Vacation 2012

Vacation. You try not to set too many, or any at all, expectations for a trip right? There will be a washer and a dryer, there will be a beach right across the street, there will be two grandma's plus two parents and two kids, there will be perfect weather, there will be seafood. But then a few days before vacation your oldest comes down with a strange sickness that requires stool samples to be brought to the hospital lab and your youngest has a raging sinus infection. You get antibiotics, you pray that the samples are normal and you take off with a wing and a prayer, the Chipmunks movie on DVD in the car and a grandma on deck.

And then you see the ocean for the first time and the stress of everything fades.

Bliss

Um Mama? We need Cartoon Network at home okay?

The Maine Diner!

Butterfly wings from Toys in the Attic in Kennebunkport

If I had a boat...oh, I do!

Paddleboarders at sunset on the Marginal Way was anything but marginal

The Laundromat. Looks familiar eh?

Sunset

Stealing an oceanside kiss

Angry Birds on the deck!

Love this view.

Grandma being industrious.

Finding all sorts of sea creatures

"I need to sortorize them by animal"

Feeling small by the big sea and loving every minute.

Beach baseball

Ellie, following Grandma's lead,  created her own shade.

Sparklers

Pre-bed walk on the beach.

Repurposing the sparkler sticks

Mother and son

Rocking out and tapping his foot to the beat.

Umm yeah. Classic. The dryer never got fixed.

But it did sit in pieces all over our living room.

Hamming it up before our nature walk in the Rachel Carson Preserve

They loved it can you tell?

Luke snapped this nice family shot.

Pretending to ride a train...

and a horse...

and a pig. 

 In the end while the house we rented was a comedy of errors (the outdoor shower was broken, there were nails poking through the carpet on the stairs, the dryer obviously was busted, the light switches made no sense and there were barely any pictures on the walls or cozy creature comforts of home, it was a strange, strange place and you can't tell in the pictures but you need to trust me) the time we spent together was perfect and the weather could not have been better. Our expectations were completely met.

Fields of dreams

Memorial Day 2012. We had a picnic at the Saratoga Battlefield where we were able to get up close and personal with Revolutionary War artifacts. Luke is becoming quite the history buff and museum lover. Ellie was more interested in running around the grounds, seems like she has a bit of a cross country runner in her.  Luke decided after being too hot and too tired to chase his sister that he no longer is interested in soccer and thinks maybe he'll just play baseball and specifically be a pitcher so that he can just stand there. There was laughter and joy as we explored a place that John has adored since childhood. 

Reminds us of Little House on the Prairie. 

And then there was the sorrow. So many lost. So many flags waving in the breeze. So many families left behind and all I could hear in my head was this song. I miss his truck, it was like I was able to drive around with him every time I was behind the wheel. At the cemetery I feel disconnected, my brain still doesn't grasp the reality but his truck is where I felt his spirit. I'm thankful the kids didn't ask too many questions. Ellie wanted to smell all of the flowers and thought it was just a giant maze. Luke was pensive but not curious. We left their initials in the dirt and today we went back with my mom. She and Luke left flowers for him, he was her escort (Ellie was asleep in the car), so big and yet so little. I am filled with pride for my family

He is so tender. This picture is hard for me to look at.

We love a parade.

He is my angel, always right there with me.

Summer is here

They are in kid heaven: the pool and popsicles!

Three cheers for SUMMER!

He's braving the frigid waters while she dances with her shadow.

We think he is a bear cub, the water was COLD and we couldn't get him out.

He kept trying to catch fish with his bare hands. Bear cub. He was in up to his neck a few times even.

So grown up. Perfect surfer hair.

She was much more trepidatious about the whole thing.

So beautiful.

They hustled and worked and made new friends while we were able to sit and talk. Unheard of! I feel like we have graduated in the beach department, I actually might be able to read a book on our summer vacation this year!

Mother's Day

Salad: he knows me so well!

I love that she loves my laugh.

Riding the carousel at Congress Park.

Merry-go-round magic

Running back to her grandmother's.

And the Grandma's following close behind her.

There were fuzzy baby ducks to fawn over.

Can I fish here?

She was like cotton candy floating about the park.

Trying to get a nice picture and he steals my sunglasses.

The boys being merry.

Making her day.

Saying goodbye for now.

As we sat in the park for our picnic all I could think of was this painting. 

My picture below doesn't quite capture the day. The weather was perfect and the landscape was dotted with well-dressed urbanites taking advantage of a Saratoga gem. We picnic'd on a blanket and wandered the park in search of fish, ducks, and rode the merry-go-round three times.