07/01 Day 12: Ellsworth
While in Maine, we stayed at a hotel in Ellsworth, ME. It was a cute little town with lots of fun little town shops and restaurants. It was tons of fun to visit the little shops and to see how different things were. I quite amazing how some of these shops show the personality of the area or even the state. So many things we found that you would not find on the west coast. The kids didn’t really care much, but who could blame them. They were done with walking through shops with their hands in their pockets and being in the car. They did well though. I hope to be able to go back to Maine again soon. Its gorgeous up there!
07/02 Day 13: Happy birthday Xander & Hitting the road…again.
It was that time again. To pile the loads of stuff, old and new, gather the snacks and play things and music and video and hit the open road again. The kids definitely weren’t happy to be confined to the car once more. They were exhausted and we were praying for a quiet and sleepy ride home. Of course, neither one of them really slept well. I felt even worse because it was Xander’s birthday that very day. We decided to stop for lunch about half way home at a Friendly’s. We ate our lunch and then Sherena whispered to them that it was Xander’s birthday. They brought out a cup of chocolate ice cream for Xander and sang him happy birthday. That was a first for him and his face was glowing with happiness. We think it made his day. The rest of the drive home was a bit of a cranky one and we were all anxious to finally get back to our home away from home, to let the kids out of their tight quarters and run out all that energy we knew they were storing. Four days had been enough. Even as beautiful and fun as Maine was, being in a packed up car with cranky children, we were done.
07/03 Day 14: Celebrations and Good Byes
Our last real whole day in Massachusetts was a great but sad day. We spent most of the day outside battling mosquitoes in the name of playtime and nature. Well worth the gazzillions of bites that were to sure to follow. Xander and Zoey love Nana’s backyard. It’s one of their favorite places to be. The trees, the flowers and gardens, and playground, so much fun to be had no matter where you turn.
Nap time was as easy as pie, easier even. Zoey was out like a light in the matter of minutes that afternoon. Nap time the whole trip had been the greatest challenge, and bed time. Now, on the last day, it was the easier thing. Even though Xander didn’t sleep, he still took the time to rest up for the rest of his day. We had kept him in the dark the whole day about his birthday. He didn’t know when it was going to happen or how or even if there was going to be cake or not. He is too smart and when we get the chance to keep him on his toes, we take it.
After dinner that night, we asked Xander to stay in the TV room for a bit, we had a surprise for him. He had picked out a cake earlier in the day and we had told him that we didn’t need any cake. He was kind of sad but what he didn’t know that we were going to buy the cake for him anyway. We some how managed to buy it without him noticing, get it to the car and then into the house. It was amazing and we were so happy! We even bought his birthday present while he was in the store with him. We are very thankful for Aunties! It was a great night, he made a wish and blew out his candles, ate cake and opened presents! It was a wonderful birthday moment for everyone, especially Xander. Still can’t believe our little boy is six. Even now, it being September, its still hard to process at times!
Blowing out his candles
Cake just isn’t complete without M&M’s!
A brand new monster truck from Auntie Sherena
A Red Sox PEZ dispenser and a Kazoo from Mom, Dad, and Zoey 
And a Harmonica, just likes dads!
Happy Birthday Sweet boy, we love you from here to the moon and back again!
These are my Crazy Daisies!
Brother’s and Sister’s, having each other is a true blessing.
All four of them mean the world to me. 
07/04 Day 15: Leaving
This was it. The day we were leaving for the airport. We cried and hugged each other, hugs long enough to last the next year or so. We said our good bye’s and our see you soon’s. I left a special note for Sherena, I hope she got it. She always sends special notes with us, where we least expect them. I think they were in one of Lance’s books this time. We found them on the airplane just before take off. We weren’t ready to read them yet, we waited for Zoey to take a nap first. Of course, tears ran down our faces, like they do every time. We already missed them and wished we could go back. We knew we would be back soon, not sure how soon, but soon. We had our little ones to preoccupy our time so we weren’t too distracted by our longing to go back and be with everyone again. We had family waiting for us back home to and we missed them just as much and though we missed everyone back in Massachusetts after only being in the air for a few moments, we missed our beds and our new puppy, which we knew had to have grown and had eaten a ton of things while we were gone. The kids missed grandma and grandpa, too. It was time to go home.
Our visit to the East Coast was amazing. It was so amazing to see Nana and Grampy and Auntie Sherena again. To see all the family in southern Massachusetts at the reunion, to meet some new family that I have never met before. To go up to Maine and see Gary and Jo and how beautiful it is up there (I’m jealous, its true!). To celebrate Xander’s sixth birthday out there with his Nana and Grampy, the first birthday ever. To see the beautiful spring gardens and enjoy the trees and all the green and wonderful things that nature had to show off. We can’t wait to go back sometime next year, dates still unknown, but Christmas perhaps or maybe another summer trip, we just don’t know yet. We miss you all, more than anything. Lots of hugs and kisses and we will see you very soon!
Comments