This year we more than made up for our crappy summer last year (moving! it sucked). One of the major events was our get away with Gammy and Gampy along with my sister and her family. My parents landed an amazing home on Deer Isle. Spacious yet cozy, it suited the three families perfectly. The kids (and Scott) swam in the dangerously cold water off the dock. We took small hikes to immense views. Played vicious games of badminton and ping-pong... It was a blast. Not long after that adventure Scott, Ethan and I drove south to Newburyport to run in the annual Yankee Homecoming road race. We were joined by Scott's Uncle Al and his two kids along with a family friend. Scott came in first place for his age group!!!
Then off to camping!! My most very, very favoritist part of the summer!!!!! We found a glorious camp ground and had a perfect sight. Scott and I slept, for the first time ever, in the big tent all alone:( Fiona has her two person she likes to sleep in and Ethan slept in the truck (Scott has a tent that fits onto the back of the cab) Story Land was a highlight...but perhaps even better than that was Whale's Tale! We hit that water park with a mission. To go on Every ride...Mission accomplished. There are no pictures from that day. Not brave/reckless enough to bring a cell phone into a water park. Let me just say, there were some seriously scary water slides. On other days that we weren't mingling with park goers, we were hiking around to find just the right watering hole. We found two spots a walk from our campsite that were magical..complete with fish swimming against the current, only visible with goggles.
At home we followed through with our promise to the kids to take them out to eat in celebration of their honor rolls all last year. There is a fabulous Mexican restaurant in Portland that they chose. They each brought their best friends along too. I approved, since they too had gotten honor roll!
I have also managed to sneak in more time with my friends. Hallie and family return to Italy in early September and I will miss them more than they know. Her children have really grown on me and I hate to say goodbye for years at a time:(
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| The view from back porch of the home my parents rented for our getaway. |
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| We brought the badminton. |
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| Some cool bridges on the way to Deer Isle. |
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| Mine and Scott's room. |
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| Great, great room. |
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| Kids enjoying a late breakfast. |
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| To some acoustic music... |
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| The tide there was very dramatic. |
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| Morning walk with my parents. |
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| Old abandoned house that was down the street. |
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| Scott taking the cold plunge. |
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| Ethan. |
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| The girls took the leap. |
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| Fancy Gammy. |
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| Scott and I. Just being cheesy.... |
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| A little hike. |
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| The whole gang! |
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| No one caught anything the entire week. |
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| Gampy showing off his skills. |
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| The dogs were impressed. |
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| Gammy got her butt kicked. |
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| Meagan and Ellie. |
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| That's Fiona out there in the kayak. |
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| Meagan... |
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| Ethan. |
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| The road race gang. |
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| STORY LAND!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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| The super scary (according to Scott)turtle ride. |
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| Miss Fiona did 90% of the driving. |
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| We returned to Clark's Trading Post after ten years for another old time photo. |
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| This was a part of our camp ground. We were in a more wooded site. |
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| Hike? |
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| Best swimming hole ever! |
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| Watching my baby, watching the fish. |
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| The set up. |
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| Fond an "arcade" in the basement of an old hotel during a brief rainstorm. |
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| Fiona and Bella on our dinner out. |
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| Ethan and Wyatt sizing up the waves. |
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| I'm still working with Evelyn twice a week. I brought some play dough last time. We both had fun. |
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| My friend stopped by with her dog. We were all on the floor snuggling in the first five minutes. |
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| Babysat for Hallie's kids for a night while she and her husband enjoyed some big kid time alone. |
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| Valerio worked hard with Scott on this creation. |
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| Viola made mini birthday cakes all on her own. |
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| Beach with friends. |
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| Bliss. Viola fell asleep in my lap. |
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| The five of us. Friends since kindergarten. |
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| I may have to take Hallie's kids from her before they fly back to Italy. |
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| Me and Mollie...forever. |
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| My very best friend of all. |
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| Fiona's room before. (she re-painted it) |
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| Jacob was there to "help". |
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| The final product of our old time photo. WINNER!! |
