Summer Vacation!

We had a wonderful vacation this summer. We went with Andy's parents up to Newfound Lake in Bristol, ME and spent the week in a rental home. We were a bit nervous when we first arrived because Beth was going to be sleeping in a twin bed in the same room as her sister. Sleeping was a bit tricky. Andy and I ended up having to sit with the kids until they fell asleep, and of course, the first few nights they both struggled a bit. After that, they were both pretty tired and fell asleep pretty quickly.

We spent a lot of time outside on vacation. There was a little association beach that was great for taking the kids swimming. It was a bit rocky, but pretty close to the house and very quiet. We also took the canoe to the beach and went for a brief paddle. Unfortunately, we chose a rather windy morning and Andy and I really had to work. The boat was pretty rocky and I'm very grateful that Andy is good at controlling the canoe in rougher water!

We visited the NH Audobon on the North end of Newfound Lake, went to Squam Lake Science Center, visted sculptured rock and Wellington State Park. The kids had a blast. I am sure we'll be going back to all four places in the future!

Beth, sitting at home and reading a Flower Fairy book while waiting for us to finish packing. I just love watching my kids "read!"

 Nora had a blast at Sculptured Rock. The rocks were a little to tricky for Beth, but perfect for Nora!

  Beth was being a goofball on our walk back to the car from the Sculptured Rock.

We enjoyed the Newfound Lake Audobon. We went on a hike along the north end of the lake and enjoyed another day out in nature!

Beth checking out something along the trail. An ant, a mushroom, a rock, possibly a worm. We had a lot of moments like this along our hikes!

 Nora laying on a bench looking out over the lake.

After the Audobon, and a brief rest at home, we went to a local park to fly kites. It was a great day for it and the kids both had fun. We had a big open field and a nice playground, so the kids were very happy! 

 

Another big adventure we did was to head to the Squam Lake Science Center. We will most certainly be returning here, likely every year! Both kids had a blast, and it is set up so that the kids can have fun and learn. I love that they have all the animal habitats along a nature trail to help spread out the crowds! One of the stops on the trail was a kid play land. That one area on it's own made it worth the visit. A spider web to climb, a tree house to climb, a cave to crawl through, gopher tunnels to explore. I think Nora would have stayed all day if we let her!

 

Right near the Science Center, there was a "storybook walk" set up. It was a field with a little walk - and at each stop was a laminated page from one of our favorite stories - Blueberries for Sal. We stopped at each spot to read the story. Nora really enjoyed running to the next page of the book!

 Beth and Daddy had a good time during the walk too :-)

 Not to be left out, we also enjoyed Wellington State Park. We did not have the best week for beach play, but they have some nice hiking trails, a big (big) metal slide, swings and a beach. Nora climbed on almost every rock in the place and insisted that I take her photo atop each one. She also hugged many of the trees after seeing one that had been struck by lightening! We did play in the water some, and Nora got to ride in the Kayak with Grampa.

 Much of this video was taken at Wellington State Park. Nora and Beth were just being very cute.

 

We celebrated Beth's 2nd Birthday while on vacation. We made her favorite dinner (homemade Macaroni and Cheese) and then had some cake. We got Beth a double stroller for her dolls as a present and she loves it!

"I blew that one out by myself!"

I snapped these photos in a tree that was in the front yard of the rental home. If the kids were a little bigger, it could have been a great climbing tree. As it was, they both enjoyed sitting in it. there were also wild blueberry bushes around the tree, and Nora had a good time picking and eating fresh berries!

Overall, the kids were very good together for the whole week. They had their battles and often both demanded attention from the same person at the same time (to the exclusion of the other three adults around), but they were also great playmates for a large part of the week.