Camping Adventures in Maine #1 - Fireworks, Food, and Fun!

I have way too many pics to get this in one post...lol! I'll be breaking it up into two posts, I think.

We've been wanting to take the kids camping for years now. Last summer we weren't able to since David had his second surgery. We really wanted to make sure we did it this summer. It's been years since we've gone...two kids and one state ago ;) We finally made the plans, or rather, my father-in-law did! Thanks Dad! Since the guys had a long weekend for the Fourth, we figured that was the perfect time. David wanted to go up to Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park in Maine, but we couldn't find any openings because of the holiday and short notice. Dad found a campsite right near Camden, Me that was available though, and booked it right away. Turns out it was more of an RV park with just a few tent sites. It worked out well though, we were the only tenters there. It had a pool and clubhouse which was cool. We drove up the morning of the 4th...it's almost a 5 hour drive.                                                                                                                      

I needed to figure out what to do with the dog...thankfully my friend Kim took her for a day, since they weren't open on the 4th,and then dropped her at the kennel the next day. She even picked her up for me on Sunday...which was a lifesaver because we didn't get back in time due to traffic! Thanks Kim!!!

Anyways, we headed over to the in-laws on Thursday morning, late of course...and then had to turn around to get David's wallet that he'd left...argh! lol...luckily the whole trip wasn't like that. The kids were totally surrounded by everything we brough...poor Red Three kept getting bopped in the head by the giant fan David had brought...hahaha! The drive up wasn't too bad...a bit of traffic going through New Hampshire to Maine, but cleared up pretty quickly afterward. We got in around 4 or so...put up the tents and unloaded. Camden was having a fireworks show and live band that night. We decided to go find somewhere to eat before the show. Camden had a beautiful harbor...we all enjoyed looking at all the boats, or as Buddy called them "chips!" It actually kinda sounded like a mix between chips and ships ;)

The restaurant we picked was super hot...of course Maine was having a heat wave the one time we finally go camping! But we got a table under the fan and that was better. Not the greatest waiter, but the food was pretty good. Of course, we had to get lobster! Well, except for David...he's just not the biggest lobster fan. He went with the seafood platter instead. It was Rachel's first time having lobster! The funniest thing happened there. Earlier Red One had been talking about how one of her friends goes to Maine in the summer and how crazy would it be to run into her. Then while we're at the restaurant, we hear her name being called, but basically ignored it at first, because who would be calling it. Finally turn around and who is it but her best friend and her family eating at the same restaurant 5 hours from home! (Not the one she was talking about, but another friend.) Red One couldn't believe it! 

After we stuffed our faces, we headed out to wait for the show. The band was mostly just loud, lol...but we got great spots for the fireworks right behind the bandstand.

BTW, I love this picture of Buddy and me...so cute!

It was a decent show all the way until the end...instead of a finale it just fizzled out...lol. I really think something happened...they even had the midpoint fake finale. People were talking about it the next day too. Everyone was waiting around for a bit wondering if it was over...haha, oh well. After that, beddy bye.

The next day we relaxed in the morning, I made pancakes! yum...swam in the pool, just chilled out. It was super hot, even then. I felt terrible for David. I tried to get him to go swimming, help cool off...but he's pretty sun sensitive due to all his meds plus the radiation he had last year. :/ He was a bit (and by that I mean a lot!) miserable. We planned on hiking the mountain overlooking Camden, then going to see some of the local lighthouses. It turns out it's called Mount Battie...for some reason this made me laugh. Luckily for David, who was not going to hike, and Red Three who really didn't want to either, we could drive to the top. It had a great view and a really cool lookout tower.

This was overlooking the bay we watched the fireworks show.

After that, we just had to stop and get some ice cream! Luckily there was a little road side shack...Buddy had blueberry ice cream (when in Maine!) and it was delicious! I had some sort of Deer Tracks thing that was awesome! David went with the fried haddock (no, not ice cream...unlike him, I know, but he was hungry!) He was a little obsessed with the haddock this trip. The girls got cotton candy ice cream...ugh...lol.

Afterward our break, we decided to head to Owl's Head Lighthouse. It's a working lighthouse under the authority of the Coast Guard. By the time we left, the light had actually turned on, even though there were still a few hours of daylight. I got some good pics of the kids!

                                                             This might be our Christmas pic this year ;)

I wish we knew the story behind this!

 David was done by this point...plumb wore out, so he decided to sit in the (AC) van while we went on our next expedition...which was the Rockland Harbor Breakwater Lighthouse. What makes this lighthouse so cool is that it sits on a 7/8 mile jetty out into the harbor. It was super windy walking out there...it didn't look that far, but I knew it would be an ordeal. It was easy enough, as long as you watched your step. It's made out of giant blocks of rock, and there are plenty of gaps...definitely had to hold on to Buddy! Red Three was a little scared at first, but she got over it pretty quickly. There were people fishing off of it...someone said they'd even seen some porpoises earlier! That would have been awesome...but nope! It was starting to get really cloudy and windy...and then thought we heard thunder...a storm was rolling in and we were still out in the middle of the harbor. I picked up Buddy and started booking it! We made pretty good time going back and it had just started raining right when we got off the jetty...and then pouring when we made it back to the car! Whew...but then we had to get back to the campsite because David's backpack with laptop was out, not in the tent. Thank goodness it was protected by the backpack and totally fine!

 Yup, that's the lighthouse WAY out there.

 Started off super sunny!

 Clouds rolling in!

Thankfully the thunderstorm was a quick one. Once it had passed, I made some chicken tacos for dinner and banana boats for dessert...a nice end to a fun but jam-packed day!

 Part two of our adventures coming soon! ;)

Summertime!

Woohoo :)

Now that school's out, what to do??? lol...the kids are already starting the "I don't know what to do" whine...they're not allowed to tell me they're bored, so they find more creative ways of saying it. hahaha...I had wanted to take them swimming last week, but it's been raining/thundering on and off for days! Of course, the one nice day we had to go to NYC.

I did finally get to take Red One for our night out...I've been trying to get a little more one on one time with the girls. My goal is every week or two take one of them at a time out for some fun. I had made it through all three, but then it's been over a month since I took anyone. Thursday night I was able to get out of the house with just my oldest. Remember how she won those B&N gift cards for her pasta car? Well, I took her to spend them...she had a really hard time narrowing the books down! LOL...that's my girl. Then we went to the local roller skating rink. On Thursdays they have their Cheap Skate...8.50 for admittance, skates, and unlimited pizza...not a bad deal. Red One LOVES roller skating!!!! She had an awesome time. ;) Gotta admit, I had fun myself! It brought back memories of how much fun it was as a kid to go skating! 

We had to leave early on Friday for NYC because David had another appointment with the nurse practitioner and his last treatment of this cycle. Red Three said she was going to miss us. I told her she could come if she wanted, but it wouldn't be that much fun. She'd be sitting in the car for three hours, walk to the dr office, sit for more time...eat, then sit in the car for another 3 hours going home. She thought about it and said she still wanted to come. I said, "OK, but you'll have to get up at 5:30..." She wasn't too keen on that, but said she'd do it. So in the morning I woke her up, at first she was like "no" but then she popped right up and got ready and dressed. She certainly got up easier than David did...lol! She had a bag all packed with books and drawing materials, and even some crackers and water. She was prepared! The drive in wasn't too bad...we made decent time, but we left a little late, so wound up being about 10 min late for his appointment :/

David wasn't totally happy with this appointment. For one thing, the NP got on to him for not getting his blood work again. To be fair, David is really bad about it...but it's hard sometimes with work to get to the lab, especially since he rarely works in town. But he is also a bit of  a procrastinator/hermit who hates to leave the house. But she threatened him with saying that Dr. Omuro would drop him if he kept on missing his labs. David doesn't respond well to threats, so he didn't appreciate that at all. He also felt that she wasn't really listening to him today...she didn't really care. I don't know...I didn't really pick up on that, but he is pretty perceptive about people, way more than I am! Anyways, he wasn't very happy about it. Then when he went to get the chemo, the nurse really poked him with the needle...that certainly didn't help, lol. Apparently the vein wasn't as close to the surface as she had thought...oops. When we were done, we all could use some food...we thought Italian sounded good. It's so funny...there were literally 4 Italian restaurants within a hundred feet of each other! Two of them were right next to each other, and the other two were across the street and just a few restaurants apart. Red Three wanted the spaghetti and meatballs...I got lobster ravioli! David got some sort of clam pasta...it actually had too much clam...lol. Red Three was such a good girl the whole trip. While she didn't love all the driving, she liked being with us. I let her play with my phone camera in the car on the way home...speaking of, so much traffic going home! UGH! For some reason, I never even saw an accident or construction...not to mention it was only 2:00pm, there was bumper to bumper traffic almost all the way from Danbury to Waterbury! So frustrating!

Yup, got my gray on! :)

We finally got through it and the rest of the way was fine. David wanted to stop at Lowes to pick up an edger. We've really needed one for a while...our sidewalks are SO overgrown! He really wanted a gas one, but those suckers are expensive!!! He finally settled on the electric one, but said I'd be using it...haha...guess it's not manly enough for him ;) I always liked edging though, so I didn't mind ;) We were home by 4:00...but I sure was beat! Red One had made a cake for the rest of the kids tea party with Mumsie. I was totally in need of some chocolate, so it was perfect timing. 

Of course, David had to break out the edger right away! I think he got about 10 feet (if that!) and thought, ok, that was cool...I'm good. I'm not kidding...it took about 45 minutes for me to just do the sidewalk from our porch to the main sidewalk. I think we might have gained a foot of concrete! Saturday morning I got all the front sidewalk and part of the side sidewalk, and it took me about 3 hours....I still have tons left to do! I was wearing gloves and still started to get blisters! It looks so much better though! And once it's done, it'll be so easy to keep up...it's just breaking through all the overgrowth and dirt that's spilled over. Once I'm done with that, the kids could probably do it no problem. Red One was pouting all morning because she had to mow. Then again, she pouts every weekend when she has to mow...lol. That's life, kid...suck it up!

I had told Rachel I'd help her sort through her clothes and get a bit organized...so we headed over there for the afternoon. We got a lot done! Plus, I found my Texans sweatshirt I had loaned her last year! YAY! plus a bunch of cute clothes that she didn't want anymore...woohoo :) I'm always happy to take my fee in clothing ;) hahah, jk, but it was a nice bonus. 

We finally had our s'mores firepit extravaganza that the storm had postponed on Saturday night...we went over Sarah and Dave's house and the kids had a blast. Nobody got burnt, everybody got sticky...good times! I felt so horrible though...they had left one of their son's bikes at our house after we had gotten together earlier, and it was stolen! It was a nice bike too...grrrr! I should have moved it into the shed or something...just awful. Guess we'll have to start being more careful with all our stuff...I've never really worried about any of it. :( We had a great time though...the kids were up late and we wound up missing first church the next morning...it was nice to sleep in though!

Red Three lost her third tooth yesterday after church! She looks so stinking cute! Of course, she's wondering how she's gonna eat now.

Buddy got into my makeup again...and he totally knew he wasn't supposed to! Apparently he thought my eye makeup would look better as a lip stick...

This was after he was in trouble, he's ruined many a lipstick...but I had to take a pic! 

My mom was all worried because we had missed mass...she kept asking if I was going to go to confession...silly mom. I told her, I'm 32 years old, you don't have to worry about that anymore. But we did go to an evening service...she was so happy...hahaha...good grief!