Squam day 5

Today began with the 3 in the dormitory giggling at 5 am.  Archer knew he needed to wait until he heard Barry in the kitchen to get up, but being awake that early sure does make for a long morning. 

After a batterbread breakfast after the 6:45 oatmeal breakfast archer took off the dishes and Mary Tighe and Alice washed them. I feel after this we have tried to do our parts. 

Next on the activity list was picking blueberries which were not exactly prolific. So we came back to the cove and commenced on tubing. Mary and I went first and enjoyed the ride until Mary started dry heaving on me. We ubruptly signaled to Hugh to stop the ride so Mary could get off before she threw up. Then Katharine and I tubed, then Archer, then jack and archer and then Mary Tighe who said she likes to go slow. It was so fun! 

Dad did a great job babysitting Dolly, Alice, Mary Tighe, Hugh and Will. Alice had to go potty and then there was a jail break from the cats (as Bumpson calls the twins because of their distinctive cry.)  The escape was no reflection of Boo Dads talent for babysitting though and they even made up a song called Boo Dad to the Rescue while in Breezewood. 

After a long nap, the children swam some more, Hugh and Katharine worked on their 2,000 piece puzzle, and we all got ready for a feast of beef tenderloin, beets, beet tos, corn and Boston cream pie. Hugh will have to take a meal of steak and cake tomorrow on the bus, but it might get messy. 

Archer, the general manager of the children, had the hard job of organizing the show for evening, which was an army vehicle quiz by archer and a whistling show by jack. Mary Tighe  wanted to do her princess slideshow but lost one of her disks. 

Finally it was a read aloud and bed. Phew what a day of emotion, energy and fun! I will really miss Hugh when he goes tomorrow and so will the children. 

I miss David, but appreciate his hard work at home. 

Free throw

Squam Days 2,3,4

Saturday was rainy, Sunday was hot and rainy and today was perfect, but still a little hot. We went to dog cove dog cove dog cove today though! 

Yesterday, in what we thought was a break from the rain, Archer went tubing. Then it started to pour.

 

Hmmm....what else has been happening... Lots of paddle boarding and playing with the paddle board, walking into town with dad (who walks back totaling 6 miles) getting picked up by Hugh, Katharine and the children, lots of eating, lots of swimming (because it has been hot it has been uncharacteristicly easy for me get into the lake. Usually I'm such a dawdler), lots of talking about the weather from dad and the future plantation from Bumpson. 

Barry has gotten the children all gifts, which was such a thoughtful surprise. A bluebird hat for Dolly, a yoyo for Archer and angel dolls for Alice and Mary Tighe. Dolly has charmed them all. Even Bumpson. 

And then Mary came with the boys today!!! Yay! 

All of my children are so thrilled with their new playmates and had the best time swimming this afternoon and building sand castles and then smashing the sand castles with sticks. You can definitely tell 3 boys just entered the realm of the girls and Archer. It's wonderful! 

I still miss David. A whole lot. 

Squam - day 1

We got to Squam around 11:30 after whipping over back roads from Portland. Archer and Mary Tighe didn't waste any time getting on the new awesome tube.  The children played with new playdoh and Legos mom brought. Dolly sat in her highchair from the swap shop. I swam once with Atticus in his life jacket.  It was little Hugh's birthday and he went into the lake with his phone. I missed David. 

Family Vacation - Thursday and Friday

Thursday was our last day in Acadia and it was a pretty one, but a chilly morning full of chores and laundry. When the jobs were done we went for a teeny tiny hike before succumbing to the Mosquitos and bailing out to Sandy Beach where we played more around than in the cold cold cold water. 

After the beach trip we decided to hike the ship (wreck) harbor trail in the sunshine. 

The trip was coming to a sad end, but not before we watched our farewell movie, which was Star Wars #2 in chronological order in time. I never have been a Star Wars fan until this movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Friday morning we got up early and took David to the Portland jetport. Thence cried all the way to Squam, where I writing this now. We are having fun, but I miss my partner and exploring new places with him.  It was a great trip and I love my family. 

Family Vacation - Wednesday

Wednesday we woke up to rain, but nothing was slowing us down. We hiked the ship (wreck) harbor trail and the wonderland trail. We went to the butterfly garden and played with the slugs and the swings. We also went back to the tide pools to check out more creatures and seaweed. Archer, Mary Tighe and David even put putted for the fun of it in the pouring rain! 

It finally got sunny in the evening in time for catching frogs and goofing off. 

Family Vacation - Tuesday

Tuesday we took the day by the horns if that's the expression. We drove up Cadillac Mountain and watched the clouds come in below us. It was so cool to see the children get excited about the misty clouds that poured into the windows as we made our ascent up to the tippy top of the mountain. I felt kind of sad we weren't actually hiking it, but hey I have 4 kids and Alice wasn't having any part of walking that day. Sometimes you just don't want to rock the boat. 

 Then the clouds came and you couldn't see much. 

Next we took out pb and js to Jordan pond where we hiked that even when all the naysayers were all "you know there's no sidewalk" and we were like bring on the hairy scary rocks, this is nothing. David carried Alice, who was blissfully napping for over three miles of interesting terrain, and he barely broke a sweat. The other remarkable children did just fine pretending to be mountain goats, playing with sticks and passing princess tests. 

We felt accomplished when we were done. Here are archer's shells he gathered in the tide pools and made into his initials.