If you are going to Live in Maine. . .

You have to know that Camping looks like this-->

and tenting looks like this--->

This weekend we did both. We spent Thursday night, "tenting" on the bank of the Machias River. It was a beautiful night and we all loved it. We have been "tenting" twice now this season and plan to do it a lot more. We have had some pretty cool campfire meals (I'll pass them along at the end of this post). We spent Friday and Saturday down at "Camp" (AKA Brad's parent's house). According to Maine Vocabulary, any house on a lake is referred to as "Camp."

Camping meals:

1. Omelets in a zip lock bag: Boil Water, crack two eggs into a zip lock bag and add any extras you like, (i.e. cheese, mushrooms, ham), seal it, squish is around to break up the eggs and put into pot of boiling water until cooked. You will need a large pot with lots of water, and probably only one omelet at a time. This works great, and the best part is no clean up!
2. Fire boiled soup dinner and oatmeal breakfast: Get a can of soup (the kind that is ready to serve, no adding water, etc.) Pop the top so that the pop top ring is sticking up and the lid is minimally open. Put in the fire to boil, and then use a stick to get it out (put stick end through the pop top ring and lift out) Let it sit to cool off and pull off lid, allow to cool and eat. Save the cans and the next morning boil water in them and make instant oatmeal for breakfast. Once again--No clean up!

Project: Remove Ugly Shrubbery

Here are the before and afters of our weekend project. We started with awful, overgrown bushes, and no view, and thanks to hours of work put in by my hubby and his dad, we now have a beautiful back yard. We are just waiting for the grass seed to sprout so that we can have a lawn again (The tractor is great for removing bushes, but a little hard on the grass.) Thanks for all the hard work!

BEFORE

During

AFTERI will post a true "After" shot when all of my flowers come up and bloom=0).

How to enjoy a RainY DAy

1. Make CookieS

2 Forget about lunch, just EaT CookieS!

Passy Fairy

Liv has 4 best friends in this world, Momma, Daddy, Gwen and Passy. Last night we said good bye to Passy. The deal was that the Passy Fairy was going to give the passies to little babies who need them and leave Liv with a toy. Liv was happy to trade her passies for her new Thomas the Train set(which she picked out). Bed time came and it was sad for all of us. Liv cried and then she pleaded for me to ask the Passy Fairy to bring back just one of her passies. She fell asleep after not too long. She woke up periodically through the night just to give out a little whimper and then fall back asleep. Such a sad day in the life of a 3 year old.

Liv, 1 day old, with her passy

Alligators

It's allergy season again. Liv has a constant runny nose. Sunday morning she came down stairs and told me I needed wipe her nose because she had alligators in it. It took me a second to figure out that she was calling her allergies, alligators. I wonder what she thinks those alligators are doing up there?

Spring

I can hardly get myself to go inside my house! It is so gorgeous outside. I played out with the girls this morning, and then we took a bike ride out to the park for a picnic lunch. Although it looks like Liv is making Gwen cry in this first picture, it was actually the grass. She is not a big fan!

Angel

I think I have mentioned that Liv runs from me every time I pull out my camera, Well, Today she was actually cooperating with me, YEAH! For days, I have been praising her for the one time she looked at the camera and smiled at me on Sunday. It seemed to have worked. Also, I played with her and chased her. She felt like the whole photo shoot was a blast.

Gwen turns 8 months old this week. She is such a wonderful
addition to our family. We couldn't be more
smitten with her. Happy birthday Gwen!

Bits about Gwenabeanie
1. She snorts when she cries.
2. She thinks Liv is the greatest thing alive.
3. She is happy to lay just about anywhere I plop her
down.
4. At least once a day, she will refuse to take a bottle and
complain until I feed her "big girl" food.
5. She sleeps through the night (usual 6pm-9am!)
6. She curls up her index finger and sucks on it to soothe
herself.
7. She smiles at just about anyone who pays her any
attention. Unless, of course, she is studying their face.
In which case, she has a wide-eyed stare and a furrowed
brow.
8. She is just barely getting stable enough to sit up for
about 30 seconds.
9. She has beautiful, long fingers (She has long toes
too!. . .poor thing).
10. She is so ticklish that she really doesn't like to be tickled.

Feeding the Fish

I thought this adventure deserved it's own post. One of our favorite things to do, when we go to St. Louis, is to meet my dad at his office for lunch and feed the fish. Liv acted like it was the most exciting thing she had ever done in her life. None of us could keep up with her and we all thought she might jump right in.
Somewhere along the line, my mom and the other grandkids got the idea to stick their feet in the water while they threw the food in. Yes, this is my foot in the fish's mouth. It was quite the rush!

St. Louis

As I said, I love Maine, but I hate that my family is not here. I miss them terribly and wish we could all live near one another. I am so grateful for air travel! Our long anticipated trip finally came. I flew out to St. Louis with the girls to see my family. It was wonderful! Here are some picutres.

This is my little brother (whom I adore) with Liv and my nieces, Julia, Alexis and Elise.

We had such a great time by the fire, roasting hot dogs and cooking in a dutch oven. When I got home, I asked Brad if we could put a fire pit in our back yard. There is just something about sitting around a fire that is so much fun!

Tromping through my parents back yard with Grandma JoLynn

I loved these "umbrella" plants as a kid, it brings back a lot of memories when I see Liv holding one over her little head.

Liv enjoying a lollypop with her cousins

My sisters and I with our babies. Elise and Luke are 2 weeks apart and Gwen is 5 months older. I was lucky that all my siblings made it out to visit during my trip. Somehow, I didn't get a picture of Danny and Meredith or their littlest boy Spencer.

Here is a picture of their oldest daughter Alexis "adoring" Gwen.

Today . . . I love Maine

As Brad and I sat with our sweet little family on the beach in Camden, all I could think was, "AHH, I love this place." I am in love with Camden. I think I asked Brad about 50 times if he thought they needed a dentist there. It is exactly what you picture when you picture a New England Coastal town. Darling houses, beautiful, rocky beaches and quaint little shops on a cobble stone drive. Plus, the smell of the ocean is definitely one of my favorite smells on earth. Lets face it...It's been a long winter, and this is exactly what I needed. Here are the pictures.

Liv and I at the beach in Camden after reading together at the local children's library.
Brad got us a pizza from a cute little Italian man who claimed it is the best we would ever taste. (it was very good.) We ate it ocean side.
Brad and Liv on a walk by the water
We stayed the night at a bed and breakfast with a pool. Fun Fun!
Gwen slept through pool time, but she still made an appearance in her swimsuit.
Day #2, Beach #1 I really didn't want to leave, but Brad assured me we would stop again. Liv was totally taken by the sea glass, shells and even a crab exoskeleton.
We walked the boardwalk in Rockland. This was our first 70+ degree day, and I was loving it.
Ocean side #2, look how still the water is. It was beautiful.
That night we stayed with Auntie Brianna and Uncle Jon in Portland. (We flew out to St. Louis the next morning. This is them Reading Liv stories.
This is the view out their window. They live right on the ocean!!

We had a wonderful time. It was the perfect mini-vacation. I am so glad that we live near the ocean. I have gained a new love for it. Je t'aime l'ocean.