Grandparents Getaway Day #4

Date Night

So we were able to get away for a little while on a "Lowes" date last night.  (You know...those times when you leave the kids at home and go look or buy those supplies you need for the house projects. ) We got Cumberland Farms Coffee and then looked at paint for the dining room and living room. 

 I am excited now to go buy it and start painting!  Hmmm... soon!!

So begins the adventures of the grandparents that leave the bitter cold (although it is the warmest winter on record) of the Northeast for southwestern and southern warmer weather.  I promised to try and do a picture a day for the vacationing folks... so I thought I would drag everyone along too... plus the blog needed updating!  

Winter Doings

Winter is a quiet, indoor kinda season.  But we still managed to get to see some things.

 Playing our new favorite game, Ticket to Ride.  If you haven't played it... go get it.  There is also an app as well I believe.

One of my favorite times of the year...State of the Union.  All of my organizational/social hormones go into hyperdrive and I get to "dump" it all into my husband. What is the State of the Union you ask?  At the beginning of each year we take a weekend away and reflect on our lives.  We talk about goals, we talk about finances, we talk about kids, we talk about marriage and we plan for the year ahead.  We get on the same page.  We regroup.  We plan.  I LOVE IT!!

 We also go to some really cool places and sightsee

This year was Portland, ME 

Prince Charming... King of the World 

This family could not be in Portland without going to Cabelas!

Candlelit Valentine's Dinner 

 Prince Charming with his princesses

 Happy Birthday Prince Charming

June Bugs, No Wait... Bluebirds!!

Ok I forgot one picture in the last post about May...

Prince Charming and I at a marriage conference, located at the beautiful Camp Pinnacle

Ok now for more about June, which seemed to FLY by, probably because we were away more than at home!!  To kick of the month Princess #1 and I took a trip to PA attend the Witness Festival together. A group of us (13 in total) ladies and girls went down to the free concert for the weekend.  The weekend was so crazy it was actually funny... first we tried to get around NYC traffic by taking a "short cut" which was actually under construction and detoured which made our 4-5 hour trip more like a 7-8 hour trip!!  We got up the next morning super duper early to get the best lawn seats... it was first come first serve seating.  What we didn't think about was open field in the blazing sun for ummm, 12 hours??  Ok maybe not really that long but it sure did seem like it!!

Here is Princess #1 and I waiting for the first concert

Here are all her friends waiting for the long anticiapted Britt Nicole concert



One of the reasons why we moms choice this festival was because the girls all love the Christian artist Britt Nicole, and she was playing at this venue and did I mention it was for free!! We also got to here great bands like Reilly, Jamie Grace, Big Daddy Weave, City Harmonic, and Jeremy Camp!! 

The long awaited Britt Nicole concert

The best part was that all the performers did signings right after the concert.  Here is Britt Nicole signing Princess #1 tee-shirt for her.  Princess #1 also made a picture for Britt that she was able to give to her.

So the rest of the weekend was filled with an overnight hospital stay (longer story), an overheated van, getting lost in Amish country and almost hitting a cow, missing seeing my hubby for a week by 5 minutes, forgetting carseats and having to drive 2 hours out of the way for them.  But really, would I do it again... in a heartbeat!  The Lord was amazing through it all and his blessing way out numbered the pitfalls.

I spent the rest of June going on fieldtrips and final days of school for the girls

Princess #1's 3rd grade class on a field trip

And celebrating Father's Day at the lake fishing (with no luck)...



 One of the special treats we had during the month was some residents bluebirds right outside our living room window in our bird box. We have named them Bonny and Billy...

Their family has seemed to outgrow our small little birdhouse and they have moved onto bigger and better things.  It was a thrill to watch them grow up though!

 The final week of June was spent living at Prince Charming's parent's home because Prince Charming was replacing the insulation in our home.  I don't have any photos of this time because my camera bit the dust... but that is another story for next month!  Keep checking back...

Moosehead Lake, Maine

A couple of weekends ago Prince Charming and I went away without the girls for a four-day excursion to Maine. For details on why we went read this post. We had a great time! It was such a wonderful get-away that we have already decided to do it again next year... maybe not Maine but somewhere for a four-day weekend where we can sit and talk and get things done without interruption. We spent most of our mornings working together in workbooks and discussions. We spent the afternoons doing touring, and the evenings we went moose hunting. We did find one moose, quite close too. We also saw a bald eagle, another bird (the name escapes me), and large deer. We went hiking one day to a beautiful waterfall. We also went to the coast on our way home and had lobster, visited LLBean, and walked up the street in all the little outlet shops.

We stayed in a B&B in Greenville, ME and I think we came to the conclusion we are not B&B people. We went away to be away and spend time with each other and we did not like having to socialize with others. We wanted a little more privacy to be able to climb into our PJ's and watch some cable TV (a treat for us) while lying in bed. But it was still ok and we still had a wonderful time.

Princess #1's kindergarten class has a stuffed animal, Itchy that gets to come home with them when they go on special trips or it is their birthday or a special day for them. We took Itchy with us on our trip and took lots of pictures for Princess #1 to take to her classroom. We had a lot of fun photographing Itchy it lots of places.

All in all , Maine was GREAT! B&B was wonderful! Marriage conference was a success!

Weird oreo cows we saw

Prince Charming at LLBean

Prince Charming and I having fun with camera at our hike to Moxie Falls

Itchy at Moxie Falls

Prince Charming and Itchy on the hike to the falls
Moxie Falls on the Kennebec River in MaineItchy at the falls
Itchy at the falls
Prince Charming and I at the falls
The "roads" in Maine. You will be driving along on pavement and poof it turns to this...Itchy and the deer

Itchy and Prince Charming moose gazing
The one and only moose we saw
Itchy and the moose
Our B&;B.. The Greenville Lodge

Prince Charming and Itchy at the lodge
What we could be seen doing most mornings
Itchy found the biggest moose
The scenic route... beautiful views in New Hampshire

Our quick pass through the shore of Maine
Prince Charming and his lobster and rock crab
My very first full lobster
Itchy and the lobster

Maine Marriage Get-away

For a couple of years now, Prince Charming and I have been trying to get away to a Marriage Conference. I have searched for awhile for something other than the Family Life Marriage Conference. We have done that conference twice and the all-day group sessions have wonderful information but it would be nothing new to us. Also we would like something a little more intitmate and personal to our needs. I really like the Festival of Marriage through Lifeway Ministries but we live in Upstate NY and that does not come to our area or within 4 hours of our area. (During our life we would like to see as much of the US as possible, and we have seen NC a few times and do not care to spend a lot of money to go there again.) So for lack of a better solution we have decided to create a "Personal Marriage Get-away" to a location that we have not yet visited. This weekend is not a vacation for us, but a time to focus on bettering our marriage. We picked an area to focus on and discuss; "goal setting for our lives". We purchased a workbook entitled After You Say I Do which is the companion to the premarital counseling book we did with our pastor ten years ago, Before You Say I Do. We made reservations at nice B&B on Moosehead Lake, ME and my parents and Prince Charming's parents are going to watch the three girls for us. We are going for 4 days. We will do a few minor "excursions" for date nights/days. But we purposly want to go to a beautiful location and just enjoy our marriage not do alot of touring. I am excitied to see how it works for us... will share more when we get back.