Camping in Camden

Two weeks ago we went camping in Camden with our good friends the Smiths. Alison and Payson go to daycare together and are good buddies, so they were both very excited about the trip. We were excited to spend time with the Smiths, as both families have been extremely busy with other activites this summer and we've missed hanging out!

We had a great weekend, despite a little rain Saturday morning and Alison getting a little sick Saturday evening. Here are some pictures!

After dodging the morning rain, we headed down to the quaint village area in Camden. The girls were pretty goofy, jumping up and down on this bench! They loved seeing the big boats, doggies, ducks, and an open lobster tank.

What good buddies. Could they be any cuter?

A family shot down by the schooners.

The best seat for a tour!

The weather cleared so that after lunch we were able to take in the spectacular view atop Mount Battie. As you can see, it's gorgeous! You can drive right up to the top.

The girls enjoyed climbing to the top of the "castle" and looking out (and scaring me half to death due to the open, narrow, winding staircase).

Payson was in a pretty silly mood back at the campground that night. She LOVED camping, but didn't sleep all that well in the tent. I think she woke up the entire campground the second night... oops. A particular highlight for the girls was jumping up and down on our air mattress!

Here's our tent! It's pretty roomy - a 6 man tent with a "vestibule" (what the heck to you call it when it's attached to a tent? A porch?). We bought it last year after we realized our 4 man tent would ironically not accomodate 3 of us (one in a portable crib!). We don't exactly rough it, but hey, we're still camping!

The next morning the Smiths left right after breakfast because poor little Alison wasn't feeling well at all. After packing up our campsite, we went on a hike to check out more of the views in the area.

The hike was pretty steep and rocky! Payson's getting fairly big and heavy to lug in the backpack, but both she and Matt did a great job. Here's the "big rock!" we stopped by for a little breather.

One angle of the view from our destination - Adam's Lookout. Those are islands in the distance. It was breathtaking.

Payson helped Matt balance across the bridge on our way back. I love this shot!

After our hike we refueled with lunch atop Mt. Battie. What a great place for a picnic! Payson ate hummus by the handful; pretty funny (& messy!).

It was a great trip and we can't wait to do more camping in the future! For more pictures, check out the Smith's blog by clicking here.

We had a pretty relaxing weekend last weekend. Matt and I had our first night away from Payson on Saturday night and really enjoyed our time together, and Payson had a blast at Mimi & Papa's. Thanks for watching her, guys! Unfortunately I had a terrible cold, but we still managed to have a relaxing, revitalizing time.

Here's a cute picture of our walk/talking Zoe swimming Saturday morning.

I am now officially back up-to-date! Thanks for bearing with me. I'll do my best to keep it up. We are looking forward to being productive around the house and also having some fun this Labor Day weekend - I hope you enjoy yours as well!

As a side note, my good friend Sari and her world class team, Team Nike, is competing in an adventure race in China this week. If you're interested in keeping tabs on her crazy athletic feats, check out her website.

Beaches, Beacons, Building, & Biking!

The first Saturday in August is reserved for Beach to Beacon, a 10 kilometer (6.2 miles for you non-runners) road race in Cape Elizabeth, founded by Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, that draws international runners. This year the field was populated by runners from 41 states and over 10 countries. The race is so popular that online registration of 5,500 participants, the only way you could register, filled in 26 hours this past year! Luckily I made it in! This was the ninth time I have run this race, and it went really well. My good friend Christine was sidelined this year with an achilles tendon injury, so it was very strange not to have her there to warm up with and start the race with, as she's run it nearly every year, too.

My stats: 44:50 overall - 7:12 min./mile - 684/5248 overall, 32/347 in my division, women 25-29. I was really happy with my time and how the race felt, considering I have not been training all that much compared to what I used to. This time was close to what I ran the year before becoming pregnant!

Some pictures of the event:

The men who claimed the 1st and 2nd spots. Matt said it was an intense finish!

Payson loved watching all the runners! She clapped, pointed, and cheered, and had a great time. Next year I hope she'll do the Kids' Fun Run!

Here I am, right before the finish (purple top, black shorts). Look how many people surround me! It was like that the entire race.

My faithful cheering squad. Darrian, my niece, has taken Matt's t-shirt over and has come the past two years. Ray and Shirley, my in-laws, have come to all nine races!

This year a huge picture of Joanie (I can call her that because we're buddies) hung on the Portland Head Light - it was really cool! You couldn't see it all that well due to the fog.

We hung around after the race with some friends that received awards, and had a little snack. Payson was being pretty silly!

One of Payson's new favorite pasttimes - "Climb mommy's seat" - where she loves to "drive," press buttons, and explore.

Payson loves being a helper - I decided to see how she'd do with salads one evening when Matt was late arriving from work and I had to start dinner. She did a great job tearing the lettuce and placing it in the bowls!

The weekend of August 9th our niece Darrian spent the afternoon, night, and next day with us. We had so much fun! Sunday morning we went to Mackworth Island in Falmouth to check out the Fairy Houses, and even built one ourselves! Apparently we went the "wrong" way around the loop and missed the more obvious fairy house village, but we looked very carefully and found several houses along the path. It was great!

Payson and I met up with Lisa and Leah again on, sadly, our last Monday adventure (Lisa's a teacher and returns to the grind soon). We were supposed to head up to Lisa's family's camp but our summer monsoon season continued and we decided to stay closer to home. The girls had a blast "biking" around Leah's neighborhood.

With the exception of our camping trip last weekend, I am now officially caught up! Phew. I promise to be a more devoted blogger, especially now that my new memory is officially installed! I've got to say, my computer is now operating at super-duper light speed.

Payson continues to be so much fun and is learning new things at an astounding rate. Last evening we were making some birthday cards and Payson reached for the "yellow color" and actually grabbed the yellow. I thought is might be a coincidence, but then she pointed to the orange one and called it by its correct name. And this morning when reading a book she pointed correctly to a circle, star, square, moon (crescent), and triangle. She is constantly speaking 3-4 word sentences, and recently has started describing things with adjectives more. We are just amazed by her and how quickly she is growing and learning.

I hope to post pictures and commentary of our camping trip soon!

From Tassle Top Beach to the Diaper Derby - a busy July!

Get ready for a ton of pictures! I am still struggling to get up-to-date (and I still haven't installed my new memory on my computer - priorities!), but the pictures below capture from our trip to RI to the end of July. As you can see, we've been enjoying summer tremendously. Enjoy!

As part of our "stay-cation" in July, we visited Tassle Top Beach on Sebago Lake...

... and went on the Narrow Gague Railroad in Portland.

We also visited with some friends from our childbirth education class! Elliot is on the left, and Leah's in the middle. (There's also a chicken in the background! He wasn't in the classes.)

At the Yarmouth Clam Festival, Payson received her first face painting. She picked out Elmo, of all things, and kept pointing to her cheek and talking about him well into the following day after he was gone.

Warming up before the Diaper Derby at the Clam Festival. This was timed right at nap time, but Payson did a great job and had so much fun! She even made it to the finals!

We had a great visit with the Farringtons, who we hadn't seen in a long time! Bella is 4 and Nicholas is 2.5, and baby Farrington #3 will arrive sometime in late October!

I went to the Portland Children's Museum with our daycare on a field trip - everyone's doing a craft project here!

Alison & Payson playing in the water table.

Just love this picture!
Going to pick blueberries behind Shirley & Ray's house.

Picking blueberries was easier than picking strawberries! At first Payson was very interested in filling her container, but then learned she could eat them!

What better way to maximize your intake than eating out of dad's pail? It was just like "Blueberries for Sal"!

Payson is getting more and more opinionated and independent by the day. She picked out this Red Sox dress for our ice cream trip, and it continues to be one of her favorites. Here she is being her goofy self, eating ice cream!

We went back to Tassle Top Beach towards the end of July with Leah and Lisa. The girls enjoyed the blueberries "Payson" picked!

The girls were fascinated with an orange and black bug that hung out for a long time on Leah's shoe.

A couple of cute mommy & me shots

Ali's Smile

We have often wondered where Alison Smith's on-demand smile originated. I mean, where did she EVER get the idea that a smile looks like this?

Good thing she's so darn cute!

Tonight as I was going through more pictures to add to my next blog, I finally discovered where Alison had learned to smile like that!

Good thing Stacy's so darn cute, too! :)

Little Rhody

I know I'm behind on my blogging, and was planning on condensing photos to get caught up. However, we did so many fun things on our trip to Rhode Island and on our vacation mid-July that I have a lot to share.

We headed down to visit my mom and start off our vacation on Sunday. We visited with my relatives down there for the afternoon and had a great time - Payson enjoyed playing in a small wading pool and with a doll carriage my Aunt Moira had borrowed for her, as well as visiting with my aunts and uncles she doesn't get to see much.

Monday we went to a small beach by my mom's condo in Lincoln Woods. It was supposed to rain but didn't, so no one besides us was at the beach! It was tons of fun (until I learned that swim diapers don't hold poo too well when you pick your kiddo up. Oh well!)!

Playing with dad and Nana.

Enjoying a snack!

In the afternoon we headed to Providence's Children's Museum. We arrived late enough so very few people were there at the same time, which was nice. It was a blast - we just wish we had a little more time. After the Museum we went out for dinner at a terrific restaurant where we can get Nime Chow, one of my favorite foods which is a Vietnamise dish I can NOT find in Maine. We spent some time with my cousin after Payson went to bed. Below are some pictures from the Museum.

Payson LOVED the Water Room and could have stayed there all day long!

Driving... some type of construction vehicle (?).

With dad in the crane!

Peeking out of the cave in the toddler area.

Tuesday was the day I was SO excited about. Seriously, I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve when we went to bed Monday night. We went to the Roger Williams Zoo on Tuesday morning and stayed all day! It was so much fun, and Payson loved it. She is still talking about the "BIIIIG El-fants" and "giraffes, too!"

All ready to go!

The infamous giraffes...

... and BIIIIG el-fants! She loved these so much she requested a second viewing before we left at the end of the day. Good vantage point atop dad's shoulders!

After the Zoo we went for Payson's first ride on a carousel, which she really liked.

And then we got some ice cream and played at this great playground built by Hasbro that is accessible to all abilities and ages.

We had a great trip to Rhode Island - there really is a ton to do in the Providence area with kids Payson's age and we look forward to our next trip.

As an aside, as many of you know, I ran Beach to Beacon this past weekend and had a great run. I was pleased with my time - I ran it about as fast as I did the year prior to getting pregnant with Payson, so I was pretty happy about that. I'll post pictures once I get caught up!