I made my bucket list back in July and promised that Robby would soon post his. Since we had a little bit of time in the car on our last trip, he was able to think of a few things. Hopefully, he can think of a few more but some is better than nothing. Here they are:
1. Go to the crown of the Statue of Liberty (Reagan also wants to do this badly)
2. Take a hot air balloon ride
3. Hike part of the Appalachian Trail
Highlights from today: (click here for pictures)
Highlights from today: (click here for pictures)
Robby and I woke up pretty quick this morning. Graham who was sleeping between us continued to sleep and once Robby laid Campbell on the bed to work on taking down her bed she also continued to sleep. While I put up the pack n play, Robby gently slid Reagan and Anderson out of their sleeping bags. As I was getting ready, I saw Reagan walking toward me. She said in a very angry voice and on the verge of tears “Where is my sleeping bag? Who took my sleeping bag?” I did want any good Mom would do and said Daddy took it and then I helped her get it back out.
Anderson soon reacted about the same way. They are so tired and we felt bad having them get up (even though it wasn’t early-7:30) Anderson was so upset this morning that he didn’t want to put on his shirt or even his new race car socks. Since we had already zipped the suitcases and shoved everything in there, our only choice was to give him Reagan’s socks that she had just taken off. He was pretty adamant about not wanting those socks and he only wanted “white socks” After he put those on, he was pretty content despite Reagan’s socks having pink on them.
We enjoyed breakfast after being at hotels the last few days that didn’t have them. Reagan and Anderson are all about deciding what they want to eat and they are never quite satisfied with what they pick and want to try something else.
We made it to the airport in plenty of time. After Robby dropped us off, he took the van back and we hung out and waited on him. The kids guzzled our leftover juice boxes that we couldn’t take on the plane and when Robby returned he drank our leftover cokes. Security was pretty non-eventful. I did leave the baby food in my diaper bag so they had to take that out (liquid) and rescreen it. And of course, I always have to open my bottles so they can check them (which with all that I am doing during the security line, can they not just open them themselves?) We made it through and managed to grab our stuff with lots of little hands helping. They are getting to be pretty good helpers-other than the fact that shoes were strewn all over the floor. As we finally sat regrouping and putting on shoes, a lady walked by, smiled and said “you guys are a hoot”-is that a good thing? I am not sure.
The flight to Chicago was fine. Robby sat with the boys and I sat with the girls. Campbell was tired but only snoozed the last few minutes. I did have to take Anderson to the bathroom and he thought it was so funny that there was a bathroom in the front of the plane. Later, I overheard Graham asking to go potty. We were landing at the time, so even if we were going to take him, we couldn’t then. That little stinker just knew that he would be able to get up if he mentioned the word potty. After we landed, Anderson said that we had to go through security again and take off our shoes-but Robby told him we only had to do it once.
As we left an elevator in Chicago and headed to our gate, Robby turned around and started telling Anderson to “stop, stop.” Anderson was running to catch up with Robby when all of a sudden his legs flew out from under him and down he went with a thud and a splash. There was a huge puddle (probably 2 inches) in the middle of the walkway. Anderson was drenched and had to change his clothes (I am so thankful that I had clothes with me-I have debated if I still need to carry a change of clothes for all 4 kids but I guess that I do). Robby told someone so no one would get hurt and that man told someone else. The second person didn’t seem to concerned and just pushed the water back in the room is came from-they said it was from the rain (2 days ago). The first person was pretty adamant that they should take care of it and even showed the man Anderson’s drenched pants. Ha! We didn’t want to cause a scene but the poor guy could have been hurt pretty good. Luckily, he was fine just wet!
We had a 3 hour lay over in Chicago and luckily there was a tv and table and benches that the kids hung out at. Two little boys came near and played and colored with the kids. One man asked Robby a question and as they talked Reagan said “I guess Daddy has made a new friend.” After a few fits and shoving matches by the boys we were back on the plane to Little Rock.
The boys were tired because almost as soon as we had taken off they had both fallen asleep. Robby was holding Campbell and she was asleep too. That just left Reagan awake and I heard her talking to Robby nonstop throughout the flight. She doesn’t get undivided attention often and she takes it when she can get it!
Our flight was smooth and the boys didn’t wake up until the very end. Anderson was very upset that he didn’t get any juice. I had gotten them some but then Robby and I drank it since I couldn’t wake them up to have it (I had tried). I tried to tell him that the flight was so short that they didn’t have time for juice but he was still pretty upset. He felt better when I reminded him that he could have juice at Nonna’s house because Pops was coming to pick us up.
Pops was at the airport waiting on us when we came down the escalator. After grabbing our bags, we were out the door and getting into our nice clean van. Grannymom and Grandpa must have worked very hard on our van because the kids weren’t sure that it was ours-even after we were inside and sitting down they didn’t think it was ours.
We ate a big supper at Nonna’s and Beebee and Papaw came over too. We were celebrating Jason’s birthday (just a few days late) The kids enjoyed helping Jason open his presents and they really enjoyed helping him blow out his birthday candles.
When we made it home, we stuffed some of our laundry in the machine and started unpacking. The kids went right to playing and we didn’t have the heart to send them to bed until they had played for a few minutes. We were able to unpack most everything and just have laundry, dishes and a few other things to put up (still a day’s work). Back to the real world tomorrow!
Our trip by the numbers:
7 train/tram/trolley rides
5 boat rides
72 public restrooms (or something close to that number)
3 photos of us taken by strangers
5 wrong staircases climbed in Boston subway (carrying strollers, baby and backpack)
1 horse/buggy ride
2 days at the beach
5 apples picked and eaten
10 nights
9 hotels
2238 miles flown
1979 miles driven
Highlights from today: (click here for pictures)
Anderson stood right up in the middle of the night and asked Robby to fix his covers-at least I thought it was the middle of the night but it was already 7:30. We need to buy whatever type of window shades were in that hotel room since it was pretty dark in there. Reagan and Anderson slept under the desks last night and Robby even used a sheet to make them a tent. They were thrilled. This has been a pretty busy trip and they are pretty tired. At home, we have to tuck them in and then go upstairs for a zillion different reasons. But the past few nights, we say it is bedtime and they get their things and then crawl right into bed and the next thing we know is that they are asleep.
Anyway, we were up and around and even had a few minutes to have breakfast in the room since we only had a few things on the agenda for today (we never seem to have to much to do on the last day of a trip-not really the case today though). Last night we brought in all of our food in the hotel room (we usually didn’t) and we noticed that we had lots and lots of food to eat before tomorrow. Robby gave them their breakfast options which they were pretty pleased about and they decided on brownies and cookies for breakfast-hey it’s vacation!
The rain was pretty steady on our way to Baltimore. Not a hard rain just a steady, cold messy rain. We had Robby’s computer out so we could check into our flight at exactly 24 hours in advance. He wondered if there was an IKEA in Baltimore so I looked it up. He then said maybe we should go there for a little bit so maybe the rain would slow up. I found the address and put it in the gps and it said that we were 1 mile away and needed to exit NOW. Of course, we were in the far, far right lane so we had to take the next exit but we were soon there.
I just love IKEA. It is my favorite place and I would have loved it more if I had room to buy more (room in my suitcase and room in my house!). They had a children’s play area and Anderson really wanted to go and Reagan wasn’t too sure. It is for the kids to play while the parents shop. Anderson put his arm around Reagan trying to convince her to go and said “it’s okay, I will go with you.” We didn’t care if they went or not since Graham would still be with us. But they decided to go on in. Graham couldn’t go since he isn’t potty trained so Robby dropped them off while I took Graham to the toy area to browse. He found a slide and was so proud of himself (and later he wanted to show Reagan and Anderson the slide he found).
We shopped and shopped-I bought a few things for Campbell’s birthday. Now I just have to get on making her that kitchen (does anyone have a nightstand they don’t want?). Graham enjoyed not having to compete for attention-we even let him push the shopping cart. After we finished the first floor, Robby went downstairs to pick up Reagan and Anderson. They said that they weren’t ready to leave so we headed downstairs. After finishing there, he picked them up and they were so excited. They had watched a movie, colored, climbed on rocks and played in the ball pit.
After we loaded up, we still had one last day of picnicking to do. We enjoy having picnics on our trips but it seems like the weather usually isn’t always that great. It did work out quite a bit at the beginning of the trip but not so much the last few days. Anyway, we had our picnic in the car as we drove.
The rain hadn’t really let up but it was time to head to Fort McHenry. There was construction near the visitor center so we had to park about a 1/4 mile away….did I mention that it was raining! We put the kids in the buggies, put on our coats, balanced the umbrella’s over the kids and Robby and I pushed the buggies as we jogged toward the visitor center. The kids stayed dry but I can’t say that about us. We looked around and then watched the movie. We have been here before and seen the same movie-it tells the story of the battle, Francis Scott Key and the National Anthem. At the end, the curtains open up and you hear the National Anthem playing. The kids stayed pretty interested-there was a battle on the screen with guns, cannons, fire and smoke! Hopefully, they kind of got the connection that that was the same flag they had already seen on this trip in DC at the Smithsonian.
The rain had lightened up a little bit so Robby took the big kids to go and look at the fort. Campbell and I stayed in the dry building. He said that they really enjoyed the fort-rooms to climb around in. I became tired of walking around the tiny gift shop so I looked out and the rain had stopped so Campbell and I headed out to the fort too. By the time I met Robby, the rain had started again only harder. So we all had to run back inside and then regroup and run back to the car. We were pretty damp by the time we made it to the car.
Next, we drove through Baltimore. Robby and the big kids stopped at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles to take a few pictures and then we drove down by the waterfront on our way for Charm City Cakes. I sometimes watch the show Ace of Cakes so we thought we would stop by and say hello. Actually, we just jumped out of the car and posed for a picture and then jumped back in the car.
Next we were headed back to DC. Robby told the kids “look we are in DC” and Anderson looked up, looked around and then said “what are we doing back here?” Though I kind of think that he thinks we have been driving all of this way to get to another airport so we can go home. And we were there before 4, since it was a little too early to eat supper we went to the Jefferson Memorial. We found great street parking and had to put on our coats, hats and gloves for this trip. It was pretty cold and windy in DC today. I am actually glad we needed them since I had packed them and didn’t want to have wasted that space on something we didn’t need. Crazy though, we have been swimming at the beach and now are wearing hats and gloves.
We posed for pictures at Jefferson and then headed back down the path to the Roosevelt Memorial. The kids enjoyed looking at the water and seeing all of the different statues. Of course, Reagan’s favorite was of Roosevelt’s dog. She called it Rose-a-belle. We made it back to the car before we froze and headed towards supper.
We at supper at Ray’s Hell Burger. Yes, we saw it on the news when Obama went there, same thing with the hot dog place we went to last Sunday. It was crowded and we were pretty rushed when ordering so we just ended up with some pretty plain old burgers but they sure were good. Anderson almost finished off his piece of burger and Graham ate quite a bit too. Reagan said she didn’t like meat on her burger-she is pretty picky these days (I don’t know where she gets that since Robby and I have never been picky and still aren’t today!-ha!)
As we were about the pull out the restaurant on our way to the hotel, I mentioned that we hadn’t seen the monuments at night. So before I knew it, Robby had turned the car around and we were headed back into town. The kids were happy with their movie so we were able to ride around for quite some time. We saw all the big ones-Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Capitol, White House. When we pointed out the monuments to the kids, they were pretty impressed with them being lit up and Reagan wanted to know who was doing that-she probably thinks that Obama was out there shining a flashlight on them. We drove by the Smithsonians, Treasury, lots of Embassies, tried to see the VPs house and even saw the National Cathedral. When we were stopped there, Robby and I jumped out for a picture and Anderson looked out of the window and said “is THIS our hotel?” He briefly thought we were going to stay in a castle.
Next, we had a 30 minute drive to our hotel. We had thought we would check in earlier and have lots of time to repack but we were again checking in late. Oh, well we managed to get everything done. It is large chore, packing up a family of 6 back into 3 suitcases after being gone for 10 days. We got pretty spread out in the van-I told Robby that it would be easier to drive home than to repack everything. Robby put Graham in bed and Reagan and Anderson watched a movie. Campbell laid on the bed and and unrolled a roll of paper towels to occupy her time. We were almost down when Anderson started crying that he couldn’t see. He had somehow gotten chocolate crumbs into his eyes from his ding dong. How in the world could that happen? Anyway, he was so tired that it took a while to calm him down but he finally was calm and able to finish the movie.
Everyone is tucked into bed and probably all dreaming about getting home and playing with all of their toys and sleeping in their own beds (I sure am!)
Highlights from today: (click here for pictures)
We woke up to the sounds of Graham fussing and Campbell playing in her bed. Before long Anderson was complaining about the lights and Reagan was sighing as she pretended to be asleep. We packed up and headed to breakfast. As we finished up, Robby went to load the car as we grabbed a few more bites. Of course, as soon as we sit down in the car, Reagan or Anderson is asking us for a snack or something to drink.
This morning adventures took us first to Hoboken, New Jersey. The traffic wasn’t too horrible-or maybe it was-I just can’t remember. We stopped at a rest stop so we could potty before we got into the city and it took us forever to get back on the right road. Once we arrived, we had the hardest time finding a parking spot. They were having a street festival, right outside the door of our first stop. I was beginning to think that we wouldn’t be able to find a parking spot after we circled for the longest time. We finally just decided that we should go ahead and park in a garage so we did that and walked to the festival.
We made it to Carlos’ Bakery (from TLC’s Cake Boss) and I was delighted that it was open (remember last Tuesday when we came and the bakery was closed-and we had even found the best parking spot ever). They were only letting so many people in the bakery at a time but it was still pretty crazy inside. I would compare it to a mosh pit. The kids did fine but they were pretty antsy as we waited for them to call our number. Unfortunately, the longer that we stayed in there, the more things we found that we wanted to buy. Here was our order-small cannoli, 3 chocolate chip cookies, 3 m&m cookies, 3 pink heart cookies, 2 Elmo cupcakes, 1 Cookie Monster cupcake, 3 peanut butter cupcakes, and a piece of crumb cake (that serves 4-6). Hmm, that seems like a lot when you write it down but let’s just say all that is left is 1 cupcake, 4 cookies and a tiny bit of crumb cake and an empty wallet.
After leaving the bakery, we walked down the street and found an empty spot to sit and enjoy the atmosphere. Robby and Anderson had hot dogs before their baked goods and Graham and Reagan had a few bites of hot dog. Anderson has become quite the hot dog eater-I need to start buying them again. We ate quite a bit of our bakery purchases and then wrapped it up for an afternoon snack.
We didn’t have far to go as we headed to Staten Island. On the way there, Anderson asked if we were going to be on this trip forever-to him it probably feels like we have been gone forever. The kids enjoyed talking to Jason on the phone today and wishing him a Happy Birthday. I know that they really miss their toys too-Reagan keeps telling me all of the things that she should have brought on the trip.
We drove right to the ferry and found good street parking. As we were leaving some ladies came and were trying to parallel park behind us. They asked Robby to move up a little so they could have more room and he obliged. Then they had to have him help them try to get in the space-the car wasn’t going to fit. He tried to tell them and I just couldn’t look. Finally, he said that he had to go but it wasn’t going to fit at all. They had even changed drivers in the middle of all of this-obviously they weren’t experienced parallel parkers. The space was small and only a native New Yorker could get their car in there. They drove off and Robby jumped in the car and backed up a few inches so he could have plenty of room to get out. We aren’t native New Yorkers and this parallel parking stuff can be difficult!
We walked to the ferry and made it just in time to catch one. It was a beautiful day for a boat ride and Graham was so, so very excited about being on the boat. We tried to stand outside (there was only a small outside space) but it was quite windy since we were in the front of the boat. The view was amazing-the NYC skyline and going right pass the Statue of Liberty. The kids really couldn’t see too well this time since we were inside.
When we arrived we decided to walk outside for a bit. We snapped a few pictures and walked through Battery Park. Then we turned around and headed back to the ferry. This time the crowds were much thicker. The boat could probably hold 500 and it wasn’t near full-I can only imagine it on a weekday morning filled with commuters.
This time we found a perfect spot-outdoors and at the back of the boat. The kids were so excited to see Lady Liberty. Reagan made it her job to probably show it to Campbell and Anderson showed it to Graham. Reagan said that she wanted to go back and go up the crown (also on Robby’s bucket list) and Anderson said that he couldn’t remember climbing to the top! And before I knew it, Reagan and Anderson had decided that we would do that next year. I had to remind them that most children don’t come to NYC two years in a row.
We disembarked, found the bathrooms and then headed to Pennsylvania. Before too long we were in Philly at Dalessandros-a philly cheese stake place recommended by Les. We were here last year too and Robby made sure that we had at least one hotel near Philly so we could drop by for supper. Except it’s a cash-only place and after all the tolls we paid today and this week, Robby wasn’t quite sure he would have enough cash to pay for supper. But this place was a bargain – two huge cheesesteak sandwiches for only $12. We even had leftovers. The kids ate quite a bit of their cheese stakes but they really loved the pickles and Robby loved the crushed red peppers. The kids also enjoyed sitting up at the bar stools too.
As we drove to the restaurant, we went through this beautiful old neighborhood. The houses were were bigger than any I think I had seen and they were all very, very old. It was really neat. On the way home, I saw something in the air and couldn’t figure out what it was. Robby finally figured out that it was a blimp from the Eagles football game. Then he realized that the game was almost over and we better drive fast so we didn’t end up in the game traffic…and the gps kept taking us closer and closer to the blimp so we must have been getting closer and closer to the game. We did make it to the hotel without getting into too much traffic. It is a Marriott Courtyard and we are on the first floor, by the door and near the ice machine and laundry (even though we aren’t doing any tonight)-you couldn’t ask for a better room.
The kids played and played once we unloaded. We didn’t bring in any toys but they played campfire (the blanket was rolled as a sleeping bag and their sleeping bags were used as fire wood for the fire), princess (the bed spread was used as a cape and the chairs were used for thrones) and they also played with the new foam trains that they were given at the street festival in Hoboken. Finally, Graham was too tired to play anymore and we went to bed while Reagan and Anderson watched a movie and opened up a prize. Campbell sat in the floor and played until she almost fell asleep sitting up.
One more day: Baltimore and burgers in DC.
Highlights from today: (click here for pictures)
We didn’t have breakfast this morning which was probably a good thing because we were trying to get on the road to Boston quickly. The kids each had a poptart and were still asking for food but we were now out. Robby decided to pull into a Dunkin Donuts to buy a little breakfast. We bought doughnut holes for the kids-I opened the bag and they were all assorted flavors-chocolate, sprinkles (only 2-what a problem that was), jelly filled, powdered sugar-I had never seen that before. We were making good time and got back on the highway pretty quick and within a few miles, the gas light popped on. So the next exit that had a gas station, we pulled off to get gas. I thought for sure that someone would have to go to the bathroom as soon as we left the gas station but we ended up making our time up pretty good.
We drove right to the USS Constitution and found pretty good street parking. The ship opened it at 10 and we had time to look through the visitor center before going in. To enter the area, you had to go through security. Reagan was concerned that we didn’t take our shoes off but they have become quite the security experts. At the visitor center, they had an exhibit explaining how ropes were twisted to make them stronger so when we were on the boat, the kids really noticed all of the ropes and how think they were. Anderson was interested in the cannons. Graham didn’t want to leave and he kept saying “boat drive”-he wanted to go for a ride on the boat.
There was another museum, USS Constitution Museum, right nearby so we walked through it. They had a neat kids area-with hammocks, play food and even dress up clothes to try on. Next, Robby ran back to the meter to put in a few coins and we headed to the water taxi towards the Long Wharf. The weather today was beautiful-a little cool in the shade but sunny and warm. Being on the taxi was great-the kids loved watching the sailboats and there were lots to see. We walked right towards Faneuil Hall and took a few pictures. We went upstairs and looked around and then went back outside.
Then Robby looked and looked for the popcorn that we had been promising the kids. When we were here last time, we had delicious popcorn but we might should have checked to make sure it was still here before we started talking about it to the kids. While Robby was gone, I was standing with the kids who were all sitting in the strollers. Why do people always look at us and why in the world would you come and ask us if you can take a picture of us? I said sure and the kids all turned on their smiles for the stranger. She wasn’t the first person to take a picture of us this week-craziness! About that time, Robby was headed back-and he just walked right past us like he didn’t know who we were. I guess he didn’t want to be in the strangers picture!
Anyway, the popcorn place was gone and we needed to head back to the boat before our meter expired. The kids weren’t too devastated but pretty disappointed-we told them though that they could have a treat in a few minutes. Well, thankfully people were passing out packages of gummy bears near the boat. We grabbed a few and then they gave us a few more and gummy bears worked perfectly as their treat so all was well.
We had to work out way back into Boston next and traffic was pretty heavy for a Saturday. But we made it and even took a nice little drive (unintentionally) through Beacon Hill. We parked near Boston Commons and grabbed out picnic stuff and went for a picnic. The weather was perfect and the table was nearby. We could also see a playground so that was our next stop. The kids had been looking for a playground for a few days so they were delighted to get to slide.
Next we walked through Boston Commons and walked to the Public Gardens. We had read Make Way for Ducklings which is about a family of ducks that make their home in the middle of the Public Gardens. There ware now duck statues that we took our pictures beside and we could see lots of real ducks living in the island in the middle of the pond. This is where the swan boat rides are usually but they weren’t around today-probably have closed for the season.
We then took the subway toward Faneuil Hall again. Managing the two strollers on the subway is quite a task especially when the elevators don’t get you exactly where you want to go. We went down the elevator which took us to the wrong line so we walked to another line only to find stairs which led to more stairs. Finally we gave up and just decided to pick the closest stop to the line we were at. Robby can carry the stroller with Campbell in it up or down which leaves me with the other buggy and trying to manage Graham. We make it but it isn’t pretty! One set of stairs we were going down and Graham let go and just started picking up speed as he went down the stair-luckily Robby was just getting to the bottom and was able to turn and catch him before he flew down them head first.
We followed the Freedom Trail once we left the subway. Reagan asked what the Freedom Trail was and I told her that something important happened there. (Don’t tell Robby but I haven’t a clue what the Freedom Trial is other than knowing it is a red line on the sidewalk in Boston-ha!) Anderson was very adamant that we must follow the trail and not get off of it. We made it to the visitor center and then to Quincy Market. I don’t know if I had ever been inside and Robby wanted to show me the beautiful dome ceiling inside and since we were inside we thought we would get a snack. Cookies for Graham and Reagan, a cupcake for Anderson and Boston Cream Pie for me and Robby.
We then went back to the subway and it was crazy crowded. We managed and Reagan and Anderson loved that Robby had to fold up their buggy and they had to stand up. Reagan is so funny-she almost panics every time we get on or off of an elevator or subway or whatever. She is so worried that someone will get left or smooshed. If she would just walk out of the way, we could all get out. She counts us all each time and tells me that it is okay, we have 6. Funny, funny.
We then had about 100 miles to drive to our hotel. We thought we would make it at a decent time but traffic was pretty slow until we were far out of the city. There wasn’t a wreck but the sun was just blinding in some areas. The kids watched movies and Graham and Campbell slept.
We drove by Mystic Seaport but it was pretty dark and closed (we knew it would be) so we just kept on driving. Robby had found a good restaurant on the way to the hotel called the Seven Seas and he ran in to pick up supper. The reviews said that a meatball grinder was delicious so he asked if that would be fine. I agreed and he ran in to put in the order. Anderson asked me what a grinder was and all I could answer him was that it was supper but other than that I wasn’t sure (I now know that it is a sandwich). They were huge and delicious. The kids had a turkey sandwich and they ate most of theirs and then Anderson started working on eating my meatballs. As we were eating, Reagan got up to check if our hotel room had a shower and a bath tub. And we were completely shocked to find that it did. This is only our 7th hotel on this trip and to think that they all had showers and bathtubs! Amazing.
As soon as Anderson figured out that we were headed to the hotel, he started asking Robby if it was morning and if we would get to the hotel before dark (even though he was still asking this after it was already dark). We knew that he really wanted to go swimming but it was pretty late. We would try to explain that the hotel may not have one, or that it might be closed or that we were getting in to late-this didn’t deter him. He told Robby that we would “just talk about it when we get there.” Even though it was near 8, we found the floaties and bathing suits and went to swim. While we were eating, Graham stood up and started looking around for his floaties while screaming “floaties, floaties” in a panicky voice. They were in the car so we were able to calm him down.
The kids and Robby went to the pool area, while Campbell and I worked on getting the room ready for night time. Soon we went to help everyone get out of the pool and walk back. Graham must have been tired because he would lay his head down on his floatie in the water. Reagan and Anderson were pretty proud of themselves from jumping in the water.
After swimming, we came back to the room for quick baths and then bed. Graham’s bed doesn’t fit in the bathroom so he is halfway sticking out so we are having to be very quite. Campbell is exhausted and couldn’t fall asleep since she was so tired. I had to rub her head until she fell asleep. Reagan and Anderson are now watching a movie before bed and maybe everyone will be asleep by 10:30.
Highlights from today: (click here for pictures)
I forgot to mention yesterday, that while we were eating our ice cream, Campbell and Graham were both sitting in the stroller. We heard Graham scream and looked over to see Campbell with her hand in his ice cream. She must have wanted more than the few bites that I had given her. Campbell must be craving something cold since she now has two top teeth to match her two lower ones. Also, we noticed last night that Anderson’s beloved teddy bear’s head is about to fall off of its body. Sara Ashley won him the bear in a game at a pizza place and since it was from a game machine you can imagine how well it is put together. Hopefully he will not be fully decapitated by the time we get home. Grannymom get your sewing needles ready.
It was another perfect morning waking up in the cottage. The big kids played in Graham’s pack n play for the longest time and begged for me to bring Campbell to play with them. I didn’t because she was laying happily in bed with Dad while she was drinking her milk. It was pretty windy last night so lots of apples fell so the kids had many apples to add to the apple pile. Reagan didn’t want to add all of the apples to the pile. She just looked for the apples that were without blemishes because she was convinced the “lady in the big house is going to make apple pie.” It worked out nicely, while the picked up apples, we loaded up the car.
The kids had eaten pop tarts and bananas by the time that we had made it to Walmart to buy ice. Robby ran in for the ice and came out with Red box movies for the kids and hot apple cider for me. I love it when he goes shopping. The rain picked up a little on the way to Bangor but it was never a very heavy rain-just a messy one. But when it was time to stop in Bangor, the rain slacked off and we were able to get out without a problem. It has rained on us some today-mostly getting in and out at the trolley place and supper but we have been so fortunate with not having to deal with the rain much. This was the perfect day for it to rain since we were in the car and only had a few stops.
In Bangor, we stopped by the statue of Paul Bunyan to take a picture. Robby took a call from work so that meant we had a few minutes to play around the statue-a water fountain to touch, a stage to sing (Graham), dance (Reagan) and play instruments on (Reagan played the fiddle while Anderson played the guitar). And there was also a skate board park so they had fun trying to climb up the ramps but of course the ramps they did climb out, they slid down on their rears which made for some very dirty seats! We finally made it over to Paul Bunyan-Reagan and Anderson decided that he wasn’t as big as Goliath but they were still pretty impressed. Reagan wanted Robby to take a zillion pictures of her-she is all about posing right now-just glance through the pictures and you can see what I mean.
We drove through Augusta and Robby and I jumped out at the capitol building for a quick picture. We told them where we were and Reagan said that it didn’t look like our capitol (which it didn’t). Then we had a few more hours until we made it to Kennebunkport. Before we left and even last night, Robby and I had tried to figure out what all we would do today. We couldn’t really find anything that caught our eye. We had planned on LL Bean but since we had already done that we just couldn’t find anything else. We were just going to have a very early evening since our trip today was only around 3.5 hours. But this morning, I was looking through one book and saw an ad for a trolley museum in Kennebunkport and it looked like it was worth checking out.
We drove near it as it started to rain pretty good. We had read that they had trolley rides but before we decided to get out I ran in to check and make sure that the trolley rides were still going (and were in an enclosed trolley). They were and I was told that they get out the right trolley for the weather. We unloaded and entered into a little boy’s heaven: trolleys, trains, buses! The first thing we did was ride on an enclosed trolley (similar to the one downtown) for about a mile and a half and then turned around and came back. The guide told us a few things about the trolleys and the line as we went. It wasn’t very crowded on the car-just us and another person. The kids loved it so when we came back to the station, we turned right around and rode an the next trolley-it looked more like a bus than a trolley. Reagan and Anderson had the hardest time picking out their seats. The driver even let the kids ring the bell as they exited.
Graham shouted “here we go, ding ding, this exciting, trolley fun, hold on, bye, bye” He couldn’t have been more pleased. Anderson looked stoic but he was pretty excited too. He really takes all of this stuff in-he listened to the guide, looked around and noticed everything. Reagan enjoyed it alot but just not like the boys-there is just something about a boy and something that has wheels. Campbell knew she was on something going fast and so she kept her legs going fast too-she was kicking away.
After the end of our second ride, we hoped off and headed to a few of the trolley barns. We only went into 2 of them and even skipped the restoration barn because of the rain. Each barn had 3 tracks of trolleys in them-well over 20 in each barn. And you could look, go in and play on each one. They could have stayed there ALL day long-seriously, all day. And since they knew where the bells where they looked for the bells in any trolley they could find.
Back inside the main museum there were a few more things to look out and then a train table to play at. After a shoving match between Reagan and Anderson, we headed to the car (with much crying and wailing). They are getting tired and it was really time to go anyway but the point was made. We drove past the Bush compound and watched a few cars drive around (which they probably just do for all of the tourist). We also marveled at how ugly and foggy the weather was-sure wouldn’t want to live on the beach in weather like todays.
We had just a few more miles to go until we made it to Portsmouth New Hampshire. It was just long enough for Robby and I to work on our list of travel places that we would recommend. We will post it when we are done-I am sure you will all sleep better tonight know that you can soon read it! Ha! Portsmouth has a really neat downtown area that would have been fun to walk around-if not for the rain and the late time. After spending almost 3 hours at the trolley museum we would no longer be getting into the room early. We still had to do laundry but we decided that we wouldn’t go swimming tonight-the kids were a little disappointed until we told them that they could have popcorn tomorrow and call Grannymom tonight.
We found the restaurant we had been looking for: Common Man. The had eaten in one before and this one was just as good. It is “a very fancy” restaurant as Reagan said. It is a nicer restaurant but what made it fancy in Reagan’s eyes was the brown paper they had on the tables that you could color on. I was a little worried if they kids could handle it after the train table incident.
But they did alright. Graham managed to stay in his seat fairly well and we were without a high chair for Campbell for awhile (the place only had 3). Reagan and Anderson were quite and who wouldn’t be-there were crackers, dip, white bread, raisin date bread, pizza and then a huge serving of ice cream and brownie. Robby had crab cakes and I had pork tenderloin (Campbell made a meal of my mashed potatoes). When we finished everyone had a tiny piece of what chocolate too.
Skip this paragraph if you don’t want to read about me bragging on the kids: As we were getting jackets on to leave, the lady at a table beside Robby mentioned how cute the kids were and asked their ages. She then said how well behaved they were. Robby thanked her and then the lady at another table said she was about to say the same thing about how good they were. She also said that it was good for kids to go out to eat-I agreed and said we do go out to eat often (I didn’t mention that it was because I don’t cook though). Anyway, we felt like the kids had been okay but they must have done pretty good! We were pretty proud of them again. Reagan keeps asking if we will ever go on a trip this long again-I guess we will take them on another one.
Our hotel was just down the road and we were in our room before long at all. After calling Grannymom and all of the usual stuff, the kids were going to sleep. We are about to work on laundry so we have a little bit more before bed. Tomorrow is Boston, so Robby has to decide what to do and where to go first before he goes to bed.
