water - water - sand - water

Water, water, water! Tuck loves the water and since the weather is finally agreeing with usus, we've taken full advantage. We spent both Tuesday and today in Oakland swimming in the heated pool and yesterday, at Scarborough beach!






Tuck is not afraid of the water it seems, which is great but also scary for us at the same time. He decided that he wanted to test out the water a bit in the pool by letting go and went under a few times....and came up smiling. Yep, then he wanted to do it again. So naturally we were holding on to him tightly, but he wanted to swim. He even wanted to jump in off the side of the pool, scary again, and couldn't get enough. We spent a good four hours in the pool on Tuesday and another several today.

Auntie Janet picked Tuck up these arm floaties and a little float type suit. It is made for kids a little older than him, but it fit very well and worked even better. We let him float with us and then he just started kicking. He was totally able to balance himself and keep his head above water while moving around. He could change direction and move forward. It was very impressive. He really naturally has the motion for swimming, but obviously we are a ways from that yet. He was so happy and really loved every second. Every once in awhile he'd take in a little water, but for the most part, he did really well and didn't go under once. It was much easier to swim with him today and I think he was happier too.


We also went to Scarborough beach yesterday, one of the hottest days we've had yet for sure. We met my friend Rene there and she helped me bring all of our junk to the beach. I noticed all the smart mothers had wagons with their kids and all their gear, I'm going on Craigslist next... It was a super warm day and Tuck loved every minute. He chased seagulls, looked for interesting rocks and made many friends. He wasn't afriad to walk up to random people and start playing with them, it was really cute. We hit the water once, walked towards the waves, but one little one knocked the little guy down and he didn't really like them after that. He did like however, the holes others dug in the sand with water filled in them. He told me, "Momma, go", meaning he wanted me to walk through them. It was pretty funny. He was pretty worn out after a couple hours and fell asleep instantly in the car and even was transferrable to his crib once we got home. Beach baby!

Tuck's friend Sage's 1st bday - Sugarloaf

Tuck's friend Sage, also the daughter of our good friends, Josh and Meghan, had her first birthday party on Saturday. A lot of our friends were there with their little ones as well, so naturally we all had a blast. The kids played outside in the gorgeous weather, ate lots of food, Sage opened her gifts and we hit the water. The whole time we were there we were steering Tuck away from the lake so when everyone went swimming, he was psyched. All the kids were splashing away, no problem, it was great.

We stayed around until Tuck and the others were spent, then we got him ready for bed and drove up to Sugarloaf. He fell asleep right away.

We were hoping to go biking and hang out around camp on Sunday, but I think the mosquitos had another idea. They were so incredibly thick that I didn't even bring Tuck outside until we decided to leave. Jay had to weed-wack the yard and went out in full long-sleeve gear, and still had swarms around him. This wet weather is just breeding them in herds. Oh well, we got to head home early and spend a little time there. All in all, it was great to catch up with friends and have a nice, relaxing weekend.







While up at Sugarloaf we stopped at the transfer station and found a little kids goldmine. There was a Little Tykes slide/climb/swing thing and a rock and spin zebra. We grabbed them both since naturally someone else was throwing them away. Tuck helped us clean them when we got home and was very excited.

Portland Children's Museum

Rainy day, really rainy day! Luckily my friend Jill had decided that she was going to take her kids to the Portland Children's Museum of Maine today anyway. I called her when we got up and we were in. Jill is a friend from college who I played soccer and softball with, and just happens to have two boys, Noah is 3 and Jack who is 5 weeks younger than Tuck. We also met her friend Laura there with a little boy, Aaron who was born 2 days after Tuck.

I think just about every parent in Portland also had the same idea today because it was crowded. This was our first time going and everyone I talked to said they have never seen it so busy. Oh well. We dropped off gear and hit the toddler designated section first. This was a well padded area perfect for these guys. There were stairs, cubbies and tons of activities for the young pups, they loved it. After awhile we took a stroll around the rest of the place, which proved more challenging that I thought becuase of the masses. Tuck loved the water pool, tried to climb in actually, and he also liked the spaceship. He knocked a couple of the older kids out of his way... school might be fun? Anyway, we stayed for a couple hours, plenty for these guys. I'd like to bring him back again, but not when it's so busy.

pool time - fun with family - SUN!

Uncle Jeffy was having way too much fun playing with Tuck, or jumping over him, I should say. Tuck loved it by the way!



Tuck and I left Windham Tuesday just after lunch and he napped all the way to Oakland. He hung with him Grammy Lyn and Aunt Amy for Wednesday and part of Thursday while I had to work. He's a bit more difficult to watch now because he gets into everything, climbs and is just nonstop, but lots of fun of course. Grampa Mac and Grammy Lyn just put a fence around their pool and added a heater so Tuck took several dips in the water over the couple days. He just absolutely loves the water but hasn't quite learned to close his mouth yet. Maybe it's because he's such a smiley kid but his natural instinct right now is to open wide... we'll try under water another time.






Friday afternoon when Grampa Mac got out of work, we all drove down in the Suburban to Penobscot. Jay met us later and Auntie Janet drove down as well. Tuck was great on the ride but needed to run once we got there. Unfortunately Saturday morning was rainy so we had to stay inside and that doesn't always work for him. He got into trouble a few times and finally as the sky cleared a little, we got outside! What a relief! Jay was helping Janet work on the house all weekend so we made many trips down there. We also made the usual golf cart rounds and spent lots of time in the sandbox.

The Viles came down Sunday as well so we got in a few rounds of our famous croquet matches. Then Auntie Amy and Lauren gave Tuck his first baseball lesson. It went really well although Amy's trying to make him a righty... haha Tuck is definitely gaining an interest in ball sports, wonder where that came from?










Some of the other McMullin's were up and we visited with them a lot. There were also several young kids, about 8 or so, and Tuck was having fun with them. He loves to throw rocks in the water and is getting a good arm. He's definitely an outdoors boy!

Tuck and I stayed until Monday because we didn't want to rush home and we heard the weather was going to be beautiful. Plus Uncle Jeffy stayed too. Some of Grammy's friends came down to go golfing so Tuck and I tagged along too. I packed juice and lots of snacks and he did so well! He sat through 7 holes and didn't complain at all. He watched the guy mowing the course, birds and people hitting little white balls. He probably could have gone the whole 9 holes but we were approaching naptime and I didn't want to push it. Actually, as soon as we got into the car he fell asleep. This time however I was able to transfer him into the crib!

Uncle Jeffy, Tuck and I left around 4:30pm and drove back to Oakland. Tuck took a quick dip in the pool and we had dinner with Kim. I got him ready for bed and then we made the trek to Windham. We definitely had a fun week and were excited to spend a little time at home for a change.

Weekend at Moosehead

Not quite sure what he was doing but it was so funny!


I was supposed to work this weekend guiding a trip but after it was cancelled I got to join Jay and Tuck at Moosehead. We actually drove to Waterville first to spend the night at EE and Papi's and got to hang with Uncle Andy and Aunt Kristen. Tuck stayed up through dinner and played for awhile but he was sleepy by 9:00pm, a late night for him.





Saturday we got up early, had breakfast and packed up again. Jay was very excited to head to Madison because the wave was in and has been in for awhile but he hasn't been able to paddle. Jay, Mike and Kim paddled while Tuck and I watched. I wasn't sure what Tuck would think but he was interested, although more interested in playing in the water. We stayed there for awhile but when Tuck got ansy, we changed the scenery and went for a walk. He was so cute playing with "Boof", Mike's new little puppy.

After a quick snack and a few errands, we drove North to Lily Bay and finally after an hour, Tuck fell asleep. Unfortunately we only had about 30 minutes of driving left, so when we arrived at camp, both Jay and I were able to climb out the windows while Tuck kept sleeping!





It was a gorgeous weekend, slightly windy and chilly, but perfect to be outside. Tuck loved being by the lake, which made me nervous, but he did pretty well. Once he learned he could throw rocks in the water, he was hooked. He hung out in the hammock, read in the swing, just relaxed. He slept pretty well and we actually got a lot of downtime to relax. I haven't read that much in awhile.



Sunday afternoon we started the drive South, after Tuck napped, so I knew he wouldn't last that long. We made it to Waterville before he started to get fussy, so we stopped and had a break at Grammy Lyn and Grampa Mac's. That actually worked out well, because after an hour or so, we jumped back in the car and Tuck fell asleep instantly.