Life

I haven't had the chance to blog lately because life is so full! And, it's mostly full with great things!

First of all, Lydia Catherine turned FIVE!

We celebrated on her birthday with her usual favorites: mac and cheese, hot dogs and cake and ice cream. (Mom also made her eat some broccoli. Yes, even on her birthday.) She also got to choose what fun things we did that day and open presents from her grandparents and Dave and me.

Tomorrow, she will get to celebrate with her friends, her cousin, Mattisyn, and her Granny at a Glamour party at Snip-its. She's just a little bit excited.

I'm sure Julia will be all smiles at the party too. I mention her smile because it is missing another tooth. She is now missing her two front teeth. It is so cute! Although, this is the second tooth that I accidentally knocked out of my kids face. I am ashamed to admit that both of Julia's front teeth where bumped out by me while we were playing. Both incidents were completely unintentional, of course!

Anyway, that's the tip of the iceberg of what's happening with us. I hope all is well in your world! 

-Amber

Fourth of July

We had a wonderful Fourth of July! We went to a little festival/parade near our house. It had free food, lots of festivities and fans that blew water on you. It felt like a fun little hometown event. Loved it! 

Dave really tried to get a pic with me and the girlies...but, they weren't really interested in taking pictures after this.

 Free watermelon before the parade. Genius!

Traditional start to a fun parade

Everybody dance!

Puppy Love

Tiger Tot

After the festival, we came home, rested and then got started on our good eats. We had a wonderful, festive and fresh dinner. Just in case you were curious....we had grilled chicken with chimichurri sauce,  beef hotdogs, homemade hummus with veggies, and homemade potato salad. We finished it all off with homemade shortcake, vanilla yogurt and fresh berries. We also had sparkling juice to drink. The girls thought this was a really special treat!

We headed to the fireworks show next. We ended up at the citycentre. It was so crowded! But, we enjoyed the show. Dave and I are absolutely positive it wasn't anywhere near as crowded as the downtown Houston show was. Plus, we got to the show and back in the same amount of time it would've taken us just to get downtown.

I am so very thankful for our country. I love America! God bless the U.S.A., and God bless you!
-Amber

The Maine Thing

Most of my posts are mainly about my kids. But this post is MAINEly about Dave and my vacation last month. I took tons of pictures! So, here they are:

Our Heavenly Bed and Breakfast

 The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at had a most romantic feel to it. Every morning we enjoyed a delicious, fresh breakfast of baked goods and entree choice. The eggs Benedict were awesome.

This was about 3 blocks from our bed and breakfast.

 I loved sitting in the grass, feeling the warm sun and watching the boats come in and out. The grass was so lush and wonderful!

Handsome Hubby

Almost asleep

Beautiful backyard!

Acadia National Park

Sand Beach at Acadia

This Deer was about 10 feet from our car. It's definitely used to humans.

Hiking views. A-maze-ing!

 We hiked for about 3.5 hours on the day we saw these views. Acadia was beautiful and awe-inspiring. Creation is a wonderful thing!

 There were huge bull frog tadpoles in this little pond. They were fun to watch. Some of them even had their little legs already.

Lobstering

 See the buoys? See the traps? Go Lobstermen!

The biggest lobster at the pound. We didn't eat him.

Our lobsters

Kayaking on the ocean

 The beach we parked our kayaks on is actually a private one that belongs to the Rockefellers. They are gracious enough to allow people to stop and take a rest, however. Isn't that cool?

Lobster Stew at Jordan's Pond in Acadia. Yum!

Minke Whale 

We saw two different types of whales on our whale watching tour. We saw finback whales, minke whales and seals on our tour. It was great!

Sunset on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park

Another shot of the Sunset on Cadillac

Lighthouse at Owl's Head, Maine

At the top

Dave and I had an aMAINEzing time in Maine. We can't wait to do it again sometime!

If any of you ever want to go to Maine, here are few tips I've compiled:

-If you think you've packed enough sweaters to bring to Maine in the Summer, go ahead and throw a jacket in the mix...just in case

-Expect to FREEZE if you go whale watching. Bring a hat. and gloves. and a down jacket.

-If you have any motion sickness issues at all and want to go whale watching, watch out! I didn't actually use a sickness bag, but there were definitely some used by other passengers. The only thing that kept me from losing my lunch were the complimentary crackers and the ginger ale. It was touch and go for a while there.

-Stay in Bar Harbor. Don't bother driving North to try and see a moose or other wildlife. Bar Harbor is where it's at.

-Do not miss the opportunity to go to the restaurant in Acadia National Park called Jordan's Pond.

-If you eat at a lobster pound where the locals are said to eat, don't put on a cute, lightweight dress. Wear sweats, a t-shirt and a jacket. That's what everyone else will be wearing, and you don't want to freeze while eating lobster.

-Don't plan to wear cute shoes. Nice sandals or tennis shoes are the way to go.

-Bring a backpack for hiking with essentials like: a camera, sunscreen, snacks and water for shopping or hiking. You never know when you'll see something amazing.

-It's totally natural to check out real estate prices and try to figure out a way to move to Maine once you are there. Maybe just a summer home like Martha Stewart. Ha! (That is normal, right? Because I'm still strategizing on the best way to get myself up there more often.)

-Last but not least; Houston's weather will feel even hotter when you return from your wonderful vacation up North!

Thanks for taking a peek at my blog! Love, Amber