Summer Vacation 2012

This past weekend, Jeremy, the Madore-ables and I took a little 3-hour trip (that really took about 6 hours) up to Weld, Maine to camp at Mount Blue State Park for our Summer Vacation.  I myself had never been camping, and the Madore-ables absolutely LOVED it.  My brother in law, Christian and his family were able to join us too, so the girls had a lot of fun with their cousins.

Along with hours of exploring, and playing down at the lake, we also ventured to Tumbledown Mountain which was quite an adventure in itself.  The Madore-ables slept VERY well.

There's just something about fresh mountain air...

The morning we left.  It was POURING rain out, but the Madore-ables were SO excited to go camping.

Sarah's Moo Cow driving us on the Maine Turnpike.

(She's very courteous and used her turn signals)

A picnic pit stop along the way.  I have no idea where we were, but we were definitely in the sticks.

Samantha and Sarah with Uncle Christian and Aunt Kate and their cousins making S'Mores around the campfire Friday night.

Samantha and I hiking down Tumbledown Mountain on Saturday.

ThermaCell.

Best. Investment. Ever.

Being silly Sunday morning at breakfast.

Baby Baby!

Over the weekend, Jeremy, the Madore-ables and I headed up North for my sister-in-law, Jessica's baby shower.  Paul and Jessica are expecting baby Matthew to arrive on August 17th.

Jessica's shower was intended to be a surprise but we found out that she figured it earlier in the week.  Just the same, we all gathered together to celebrate to Matthew.  The Madore-ables had a GREAT time playing with their cousins.  I unfortunately didn't have my good camera with me, but was able to get some pics with my cell phone.  (Not the greatest, but you get the idea).

So congratulations to Paul and Jessica and Mia!  We all cannot wait to hear the arrival of Matthew in just a few months.

Our Mini-Vacation in Rangely, Maine

This was one of the views that we were "forced" to see last weekend.

Want to see another one?

Yeah. We had these views outside every window inside the cabin. It's a rough life, but someone's got to live it. Fortunately, we were able to live that last weekend.

Last Sunday right after Samantha's Birthday party, the Madore-ables, Jeremy and I drove 4 hours north to Rangely, Maine to spend the weekend with Jeremy's family who was also on vacation. Sure, we arrived super late, but isn't that part of the whole vacation experience? The girls did AMAZING on the trip up. We sang every verse of Old MacDonald Had a Farm and made up new silly versions of other songs. The girls stayed awake until about just 30 minutes before we arrived. I was able to run inside make up the girls beds real quick, and just transfered them from the car right to bed.

We stayed from Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon. Jeremy's family took turns coming and staying over night, so we were able to see most of the family which was very nice. The Madore-ables loved playing with their cousins.

We played outside to our hearts content with 0 raindrops. We toasted marshmallows. Jeremy's oldest brother, Ethan brought his motor boat up and we were able to have a ride around Rangely Lake. The girls LOVED it!

The only thing we weren't prepared for:

THE BUGS!!!


We were prepared however to:


Relax in the hammock


Play the guitar a little with Uncle Andre


Go hiking to Angel Falls

Celebrate more of Samantha's birthday!

(Special thank you's to Auntie Jessica who made Samantha's cake.)

Sarah was prepared to learn new things:

She found out what a squirt gun is!

Sarah was prepared to play outside all day in the yard and the beach to make sand castles.

My Madore-ables loved playing with their cousins. It's not often that we get together, so when we do, we make sure we go all out and have a BLAST.

More Wedding Preparations: The Shower!

This past weekend, was my sister in law's wedding shower. I couldn't have done it without the help from my mother-in-law, another one of my sister-in-laws, and the wedding party. A lot of work was put in to making the day extra special for Jessica. Everything seemed to fall into place. The Madore-ables had a wonderful time, and were extra excited to play with their cousins and see their Mamere and Papere.

The day started out great. We left our house at the time I wanted to. It was early enough so there was no traffic. The girls are fantastic travelers, so we had a good time singing crazy songs, and talking about what color the car in front of us was. Two hours later, we were in Lewiston, Maine.

First stop was to Shaw's super market to pick up the balloons and then we'll head to the party to help my mother-in-law. Wish it sounded that easy. Picture this: the Madore-ables in one of those shopping carts that has the Little Tykes style car at the end, plus balancing 10 balloons in one hand, and pushing a very awkward shopping cart with the other. Then we get outside to my car. Trying to put two children inside the car and in their car seats, and balancing 10 balloons all in high heels mind you, was quite the sight. I managed to squeeze all 10 balloons into my car, but really laughed out loud when I got the girls all bundled up and sat in the drivers seat and saw: balloons in the rear-view-mirror. Somewhere among the balloons, I heard my Madore-ables yelling out, "Mommy! I can't see!!!" Sorry girls, Mommy can't really see either. Luckily, we didn't have far to drive, so I just threw my hazard lights on and said many prayers that we would arrive safely. All the while laughing and thinking, "Oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into?"

Jessica said she was surprised until the morning of the shower, and everyone seemed like they had a great time. We decided to have the wedding shower theme as an "English Tea Party" that way everyone could be involved...including the children. The food was amazing (especially all those little Petit 4 cookies and tarts that my sister in law Cathy made). Now I really need to head back to the gym to work off all those calories, but that's another blog entry.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the day:

My sun flower cupcakes...what tea party isn't complete without flowers?

The Madore-ables playing with their cousins

Samantha coloring Auntie Jessica a picture

SURPRISE!!!!!!

Sarah learned what "Silly Bands" are

The favors

The beautiful bride to be

Jessica hugging Mia

A Madore-able New Year!

Jeremy was fortunate to have last Friday off from work, so we left our house after breakfast to head up to Orr's Island, Maine and spent New Years with my sister in law, Jessica and her fiancee at his home. We really enjoy going to visit for the company and for the lovely views of the ocean.

Our weekend started last Friday morning after breakfast. Jeremy and I packed us up and got into our car to head on our merry way. Well, I use "merry" very loosely. What should have been about a 1 hour 45 minute car trip turned into about a 3 hour ride complete with car sickness and lots of whining, and complaining. It was one of those car rides that Jeremy and I kept asking "Are we there yet?"

Luckily the weekend was a LOT more fun than the ride up on Friday. New Year's eve we played a fun little game called "Cranium" and had a glass or two wine. It was boys vs. girls...and I just have to point out that that girls won. WOO HOO!

New Years Day we had a very relaxing day, full of well...FUN! When you're on the island, it brings new meaning to the phrase "Island Time". No schedules. No time frame. Just fun. Watching the Madore-ables certainly reminds us to just to just relax.

While we were visiting, my brother in law, Christian and my sister in law Kate and their children came over for dinner. We had a great visit with them. We were able to see our little niece Clara who we haven't been able to see since the Fall when she was about 3 weeks old. Time flies when we don't see our sweet nieces and nephews. Now Clara is holding her head up and full of smiles.

Columbus Day Weekend 2010 - Apple Picking In Maine

Last weekend, Jeremy and I packed up our Madore-ables and headed to Jeremy's hometown of Lewiston, Maine to visit my in-laws. We had such a fantastic time and the girls were able to visit some of their cousins. While Jeremy was spending some time with his brother, I took the girls apple picking at Wallingford's with my sisters-in-law and my nieces and nephews.

If you don't know me by now, I take so many photos of the Madore-ables. Way too many to upload. So here's just a few of my favorites from picking apples

It's Madore-able...Family Style!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We certainly had a great one. Jeremy's friend Rob from college came to visit us and stayed for dinner on Saturday. My girls loved seeing a new face, and of course loved having someone new to play with. Thanks again for coming to visit Rob :)

Today (Sunday) the Madoreables, Jeremy and I drove to Winslow Park in Freeport, Maine to celebrate my father-in-law's 61st birthday...but don't tell him I announced that ;) We had a great time even in the drizzly rain. Thankfully, two of Jeremy's brothers brought large "pop up" tents and we were all able to huddle underneath to keep dry. Jeremy comes from a large family, so when we get together, there's a ton of food, a lot of laughs and good conversation. Samantha and Sarah had a great time playing with their cousins.

After we left Freeport, we had a nice drive home. Thankfully our girls are fantastic passengers. Sarah was asleep in her carseat after 10 minutes of being en route, and Sam played with her new laptop that Jason & Rachael gave to her for her birthday last week for the entire way home. (By the way, this laptop receives a big recommendation from me to any mom who's kids are learning their ABC's & 123's. 2 thumbs up from this Mom). Once we hit home, I ran inside real quick to grab some leftover hotdog/hamburger buns and we went to Newburyport, Mass to feed the ducks. Well, unfortunately the ducks already had their dinner, so they had no interest in our sustanence...however, the fish were very happy to eat the bread that was being thrown to them. Samantha was quite intrigued at the fact the fish were eating the bread so quickly. Afterwards, we drove home for a quick splash in the bathtub, some story time, bottles and lights out. These girls had a long, but fun day! Time to rest up and do lots of errands with Mommy tomorrow!

Here are some photos from Sunday:

Fantastic menu as always when we get together...
















My sister-in-law Cathy made some YUMMY whoopie pies...chocolate and vanilla.
















My sister-in-law Jessica made a YUMMY home made cheese cake.
















I did manage to sneak a picture of Samantha just before lunch























Sarah playing on the playground at Winslow Park
















Samantha and her cousin Anna taking a ride on this crazy, teeter totter, bouncy thing at Winslow Park. Well, whatever you would like to call it, I think they had a pretty good time on it...don't you agree?
















Hmmm...I don't know...let's look at another picture to be sure there's plenty of fun going on here
YUP!

















As of today, there are 20 Madore grandchildren in total (17 were at today's picnic/cookout, and 3 live in Pittsburgh, PA who couldn't be with us today.) There are 2 more on the way...one due in September 2010 and one in January 2011.
















Sarah snoozed the entire ride home tonight.

























Samantha feeding the ducks...who we found out really weren't hungry after all. The fish had a great snack instead.
























Sarah trying to get a better view of the ducks.