Maine Friends

Oh, what an action-packed trip to Maine we had.  In addition to our fabulous Christmas celebrations, the snow play, and all of our family fun, we managed to squeeze in time for almost all of our favorite Maine friends.  Unfortunately, due to time and travel constraints, we didn't get to visit everyone we wanted to see, but we certainly made our rounds (not to mention everyone we did not take pictures of).

One of our trips was to see our old next-door neighbors, Martha, Sandra, Glorene & Dave, who we miss terribly and know they miss us as well.  Who am I kidding, really, they mostly miss Lucy, but I'll survive.  Though Matt's a great guy, they tell me living next door to him is just not the same.  We've been gone so long they don't even have the cabinet stocked with juice boxes! 

 Next on the list?  Kimmie, the most wonderful/amazing/fabulous babysitter we could ask for.  I've joked that I'm not working here only because I know nobody will live up to her standard of care (unfortunately for Lucy I don't either) and that she had to move with us (ironically Kim does have family in Iowa).  When we left Lucy called her "Mimi" and now she's "Timmy."  Maybe those K's will come soon, but Lucy loves you either way!

 

 A girl's day in Portland with my friend Katy.  The great thing about Katy is that she's always up for something coastal.  She's actually always up for anything.  We went to the waterfront to have some breakfast and then spent a gloomy hour walking around in the cold and gray fog.  Whatever, I say.  It was great to see and smell the ocean.  Water is one thing that I definitely miss in Iowa, lakes, rivers, ocean, all of it.  Aside from some September rain, the last water we saw here was the flood when we first arrived, and that was not the kind of water that made me want to dangle my toes.

 And Lucy's beautiful friend Chloe.  Chloe and her mom Stacy were more neighbors in Maine, recent friends that were just too good to be true.  I wish we could have taken them with us too, and if I told Stacy what we pay for heat and hot water here, she might have abandoned her humongous old house and come, too.  Lucy and Chloe get along famously and didn't miss a beat playing together after a 5-month hiatus.

 

 

 Finally, in order to see as many of my mommy-friends as I could, I sent everyone a facebook message that said I was parking myself at the Broadway McDonald's playplace and they could come to me.  And they did!  Though I have some really great friends out here, I still miss the network of people I had built over my time in Maine, both old and new friends.  We missed all our wonderful little buddies that couldn't make it but had a lot of fun with those we saw!  Here are Kate, Chloe, Marin, Lucy, Ben, and Ellee.  Kate's the big sister of the crowd but less than 6 months separate the other 5 kiddos.  Had to take a single picture of Shannon in her seat, as she's not walking yet to enjoy the fun and wonder of the playplace.  We'll miss seeing all of our friends grow up.

 

 Yes, Lucy, after all the visiting and traveling, this was kind of how I felt too.  Just need a rest.  Phew!

Maine Family

While we tried to do everything (and I mean everything) during our 2.5 weeks in Maine, much of our focus was on seeing our families.  My dad's birthday is right after Christmas, so we got to celebrate with him this year too; fun, but his favorite cake is a german chocolate. 

 Grandpa, likely making some ridiculous or overly modest statement, or perhaps just posing for the photo.

 Note the balloons were a much bigger hit than the cake.  It seems I'm not the only one who doesn't care much for german chocolate.

 

The in-law shot.  Not sure how I got Eric looking at the camera and actually smiling for this one, but I'll take it.

 

I think for once we really outdid ourselves on birthday gifts for Grandpa.  I always feel like it's a scramble to get something for him the week after Christmas and that my good idea was already used, but not this year.  No 30-pack of golf balls in this stack!  Dad is the proud new owner of a gorilla torch, by LL Bean, a powerful flashlight on bendy magnetic legs, good for positioning to light a work space, not so good at sitting on top of your head.  It's something I spotted a while back and had been planning on buying.  Happily it lived up to my expectations.  In this picture it's on the end of Dad's new automated caulk gun.  Boy, did we get a lot of mileage out of the electric caulk Ryan and Grace got for him this year!  At 62, it's what every man needs.

On to other family-related fun.  We said a quick goodbye to Eric's Mum, Aunt Pam, Sara and Jacob over a dinner at Governor's in Bangor.  It's not easy to take good family photos in a restaurant, so this was about all I got.  It was nice to see them one last time before leaving.  I think next time we're in Maine we'll probably rent a hotel in Bangor for a few nights and have a bit more time with family and friends in the area, rather than trying to drive back and forth so many times, but who knows.

Finally, this is how Lucy spent much of the lazy week after Christmas, propped up on her "prapoline" watching movies.  I'm surprised she doesn't have a bowl of chips and a sippy with her selection of toys and books Grandma kept close at hand.

Isn't it nice to be loved so much?

Maine Snow

Since we've been here in Maine we've had about 20 inches of new snow to play in. There was a whopper of a storm that went through this past week that really made things interesting. We got all bundled up and went out to play before the storm had actually passed, forgetting that Lucy really doesn't like the wind in her face, especially when icy little bits of snow are being carried along by that wind. No matter, it was fun to get all cute bundled up in our this season's winter gear.
Not so easy to make your way through 10 inches of fresh powder in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.
Did I say get cute bundled up in this season's winter gear? That applies only to Lucy, as I had on Grandpa's ski suit from 1995. Eric actually questioned the fact that I'd even want this picture taken. What you can't see is that I couldn't zip the ski pants over my belly.
Shorty was not thrilled about the snowy wind either.
At least Daddy was there. Nothing like cuddling in to hide from the weather.

Christmas 2010

After surviving the drive back to Maine, Christmas came pretty quickly. We've been working on building some excitement about Christmas, Santa Claus, etc., with moderate success. Lucy refers to Santa as the Ho-ho, and though I think it's coming, the idea that a stranger is going to show up with some prized on Christmas hasn't yet clicked.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner here in Waterville with my parents, Ryan and Grace, and managed to get to bed before 2am. Luckily, nobody but Grandma and Grandpa are early risers, and around 8:30 am we went down to find the surprises.
Though Grandma had high hopes for the trampoline, it wasn't the hit of the morning. Her favorite was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and figurines, and she ignored the rest of her presents to play. (Eric actually finished opening her gifts with her on the day after Christmas.)
After the morning whirlwind, we hopped back in the car (total mileage since Ames is around 1950) and headed to Sara and Tim's in Orono for some more family time and an enormous dinner. They put on quite the spread, and it was a full house. Lucy put on a show, no nap and everything, singing and being cute for the family. She had some quality cousin time with Lennon and Jacob, and it was great to see all the wonderful people we've been missing for the past four months.
I'm not sure who had more fun this Christmas: Lucy opening her gifts or Grandma and Mammy buying them for her!

Hey Potty Star

Lucy is doing great on the potty! (as long as we don't ever leave the house and she stays naked) I took a cue from my friend here Sara and Lucy just doesn't ever wear a diaper around the house. Without a diaper she's totally independent; with a diaper she hasn't a clue. This includes big-girl underpants.
Now it's time to take this show on the road! We're packing up today to head to Maine and hoping that all our friends and family don't mind the naked little girl parts everywhere. I promise it's been weeks since she's peed on the floor!

Tink and Friends

Anyone seen Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue? It's a total favorite here. This is Lucy's independent re-creation of the tea party last scene, starring Lucy as Lizzie, with Tinker Bell and Vidia playing themselves.

Midwestern Family

Our first road trip from Iowa was to Kansas City to visit with my wonderful cousins, Rob & Brandy, their kids, Ashlynn & Caroline, Brandy's parents Mimi & Pop Pop, and Brandy's sister Tracy and her family. Lucy and I were adopted right into this wild crowd, so much so that you might not have even known we were not "real" family.

Lucy, for as rambunctious as she normally is, happens to be a great car child. I suppose I had to catch a break somewhere with this one, didn't I? It took us an extra half hour to get on the road because Eric and I fiddled with the DVD player until it worked. The must-have item from our cross-country trip this summer might have finally failed us. It lasted through one disc on the trip, and I gave up. Lucy didn't fuss too much, which was nice, though I can't say I'm excited for the drive back to Maine - 1600 miles!! - without it.
We got to Mimi's house on Saturday afternoon, just in time for the trip into the city to the Crown Plaza. I was promised a spectacular experience and it lived up to all expectations. There is an outdoor ice-skating rink, Rockefeller Plaza style, and Lucy couldn't WAIT to get some skates on. Under present circumstances, I thought ice skating would not be a good idea for me, and so let Rob and Brandy take to the ice with not only their twins but my firecracker as well.
She did awesome. Fearless and thrilled.
I do have an adorable video of Lucy on skates with Brandy, but am having some trouble uploading it.
Then on to the children's village at the Crown Plaza, chock full of big toys to explore. This was really neat for Lucy because it's exactly what she loves - things to run through and climb on.
Some cousin bonding.
And a water and light show with the fountain and Christmas lights. You can tell we're not in Maine here because any water certainly would have been drained out of the fountains before Thanksgiving weekend.
After we'd had our fill of the fun in the plaza and it had started to get cold, we went into the Crayola center to check out the stores and eat at the Crayola Cafe. Nothing terribly impressive about the menu here, but I did get a pretty good salad and it was a nice view over the balcony. Plus Lucy came home with a kid's cup shaped like a crayon.
The crayola store had some fun art activities for the kids to do right there in the store. Lucy kept on grabbing crayons to draw on the other kid's artwork. (We're still working on social conventions). The other kids did NOT appreciate her help.
Note in our photo Lucy is trying to escape and I'm holding her back - this is pretty much how our life goes. I'm not sure if this was before or after we rode up and down the escalator 15 times.
On our way back to Mimi's house, Lucy fell asleep in the car. Ashlynn and Caroline did their best singing at the top of their lungs to wake her up, but to no avail. Lucy was ready with her second wind for a jacuzzi-bubble-bath-tea-party when we got home. Actually, scratch the jacuzzi, Brandi tried to turn on the bubbles at one point and Lucy almost hit the ceiling. (hehe) Tea was served from a collection of shells Mimi kept near the tub. Hello bathing beauties!
Sunday morning, just as any good grandparent visit should be, was dedicated to the greater enjoyment of the kids. Here, this meant a real tea party with real tea. This is Lucy's setting right after she got up and walked away saying "Pretty yucky" about her first sip of sugarless tea. I'm pretty sure that she prefers the bath water.
Finally, our fabulous cousins, Rob and Brandy. Thanks for the great weekend!