Ogunquit Vacation

We left on Sunday for Ogunquit for our annual vacation in Maine. We had a nice day of outlet shopping and picked up groceries for the week ahead. On the way up we drove through some of the tornado damage in Sturbridge, Massachussetts. The small part of the damage we saw included one of those scaffolded, overhanging highway signs which was pushed off the highway in a crumpled heap and a swath of trees broken in half as though a lawn mower cut a clear path through them. It was shocking and too close for comfort.

On Monday, we spent time on the beach in our cabana, now that I know how to assemble it (see my first ever post where I failed to put it together on a hot beach in Ocean City, Maryland). In the afternoon, on our walk of the Marginal Way, we ran into a couple of friends of mine from working at Vincent's Pharmacy. They (Lin, Nancy, Paul, and Robert) joined us on our walk to Perkin's Cove where we had dinner at the Oarweed. Megan particularly enjoyed the company of daddy's work friends.

On Tuesday, we met my friends for breakfast at Cafe Amore for a delicious meal. It was nice to have our monthly breakfast at such a beautiful location (often we convene at Mitchell's in Vernon). We then set out for a visit of York's Wild Kingdom Zoo. Later, we walked short sands shops and played on the playground. We finished up with a trip to Nubble Lighthouse to where Megan distinctly remembers as "family rock" for a photo opp.

Wednesday was a day long beach day. We really lucked out with the weather this year. No rain, warm sunny skies. Megan enjoyed jumping the waves and wading in the warmer tidal pools. The clam shells were plentiful for collecting and drawing on back at the room. We had to hit Brown's Old Fashion Ice Cream even though we had to wake Megan from her nap. At night, Megan, mommy, and daddy swam in the pool. Megan can now swim the short length of the pool by herself with swim floats on her arms. This will be good practice for swim class which we will restart on Saturday.

Thursday morning was a scortcher. We left for home without much delay to keep cool in the air conditioned car and to retrieve Bailey from GiGi and PopPop (Megan missed Bailey the most, realizing that her food she dropped from the table wasn't eaten on vacation).

Realizing the enjoyment of having company on vacation, we hope to bring friends up with us next year...

Maine Vacation 2010

We were lucky to have 3 straight days of sunny weather to enjoy the beach in Maine for our yearly vacation there. Thanks to new found courage (probably from gymnastics classes), Megan wanted me to take her climbing over the rocky cliffs to the edge of the sea. Christina watched on nervously from the Marginal Way. Megan liked having snacks on her Dora the Explorer beach blanket, calling it a "picnic". We also visited the York Wild Kingdom Zoo. Megan enjoyed feeding the goats, deer, and ducks.

Maine weekend getaway

We spent a long weekend in Ogunquit, Maine again for our fall getaway. We were pleasantly surprised by the size of York's Wild Kingdom zoo. The abundance of exotic animals (lions, white bengal tiger, wildebeast, kangaroo, many species of bird, monkey, reptile, rodent, etc) and interactions (duck pond, deer and goat feedings-during which Megan sang "BaBa Black Sheep") made this an exeptional experience, and almost overlooked. I haven't been to this zoo for so long, I couldn't remember anything, but it boasts itself as the biggest in Maine. On our rainy day, we visited Portland's Children's Museum of Maine. It was fun, but probably more so for older kids. On the beach, Megan was less afraid of the ocean's waves and we had one really nice beach day to enjoy it. She decorated her own kite for the annual kite festival. Megan also enjoyed a ride abord the "Molly" trolley. In our small hotel room, we entertained her by reading Dr. Seuss's "Clam I am" and giving her some wax lips to chew on (they last forever and don't stain). She did not sleep well in the pack and play, so she tried out the twin bed instead (surrounded by pillows) with success. Daddy hopes that Megan will have a friend vacation with her in the near future. Our place in Maine is the best place in the world to us.

Maine Vacation, Summer Storms, and Parties

We enjoyed our second vacation in Maine with Megan in June. She didn't mind walking in the sand (in March down in Florida, she didn't like the feeling of sand on her feet), and she actually enjoyed digging in the sand and used her beach toys. She didn't enjoy having her feet dipped in the cold Maine ocean, though. She observed some hermit crabs in some shallow pools and particularly enjoyed climbing around on some rocks along the marginal way walk. We had a very nice, spacious room at a cheap rate (thanks to the bad economy). I found a Little Mermaid vanity playset for Megan for sale on the side of the road during a drive back from the town one day. This turned an afternoon of tempermental behavior into a fun-filled evening.

This June has been the rainiest on record, I believe. At least we feel like we are not missing much by spending so much time on house searching. Our hard-wood floors came out really well in the dining and living rooms. Another benefit of summer storms are the spectacular rainbows. Look - at the end of the rainbow is a wonderful raised ranch for sale!

We enjoyed visiting family during cousin Jennifer's college graduation party. Megan enjoyed John and Kathy's pool.

The kids got to play together at Jackson's 4th b-day party!