Maine

After being gone for almost 2 weeks, it is good to be home ... but man do we miss the sound of the waves crashing, being on the boat, the beach, time with family, and everything else that our annual trip to Maine entails. For the 2nd year in a row, we were split between 2 houses - Munasca and the Boathouse.

Every year we do family pictures, and the new deck on the house was the perfect spot this year. Isla came along, but we left Mattie at home ... poor Mattie :(

It's hard to pick what pictures to share because I love them all! (and we have 739). Here are our very very favorites :)

Jon's mom & Sarah

Sarah loved sitting on this bench, watching boats and looking for birds

view from the porch of the "Boathouse"

Mark was on the sailing team at the Naval Academy, and this summer decided to do "sailing school" with the kids - the 2 small sailboats are the boats he used; the little motor boat is Jon in the "chase boat" ... just in case!

1 day on the beach I decided to organize a 50 yard dash among the kids - I gave them a pep talk of no tears regardless of who beats you (it worked out perfectly because they finished according to age!!) ... but that kids race got the guys going ... Bob, Mark, Jon, & Rob decided to race - it was HILARIOUS! Jon won, then Mark, Bob, Rob. Luckily no one got hurt!!!

And here's a slide show of our very favorites ...

You would think, being our 2nd year with Sarah, that we wouldn’t be shocked by the difference of vacation with a kid in tow. Yet this year was quite different for us. It took a few days to adjust. The majority of the 11 other kids are between 6 and 15 years old. That’s a big difference than 19 months!

Munasca is a big old house, right on the ocean. Sarah loved it! Mostly, she loved the grand stair case and looking at the windows at birds and boats. She loved the beach, boat rides, and playing with her cousins. She also took 2 long naps a day from how hard she played! In years past, Jon and I spent lots of time going places and doing things. This year, I spent a lot of time at the house while Sarah slept. It was wonderful in its own way. At home, when Sarah naps, I’m either working or hurrying around the house cleaning and getting things done. Yet on vacation, I had the freedom to read, relax, or sit around doing nothing. It was marvelous! 1 of my sister-in-laws said she has such a hard time sitting still … that’s me at home. There is always too much to do. It feels like such a privilege to have the freedom to do that on vacation!

Gyp is now living in Maine with Mark's family. Hallelujah the puppies are gone!

On the way up we did the drive straight through - leaving at 6pm, arriving at 3pm. Coming home, we decided to break it up by spending the night in Pennsylvania with our good friends Tim & Jess. We got to their house mid afternoon Saturday, so actually had time to spend with them, and then came home Sunday. It was great getting to see them, and watching Sarah and Brooke play (they're 6 months apart). They have chickens and their neighbor has goats, which Sarah and Isla loved. And they had a trampoline. I think Sarah wanted to stay with them! :)