We had a blast in Newburyport!

Sunday was hard for Maggie. She really missed Nina, and was forced to dress up some of her stuffed animals and pretend they were playing with her. Note the otter wearing a plastic bag:

At least she had fun.

I'll abridge the story of yesterday as best I can.
We hit the road at about 9:30, after a quick breakfast. We just couldn't wait to get on our way! We had to stop in Brunswick to pick up one of Nina's birthday presents, which I can't reveal since she sometimes reads the blog. Suffice it to say, it's a rather large gift, and I had trouble getting it into the car. I ended up having to put part of the back seat down, but then I had trouble closing the door. After seriously injuring my arm, I accepted help from a kind-hearted passer-by, then drove straight to Aunt Maria's to drop off the gift, because it occurred to me that I couldn't even fit Nina in the car with it, let alone keep it a secret from her.
So, after gassing up (with just one arm because the other was still throbbing), we were back on the road. We made it all the way to Kennebunk before stopping again, but within 4 hours we were there! Newburyport!
We chilled with Aunt and Unk for about an hour, then it was on the road again (ok just 15 minutes this time) to the beaches of Plum Island. Fantastic!! We played in the surf and sand for a few hours, then dropped by Erik and Isabelle's again to say goodbye before hitting the road again. Wow were we exhausted.

When we got home, the four of us found a creative way to share one glass of water:

And a cinnamon bun

 Then it was quick baths for the girls and bed for all of us!

I have to set these next two pictures up with a quick explanation. Nina likes to look at pictures of horrifying medical conditions on the internet--tumors, rotten teeth, meth addicts--which Aunt and Unk discovered with a shock when they opened up her computer. Ha!

Well, you should know that all that morbid curiosity inspires her to play exciting games like Play-Doh dentist.

Our patient here is getting a cavity drilled after having endured an unfortunate number of extractions.

                                     

She's wearing the mask they made me wear at the doctor's office when I was sick. You know you're looking good when they stick a mask on you as soon as you walk through the door.

Do you see Play-Doh man's red tongue there? Even that's made of Play-Doh! What will they think of next!

And that's it, her last day as a 7 year old! Unbelievable!!