love our time together and always make sweet memories and have lots of laughs. It is really hard when they leave, and we miss them so much. We can't wait to spend more time together!! Love you Grammie aka Grams! xoxo