The Perfect Vacation Day

I took the day off on Tuesday to spend the day with the girls…the day before school starts…which is now our cool little tradition.  We’d all been looking forward to it for weeks.  And the day didn’t disappoint.

The girls had breakfast in traditional day-before-school fashion, with a candle in their cinnamon roll to make a wish for a great school year.

Make a wish!

We spent the morning playing at home.  We read together, we worked on a canvas, and we had plenty of pretend time.  

Here, the girls made a “beach”.  All was well until Mommy pretended to be a shark!

We headed downtown for lunch, to a new seafood restaurant none of us had tried.  It was so cool to enjoy something new, together, for the first time!

After lunch the girls slipped into their swimsuits (and Mommy, into shorts and a top) and we headed to the dancing fountains.  What fun we all had, running around and squealing!

Here, pretending to be flamingos!

After we had our fill of the hot sun, we dried off as best we could and headed for ice cream.

Sharing a bite!

What a wonderful afternoon it was!!!

We came home and scrubbed up and down in preparation for the start of school.

The rest of the day somehow disappeared into reading and snuggles, with a little needlepoint slipped in before supper.

We didn’t take a trip…we didn’t live it up at the spa…but it was the most perfect vacation day I could imagine…logging some wonderful one-on-one time with my baby girls and celebrating the eve of yet another milestone.

Girls' Night Out!

We finally got the girls’ school supply list last week, and I’d been looking forward all week to our “date” on Thursday night to go shopping.  Hubby had open house at his school, so he dropped the girls off to me at precisely 4:30.  (Summer hours…woo hoo!)

The girls were all skippy across the parking lot, and I would have been, too, if I didn’t have on heels!

We decided to get our shopping done first.  We headed to Target and got everything we needed in just a few minutes.  Their list this year wasn’t very long, and everything on it was understandable.  The girls chose the colors of binders and notebooks they needed, and we were set.

From Target, we headed to our once-favorite Mexican restaurant, one we hadn’t visited as a family in several months now.  We enjoyed a yummy meal and some snuggle time.

After supper, I surprised the girls with a trip to the library.  You’d have thought they won the lottery!  We missed the library last week, and they’d been clamoring to go.

They picked out their books pretty quickly, and we had a lovely chat with the librarian.  She asked the girls about books they’d read.  I thought it was pretty impressive how many books / book series they said “yes” to!

When we got to the car, I told them how proud I was that they love to read, and how they should be proud of the many books they’ve read.  “It just comes natural!” Baby A responded.

I had one more surprise up my sleeve that evening…ice cream!  The girls really would have loved a cone, but the two places close by with cones have outside seating that I feared would still be wet after a late-afternoon rain.  We headed to the yogurt shop instead.  The girls chose their yogurt flavors and we sat on the indoor/outdoor side.  We had that entire part of the shop to ourselves, and we were all grooving to the music they were playing. 

“What kind of music is this, Mommy?” B asked.  I told her I would classify it as hip-hop.  “Well it has a very lively beat!” she said.  Hahaha!  And when my A finished her yogurt, she couldn’t resist dancing a bit.  That’s uncharacteristic, to see her so uninhibited in public, but I guess she felt comfortable since we had the place to herself.  She was busting a move, for sure!

(From a June trip to the yogurt shop...the same sweet smiles!)

We packed a lot into three hours (pushing out bedtime to accommodate), but we had so much simple fun, just the three of us.  

L.O.V.E.  

Sweet, Seven-Year Old Anticipation

I was witness yesterday to some sweet, precious, seven-year old anticipation.

Yesterday morning the girls got up and came downstairs.  I hadn’t asked them for “belly sugar” in a while, so I decided to give my luck a go.  We play a little game where they tell me what kind of kiss I can give them…ranging from little to big, and from super sweet to silly.  A “little-sweet” kiss is just a peck.  And a “big-silly” is a huge raspberry.

No matter the type of kiss they allow, I always make a big deal of preparing myself.  And seeing the light in their eyes…not knowing how much something will tickle…is golden.  I ALWAYS make good on my commitment to honor their allowance for little/big, sweet/silly, but they can hardly stand the anticipation. 

My kisses are met with a range of hugs to squeals, and it’s one more piece of “baby” I can hold onto for now amid all the “grown-up”.

And then, yesterday at lunch, Hubby met me with the girls at the hair salon.  I got a trim, as did Baby A.  When it was B’s turn, I asked if she wanted to get more than a trim, to cut her hair just below her shoulders.  She’s been growing out her bangs since last summer, and we’re almost there!

B answered with gusto right away, “Sure!”  I showed her how long her hair would be, confirming we’d still be able to do a ponytail.  She was game!  She sat in my lap, facing me.  I got to see her face, full of anticipation, no doubt proud of what she’d agreed to.

And at least as sweet was watching Baby A’s face taking it all in.  She was rapt with anticipation, too, her eyes just dancing as she watched Sissy’s hair fall to the floor.  “Do you like it, [A]?” I asked her.  “YES!  It looks AWESOME!!!”

Sweet anticipation…and sweet sissies…I couldn’t ask for anything sweeter.

Way Back When-esday: Presidential Prowess

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking way back to eight years ago.  I was pregnant.   And it was the height of the primary season ahead of the 2008 presidential election.

Not knowing the genders of the babies just yet, I assumed – for the sake of conversation – that we had one boy and one girl.  And I gave them the in-utero names Barack and Hillary.

I remember my colleagues and I had some fun with that one. 

Hee hee!

Fast-forward eight years to today, ahead of the 2016 presidential election.  We’re still having lots of political dialogue…but this time the girls are more verbal participants.  Here are a couple of my more recent faves…

“Mommy, why don't you run for president?”…and then, “Well, you’re the president of our house.”

And when I mentioned that Daddy couldn’t be president [because he’s not a natural-born citizen], Baby B piped up before I could elaborate, “Because he’s Independent!”  Hahaha!

I’m hoping my girls will always have a passion for politics and world events.  Heaven knows we started ‘em early!

My red, white, and blue babies!

***

Shout-out to the always awesome Cheryl at Twinfatuation for inspiring this Way Back-Whenesday post!

It's a Family Thing (Finally!)

Since the girls learned to ride their bikes without training wheels, we’ve been contemplating whether Baby B needed a new bike.  She was still riding a 16”, in comparison to Baby A’s 20”.  Our A seemed to get places a lot faster with those bigger wheels, and little B seemed always to be telling us how tired her legs were.

Hubby told B we’d get her a new bike when we got back from vacation.  So of course the first words out of B’s mouth the morning after we got home from Maine were, “We’re getting my new bike today!”

Late that Saturday afternoon, we made good on our commitment, taking the girls to the bike shop downtown where we bought their original bikes two years ago.  We found a great bike for B, and A was [mostly] patient while her sissy got lots of attention.  B agreed to let A ride her bike, so all was relatively well.

Hubby and I had been talking about getting bikes ourselves, but I hadn’t planned on making the splurge that day.  It was no time, though, before we’d each picked out bikes.  It’s a good thing we recently straightened up the garage…our family of bikes is quite formidable!

I’ll admit it took me a few minutes to feel comfortable on my bike.  (It had been quite a few years…30, perhaps???...since I’d ridden one!  And I’d never had a bike with hand brakes and gears!!!)  We tooled around a bit that first evening, and then – helmets on – we went for our first family bike ride the next day!

Over the past two weeks, we’ve logged as many family rides as we could…early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, or first thing when Mommy gets home from work in the afternoon.

This mama is having a super-fun time whizzing through the neighborhood, and it’s such an awesome sight to be surrounded by the family.

I’ve long talked about Mommy milestones, and certainly the girls’ milestones are huge.  This is one Family Milestone that will stick with me for a long, long time!

Maine: Days 3, 4, and 5!

Day 3: Wednesday

On Wednesday morning we trekked to breakfast at a diner on the other end of Old Port.  It was a hike, but it was a nice way to start the day.  After breakfast we set out for Kennebunkport to go to the beach.

We didn't know what we'd find, exactly, so we neglected to get a parking pass.  We got incredibly lucky to find a parking spot at the beach AND a lady who'd accidentally gotten two passes.  We paid her for the pass, and we were set!

In hindsight, I wish I'd brought the girls' swimsuits to the beach -- or at least a change of clothes.  The deal was that we would walk in the water, getting wet up to our knees.  The girls got SOAKED to their tummies pretty quickly, surprised by the waves coming in, though.  

The water was COLD, but the view was breathtaking!

I love toes-in-the-sand pictures!

Here's an old-fashioned selfie (with the big camera!) of Hubby and me!

(I reluctantly turned the camera over to an older couple to ask them to take a family photo of us.  [I say "reluctantly" because we were surrounded by water!  Ack!!!]  It didn't turn out so swell, though...and my arms are not long enough for an old-fashioned family selfie.  HA!)

 We'd planned to have lunch in Kennebunkport and walk around there, but the girls were too wet.  We drove back to the hotel for a quick shower, and we ate lunch there.

That afternoon, while Hubby watched a soccer game, the girls and I trekked to the Promenade again, this time to the playground.  The ocean made such an amazing backdrop for their frolicking!!!

And of course we had to pause a few times to take in the view on the way back to the hotel.

We ate dinner at a place call The East Ender.  I got an appetizer of sea snails, and the girls were hooked.  One of my favorite lines of the trip was surely, "Mommy, may I have another snail, please?"  HA!!!

Day 4: Thursday

Thursday morning, after finding a different diner for breakfast, we walked about a block from our hotel to the ferry terminal.  We bought tickets for a trip to Peak's Island, the largest and most-inhabited island off the coast.  After a relatively short ferry ride, we hopped off the ferry and headed for the golf cart rental.

Pretending to drive!

Hubby didn't have his license with him, so the driving was up to me.  It was a COLD day, especially zipping around in our cart, but we enjoyed the ever-present ocean view as we made our way around the perimeter of the island.

We made frequent stops, one here where many before us had balanced rocks on the jagged coastline.

The girls wanted to try their hands, of course!

We took one detour (after stopping to ask for directions) to visit a house that sells honey.  A local couple was out for a walk, and they snapped a family picture of us...one in which everyone is actually looking at the camera and smiling!

The honey was sitting on a table with a bucket in which you could deposit $5 per jar...all on the honor system.  Kind of cool!

We ate lunch on the island and headed back to the hotel.  By the afternoon, it had warmed up a bit, and the girls and I headed for the narrow gauge railroad museum.  We took in a few sights inside before we boarded the train for a trip most of the way around the peninsula and back.

The train stopped at the halfway point, and the kiddos got to ring the bell.  The girls were all about it!  In this picture you can see the swing bridge that's no longer in operation.

After a good dose of Portland history on the train ride, we headed for a little shop I'd been eyeing since Monday, Vena's Fizz House.  I was super excited to introduce the girls to what I thought would be a great treat!

The inside of the shop was super quaint.  I love this picture taken from inside where we sat.

I had a delicious ginger soda, and I ordered a raspberry lemonade and a cherry limeade for the girls.  They were NOT fans, though.  "This burns my throat, Mommy!"  Oops!  Their first ever taste of carbonation was a flop (but I'm really OK with that!).

We had a fantastic dinner at Duck Fat.  We had incredible poutine with cheese curds, the fries having been cooked in -- you guessed it -- duck fat.

Day 5: Friday

Friday morning we found ourselves at a donut shop boasting donuts that are made from Maine potatoes.  They're the best donuts I've ever eaten.  Seriously.  We got a half dozen sampler box.  My favorite was the maple bacon, while Hubby and the girls loved the sweet potato best.  It might sound a little on the different side...but it was nothing but delicious!

After packing our bags, we headed for the Portland Observatory, our last must-do.  We got there early and decided to pay a visit to the fire station that's just next door.  We met three wonderfully kind firemen who invited the girls to sit in the fire truck.  They were just a little bit excited.  :)

We still had a little time, so we showed Daddy to the playground at the Promenade.  It happened to be Daddy's birthday...what a great place to celebrate!

Lastly, we made it to the Observatory and climbed the 104 steps to the top.  (We only counted 103, but I'll take their word that we missed a step somewhere.)

The view from the top was beautiful!

And I love this picture of the docent, a lovely retired school nurse, pointing out the sights to the girls.

I snapped one last picture on our way back to the hotel to start our way home.  

Buoys hanging on a fence in a residential area.

We had a wonderful trip, one we'll remember fondly for many years to come!!!  Thanks for the memories, Maine!!!

Maine: Days 1 and 2!

Last week we took a vacation to MAINE!!!  Neither Hubby nor I had been there before, so this was the first big adventure that the four of us experienced together for the first time as a family.

I took lots of pictures, and I could hardly wait to get home and go through them.  I keep just flipping through, still kind of in awe of the beautiful scenery and the new adventures we had.  Here I'm including a small representation, just enough to document our trip for the sake of posterity.  :)

Day 1: Monday, the Fourth of July

We arrived in Portland just in time for lunch.  (If you're keeping track, that means we left home EARLY.  I got up around 1:30 for our 5:30 flight [the airport is an hour away from our house]!)  We got a quick recommendation for a seafood place right on the water.

Our first picture in Maine!  Looking out over the water while we waited on our lunch!

We had our first lobster roll of the trip.  The girls were quite taken with it, along with calamari and crab cakes.  

After a family nap of 2 1/2 hours...which was BLISS!!!!!...we headed east along the ocean to claim a spot to watch the fireworks.  This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip...so picturesque!!!

We had a really great dinner at a place called The Front Room.  (Baby A was super excited to see a dish of Brussels sprouts with goat cheese, two of her faves!)

Ahead of the fireworks, the Portland Symphony Orchestra played.  There were lots of patriotic tunes, of course, and I could hardly believe my ears when they played the Alabama fight song!  I have no idea what that was about...but I loved it!

At last, darkness fell and it was time for the big show.  These were the girls' first fireworks (outside of what they've seen on TV).  They actually didn't love them.  They weren't scared, but they enjoyed about five minutes and then declared they'd had enough.  

We trekked back to the hotel and got a great night of well-deserved rest.  

Day 2: Tuesday

The next morning we got up and headed for breakfast.  We found ourselves at a place that featured Syrian wraps.  The owner got a chuckle when Baby A called out to me as I placed our order, "Add spinach to mine!"  Hee hee!

We stopped for a few pictures in Old Port as we headed back to our hotel.  I love the cobblestone streets!

And as I was taking a picture of the girls here, a cab driver stopped to speak to us, saying he wanted to take a picture of me taking the girls' picture.  Kinda sweet, huh?

Sisterly hugs!

 After breakfast we headed to Cape Elizabeth to the Portland Head Light, said to be the most-photographed lighthouse in the country.  I took a ton of pictures as we hiked around the cliff (as it was labeled), and here I handed the camera over to someone to snap a family pic.

I couldn't get enough of the interesting rock formations long the coastline!

And here we paused when Hubby actually requested I take his picture with the girls.  Yes!!!

We hiked around an old fort, and then explored the beach area.  We picked up a couple of rocks to bring home with us, too.

After our lighthouse adventure, we had a fantastic lunch.  It wasn't lobster, but pizza...provolone mac and cheese pizza, to be exact...but it was amazing!  And I must confess that I took this picture on the morning drive.  We were stopped at a traffic light and I rolled down the window to snap this pic.  Hubby chided that I was "such a tourist"...but as luck would have it, that's where we ate lunch.  The last laugh was on Hubby, I say!  :)

Filling-station-turned-pizza-parlor...yum!

Tuesday afternoon we drove up to Freeport, Maine, to visit the L.L. Bean headquarters.  My grandmother was a huge fan of L.L. Bean, and she always fantasized about going to Maine because of it.  On one hand I felt silly going shopping on vacation, but it was a special trip with her in mind.

The campus was beautiful...and HUGE!

The girls even scored some cool new shoes!

And what trip to L.L. Bean would be complete without a picture in front of the giant duck boot truck???

We worked up quite an appetite shopping, and we ate a delicious meal at an outside table at a nearby cafe.  In our short stay in Maine, Baby B had already mastered her standard order, "I'll have a lobster roll and a cup of clam chowder.  And I don't want to share."  HA!  This kid is no cheap date!

Baby A and I shared a shrimp and pasta dish.  It was delicious, too!

More to come as I sort through the rest of my pictures!  It was such a great trip!!!