what a fun weekend!!

i didn't have time to post over the weekend, so i'll fill you all in now, starting with friday.

we packed up friday morning and were ready to hit the road for boston by 9. ok maybe 9:30, memory fails me already. i think we left at about 10. :-) it was smooth sailing to kennebunk. the girls kept each other in stitches; screeching loudly and pretending to poop and pee in their seats were their favorites. they were hysterical.
we stopped for lunch in kennebunkport and who arrived as we were finishing but grandma and grandpa! how exciting! we got some ice cream for the road and were on our way.
maggie didn't take a nap (what's new), and got testy by the time we were in MA. we had to stop so i could nurse her because she got pretty upset there for a while. but after a nice relaxing nurse and pee in a shady parking lot, we were back on our way (we brought the little potty with us and had maggie in a diaper just in case, but she didn't need it).

then we got to boston! the girls were thrilled to see chester and uncle erik (isabelle wasn't home from work yet when we got there). grandma and grandpa had beat us there by about 10 minutes. nick and i took the opportunity to dash off to costco to pick up a few things, and the girls barely noticed we were gone.

while we were out, henry and marilyn arrived with the girls!! such fun! the kids had a great time playing together, and the adults had fun catching up. craig and elizabeth even came by. finally, everyone was in bed late. such a fun start to our weekend.

saturday:

in spite of a late bedtime, we were up at our usual 7 (we being maggie, i could have slept until noon!). more fun in the morning, mostly running around inside and out and playing with chester). also a surprise visit from cousin jessica! she was in boston visiting her old friend maria, and stopped by to say hello.
after lunch, we took a hike up to the top of blue hill to this observatory.

view from the top

it was so cool! it was quite the walk, too. hm, i'm going to guess that it was something like 1.5 miles, and maybe a 500 foot elevation? maggie walked most of herself (and only let us carry her when we insisted, because she was kind of slow going on the rocky parts).


maggie walking

nina did all of it herself, mostly running back and forth! the kid has an unlimited amount of energy. it's unbelievable.


some of the group

maggie and i didn't make it to the top though. we were about 10 minutes from it, but maggie just decided that she wanted to go down, and we were realizing that if she and i didn't get a head start, it might take us quite a while to get back down, because the trail was really rough and rocky. and it did, until we intersected the paved street. maggie started running down that and i decided to go with it and hope the way back to the parking lot was clearly marked. it wasn't, but i waited at the fork for a few minutes until people came along so i could ask.
there were also animals at this place. there was a deer, a pen of otters, an owl, and some ducks and geese. the girls could have stayed for hours more but the grown ups were EXHAUSTED! so home we went.
home for grandpa's birthday party! there was BBQ, pie, presents, and more merriment. my old friend from college tom sullivan even came by! it was so fun to catch up with him. when it got dark, we lit a small campfire (renee had been obsessed with making a fire, so we had to!). the girls toasted marshmellows and again went to bed way past their usual bedtime. mommy passed out soon afterwards!

sunday:
can you believe there's more? really, it was a super fun weekend, but crazy tiring. i'm tired just typing it all out!!
well, sunday started with breakfast and an easter egg hunt. uncle erik hid eggs and the girls raced to find them, then gorged themselves on easter candy.

maggie finding an egg



nina's turn!

next was a trip to the playground in sharon, and then a fantastic easter lunch at the homestead.
our crew hit the road at 4. maggie hadn't napped yet, so we were figuring she'd pass right out in the car. she didn't fall asleep immediately, but both girls fell asleep after about 45 minutes and then slept for 2 hours. they had a lot of sleep to catch up on! we stopped in brunswick right when they woke up, got some food to eat in the car, and were home just before 8. after a nice long bath, the girls were finally asleep by 10. and up at 7:30 this morning, of course!

such a fun weekend!!!