Thanksgiving Fun

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday with my in-laws. We went to their home in Candia, NH. The trip was a little hectic, as traveling with three kids under the age of 4 usually is. But it was nice to spend a few days letting someone else take care of us for a little while! Here are some pics from the weekend.

Esme and Iris

Happy Esme

Happy Iris

Eli goes right for the good stuff!

The Thanksgiving Feast

Exciting Updates and Random News

So, this entry is just a chance for me to catch all of you up on what's been happening around the Stenbak household for the last few weeks.  I have been working an evening job, five nights a week, so needless to say, we have been super busy.  So here's whats been happening at our house:

Iris and Esme are growing like weeds.  They are now 9 months old.  We just had their well child checkup and the doctor described them as super healthy!  Both girls are almost 30 inches tall and are around 25lbs.  I think they outweigh most of their friends by at least 6 or 7 pounds!  In the last month they have started sitting very steadily and moving around the house.  They are not crawling yet, but they certainly get around.  Both girls can get up on their knees, but haven't tried yet to move forward.  It wont be long now and they will definitely be crawling.  Also, they can both clap their hands.  That is really cute to watch.  If I clap my hands they will mimic me.  They are both starting to move away from bottles and on to more foods.  Their formula intake has dropped dramatically and they are eating more and more table foods.  They can both eat finger foods now, like cheerios, black beans, bananas, and small vegetables.  They also really enjoy playing with toys and have even started stealing toys from each other.  I can't believe how big they are getting!

Talk about getting big, Eli started preschool this month.  He is attending Prides Corner Nursery School in Westbrook.  His program is Monday, Wednesday, Friday Mornings from 9-11:30.  He really loves his new teacher, Mrs. Philbrook.  We have already received the Scholastic Book Order form and received our first group of books.  It is so fun to see the projects he brings home and to see how excited he is when I drop him off in the morning.

Jesse celebrated 10 years with Portland Magazine this month.  He first started working at Portland Magazine just before we were married in October of 2000.  I remember when he was offered the job.  He was so excited, but a little nervous to tell them he would need his second week of work off because he was getting married.  His office threw a party for him with take out from Beal's St. BBQ and Ice Cream Sundaes.  Myself and the kids went in for the party.  He was then given the rest of the week off and Colin and Nancy, Jesse's bosses, graciously offered us their Lake Cabin in Falmouth for the weekend.  It is from there that I write this entry.  Also, Colin and Nancy announced that to celebrate 25 years in publication they would be taking Portland Magazine's full time employees plus one guest on a trip to Bermuda this coming March.  That's right folks, this March, Jesse and I will be taking an all-inclusive vacation to Bermuda WITHOUT our children.  My mom has already offered to babysit!  Let me tell you, I am all over that passport application!

This past Friday, I had my first night off from everything (work, kids, life in general), since my girls were born.  I had to take a business trip to Calais, Maine, which is about 4 hours from Portland.  Calais is located in Washington County, which is the down-east section of Maine, right on the Canadian border.  I drove up on Friday and stayed overnight at the Redclyffe Shore Motel in Robbinston, Maine.  The Motel sat right on the shore line.  I had a beautiful view from my room and from the restaurant.  I treated myself to a delicious dinner, a couple drinks, and chocolate raspberry cake for dessert!  I watched whatever I wanted on the TV and went to bed at 8:00.  But the best part was that I slept until 10:00 am the next morning.  I haven't had that much sleep in months!  It was WONDERFUL.

Lastly, I am currently discussing with my former law firm returning to practice after the first of the year.  What a wonderful year it has been being home with my kids.  I don't want to give that up entirely, so returning part-time will be perfect!  I don't know all of the logistics yet, but I am definitely excited by the prospects.

September has been a big month in the Stenbak Household!  And despite all of these goings on, I have managed for the first time ever to get all of my kids Halloween costumes figured out and ready before October has even fallen upon us!  I feel so organized.  I can't wait to see what October will bring!  Hopefully, I will be able to post some updated pics soon.

Apple Season is Early, But Upon Us...Don't Miss It!

Typically, I think of apple picking as a mid to late fall activity. I definitely don't think of August or 90 degree weather. But the apples are early this year, thanks to a very early spring. So last weekend, we took the kids to McDougal Orchard in Springvale to pick our own apples. This is a great farm! (Thanks Amanda and Ed for the tip!) It has many different fruit trees, including apples, nectarines, plums, and peaches. There are also pick your own rasberries. Additionally, they have some beautiful flower gardens, goats (and fresh goat cheese) and a playspace for younger kids. We packed a lunch and headed over. The drive is about an hour from our home. It was a truly great time, even if the weather made the whole experience a bit odd. It is definitely a weird experience to pick apples in very hot weather but we came home with a bag of Cortlands and a bag of fresh nectarines.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Nectarines

Plum Tree

Sunflower Eli

Eli Picking - The apple trees are really small and low to the ground.  Great for small kids!

The Goats!

Esme and Iris Enjoying Some Lunch

Swinging Under the Black Walnut Tree

Esme

Iris Thinks Feet are Great Fun

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

Back to Camping - A weekend at Coos Canyon

Jesse and I were avid campers and hikers before we had children. We have hiked many of New England's tallest mountains, including Katahdin and Washington. We have backpacked into campsites several miles into trails. We had mastered car camping and were on our way to becomming skilled backpackers. Then we had kids. We swore, when we became pregnant with Eli, that just because we were having a baby, we were not going to give up the things we loved the most. And, for the most part, that was true. We still do most of the things we loved to do in our "before kids" life. But camping was one of the few things that fell by the wayside.

First, pregnancy made me very very ill. So we did not camp at all the summer I was pregnant with Eli. Logistically, it seemed impossible. I needed to get to a safe place to vomit in a very short amount of time, usually without any warning at all. The several zippers that must be undone in order to exit a tent seemed like a formidable barrier. And after Eli was born, it all still seemed too complicated. Serious hiking was out - too dangerous with a baby on your back. Even short hikes seemed overwhelming. Backpacking, for even a short trip, too became an impossibility. We could not bring enough stuff if one of us were carrying the baby. Even car camping seemed too hard to plan. Where would the baby sleep? Would he sleep in a tent by himself without becoming scared? Would we all have to go to bed at 7:00? The overwhelming sense of the unknown got the better of us, and we just gave up trying. By the time Eli finally seemed old enough to have fun on a camping trip, I was pregnant with the girls, and once again was sick sick sick...the circle started again.

But this last weekend we finally took the plunge and jumped back in again. And, we had a BLAST! It makes me wonder what we were so afraid of. It was not as easy as it used to be, and, it is a good thing that we went with others because we forgot SO many things, but overall it was a great success.

We borrowed a tent (thank you Wiers Family!) big enough to put the pack-n-plays in, so the girls had cribs to sleep in. We have been reading books to Eli about camping, so he was all psyched to sleep in a sleeping bag in the tent. We went with my parents, my sister's family, and my brother's family joined us the second night. There were plenty of kids around to keep each other entertained. And, there was plenty of time, after kids went to bed, for the grown-ups to sit around the fire, drink a few beers and make smores. It was a busy few days, with a trip to Santa's Village thrown in, but, it was so fun to share with Eli and the girls something Jesse and I so love to do. It may be awhile yet before there are any big backpacking adventures (at least, with our children) but I think another car camping trip may be in order soon.

Connor and Tyler Boone

Eli Checking Out the Reindeer

Me, Eli, and Iris on the Sky Tram

My Parents

The Stenbak Family

Kaylee, Connor, Me, Eli

Eli

Kaylee

Dalaney

Iris and Esme

Crystal and Ben

Happy Birthday Connor

The Birthday Boy

Connor

Last weekend was my nephew Connor's 5th birthday.  We went up to Bangor to celebrate with him, and the rest of the family.  Eli loves birthday parties.  We went shopping for the present and Eli picked out Connor's gifts all on his own, a Scoobie Doo puzzel and an Alien game. 

Here are some pics from the trip.

Eli

Eli

My Niece Dalaney

My Nephew Tyler and Dalaney

Potato Sack Race

Connor, Dalaney, Kaylee, and Eli

Proud Grandparents

Papa and Minnie with Iris and Esme

Papa and Minnie with Iris, Eli, and Esme

My Nephew Ben

My Sister's Family

Dan, Crystal, Connor, Ben, and Tyler

Me Comforting a Sad Iris

Trip to Popham Beach State Park

After such a long week, both for me at home and for Jesse at work, we needed a fun little trip.  We packed the kids in the van and drove up the midcoast to Popham Beach State Park.  It was not as warm out as I had hoped it would be but we had a great time.  It was nice just to get out of the house.  Here are some pics.

Eli has become so adventurous.  He seems to make a friend whereever we go.  On this trip he convinced a guy on the beach to let him fly his kite and he made friends with a woman who let him pet her dog.