If there is one thing I love about vacations, it is going on them with my AIL. Something about having another adult who also happens to be an amazing cook and one of the most awesome people in the world makes vacations with all of us extra fun. For a whole week we all got to be in Wells, Maine at the
Cottages at Summer Village, which were kind of the perfect place for us with these two ages of kiddos right now.
There were pools, fun activities, playgrounds and a super cute cottage with wild blueberries to pick and put in our pancakes. We had a grill to cook on and Adirondacks to sit in and a path around the cottages that became me and Annie's afternoon nap routine. And when we wanted to leave the cottages we could hike, go to the beach, or head to Portland, which is one of my favorite New England towns, and ended up being a great way to spend the one rained out day.
It was awesome to have two pools to choose from because both girls are total fish and just want to be in the water, which is fine by me! Maddie usually goes off to find friends to play with and Annie just wants to bob around in the water with anyone that will hang with her and both can hang for hours and be totally happy. Since last summer Maddie's swimming skills have gone from good to awesome and she is confident but also smart about her limitations and makes sure to check in with us and ask before running and doing a belly flop (yep, something she totally loves to do). And Annie, well thanks to her nanny she is already a little powerhouse in the water and gets around like a shark!
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| Passed out from a long day at the pool. |
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| Walking and snacking, that is what we do. |
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| Hello cute cottage! |
When we woke up early in the morning (oh good God did it take days for Annie to stop waking up at 4am) we would hit the playground for a bit and wait for the coffee to kick in and the pool to open and, although I do miss sleeping in, it was pretty great to just be outside and in the sunshine with my girls day after day. One morning we took a short drive to
Mount Agamenticus for a little hike that had the most amazing views of tree lines and ocean, something this former west coast girl still finds so amazing.
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| Ocean in the distance! |
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| These two are hiking buddies for life. |
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| When sleep is no longer an option, we play. |
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| Waiting for the trolley with my Maddie. |
On the one rainy day (well, really it lasted less than half a day) we drove into Portland to check out their children's museum and grab lunch at one of their awesome restaurants. The museum was so cute and both girls loved the turtle area, where Maddie even caught a special turtle presentation. By the time we ate lunch and headed back the sun was coming back out and we snuck in a couple of hours at the pool.
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| Baby in an Adirondack! |
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| She makes firefighting look even cooler. |
Of course no trip to Maine would be complete without a trip to the beach, which we got to do with friends who came up and took the trolley over with us (so easy!). And of
course, we had to get lobster in, which came from a little spot on the beach and could not have been more delicious. On our last night I took my big girl to an outdoor movie thinking she would fall asleep or get bored, but she hung for the whole thing and at the end, as we waited for the trolley to take us back we ended up seeing a meteor shower. Standing there under that big Maine sky, snuggling my kiddo who smelled like suntan lotion and beach I could not have felt more lucky to have this awesome gang of mine to experience the world with.
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| At the York Zoo on our first day. |
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| Annie loved the butterfly garden. |
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| This kid LOVES her some coasters. |
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| Movie, popcorn, no bedtime...what's better? |
Next up, The O'Sheas take California and DISNEYLAND!
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