Fun in Stockton Springs

We were recently on vacation.  Although we didn't take a big trip this year, we took it easy, made some progress on some projects around the house, and took a few fun adventures around Maine.  Our first adventure was a trip to Stockton Springs, Maine, to visit one of my closest friends, Heather.  For those who don't know, Stockton Springs in on the Midcoast of Maine, next door to Searsport.  It is only about 40 minutes from Bangor.  Stockton Springs is a sleepy town, sporting, as far as I can tell, one or two small convenience stores and a diner.  But, it has a beautiful beach.  We took a walk down to the beach the morning of our second day.  Stockton Springs is also about 15 minutes from Fort Knox and the Narrow's Bridge Observatory, but of course, our camera died the minute we entered the elevator to the observatory.  But here are some pics from our walk on the beach.

Wanna Buy Some Railroad Tracks?

The beach was littered with mussle shells, little pebbles, and seaweed

A Little Late, But, "Happy Birthday Tyler"

Yesterday, Jesse and I were talking about how fast time seems to fly.  Next month we will have been a couple for 15 years and in October, married for ten.  Jesse commented that as we are moving through time, the future seems so far away, but looking back, the years past seem to have passed so quickly.  This is so true.  It doesn't feel like it has been 15 years since I have graduated from high school.  It doesn't feel like I have been married for 10 years.  And 33 doesn't really feel all that much different to me (aside from a few more aches and pains when I first get up in the morning) than 23 did.

Another reminder of just how fast time flies, recently, my nephew Tyler turned four.  I cannot believe he is four already!  It feels like he was born just yesterday.  This means that in just a few short months, my first baby will be four too.  Amazing how much small children accomplish in such a short period of time.  I have watched as these children have grown from helpless infants to independent, funfilled, adventurous, learning machines.   Tyler and Eli both start preschool this year.  My neice Kaylee starts Kindergarten.  So Happy Fourth Year Tyler and many great adventures to you, Eli, and Kaylee as you all start new school adventures!

Here are some pics from Tyler's birthday party and from a family gathering at my parent's home the next day:

Tyler Opening Presents

Bubble Party Fun

Tyler Checking Out his Thomas Birthday Cake

  Eli on the Tire Swing

Kaylee on the Tire Swing

The Horr Family

Dalaney

Moving on Up

Yesterday, Iris and Esme had to give up the baby bucket car seats and move to big girl seats. I have truly mixed emotions about the move. First, I am glad that we won't have the bucket seats taking up space in our house any longer. It seems that they are always in the way. But, neither girl is really sitting up very well, so it makes it very difficult to bring them into a store. I have to take a stroller, which means I cannot push a cart, which makes it a struggle to get more than one or two things at a time. But the girls had exceeded the weight limits of their infant seats, so we had to make the move.

It is hard to believe that this month the girls will be eight months old! Hard to believe that they have now been out of the womb longer than they were in it. The last eight months have certainly gone by so much faster than the eight preceeding them! The girls are now rolling over regularly. You can no longer set them down and leave the room for a moment and expect them to be where you left them. Both also really love the exersaucer and the jumperoo. They have started to play with toys. And recently, Iris figured out how to play Peak-A-Boo. Both girls are now huge! For girls who were born six weeks early, they have caught up and then some. At their last doctor's appointment both had reached 27 inches long and are now 23+ lbs. Whew, they are big babies! Eli, who is 3.5 years old is only 10 lbs heavier than his not quite eight month old sisters!

To get the car seats, we went to the Falmouth Fire Department's car seat program day. Falmouth does free inspections the first Thursday of each month to ensure that car seats are installed correctly and that parents know how to properly install them. All you have to do is show up and they will inspect your seats installation and double check that there have been no recalls. Additionally, they have car seats that can be purchased at wholesale prices, which is much less expensive than purchasing the seats at a store. However, because the girls had actually exceeded the weight limits of their infant seats, we were given car seats for free. That's right, FREE! They also checked Eli's seat to ensure that it had not be recalled. Had it, or had he no longer fit into it correctly, they would have also provided him with a free seat as well. Their main goal is to make sure that all kids are safely secured in the car, not to sell seats. They do not want any child to be in an unsafe seat because their parents cannot afford to purchase a seat at the time of inspection. These inspections are done in many local towns, not just Falmouth, and if you are a resident of Southern Maine, you may want to call around to your local fire departments to see if a program is being held near you.

We made a donation to the program to say thanks for the car seats! And thankful we are! When you are buying for two babies, the costs so quickly add up. Two copays at the doctors, double the amount of baby formula every week, twice as many diapers, etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on. I am very thankful that this service is offered to the people of Southern Maine (and maybe other parts as well) and so are my baby girls, who now have comfy, new, safe, big girl car seats to ride in!

Big Girl Esme

Big Girl Iris

Eli's Latest Project

We were up pretty early this morning and were ready to get the day started by 9:00.  But, the battery in our van (our only vehicle that will fit all 5 of us) died and wont be fixed until Monday, so we were looking for something fun to do at home.  So, we asked Eli what he wanted to do today.  After telling us a 5 minute story that I could not even begin to repeat and which made absolutely no sense at all (conversation with a three year old is always an adventure), I stopped him, asked him to listen to my question, and once again asked him what he wanted to do today.  Hearing the question, the second time, he immediately answered that he wanted to do "a project!"  Now, I am a pretty good mom, but one of my more obvious flaws is that I do not keep a lot of project stuff in the house and we have used up most of what we have.  I need to hit the Dollar Store and restock, but honestly, who has the time?  So Eli and I went off to the craft store and picked up the stuff to paint a bird house.  I thought about getting a kit to make a birdhouse, but it would have required a lot of nails and hammering and I figured his attention span was not that long.  He had a great time painting the already-assembled birdhouse that we bought.

Here are some pics of his completed project.  It turned out to be quite beautiful. 

The Finished Product