Maine 2015

 

This summer we spent 9 days vacationing with family in Sebec, Maine!  With a total of 8 children (ages 12 yrs to 9 months!), 6 adults and 3 dogs, the Vargas Family Vacation Home was hopping with lots of (mostly) happy noise!  Initially I was a little (okay, maybe a lot!) concerned about the sleeping arrangements; last year we were pretty squished and that was before Sebastian's arrival!  It didn't take us long to come up with a better plan for this year; We had Kyle and Lawrence sleep in a tent outside, which opened up an entire bedroom.  Isabella and Savannah shared one room while me, Jim, Sebastian and Lucky shared another. Julie had a room all to herself while David, Melanie and Andrew slept downstairs in the basement.  It worked out perfectly, as we had plenty of sleeping space for everyone.

 

We were truly blessed with fantastic weather!  Sunny, blue skies greeted us almost every day with temps hovering in the low 70's and absolutely NO humidity!  Although the kids insisted on packing multiple toys, they got very little use as Mother Nature herself proved to provide all the entertainment they needed!  It's also worth noting that the 8 cousins: Lawrence, Kyle, Michelle, Isabella, Julie, Savannah, Andrew and Sebastian all got along perfectly!  They truly are so much more than *just* cousins; they are the best of friends, too!

 

Jim, David, Lawrence and Kyle spent a full day out on the river doing some serious White Water Rafting.  Kyle's favorite part was when the instructor intentionally led them over a water fall (sounds scary to me!)!  Among other things, the guys also enjoyed running around the vacation house property playing paintball, riding the ATV's and dirt bike, canoeing in the pond and target shooting.  The ladies also kept themselves busy riding on the ATV's (Jim, Kyle and Isabella gave rides to Michelle, Julie and Savannah so that no one was ever left out), playing at the lake, canoeing in the pond and - most of all - catching frogs!!!  They literally spent hours every day sitting by the pond catching frogs!  At one point they had an entire frog family captured and lined up on the grass.  They played with them as if they were toys.  Gross, slimy, green toys.  They named them.  They squished them.  They watched them hop around.  I am absolutely positive that all of the living creatures in that pond let out a huge sigh of relief once we all left for home!!

 

 

Right before coming home we went to a Fair located about an hour away from the house.  In addition to numerous carnival type rides there were also many shows going on; there was a Tiger performance as well as a Poultry Contest (I've never seen so many kinds of farm birds in one place at the same time before..hundreds!!), there was a barn full of small animals - baby donkey's, sheep, etc.  Isabella and Savannah went on a pony ride.  There was a section full of old antique machines and tools, which Kyle LOVED.  I thought the horse show was the best part of the Fair, though.  For starters, the arena was located in the shade under a huge tarp, so it was much cooler there than anywhere else.  It was nice to just sit on the bleachers and watch the horses in all of their beauty.  They were so graceful as they trotted around the arena, trying their best to listen to their riders commands.  Bella picked out a couple of favorites and every time they would ride by her she was exclaim "THAT'S MY FAVORITE!" which made the riders smile and laugh.  One of her favorites was having a hard time doing what he was supposed to do.  Afterwards we met with the rider - a teenage boy - who said that he enjoyed hearing Bella's chant how much she loved his horse.  He said it helped him to go on when he knew that he didn't have a chance of winning. 

Sebastian was so good at the Fair.  He sat in his stroller for 90% of the time, taking in the craziness around him.  Due to the excitement of it all - the people, lights and noises - he was unable to nap for more than a few minutes here and there but that didn't stop him from being smiley and happy.  By the time we made our way back home it was nearing bedtime and everyone was exhausted.  It was a great day!

 

Lucky also enjoyed vacationing in Maine.  She loved running around the property, exploring and galloping in and out of the woods and up and down the many paths around the house.  Most of all I think she just really, really, really loved to be off her leash!

 

While we were there Jim taught me how to shoot his handgun.  I've always said that if someone shows up at my door with a gun I'd like to greet him with something more than coffee and cookies!  Home invasions happen on a daily basis and I don't think anyone really feels completely safe anymore.  Locked doors and windows don't seem to make much of a difference; if someone wants to get into your house, they'll find a way - and with 4 little kids both Jim and I want to do our best to protect them from harm.  I was very surprised at the size of the bullets (they're so small!) and how light the handgun is.  It was surprisingly easy to handle, although I didn't do so great with hitting the targets (I did, however, at least hit the target board!).

 

Heading home is never fun. We were making GREAT time but then we got stuck in 60 minutes worth of traffic...all before we even got out of Maine!!  UGH! At the 3 hour mark the kids had had enough of being stuck in the car.  They alternated between being whiny and being wild.  When we finally pulled into our driveway we were greeted with extreme heat (94 degrees) and humidity (felt like 100!).  It was like walking into a tiny closet full of people; terrible air quality!  The kids were miserable as they unloaded the car and I was on a rampage.  I wanted everything to get done immediately; kids showered/bathed, clothes unpacked and put away, laundry started etc.  My expectations were too high and unrealistic but it didn't stop me from trying!

 

Despite the post-vacation craziness, our actual vacation was pretty awesome!  Lots of fun, lots of memories!

 

Both Jim and I took some great photos.  I will share the ones that I took below and then I'll have to upload Jim's to my computer to share his.  We also took some videos that we'll add in later on, too. 

 

 

JULIE AND BELLA BUILDING CASTLES AT THE LAKE

                               

ANDREW AND SEBASTIAN LOVED PLAYING IN THE WATER.  FOR WHATEVER REASON, SEBASTIAN FOUND THE SAND TO BE QUITE TASTY!  YUCK!

                                 

BELLA, SEBASTIAN AND JIM "SUPERVISING" FROM THE LIFEGUARD'S CHAIR!

       

ISABELLA ENJOYING SOME BBQ RIBS!

POP TARGET SHOOTING

THE OLDER KIDS HAD FUN PLAYING A CARD GAME WITH NANA

BELLA TRULY ENJOYED SPENDING SOME ONE ON ONE TIME WITH NANA.  NANA TAUGHT HER HOW TO SEW!
 

SAVANNAH LOVED MAKING S'MORES!

S'MORES BEFORE BED!

MICHELLE, SAVANNAH, JULIE, BELLA AND SEBASTIAN ENJOYING LUNCH OUTSIDE

SEBASTIAN AND ANDREW PLAYING BALL

POP TOOK THE GIRLS OUT ON THE CANOE

JULIE PAINTING SAVANNAH'S NAILS; SO CUTE!

DAVID HOLDING HIS YOUNGEST ANDREW AND JIM HOLDING HIS YOUNGEST, SEBASTIAN!

ALTHOUGH SEBASTIAN HAD SOME TROUBLE STAYING ASLEEP DURING THE NIGHT, HE WAS GENERALLY A HAPPY LITTLE GUY...RIGHT UP UNTIL OUR LAST DAY.  HE CAME DOWN WITH A MYSTERIOUS FEVER THAT LEFT HIM FEELING CRANKY AND OUT OF SORTS.  FORTUNATELY IT WAS SHORT LIVED AND HE WAS BETTER COME THE NEXT MORNING!

DINING ON SAND AT THE LAKE!

KYLE'S TURN TO SUPERVISE!

THE WATER WAS ICY COLD BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP THE KIDS FROM RUNNING RIGHT IN!

 

SEBASTIAN AND ANDREW HANGING OUT.  THESE LITTLE GUYS ARE ONLY A FEW MONTHS APART IN AGE.

KYLE DOING WHAT HE LOVES THE MOST, RIDING HIS ATV!

BELLA TOOK TO HER ATV LIKE A FISH TAKES TO WATER!  HERE SHE IS RIDING AROUND WITH HER FROG CATCHING NET!

LAWRENCE AND KYLE!

THE BABIES CHATTING OVER THEIR MEALS

SAVANNAH TURNED 4 WHEN WE WERE IN MAINE, SO WE HAD PIZZA, CAKE AND PRESENTS FOR HER!

SHE WAS VERY EXCITED TO RECEIVE A HELLO KITTY PLAYSET!

NEW BABY DOLL, STROLLER AND ACCESSORIES!

KYLE ON THE DIRT BIKE

LUCKY

BELLA WAS QUITE PROUD OF HER FIRST CATCH!

MISS SAVANNAH

SEBASTIAN RIGHT BEFORE HE LEARNED HOW TO PULL HIMSELF UP INTO A STANDING POSITION!

MORE S'MORES!

WATCHING EVERYONE ELSE ENJOY S'MORES HAHA!

And just like that, our Maine 2015 Vacation has ended!  I wish we were able to raise our children in an environment similar to that in Sebec.  Kids truly thrive when they're able to run free - exploring, learning, playing.  Of course we do all that here, but in Maine there's SO MUCH more space, freedom and the air quality is about a bazillion times better, too!