Haircuts and Cupcakes

Chandler finally had enough hair to warrant a real haircut - not a buzzing to discourage self-scalping, but a real haircut!  We celebrated with cupcakes.

Last Day In Maine

After three long weeks in Maine, it was time to head south.  Beka, Dan, Molly and Zak left on a Friday morning, and I spent the rest of the day getting ready to head out the next morning.  Unfortunately for the kids, that meant they spent most of the day inside; Chandler had proven herself not completely reliable at staying away from the water when unsupervised.  But late in the afternoon a terrific storm came up.

After the storm broke, I felt I had to let the kids out to splash around a bit.  They entertained themselves quite well with some fairy house material we'd been gathering for weeks.

And then they had their last bath in Maine.  They didn't get a lot of baths in Maine this year, I'll be honest.  Every time they did, the water turned brown from all the dirt they'd been storing.  Notice the bath rug in the below picture.  That'll give you some idea.

Home again, home again.

Painting Pine Cones, Because

See Frances being all careful?

See Chandler painting her arm?

Eventually we had to hose them off in the front yard, but I can't show those pictures, even though they're the cutest.

Blueberries for Everybody!

We were walking around Witch Hole Pond.  Nerves were a little frayed - too much in and out of the stroller, too much whining.  And then we found wild blueberries, lots and lots of wild blueberries.

We picked and picked.  People got happier.

People shot the breeze.

Every hike needs a blueberry patch.

Kiddos in Wonderland

Another perfect walk for kids: Wonderland.  We usually favor Ship's Harbor, but Wonderland, down the street from Ship's, is an easy excursion for kids.  Or let's say, it's as predictably easy as hiking with kids can be.

I'm realizing I have mighty few pictures of Zak, but he's partially visible between Molly and Beka.

See this little nature lover smelling the leaves?

It was her turn to have a break down on the walk home.  All the other hikers were very supportive.  Thank you, other hikers.

All Aboard

We tried some new activities with the CookMack-Rays, like taking the train in Ellsworth from the middle of Ellsworth to the not-middle of Ellsworth.

It wasn't a long ride, but it was a perfect activity for little kids in rainy weather, and we had both little kids and rainy weather.  Naps were gleefully skipped.  And then mom got to drive home in the rain listening to Pete Seeger sing "Irene, Goodnight" with two sleeping kiddos in the back seat.  Heaven.

Me and My Big Ideas

I had this clearly brilliant idea.  I was going to let the kids "paint" a "house" and then they were going to entertain themselves in the "house" and leave the adults alone to read on the porch.

That is not what happened.  What happened was this:

They got naked and painted themselves.  End of story.

Better Than It Looks

No, the kids aren't in time out.  They were playing together-ish on one of the beaches on the Ship's Harbor walk.  That's Molly on the left and Chandler on the right.  Their faces aren't visible on account of their Urban Baby Bonnets.  We actually found ourselves on this beach about three times in two weeks - not far from the house and endlessly entertaining rocks made it a prime destination.

I remember this trip in particular for a strange conversation we got into with a fellow hiker.  First, she turned out to know some friends of my parents.  Second, she struggled with how Beka, Dan, Frances, Molly, Chandler, Zak, and I might all be related.  She seemed to ask if we were in a polygamous marriage, though I'm not sure she knew how her questions sounded.  I think the matching bonnets confused her.

Guests!

Here are Frances and Chandler admiring the view/fog from somewhere on Beech Mountain.  And can you tell who was with them?!

That's right, it's Dan Ray and Molly CookMack-Ray.  We were joined by the four CookMack-Rays for two weeks mostly because their regular plans were destroyed by childhood sickness and sleeplessness.  Yay for childhood sickness and sleeplessness!

I have many more pictures of the kids running around together.  In some of the pictures, all four of the kids have clothes on!  I'll try to get some non-naked pictures up.  And I'll keep the naked ones off the internet.

Bar Harbor Ice Cream

Life could be so much worse.

My Amazing Kid, or This Is Why She's Godmother

See these lovely specimens of humanity?

They decided the thing to do was swim from the shore to the dock.  The distance is not far, but the temperature is not so high, either.  (Average water temperature in Maine in the first two weeks of July is fifty-eight degrees.  I looked it up.)

My older lovely specimen of humanity decided she wanted to join her gonzo cousins.  Unfortunately, I had my younger lovely specimen of humanity to keep track of.  This  is where Godmother Jocelyn comes in.  Thank you, Jesus.

This is the kids getting ready to shove off.  And Jocelyn reconsidering her nuttiness.

There they are, midway, Jocelyn, James and Frances.

And then up on to the dock.  

Doesn't Godmother Jocelyn look like she's enjoying herself?  (For what it's worth, I repeated this exercise with Frances a few weeks later, when the average Maine water temperature is sixty degrees.  It was so very cold, my-head-hurts-even-above-the-water cold.  Frances didn't mind a bit.  Frances is getting tougher and tougher in her advanced age.)

And then we ate lobster, which the kids kissed good-bye.  Sweet kids.  Sweet lobster.

Sand Beach Love

We've never used Sand Beach regularly.  What dummies.  I think we went three times this summer and it was a big hit.  Lots of sand digging and romping.

We also swam at Long Pond several times.  This summer-time-parenting thing is going to get so much easier when everyone is a competent swimmer, but Sand Beach and Long Pond will certainly help in the interim.

Angels on the Head of a Pin?

No, these are Marshmallow Makers.  Someone (let's blame Jocelyn) decided to make marshmallows.  Not a complete failure.  Many cute pictures, though marshmallow-making may best be left to the professionals.

Ok, the pictures are great; the marshmallows less so (prying them off the cutting board broke the cutting board).

Maine Moments

Maybe not spectacular pictures, but still moments I want to remember when I'm old and gray.

Does it get better?

Sixty-Eight Months of Almost-Kindergartener Frances

Twenty-Nine Months of Toddler Chandler

Upstairs, Downstairs

The girls were often sartorially challenged in Maine this year.  Often.

In these, I'm fairly certain we were fighting diaper rash, the old fashioned way.