Visiting the Mainers

Another tradition of ours is visiting the Shucks up in Maine.  This year we weren't planning to make the trip but since they missed the beach and we wanted to meet little Aria, we took the opportunity to head up for a long weekend in early August.  This is Aria at about 3 months old.  She was still tinier than Grant & Grace when they were born.

We spent lots of time at the beach.  At one beach the water was in the 60's and at another we went to the water was in the 50's.  It didn't keep us out of the water but it did make us numb!

Grant enjoyed riding the waves in on a boogie board.

Of course we had to spend some time at L.L. Bean

Lots and lots of lobster!

I loved everything about this trip...good times, great friends!

Camping and a Wedding

Our next major event was a camping trip to Forget-me-not and from there, a trip to attend Lara's cousin Andrew's wedding.  The wedding was a beautiful outdoor one in the hills of Ohio.

The camping trip was as great as we expected.  One night a storm moved through and with it, lightning, thunder, and a torrential downpour.  It is the worst storm that we've had while camping.  Thankfully our trusty tent kept us dry and believe it or not, the kid never woke up!

We enjoyed having some visitors come to the site while we were there.

Emma's Visit

On the 5th of July we headed to Cook Forest to celebrate Ryan's birthday.  Emma decided to make the trip home with us and spend 5 days at our house.  We all enjoyed having Emma here and were happy to get to know her quite a bit better.  Some of the fun included biking the bike trail, going swimming, watching fireworks at the Falls, and shopping.  She is such an amazingly intelligent, sweet girl and we are lucky to call her our niece.

Back to Summer

As has become our tradition, on the 4th of July we went to the 4k race on Grand Island and then stuck around to watch the parade.  This year Lara ran the race while the kids and I cheered.

Later that day we went to the local amusement park, Martin's Fantasy Island.  Residents of the town get in for free on the 4th.  The kids are at an age now where they can both enjoy the rides.

One of the best parts of the day was seeing fireworks around the area while we were riding the Ferris Wheel.  We then stuck around to watch the fireworks that were set-off at the park.