maine: days 5,6

Sunday had us visiting Tom and Kelly's wonderful church in Portland. Y'all, it isn't the Bible belt anymore...they drive 40 minutes to church and there are only two of its denomination in the whole state. Christian community looks different when churches are fewer. still rainy, our little fam (minus napping miles) visited the museums on campus where Tom is teaching this year. Bowdoin is a beautiful campus.

real polar bear in the artic museum...so cool!

tom's office is in this beautiful building

Galatte helper for our Sunday feast

expert chicken-carver

ready for our evening walk

monday still looked cloudy to begin with, but adam was feeling better and it wasn't actively raining, so we drove to gorgeous harpswell for a picnic lunch.

so many neat pebbles and pieces of sea glass.  the kids were entertained for a long time just looking for treasures.

the sun finally appeared!

that evening Marit joined Aida for her ballet class.  they were so sweet dancing together in this amazing dance studio in the woods in a renovated barn.

kelly has posted a lot of pictures over here on her blog also.

maine: days 3 and 4

it rained a lot on friday and saturday and was pretty chilly so our plans evolved from outdoor activities to more inside ones. we did take a misty picnic to the grass downtown on friday. we spent a lot of time on this couch cuddling and reading books.

stroller buds

we did our best to capture all six cousins smiling in the fall loveliness...

loving delicious maine apples

on saturday we found some free tix to the portland children's museum.  lots of other folks found them too and it was a busy place.  i didn't get many photos, but it was a really neato museum

touching starfish and other sea-life

in the reading corner

we took a walk around downtown portland.  lots of tired short legs make for a slow walk, but what a cool city!

love this sweet boy, but he is realllly heavy these days!

back in maine 8 years after honeymooning there!

we decided that since we were in portland, we should check out the coastal train ride and museum, since the boys are all very interested in "choo-choos."  this was a big hit!

miles insisted on sitting alone like a big boy.  he looooved this part of the trip.

half-way point

benj and graham admiring the foggy expanse

beautiful wildflowers everywhere!

the train table in the museum was lots of fun

the kids had a blast acting out train riding and conducting in the museum after our ride

adam was still not feeling very well, but what a trooper!

precious family!

we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

to announce...

that this hot doc is officially board certified in internal medicine! we are so thankful for this grace of one set of boards behind him. praise God from whom all blessings flow!

 ps the photo is from the last time we were in maine...on our honeymoon!

maine:days 1-2

the next several posts on this bloggy are going to be very picture-heavy. we just returned from a week visiting my brother, sis-in-law, and three precious kiddos in the beautiful state of maine. my parents and other sibs will want to see pictures. we want to remember this big adventure and maine is beautiful so i took over 300 pictures. as all parents of children know, traveling with them is not always restful or fun...but we made some memories complete with rain, sickness, dead car batteries, beauty, laughter, cuddles.   it was the first time any of the kids had been on an airplane and we timed the trip so miles would still be free.

 it was so refreshing to be with tom and kelly, good for us to be away from the normal cares of our lives and to co-parent for a week. the pristine beauty of creation on the coast of maine was good for our souls. tom and kelly were beyond generous with delicious meals, frothy milk coffee drinks, complete rearranging of normal sleeping situations to make room for five more, thoughtful conversations, time, space, embracing the chaos of 6 kids aged 5 and under in one house for a whole week. we can't thank you enough!!

playing go-fish in the airport

there are about a million other things that are more fun than flying with a (nearly) 2yr old, but we made it through and it was worth it to fly for 3 hrs versus driving for 20

they got right to painting...marit and aida taking turns imitating each other

one of the many playgrounds just a short walk from their house.  this dome reminded me of the one my parents built together to be married under.  true story.

kelly managed the babies at home while adam and i took the four older ones apple-picking nearby.  poor adam was quite sick with some sort of flu-like illness until the last few days, but he loaded up on motrin to keep the fever and aches at bay and muscled through. 

fall is cold in maine and comes early

girl wagon-ready for the orchards

benj loved the ladders

i love aida's beautiful smiles

sweetness

after working up an appetite picking apples, enjoy a homemade apple-cider donut.  yes, please!

during nap-time, the men heroically held down the fort (which included grilling dinner in the rain while preventing all six children from getting injured) while kelly and i ventured out to the the mother-ship of ll bean, a mere 20 minutes away.