First Day of School!

Summer is officially over and it's back to our normal life. The important event that marks this change is our first day back to school.

This year I started Kindergarten and Sam started Pre-school. We are both in full day programs and we are LoViNg it! We both love art and recess. Sam loves singing and learning his letters. I love doing experiments and am already a great reader. Here we are right before we headed out on day #1 - two handsome boys!

After a very busy week with school, we decided to have a very relaxing day around the house yesterday. It consisted of playing outside . . . the entire day!Here's Sam enjoying the pool.I've been battling a nasty cold and I woke up this morning with a low fever and quite the cough. So I stayed in bed and watched movies most of the day. Mom, Sam, and Copper joined me for the end of one of my Thomas the train movies.Sam Alert: Hey y'all - Sam here. I have two pictures to share from this week. Take a look at them and let me know what you think some of my favorite things are right now.

#1 -

#2 - Yes, it's true. I love my cars from the Disney Cars 2 movie! I sleep with them every night. Sam out - talk to you next week.

Summer Vacation 2011

We got to spend 9 days on an amazing vacation to Maine and New Hampshire for the last two weeks. Mommy had some work meetings and we were able to squeeze in some vacation time before her meetings - then daddy entertained us while she was working. That area of the country is beautiful. We found lots of scenic railroads and lighthouses that we enjoyed. We also did our share to put a dent in the Maine lobster population. Mmmmm, mmmmm, good!

Here's how you keep two boys entertained for an 11 hour travel day.

We spent our first night in Portland, ME and went for a quick drive to the coast before the sun set.

The next morning we took a scenic drive north along the coast and stopped in Boothbay Harbor at the Boothbay Railway. We spent a good part of the day there and all of us really enjoyed it! It is a Narrow Gauge Railroad with the tracks being only 2 feet apart. We wandered through the museums and rode the train as many times as they would let us.We spent night #2 in Bar Harbor and headed out the next morning to visit Acadia National Park. Our most favorite stop was Sand Beach. For some reason mom and dad thought we would only dip our toes in the ocean - not our whole bodies. They should have known better! We had sand in places you don't want to know about! We played our little selves silly in the Atlantic Ocean. Everybody got wet - some of us head to toe!
Some of our other favorite sites in Acadia included Thunder Hole and Cadillac Mountain - which is the highest spot on the New England coast. Enjoy the views from the top of Cadillac Mountain.From there we headed about an hour south on the coast with a stop at Moose Point State Park. This is an area well known for sea shell collecting. We also did some "sea weed dancing" here - slippery stuff! We made a stop for dinner at the Lobster Pound and spent the night in Camden/Rockport.The next day we visited some lighthouses. First up - Owl's Head Light. This lighthouse was open for us to climb up, but you had to be 42" tall. Sam was the only one not tall enough - he was very, very, very sad!

I tried to cheer him up a little as we hiked back to our car. That's what brothers are for!

Second stop - Marshall Point Light. This was one of our favorites. You may remember seeing this lighthouse in the movie Forrest Gump - at least dad and mom remember it. It was very, very pretty. Third stop - Pemaquid Light. Very pretty with lots of rocky cliffs right below it. This light was also open to climb to the top but neither Sam or I were tall enough. We lunched right across the way at a yummy Lobster place. From here we headed across Maine to North Conway, New Hampshire. We did some mini golfing and got a little rest for our activities for the next day.Day 5 saw us heading up Mount Washington on the Cog Railway. This was probably our most favorite activity from the whole vacation! This train goes from the base station up a 37% incline to the top of the mountain. Most of the track is on trestles. It is incredibly steep and we ended up in the clouds, literally. Our trip back down the mountain was just as fun. I enjoyed looking at the old cog trains that were on display including the very first cog engine - Peppersass. From here we made our way back to Portland so mommy could get ready for her meetings. On day 6, daddy took us to the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad - but he forgot the camera. It was also very fun! We ate a yummy dinner at the Lobster Shack.

Day 7 took us to the Maine Children's Museum - with lots of fun exhibits and things to do. We ate dinner again at the Lobster Shack.

Day 8 took us to more lighthouses - first up: Bug Light. Then we visited Spring Point Ledge Light. This was another of our favorites - with a long walk out to the light on the breakwater. We did some serious rock hopping!

We made another visit to Two Light State Park and tried to eat lunch at the Lobster Shack - again, but everyone and their uncle was out this afternoon. The lines were impossible and parking was even more difficult. So we headed over to Portland Head Light and ended up having the most wonderful afternoon - our last one in Maine. This is the lighthouse on the Maine state quarter and it is beautiful! We ended up eating at a Lobster Roll "cart" in the park adjacent to the lighthouse - and it was THE BEST place ever! Note to self: Connecticut style Lobster Rolls are the best and sprinkle a little celery salt on top! We chased the seagulls, watched the waves and then headed to the airport for our evening flight.
Our flight out of Maine was delayed for plane maintenance so we ended up spending the night in Atlanta. After an "airsick" (Mason) adventure and an alarm clock that didn't go off, we finally made it on our flight home on day 9 and were we ever so glad to drive up to our own house!

Maine and New Hampshire was so much fun - trains, trains, trains, sea shells, lobster/seafood, lighthouses, and oceans. A wonderful trip! Thanks mom and dad!Sam Alert: Hey everyone - here are some things I learned on our trip.

1. I love lighthouses - even if they won't let me climb up to the top (yes, I'm still a little bitter!)

2. I love lobster and chowder. Every night mom would ask what I wanted to eat and I would reply - "I'll have whatever you're having"! And I was serious!3. My friend Curious George was right - you can make a snowman out of sand. 4. I don't get airsick like Mason. But I can't quite figure out what that button on the arm rest is for. I pressed it over and over and over and over and it never did anything! But it sure was fun to press.
Sam out - check back next week for our latest adventures from the coming week. See you then.

Biking, Hiking, and Visitors

We did a little bike riding this week - Sam's legs are finally long enough for him to be able to pedal on his own. Boy - is he excited! He's a bike riding fool! He's a speedy guy too!

Here I am riding my bike - safety first! I'm about ready for a bigger bike. Mom says I grow about 2 inches every day.

We had an excellent weekend get-away. Daddy had some meetings up at Snowbird - a local ski resort. We {LOVE} being up there in the summer. It's just a few minutes up a local canyon and it's like we're completely away from everything. We did a little playing and hiking. Here we are at their super great playground.
We did a fun new thing over at the Snowbird Center this year - panning for gold. Ok not really gold - but real gemstones. It was soooooo much fun!

In fact, it was so much fun that we did it both days that we were there.

We took the tram up to the summit and hiked around for a few minutes. It was the last tram of the day so we didn't have much time.And it was a lovely 66 degrees up at the summit at 8:00 pm - it was probably in the high 80's in the valley at that same time. Beautiful! Here's a picture of all of us at the top.Grandpa and Grandma G. came back through on their way back home and are spending a few days with us. Grandma sure knows how to get Sam to eat.

And Grandpa is an excellent reader.And here we are with them tonight - on their last night with us.

Oh - one other cool thing . . . . daddy found a hummingbird nest in one of our trees and we've been carefully watching it for the last few weeks. You can see the eggs the day they were laid. Then the top right picture is the two babies on the day that they hatched. The bottom right picture is today - 17 days later. They'll be flying away soon - - - be safe cute little birdies!Sam Alert - Hey everybody! Sam here - I thought I'd share a few cute pictures of me from our time up at Snowbird this weekend. First up - me and mom riding the tram up to the summit.
Here I am riding the tram back down - - I'm the King of the World!
Here I am eating a granola bar, hanging out, waiting for daddy.Here I am keeping myself cool with a personal fan that daddy "won" on the plaza. Of course I'm already "COOL", but this keeps me from being too warm.And finally - this is me . . . after we got home from Snowbird. I couldn't even make it to my bed. And no, I'm not a thumb sucker. It just looks that way in this picture. Sam out - have a great week.