Visiting relatives at the beach in Georgetown!

Ah yes, who doesn't love a sunny, warm day at the beach?  We drove down to a beautiful cottage in Georgetown to visit with Jay's Aunt Terry and Uncle Don.  Aunt Meacy, Uncle Dave and the kids joined us as well and we all met up around 11am.  This was the same cottage they stayed at last year and it's really a spectacular place!  The beach is a short walk down the rocks and it's really a really neat place!

Daddy had the day off and was able to come with us this year and Uncle Dave too.  We visited and Aunt Terry made a great lunch for us.  Shortly after the kids were itching to hit the beach so we lubed up with sunscreen, put on bathing suits and chased the kids down to the water.  Brooklyn was ready to nap so we set up the half tent for her but she really only napped about 15 minutes.  Jay and I took turns rocking her and then we eventually brought her inside, but she didn't nap.

Tuck, Evelyn and Spencer were having a blast in the sand!  We started out making sand castles and playing in the sandy tide pools!  Then as soon as we experimented with splashing waves on our laps, that was it!  Spencer and Tuck spent a good hour letting the waves crawl up to them, it was hilarious.  I took a quick dip but this was definitely exposed ocean because it was much cooler than the protected waters I'm used to!  It did feel quite nice though.  Casco was a cliff jumping champ and launched about 20 times from the rocks.  She was loving the beach and loved watching her!

We stayed into the late afternoon and then left around 3:30 so the kids could get in a nap on the way home.  They were spent and slept all the way back to Windham.  I stole a quick nap too, trying to hide it, but Jay said I was snoring very loudly...haha!

We had a great visit with Aunt Terry, Uncle Don and the Fieldroy crew!  This was our 3rd annual excursion and it was just as much fun as the last two!

Berry picking at Penobscot!

We actually started out with Brooklyn's 6 month check up on Friday afternoon.  She is a healthy, happy little baby!  She is reaching her milestones well and eating great.  The only thing we need to work on is getting her to learn to fall asleep on her own.  We were much better and stricter with Tuck but with her we've been sidetracked with his needs as well.  So yeah, she's nursing at night more than she needs and we're not helping her out.  It's definitely more challenging with two but now that she's almost 7 months old, it's time to get her a little more independent...

At her appointment, here are her current measurements:
length - 27.5" (90%ile)
weight - 17 lbs. 6 oz. (64%ile)
head - 44 3/4 cm. (93%ile)

Jay got out a little early on Friday afternoon because I was supposed to work and ended up not having to so we were able to pack up and get on the road earlier.  Brooklyn napped most of the way but Tucky was wide awake.  I brought his portable DVD player and he wanted to watch his "choo choo EBDB" (train dvd).  He loves that thing!

 Bedtime was a little tough for Tuckyman because he was so excited to see everyone when we got down to Penobscot.  We've been working on that bedtime independence thing and he's been doing great, although traveling throws a curveball!

 The weather was overcast and a little misty which was a welcome relief from the heat in my mind!  It was a picking berry themed weekend!  The raspberries were plentiful and everywhere...and Poppy really wanted to have Tucky help pick blueberries as well because they were also ready!  (Plus without a diaper this year, we didn't have to worry as much about diaper rash from all those berries...haha)

Tuck, Nahne, Mimi and I hit Ellsworth for a little shopping Saturday morning while Jay watched Brooklyn at the farmhouse.  Tuck went with just his big boy undies and did pretty well until we saw the toy section at Reny's and he got so sidetracked that he forgot about letting us know...it happens!  We got back in time for a late lunch and then naps.

 Tuck and Brooklyn's met another set of their 2nd cousins this weekend, Will and Forbes.  My cousin Forbes (Andy) and Gretchen had twin boys on January 7th, a week later than Brooklyn.  They are super cute and we had a blast watching Brooklyn with them - she's an aggressive little one! :)  We'll see them back up here in about a month or so and by then, they'll most likely be moving, watch out!

Sunday morning was berry picking morning!  Nahne, Tuck and I picked all through the brook, down by the water and along the road.  We found a ton of raspberries and the more I picked, the more Tuck ate.  He thought it was fun to empty my bucket into his and show everyone...then eat them!  Smart little bugger!  We picked a lot of raspberries and would have done even more if there were time!

 Then after lunch, Poppy, Nahne, Tuck and I drove up the road a bit to a friend of Poppy's blueberry fields.  These are gorgeous fields and no one really picks there, meaning tons and tons of blueberries.  They were actually a bit more full last year but there is more than enough and lots of good eating.  Tuck stayed with Nahne and ate everything he could from the road.  Poppy and I grabbed the racks and started to fill the buckets.  Last year we filled a 5 gallon bucket in under 30 minutes but that took four of us about 4 days to sort through so we weren't that ambitious this weekend.

 I forgot about the ants and wore my Keen's so I was having to jump from rock to rock to avoid the nasty red ants.  We raked in almost a 1/4 bucket each before the skies opened up and rain poured down on us. Tuck was a champ and rode it out on my shoulders as we raced back to the truck.  We got soaked but it was really fun!

 We also got to take out Poppy and Uncle Trap's boat for a short ride to Castine when the skies were cleared up.  Poppy had the mackerel rods ready to go and we've been wanting to do that for awhile!  No "Nemo's" were in sight but we did have a great ride!  Brooklyn fell asleep about 5 minutes into the boat ride and slept the whole way despite not being a big fan of bulky lifejackets!

 After all the excitement, we packed up the truck and let the kids nap while we drove back to Mimi and Poppy's house in Oakland.  We are going to visit Jay's Aunt and Uncle in Georgetown tomorrow so we decided against driving all the way back to Windham.

Now, when to sort through all those yummy blueberries...

Narrow Gauge Railway with Auntie Amy

I probably should have stayed put with the kids today and let them rest and relax at home, but we didn't.  After making a big breakfast, I packed up and took the kids in to Portland and East End Beach to meet Auntie Amy.  It was a super nice day again and I wanted to get them out before the thunderstorms were going to hit in the afternoon. 

We met at East End Beach and watched some crazy heavy machinery going on.  The island big rig was ferrying dump trucks back and forth and Tuck got to watch them load.  It was quite impressive.  We also saw the duck boat hit the ramps and drive straight into the water, he loved it of course!  We had a few minutes to spare before the 11am train so we played in the cold water at the beach.  We've been spoiled swimming in the warm lake so much lately!

Tuck was very excited to go on the train!  By the time we got there we had to sit in the passenger cars instead of the outdoors one but we really didn't care.  It was actually easier to nurse Brooklyn that way too.  We rode up towards Back Cove and then it stopped and a brief history of the train was given.  At this point I could tell Tuck had to pee and since I had him in "big boy undies", I knew I had to act fast.  As the history was being given, I pulled Tuck into the caboose and had him pee off the steps about 3 cars down from everyone.  He did have to go and I'm psyched he made it that far!  We're getting somewhere...small steps.  Anyway, we rode back to the station after that and had a little picnic on the tailgate of the truck. 

Our tickets also allowed us to go in the museum part of the Narrow Gauge.  What a cool place!  We played with the train table and then toured the place.  It was quite interesting.

Being almost naptime, I loaded the kids and dropped Auntie Amy off at her car....well not before she treated Tucky to an ice cream at the ice cream truck...  it was hilarious but he made a mess!  Both kids fell asleep right away in the car and unfortunately I wasn't able to transfer either one into the house....argh!  It made for a long afternoon, let's just say.  Oh well, we had fun!

Getting the hang of the biking thing!

Look at him picking up those legs and figuring out his balance!

First tooth - lots of Daddy time!

Brooklyn got her first tooth!  We knew she'd been teething lately and that it was getting close but it finally sneaked it's way in over the last couple days.  Of course I had no Motrin in the house because of the big recall so we were shuffling to hit the store and get some to help soothe her gum.  Luckily she's a tough little cookie and is dealing with this big new change quite well.  She is nibbling on everything!!!

We've been super lucky to have Daddy take a few days off lately!  He was home Friday, Sat, Sun and tomorrow as well.  We decided to stick around the house for a change and play around here.

The weather was absolutely beautiful again, I think we're going on over a month straight of hot, sunny days!  We hung around the house Friday morning a bit.  While Brooklyn took a morning nap, I brought Tuck to the Windham library to look at some books.  We found three train books that he was interested in.  The library has a whole floor that's the children's section, it's pretty nice.

That afternoon we decided to do a late day swim at Dundee Park.  Jay hadn't been there with us yet so we were excited to show him.  There was no one there, we practically had the whole beach to ourselves.  The water was super warm and the kids were having so much fun!  Tuck is really swimming well with his floaties, I'm really impressed.  We stayed for about an hour and all felt very refreshed.  We'll be back another day to do a BBQ because there's a few picnic tables and grills.

Saturday was another super hot day so we didn't spend much time at sweating it out at the house.  Instead we packed up the truck and drove down to our neighbor Danny's camp on the Basin.  He's got a great sandy beach and loves having the kids come down.  We brought a kayak and spent most of the day hanging on the water.  It was so nice for Brooklyn because he actually has a lot of shade on his beach so she was able to hang out without hats, sunscreen, etc.  She even took a nice nap on one of his swings while we were building Tucky some sand castles. 

I had to work a sunset kayak tour for LL Bean on Saturday night so Jay got to hang with the kids.  Apparently Tuck went to bed fairly easily for him although Brooklyn was teething and took some time.  The poor little girl is roughing it out through the heat and cutting a tooth.  She's a champ!

 I got home from work around 11:45pm and then had to leave the house at 6am for another sea kayak lesson I had to do in Freeport.  Brooklyn woke up in the middle of the night to nurse so I spent a little cuddle time with her but I didn't get to see Tucky...I did go in his room and check on him a few times.  It was a long couple days away but I think it was really good for Daddy to have time alone with the kiddos.  He doesn't get that opportunity very much and I know they had a great time.

Jay also had Monday off so we took advantage of another sunny day and decided to bring our bikes down to the Mountain Division Trail in South Windham. Meacy and the kids joined us as well.  I actually brought the double stroller and my rollerblades.  Basically it's a 12 mile long old railroad bed that's got a paved trail and it's not very hilly.  I have been wanting to try the roller blading thing with the stroller and it actually worked very well.  Brooklie loved the breeze!

The kids did great on their bikes and lasted quite awhile!  We went slightly downhill at first, which was probably better for them anyway.  Jay had a bike seat on his bike for Tuck and after awhile I had Spencer jump in with Brooklie so we could go the other direction.  Evelyn was a champ and pedaled a very long ways! 


It was warm so after awhile we headed back to the house for lunch.  We played toys and then ventured out to the pool on the deck.  The water wasn't warm yet but they went in anyway.  We also hit the sandbox, the swings and played a little soccer.  The big hit was the hose of course and Aunt Meacy and I took turns spraying them all!  We had a really fun day with the cousins!

Fun week at home with kids playing in the sun!

We have been having a fun week at home trying to stay cool with all this warm weather.  The heat is tough on the young ones although they're hanging in there with the fans. 

We've been trying to hang out on the deck until it gets too hot.  We hit Dundee Park in Windham a few times because I bought the park pass.  It has a great sandy beach and shallow water that's great for the kids.  Plus a few of my friends have the passes as well and it's super close by.

We've been transitioning from a straight nap time every day to more of a "quiet/rest" time.  The first day, he wasn't psyched to be left alone in his room and after about 30 minutes or so, he started shouting.  I wasn't helping Brooklyn go to sleep at that point but luckily she went down alright.
I went in and game him a hug, read a few books and left.  I checked on him a short while later and he

was sleeping!  This worked the first few days because I must have worn him out playing at the beach!

Bedtime is going a little better this week.  I've been rocking Brooklyn to sleep downstairs while Jay did books and songs with Tucky up in his room.  After songs, he left the room and Tuck wasn't psyched at all.  The first few nights one of us had to go back up after a half hour or so and remind him how to fall asleep, then he usually fell asleep pretty quickly.  Poor Brooklyn had to sleep on the couch until we knew he was asleep because she could hear him in her room otherwise.  Luckily she is such a champ!

Auntie Amy came over to visit us on Thursday and go to the beach.  It was a super warm day and she arrived early enough to have breakfast on the deck with Tucky.  She played with the kids while I packed us up and we headed to Dundee Park again. 

Auntie and Tuck had so much fun swimming and playing in the sand.  She buried Tuck's legs and he thought that was just great.  Brooklyn loves the water but she was actually a little fussy because she's teething pretty hard right now.

The heat is hard on Brooklie because she runs so warm as it is.  I've been bringing a fan downstairs to place near her to keep her cool.  While she was sitting on my lap I moved the fan closer and made someone very happy.  I think she really liked the way it felt because she fussed when I moved it away.  Plus it made for some great pictures!

Little man is a creative little bugger and loves his markers.  Several times a day he goes over to his desk and colors....usually on paper.  Well, while I was changing Brooklyn, Tuck was at his desk coloring.  A few minutes later he came over to me and told me his arms were blue...yes they were!  He had colored both arms pretty heavily.  Jay and I looked at each other, then away from him and laughed discreetly...  I took a picture and told him it was to remind Brooklyn not to color on herself when she's his age!