The next week after Julia's silver award project, we headed up to Maine to visit Grammy & Grampy's house. My kids find comfort going to their house and love the time they get there. I was hoping to send them up on their own this year, but logistically it didn't happen. I was fortunate, though, to get a couple of extra days off work by working extra hours, so we could have a nice visit.
On our way up to Maine, we stopped for lunch at our old neighbor's (the Ingalls family) new home in Connecticut. They have a cute cape, complete with a swimming pool, pond, and woods. Even though our visit was short, it was good to catch up and see how their kids have grown. Later that evening we arrived in Maine to a wonderful dinner and relaxation.
On Thursday we decided to check out Reid State Park. The facilities and ocean were nice, but the horseflies and mosquitoes were horrible. So we didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but had fun while we did.
Friday we headed up to one of my favorite towns, Camden. I have fond childhood memories of visiting my great uncle Wilford's store and playing on the waterfront. The town hasn't changed much in 30 years, quaint as ever. We also love to visit a great swimming hole there at the base of Camden Hills. We were able to get a nice picnic lunch in, but unfortunately were met by a quick moving storm only 10 minutes after getting in the water. So, we did the next best thing, and went shopping and home to play games and watch a Monk marathon.
Saturday was Nobleboro days. Not very exciting, but food and 25 cent books make any kid happy. Afterwards we spent the afternoon at Cousin Al & Eleanore's lakehouse and enjoyed canoeing and playing games. Later, Austin and I decided to spread a huge pile of dirt my dad had ordered. His lawn had become quite soggy with all the rain they got this year. After 2 hours, we accomplished the task, without my parents even noticing :). They were quite happy with our efforts and somehow doing all the spreading actually cured my shoulder pain I had been having for 2 months straight...go figure. Blessing do come from service!
Sunday, we enjoyed our morning at church and our last day at Grammy and Grampy's house. The girls loved playing in the outside hammock together. It was fun to hear all their giggles. Monday morning we headed down to New York to have dinner with Austin's aunts and grandmother at his sister's house. His grandmother just recently moved back to NY after decades of living in CA and NH. I think she is very pleased to be around all her daughters again.
Tuesday morning, the last day of vacation, we took the girls by New Hope PA, to see where we spent our anniversary getaway. We had fun walking around the flea market. Everyone walked away with a prized posession. Julia got her first pair of sunglasses, since she now wears contacts; Anna, a purse and necklace, and Eliza also got a necklace. After the flea market, we headed over to the Mercer tile works. This is one place Austin and I were unable to see while staying there. It was neat to see craftsman at work, creating beautiful tiles and mosaics. The girls even got to help make a couple of tiles. I had to laugh at Eliza when we first arrived at the tile place, because I told the girls this should be an interesting tour. Well, she turned to me, and with her fingers in quotation formation said, "Is interesting a code word for boring". She agreed after the tour, though, that it was truly interesting :). Because we hated the thought that our vacation was over, we made one last stop at Rita's water ice to complete the deal.
I'm glad the girls got the opportunity to visit all their family this summer. I think they got to see every grandparent and cousin except two. And hopefully, we will see Gretchen soon!!
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