Summer Fun

Here are some cute pictures to encapsulate our past week. It was a busy one, full of fun with friends and, of course, trains.

Josiah painted this impressive portrait of Thomas.

The boys were thrilled to have front row seats when Thomas was loaded onto the flatbed truck and sent away. They have been anxious to know when this would happen and wanted to make sure they were there. We just happened to be there, thank goodness!

Engineer Chuck is always very easy going with the boys. They like to pretend to be Mr. Chuck when they're playing on their playground/train engine at home.

We've been having fun playdates. The boys love Aly, Kady and Lily! I didn't take any pictures the next day when Malcolm, Lenny, Thomas and Spencer came over. Josiah is always inviting friends over or asking me to invite friends, so I try to be obliging. :)

My best Mommy Friends surprised me with a baby shower on our supposed Girl's Night! So many more beautiful gifts! Mom did the most amazing thing: she paired pictures of me as a little girl with the adorable outfits I was wearing in them, many made by herself and my Grandma Small! I'll have to see what I can do about posting the pictures. Bree made this beautiful cake:

After Story Time at the library on Fridays, the boys like to play "Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs" in the library garden. Desiree has been fabulous about doing the running around with the kids while I sit my pregnant fanny down. :)

We had another "Never Again" yard sale this weekend, but doing it with friends definitely eased the pain a bit! And we made a huge dent in our attic clutter, so that feels good.

Josiah was invited to Papa and Grandma's for a sleepover Saturday, and then was supposed to ride with Papa to pick up Nana on Sunday, but they boys arrived at our door Sunday morning and Josiah said he didn't want to go because it was too far away. Benjamin, on the other hand, was excited about stopping at Chuck E. Cheese's, so off he went. We enjoyed having Josiah to ourselves, going to Cottage in the Woods after church where he swam in the lake. He was very cuddly and sweet. He even took a Sunday nap!

Temps are back in the 90's here, which are tough for me right now at 35 weeks into my pregnancy. We met Laura and Emma at the beach today and had a blast. Perfect plan for a sweltering day!

Followed by hot dogs at the coffee shop! The shop has A/C, but the boys wanted to sit outside, of course. :)

Boating

Wes, Laura and Emma watched the boys for us Friday while we went to my doctor's appointment in Brunswick. Laura just emailed me these (and other) adorable pictures of the boys on their boat. They were so thrilled about their day, and Laura even kept the boys into the afternoon so I could get some nesting done, so I was thrilled too. Thank you, friends!

Josiah caught a fish! You have to look closely to see it. :)

Josiah, Emma and Benjamin are good buddies. :)

Parking Cars

We couldn't escape bringing the boys to "A Day Out with Thomas" this year because we go to the Railway Village all the time and we also saw lots of commercials for the event on PBS when the boys were watching their morning cartoons. We also couldn't swing the expense, so Logan volunteered to park cars one weekend in exchange for tickets. You would have thought their daddy had been elected president, the boys were so proud!!! They loved his "cool" orange vest, coveted his blue t-shirts, and told everyone they could that "My daddy is parking cars now!" To thank him for his sacrificial act, we baked him a cake Sunday and celebrated him, singing, "For he's a jolly good fellow." Logan appreciated all the hoopla, because I think he was feeling pretty sorry for himself. :)

Newcastle Fire Department

Yesterday morning, the boys had a field trip with Healthy Kids to the Newcastle Fire Department. They insisted on wearing their firemen costumes from Uncle Danny, and certainly would have won the prize for Most Enthusiasm, if there had been one. While I was lifting Josiah out of one of the fire engines, Benjamin managed to switch the sirens on, scaring everyone to death! He's very proud of himself, insisting that I tell this story to anyone who happens to call the house.

A Busy Day

Last Thursday was a full day! The boys and I hit the road at 7 a.m. to return Logan's family to the airport in Boston. It was a smooth trip with no traffic or other delays, and the boys were good. They had Papa and Grandma to entertain them on the way, and lots of books for the return trip. After we left the airport, Josiah gave a little speech: "Why did we leave Papa and Grandma and Becca? I'm very angry about this. This is stupid!!!"
We made it back to Portland at noon to meet Uncle Danny, who treated us to lunch at Chuck E. Cheese's! The boys were so excited, and it was nice to see their mommy's big brother (as they always explain when they mention their Uncle Danny). My flash is broken, so it was hard to get any good pictures inside, but this one came out:

We were back in Boothbay in time for the 3 p.m. train ride, which the boys were anxious not to miss. The boys were also very excited to be around to see the train 'go to sleep' for the first time.

And Thursday night, we had our Bible Study potluck, which turned out to be a baby shower!!! Logan and I were so surprised! Everyone showered us with adorable pink clothing and gifts, plus these two train blankets for the boys from Marilyn! What a blessing!!! Again, not too many good pictures because of my flash, but here's one:

Needless to say, I was pretty tired when Friday rolled around!

Fried Fish and Put-Put

Last night, we ate at Bet's Fish Fry and then went mini-golfing, or put-put as the North Carolinians call it. :) A good time was had by all....but the boys were off their rockers. First of all, they wanted to wear their new overalls from Grandma and Auntie Linda, then they got to drink Pepsi with their Bet's, which had them all wired. This was their first time playing mini-golf. Josiah was very intense about doing it all by himself, but soon figured out that we were trying to help him when we told him how to hold his club, etc. Both of the boys did very well, I thought! It was a lot of fun. :)

Topsham Fair

We went to the Topsham Fair yesterday morning. The boys were especially excited about all the tractors to be climbed on and animals to be petted and fed. It was a pretty small fair, but was perfect as far as seeing everything and getting home by lunch so Logan could go back to work. It was also wicked hot, so we were all pretty tuckered out!

Trip to MA

I left Logan, the boys and his family behind for a quick trip to MA over the weekend. Mom, Aunt Linda, Nana and I drove down Saturday afternoon. We met Robyn and Jonathan in the city, had dinner and then Mom and I went shopping downtown for Katie's bridal shower Saturday night and checked into the Marriott. A night in the city! I had to post this picture of Jonathan's new haircut. With his hair long, he looks like 1.) he could be an underwear model, and 2.) the spitting image of my dad in the 70's, except he's blonde. Congratulations to Jonathan on his recent personal trainer certification!
Sunday morning was the brunch for Katie's shower. It was at the Lyceum in Salem, a very elegant affair! Robyn even had an accordianist (is that what they're called?), who provided lots of laughs and added to the atmosphere.

My flash is broken, so most of my pictures didn't come out, but this is too cute not to post. The beautiful bride-to-be on the left, my Aunt Robyn, Katie and Lauren's father Dave and his wife Gail and their daughter, and Lauren, the maid of honor and Katie's sister.

The wedding is the day after Abigail's due date, so I don't think we'll be able to attend. I was happy to make it for the shower! It's always fun to see all of my beautiful aunts and cousins.

A Day Out with Thomas

Saturday, Papa and Daddy took the boys to spend a Day Out with Thomas! As you can imagine, the boys were ecstatic! I thought they were going to crawl out of their skin while they waited to leave the house. :)

Meanwhile, we girls went to the Rotary Auction on the town common. I was hoping to score dressers and bunk beds for the boys so I could use one of their current dressers and crib mattresses for Abigail. I'm in nesting mode. It seemed like the big ticket items were going very cheaply while the furniture was going high, so we came home empty handed.

Grandma, Papa and Rebecca visit from NC!!!

Logan's parents and niece, Rebecca, are spending a week with us! They arrived last Thursday and are headed back south tomorrow morning. They had to get up at 1:30 a.m. to load up and head to the airport last week, and I think it was 3 p.m. before we got them home from Boston after stops at Gordon College (to show Rebecca...when did she get so old???), my doctor's appointment, and McD's for lunch, of course. It would be an understatement to say they were tired! Plus, Grandma just retired last Tuesday and they're headed back to a moving ordeal as Aunt Emily relocates to NC, so we've tried to take it easy on them this week. It will take me several posts to document their visit, so this one just has pictures from last Friday.

Riding the trolley is one of the boys favorite activities!

Drinking shakes from Moosehead Coffee Beans...nearly a daily destination!

Friday night we had my parents over too, and the boys planned on doing a concert all day. When it came to showtime, Benjamin outlasted Josiah by 20+ minutes, singing song after song. I taught him how to bow, and then he really got going! He loved the attention. :)

The boys have had a couple of "sleepovers" downstairs. Last Friday, Benjamin got in bed with Grandma and Papa and Josiah came upstairs and got in bed with us sometime in the night.

Visitors from Away

Here I am, catching up on my blog again!!! What a BUSY summer we're having!

I didn't want to miss out on documenting our visit from Tim and Aili, their daughter Samantha, and their relative from Finland whose name I would not be able to spell correctly, so rather than butcher it, I'll just point out that she's the one on the far right: Tim and Aili are my college friend Larissa's parents. They hosted us back in April when we stopped in PA for Jen and Jake's wedding and for our memorable Strasbourg Railway adventure. We were so happy to return the favor when they were in Maine for a family reunion. They are dear, sweet people and were SUCH a blessing to us!!!