Wednesday morning at 4am we pulled into our driveway after ten days of the best vacation ever.
It all started on Sunday evening when we left the house at 10pm to travel up to Biddeford, Maine to visit Todd's sister LaRee and her husband Bob. We pulled down the seats, made a nice bed for the kids, and started off on our first leg of the trip - destination Washington, D.C. We decided that since D.C. was on the way it would be a good place for us to stretch our legs on this 16 hour trip. So at 5:30am we pull into D.C., found a place to park, and got out for a little stroll around the mall. We visited the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the White House, Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial. What a trip.
We couldn't do them all justice because we still had nine hours to travel that day, but we did manage to walk around for about two hours there. Finally, we made our way back to the car to load back up and head up north.
We ended up driving through Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Hamphire, and finally into Maine. Let's not forget the countless tolls booths. I am so thankful that we do not have those here. Finally at 8pm we arrived at Bob and LaRee's
It was so nice to finally be there and see both of them. The kids had never met their aunt and uncle but you would not have known that by how eargerly they greeted them with squeels of delight and hugs. We quickly got settled in and began planning our time there. LaRee had posted a Things To Do List on the wall and we set up a schedule to get in as many things as possible. First, they took us for a tour of the area. Bob and LaRee live within a few minutes of the Atlantic coastline and they drove us to coastal town after coastal town. Kennebunkport was one of the towns close by. They drove us up to former President George Bush's house which was quite amazing.
They then took the kids to the ocean. What fun that was. We weren't dressed to get fully immersed in the water but it was hard to keep the kids dry.
We then decided that the next day would be a good day for Bob to take the kids fishing so we needed to go worm digging. It was low tide and the kids and all of us went digging for blood worms. As an added bonus we dug up clams, looked for shells, and climbed the rock wall.
The next day, Wednesday, we went fishing on the Atlantic Ocean in Bob's boat. What fun. We didn't catch anything. It was also cold and rainy and we were not dressed appropriately. I still had my NC mindset about how to dress in July. Unfortunately, we weren't in NC anymore and the temperatures were a lot cooler there. Add to that rain and wind and you got down right chilly. It was still fun to be on the Atlantic though.
After a nice warm shower we headed to Pirate's Cove Minature Golf on Oceanic Beach for some more fun.
On Thursday, we loaded up on the Amtrack train and headed to Boston, Mass. to go and visit the Museum of Science.
We spent six hours at the museum. There was so much to see and do and we didn't even do it all. What a blast! The kids and us had so much fun.
Friday, we went shopping.
L L Bean
DeLorme Maps - Home of the Largest Globe
and Cabelos.
We then headed to Smitty's Theatre where you can have a full course dinner and watch the latest movie. We watched G-Force which the kids loved.
Saturday, we went lobstering. Bob plays hockey with a professional lobsterman. Captain Mack invited us all to go with him on his boat and pull pods, sort lobster, and band them. What a treat! Other than me and Laree feeling sea sick we all had a blast. Bonnie and Brian got to steer the boat, Todd pulled pods and helped reset them. Bonnie sorted lobster, banded them and placed them in the holding tank. By the end of the morning we had captured 16 lobster. Captain Mack brought along his eleven year old daughter, Jordan. Bonnie and Jordan hit it off really well. In fact, Jordan ended up spending the rest of the day with us.
After lobstering, we had lunch at the Lobster Shack with Captain Mack and Jordan and then brought Jordan back home with us to play. That afternoon someone had the idea to set up a slip-n-slide. With a big roll of plastic, sprinkler, and dish soap they were ready to go. Can we have any more fun?
While Todd and I enjoyed a dinner date, courtesy of Mom and Dad Ells, in Kennebunkport, Bob and LaRee took the kids Candle Pin Bowling. Evidently this is like regular bowling except the balls are a lot smaller and the pins are thinner.
Sunday started off with waking up at 4:30 to get everyone out to the beach to watch the sunrise.
Unfortunately, there was no sun that day : ( But the kids didn't complain. They still had fun looking for shells, rocks and sea glass. We decided that regardless of the weather we were going to play at the beach that day even though it was cold and rainy. The water was so cold, but the kids didn't care though. Todd and Bob had fun too with the kids. Bob and LaRee had boogie boards for the kids to ride the waves and ride them they did. Of course, we only lasted about an hour and had to stop or take the chances of going into hypothermia. We then took a walk at Scarborough Marsh, got in some more fishing and picked up some souveniors.
That night we feasted on lobster from the previous days catch. It was so delicious.
We were all set to head back home on Monday, but Bob and LaRee asked us to stay one more day to rest and get packed up. It didn't take much arm twisting and we consented to stay. Monday turned out to be a beautiful day with sun and warm temperatures. After cleaning up the car and cleaning up the place we went back to the beach for a good beach day.
And then another round of the slip-n-slide. LaRee had the idea of the kids putting on garbage bags to make them go even faster. : )
Sadly, it was time to go. Tuesday morning we pulled out this time our first stop was going to be New York City to see the Statue of Liberty. It turned out to be a drive-by as the traffic, people, and construction was more than we could navigate through but we still got to see her from a distance. We then headed to Philedelphia to satisfy my husband's desire for a Philly Cheese Steak. While we were there we walked over to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Then downtown Philly for a good sandwich. If it wasn't for our GPS, Todd and I would still not be speaking to each other but good ole Geeps told us where to go so there were no arguments. : )
So that brings us back to where we started, 4 am Wednesday morning we made it back home.
