Brooklyn's 18 mo. check-up - Gardening!!!

Last week at home before heading off to Moosehead for the week!  We are very excited for our camping trip and spending time with friends and family up on the lake.

This week has flown by and the kids have adjusted to getting up early and going back to Cindy's for a few days.  We had Brooklyn's check-up yesterday afternoon and she is doing great.  She's growing well and they are pleased with what she's doing and how well she's eating.  It helps spending so much time in the garden and eating right off the stalks!  Technically Brooke's almost 19 months but she is now:

length: 33" (79%ile)
weight: 26lbs. (70%ile)
head: 49cm (96%ile) - no wonder she doesn't like putting shirts on!

So the mornings have been spent with me teaching reading at summer camp and the kids hanging with Cindy.  Brooklyn has fallen asleep each day on the drive home, with great transfers into her crib luckily.  Tucky's not napping at all, but he and I get to spend some "QT" while she naps and we've been doing all sorts of projects.

After Brooklyn wakes up and a brief snack, we've been hitting the garden heavily.  The peas and beans are going off like crazy and yesterday Tuck helped me pick over 20 cukes.  He's loving it and Brooklyn too!  He's been getting the gator out and parking it so that we can pile weeds in there, although I'm not even bothering with those anymore.  Brooklyn puts the beans I've thrown to her in a bucket and then eventually into the gator too.  Tucky picked a cuke yesterday and ate it all then picked a carrot today and couldn't wait to clean and bite it!  They are such good eaters and it makes gardening so much fun!

Daddy hooked up a water bottle holder to Tucky's bike because he's been insisting that he has one just like Mommy does.  With a 10" bike, it's hard to find enough space so he had to improvise a bit.  Instead of it on the main frame, where it wouldn't fit, Jay hooked it up under his seat.  Let's just say that Tuck was beaming when he saw that Daddy had hooked one up for him....and he had a new front reflector attached now too!  What a lucky duck!  So we've been putting some miles on this week on our road, Brooklyn with me on the big bike trying to chase little guy and his pedaling legs on his bike.  Pretty impressive, he's getting really good with his bike!











Off to pack for Moosehead, can't wait!

Sunny, hot, hot days!

 Wow, what a summer so far!  It has been so nice the past month but to be honest, now that the heat is here, I wouldn't mind a day of "rain." 

I've been working a summer reading camp the last couple weeks in the mornings and this week the kids go to go to Cindy's.  They were super excited to see her and get to play with her for the morning.  I have had some tired kiddos and have had to transfer a sleeping Brooklie into her crib after each drive home.  Luckily, that works well for her now!

 Tucky doesn't nap.  No matter how perfect the napping conditions are, he just can't lie down and settle himself, or maybe he doesn't need to, who knows.  So we have been using the time to work on projects and play in the garden, when not too hot.

 We've tried out some new fingerpaints, which he loved.  He made a huge design and he told me that it was a steam train with a bunch of pretty boxcars.  He was quite proud of himself and best part for Mommy, just jumping in the kiddie pool after to rinse off!

The kids have also been spending lots of time with me out in the garden.  The peas are plentiful right now and we've been picking (EATING) them like crazy.  Brooklyn is going to turn into a pea at the rate she's eating them.  Tuck even helped me shell a huge bucket the other night for dinner.  We have some cucumbers ready too and the kids picked one and ate it whole, standing right in the garden, so cool!

 We've also been hitting our neighbor's beach down on the basin a few times.  Tonight, as soon as Daddy got home, we packed up quickly and headed to Tassel Top beach in Raymond.  It was awesome!  It's a super sandy beach, warm and with lots of waves tonight.  The kids were loving the water, Brooklyn couldn't keep her splashing legs still.  We'll definitely be heading back there and it only cost us $4.50 to go into to the park, for the whole family.  Super fun!

Penobscot: boating Castine-hiking Blue Hill

Friday fun with Nahne...cruising around Freeport.  Tucky wanted to hit the playground, we met up with Kim and her daughter around lunchtime and then found some goodies for the kids for our upcoming summer camping excursions!
Headlamps, binoculars and waterbottles!  Too hot of a day to do much more, ready to head downeast to Penobscot for the weekend!

With July flying by and the next two weekends up in the Moosehead area, we decided to head back down to Penobscot on Friday night, after Jay got out of work.  I had just about everything packed up so that after we ate, and then picked freshies out of the garden, and then fed the dog, and then... we'd be ready to head out.  We picked up Nahne in Augusta on the way down and then, luckily, around 9pm, the kids fell asleep for the remainder of the ride...oh well, at least they transfer in to bed easily now!

 It was supposed to be a super hot weekend again so we had no plans except to hang out at the coast and hit the water when we needed to.  Saturday was a lazy morning kind of day with us playing outside in spurts with the kids and then getting in some reading.  Jay was dying to check out Uncle Henry's and I was in the middle of a good book too.  Luckily there's lots for us all to do and with Tucky not having the gator at home all week, he was rearing to drive all over the place.

 Our big plan for Saturday was to have everyone go out to Castine harbor in the boat.  We were just about ready to go and then Brooklyn went down for a nap.  Thinking it was going to be a quick one, we all waited around and ended up eating lunch because she napped for 2+ hours!  Luckily, she wakes well and by 1pm, we were out on the water and trying to have the breeze cool us down.

 The kids love the boat, as do all of us, but they love being out on the water and checking out what's going on.  We saw the eagle, a bunch of seals, tons of sailboats, the State of Maine ship and more.  We cruised around the harbor and then just hung out right outside Dice's Head area in Castine.  We all love it out there!

 We spent about three hours out hanging out in the bay and then decided to work our way back home.  We did stop into the docks in Castine for some ice creams, perfect touch for the day.  While we were ordering, Jay was down on the docks with Tucky watching these ladies fishing for crabs.  Somehow they invited him to help out and before long he had helped them pull in and net a few crabs.  He was loving it so of course after ice creams, we had to go back so Mommy could take some pictures.  Luckily the ladies were more than willing to let Tuckyman help!

 We made use of the little blue wading pool this weekend!  By the time we got off the boat, it was super warm and the kids peeled off their clothes and jumped in.  It may seem that we are running a nudist colony down here because they always have their clothes off.  At one point Tucky invited Mimi to come in and swim with them but then he told her she'd have to take off all her clothes, so she politely declined...they are so funny!

The best way to dry off on a hot day is run around "clothesless" so the kids did just that, and take a gator ride too.  We tried to put their clothes on but they weren't having it.  So we just went with it and being the obsessive picture taker I've become, I had to snap a few funny ones of them driving and running around with power tools.  (wonder who taught them this one???  haha)

 Despite the heat, we drove over to Blue Hill on Sunday morning to hike the mountain.  Tucky got up around 9am so we got a later start than we wanted but the kid's gotta sleep.  It a short hike to the top, probably around an hour with little ones but the views are amazing!  The trails a nice climb although I think Tucky was tired so he wasn't as up for hiking as last weekend but he still hiked up most of the trail.  The exciting part for him was finding all the blueberries that are just starting to pop up along the trail!

 We had some snacks on the top but didn't stay up too long because the sun was intense.  Tucky used his binoculars to check out the views and told us that he saw water.  I'm really impressed with how much the kids like hiking, Brooklyn's totally into the backpack and loves hanging out with everyone at the top.  The only hard part about hiking with kids is when you are around a group of people enjoying the view and then your 3 year old yells out, "Mommy, I have to go poo!"  Luckily, he already knows how to do his business in the woods...haha

Blue Hill Bay (w/golf course dead center!)

So we had a great climb down too and topped it off with a special stop at the Bagaduce Lunch for their classic haddock sandwiches...simply amazing!

We went back out in the boat again Sunday afternoon, super relaxing, then had dinner and started the trek south.  Great weekend!

Hiking in Grafton Notch w/the Dunn's!

We had originally planned a beach day but then after hearing Meghan talk about Grafton Notch and the fun hikes they were planning on doing, we were all excited to give something different a shot.  The kids haven't been hiking much and the last time we went it was just four little kids and two Mom's, so the idea of having the Dad's come along too was quite exciting!  Tuck really wanted Derek to come with us so we asked him and he said that it sounded like fun. 

We tried to leave early but with the kids sleeping late and a few wrong turns, that didn't really happen.  Luckily our friends were waiting for us at the trailhead.  We packed lunches, threw Brooklyn in the backpack and set off to hike to the Tabletop, a 3.5 mile hike.  I had figured Tucky would hike a bit and then we'd take turns carrying him for parts.  Well, he had other plans.  Maybe it was because he was hiking with Derek or he was just really up for it, but Tuck hiked probably 95% of the hike.  It wasn't an easy one either.  It was steep and there were some massive bouldering moves, metal hand holds in places and a few old wooden stair ladders, he loved it!  We were all shocked at how much he was doing, little bunny rabbit! 

The top made it all worth it, unbelievable views!  The kids were so excited and had a ball trying to figure out where we parked below.  Our cars looked like little matchbox cars, which made the kids laugh of course.  Brooklyn got out of the pack and walked around a bit but we were on the edge of a massive cliff so there was no wandering for the little ones.  We ate some snacks, drank some water and I had to have a number of pictures taken of course too!  (I'm starting to think I have a picture problem...)

We had a nice hike down, much easier route than what we took up.  Both Sage and Tucky did so well on the way down too, both learning how to place their feet carefully and get on all fours if needed.  Brooklyn and Sam each took short naps in the backpacks, somehow, but woke up in time to finish the hike with us.  So much fun!

After some more snacks and water, we loaded up in the cars and drove a few minutes down the road to Step Falls.  I'd never even heard of this place before but Meghan told us we'd love it.  It was a short, easy hike alongside a riverbed until we reached these large, steep granite slabs of rock.  The river dropped hundreds of feet in a series of pool drops with these natural waterslides in between.  It was really gorgeous and there were quite a few people with the same idea! 

The kids jumped right in the cool water and thought it was amazing.  There was a lot of current in some spots and just tons of different features for them to play on.  Basically it's like a waterpark for, well, adults too!  We slid down waterslides, hung out in eddies and Tuck really liked throwing leaves in and watching them race through the rapids.  I wish we would have thought of bringing his foamie kayaker.  Next time!  Even though the water was freezing, we all stayed in for quite awhile.  There was even a place for the "big kids" to jump off some rocks into pools.  It was an excellent way to finish off our great hike and rest the legs.

We knew we wouldn't make it far before needed to get the kiddies some dinner so we stopped by Pat's Pizza in Bethel and chowed down!  We were all super hungry and that totally hit the spot.  Brooklyn crashed almost immediately after heading home and despite a monster hike on his little legs, Tucky was still wide-eyed and ready for more, somehow!  Great day, can't wait to do it again with the kids!