Our trip to Maine!

We had a great trip. It was so nice to be surrounded by family, a luxury we don't have in Indiana. As always, it went by very fast and we all look forward to next time.

The boys did great on the trip. You can tell they have been traveling since infancy, because we hardly hear a peep out of them the whole time. The girls were a different story. They were frustrated that they couldn't get out of their seats, but I think overall it was a success. I know they will learn what traveling is all about. They'll be able to get more practice in three weeks when we head to Oklahoma for Christmas!

Here are some pictures from our vacation!

The boys hiked their first mountain. I hiked a lot growing up, so I was excited that they truly enjoyed it.

This is the view from my parent's backyard, my childhood home. It is breathtaking, even without any leaves on the trees. Behind the tree is a river, the Saco river. There also is another river on the right that runs into the Saco, called the Little Ossipee river. This was our first full day there and a rainbow showed up for no reason!

My parents surprised the kids with some presents.

The girls received dolls to go with the dollhouse that Nana and Pappy got them.

The boys all got the Lego's that they have been wanting. You can tell from the pictures that they were a wee bit excited!

Pappy took us to a local farm, so the kids could check out the animals. I still can't get over how may animals were there. The kids had a BLAST, but I asked them when we got back into the van if they would want to live on a farm, the boys all said at once, "No way!" They understood how much work it is to keep a farm going. Too funny...

Hannah chasing the geese. At least I think they are geese. I have never in my life seen so many feathered friends...

A calf that is only 2 months old! Chloe wanted nothing to do with the animals.

All three boys got to milk a goat. I am not sure how I missed getting a picture of Josiah participating.

The girls and Great Uncle Donnie. The girls did very well with all the new people. They really took to their family and in turn their family is IN LOVE!

For Thanksgiving we had 23 people at my parent's. This is all the food and my mom. She cooked for 2 1/2 days and pulled it off wonderfully!

Just some of the desserts...

My cousin Dawn holding Chloe!

On Friday night we had an Open House so family and friends could come and meet the girls. It was so much fun! The girls had a great time and this was so much easier than trying to visit everyone individually!

This is my only living grandparent, John Hubbard, and the kids! The girls adore him and for some reason they call him "Goofy!". He really took to them and visited often. He lives right across the street from my parents and the road they live on is, Hubbard Ave. I grew up in a small town and the Hubbard family had a mill on the Ossipee river (a long time ago), so that is why the road is name after us!

As you can see we had a full week! We weren't able to go to the ocean, LLBean or eat seafood. Those are at the top of the list for next time! I am still feeling tired a day after arriving home. I am getting old...

We are going to have dinner at our local Ethiopian restaurant tonight. I hate to admit that this will only be the second time we have taken the girls since they have been home. They are really looking forward to it and have been talking about Injera all day!

It is very close to insanity...

Late Friday night, this Dad and Mom...

will be driving these five munchkins...

and the dog...

to Maine, my birthplace.

That is a 20 hour drive... ONE WAY! We will drive straight through (minus a visit with a cousin in PA). We have always drove it in one day. We leave at night and it makes it so much easier. As long as we are loaded up on coffee and soda. I have made it a two day trip only once, when I drove by myself (with three boys and a dog).

It really isn't too bad and it's great quality family time! See that? I am giving myself my annual pep talk!

Here are some things we don't leave home without when we are taking road trips:

1. DVD player with a couple new movies (this year, UP and Monsters v Aliens) and our old faithfuls

2. Nintendo ds x2

3. HEADPHONES...a must for this momma sanity

4. coloring books

5. crayons/colored pencils

6. paper

7. stickers

8. books

9. Tag reading system

10. Tag Junior reading system (for the girls)

11. lots and lots of snacks...

and lots of caffeine for Dad and Mom

Am I missing anything??

I am not sure if I'll get time to blog while I am there, so if not...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

What a sweet anniversary surprise!

June 17th was Monte's and my eighth anniversary. We were not together when the day arrived. Monte had to fly back to Indianapolis on the 16th. I did try to get a plane ticket for the 17th instead, but they were $75 more to fly back on that day. So we decided it wasn't worth it and we would be ok apart!

I was not too excited to spend the day without him, but it did end up being a good day! We went to the ocean that day and we drove by the place we got married. The Inn By The Sea in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It was a beautiful wedding! We got married outside with the ocean in the back ground. These pictures were taken with my cell phone, so I could send them to Monte, so they are not the best quality. The Inn is a lot bigger, but I couldn't fit it all in.

My Dad met us at the ocean, because he had to work in the morning. When he got out of his truck he brought these to me. They were from my dear husband! The picture doesn't do them justice, they were beautiful!!

Vacation Pictures...

I am sorry at my lack of posting. I have so many things to tell you all, but I just can't find the time! We leave on Wednesday of next week for Oklahoma and I have so much to get done before then. I did want to share with you some of our vacation pictures...

Portland Head Light.

Whoope Pies rock, but you can only get them in Maine. So when we visit, we get our fill!

All the cousins...

For some reason, Isaac always does this with the clothes pins.

Daddy and the boys on Father's Day

Mommy and the boys on Father's Day

Great Grampy and John. Our two John's!

John eating some Lobsta (or if you're not in Maine, Lobster)

Safe and Sound...

We got home last night at 6pm. I am glad to be home and thankful for the safe trip. We spent the night, Monday night, in Carlisle, PA. It is just down the road from Hersey, PA and I had all I could do not to load the kids up and get me some chocolate. Fresh off the assembly line I must add.

It took us 19.5 hours. It was not an easy task doing it alone, but one that I am sure I will repeat again at some point.

Somewhere in PA, I seriously thought about enrolling the boys into daycare as soon as we got home. It would only be for the rest of the summer and John, at times, has begged me to let him go. He thinks it would be more fun than home. I had it all planned out. Doing this would give me time to restore my sanity that I lost somewhere on the Interstate!

Of course I am kidding... of course!

I will be sure to get some pictures on here as soon as I can. After spending two solid days in the van, we are going to spend the day at the pool and then tonight we have some very special plans.

For Father's and Mother's Day we treated our family to tickets to the dinner theatre presenting Peter Pan. We have front row seats and we all are very excited!!

Until then...

I thought I would have more time to blog this week, but as you can see it didn't turn out the way I thought. We have had a good time, but as our visit is coming to a close I find myself longing for home. Monte had to fly out on Monday and it has been a long week without him. For him and us! I plan on leaving VERY early on Monday morning (4am) and driving to the 1/2 way point. That will get us to Pennsylvania and we'll stop there for the night. On Tuesday we'll drive the rest of the way and be home sometime that evening.

I will have all of the boys and our dog. It'll be interesting, to say the least! I am very thankful for gameboys and DVD players. How my parents managed without those things is beyond me.

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone and I'll post again on Wednesday of next week!

The grand kids...

Here is a picture of my parents with all the grand kids! On the left are my three and on the right are my sister's four! We are having a good time even though the weather hasn't been the greatest!

We are here...

We made it to Maine safe and sound! We left our house at 7pm on Thursday night and drove in my parent's driveway a little after 2pm on Friday. We made excellent time, 19 hours, and I think that is due to driving at night. We didn't hit any construction, little to no traffic and there was no whining coming from the backseat for the first 12 hours.

My sister and her four children flew here on Tuesday (they also live in Indiana). This is the first time that our families has been together at our childhood home. It is great to spend time together!

Today we will have my grandmother's memorial service. It will be a very sad day for us. I knew this day was coming (she passed in March) but it is still always hard to say the final goodbye here on earth. I just rejoice that she is in heaven and we will have a wonderful reunion in the future.