K-Seas

Out of the mouths of babes..

This morning Will came into bed with me for a bit.  I'm not sure how we got on the subject of Christmas, but he asked me, "When is Christmas?".  Seeing as he doesn't quite grasp how time works, I told him, "First comes Halloween, then Thanksgiving and then Christmas."  He processed that for a bit and then said, "Oh, I don't like Thanksgiving.  No kids like Thanksgiving.  It's boring, you can't play.  You have to eat bad food.  Kids don't like the chicken."

So there you have it...

Irish Curse?

I compared cucumbers with my neighbor over the weekend. 

My cucumber (above)

Neighbor's cucumber

Just sayin'

My Secret Garden

So I found the most amazing place to pick your own blueberries.  It's one of those "word of mouth" places.  I'd tell you where it's located, but I can't-  it's my little secret.  If I tell you, then you'll go there and pick all of my blueberries!

This place is amazing.  I felt like I was walking in Sonoma County, except instead of grapes I was surrounded by little berries of blue.  Row after row after row of beautiful blueberry bushes, bordering a scenic cove, with little pin wheels made of soda cans scattered about (to scare off the birds I imagine).

I love finding places off the beaten path. 

If you are good (and you give me a lot of money), I will tell you where it is.  Maybe...

 

"Jacked Up" Dance

I was going through some media this morning and found this gem.  This was after a sleep over earlier this year.  We caught the kids dancing with their pajamas jacked up.  I thought it was funny.  Avery's "moves" were particularly disturbing err I mean funny :-).

Jacked Up Dance from K-Sea on Vimeo.

Then and Now

Just a quick comparison as to how much Beckett has changed in six months:

One Month Picture:

And now...

SIX MONTHS OLD!

Beckett is six months old as of yesterday!  Wow!  Half a year has already gone by!  We went for his six-month check up today.  Here are his stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 1.5 oz
Height: 27.5"

He's 10th percentile for weight and 80th for height.  His pediatrician said he's going to be a basketball player.  As long as he plays for the Celtics...

He's into grabbing everything now and "talking" a lot.  He also rolls both ways and lifts his head up high when he's on his stomach.  Oh!  And the best part?  He's holding his own bottle!!  It's fun to watch the progression of a child.

Happy Six Months Little Guy!!  We love you!

"It Smells Like Poop in Here"

Day Four of our trip - Story Land!  This is a favorite place of mine to take the kids to.  The park is very clean, it's well landscaped, they have healthy food choices and the staff is great.  All the rides are kid and parent friendly as well.  Unfortunately I think the girls, at ages 11 and almost 9, are starting to "outgrow" the place.  They still like it, but Story Land's rides are pretty weak compared to the "big" rides at Universal/Disney/Canobie/Six Flags, etc..

However, having Beckett assures us that will be going to Story Land for at least the next 7 or 8 years (woo hoo!).

Polar Coaster - Kid Favorite

The last day of our trip we decided to just do a bunch of little things here and there on our way out of town.  We started with a little mini-golf (Joelle got three hole in ones!), and then some go-carting:

I think the kids really loved this (Shaun included)!  Getting back on the road, Mina noticed a sign that said, "Castle in the Clouds."  Shaun remembered snowmobiling with his dad there back in the day, so we decided to veer off course and check it out.  You take a scenic drive up a little mountain, then get onto a trolley to take you up to the actual castle a short distance further.  Once off the trolley, they shuffle you into a room for a quick intro on the specifics of the castle (who built it, construction details, etc..). 

As we were herded into the room, Will loudly exclaims, "IT SMELLS LIKE POOP IN HERE!"  Shaun and I heard some people chuckle.  Such a proud moment for us..

The views from the castle are amazing:

After we toured the castle, we headed over to Hart's Turkey Farm - Shaun's second most favorite place on Earth (the first is Lost River, although it could be a tie).  After filling our bellies with turkey (and some chicken fingers) we headed home at last! 

Good times!!

Some Cuteness

Zip Lines, Water parks and Slides...Oh My!

Day two of our trip took us to Wild Cat where the kids (Shaun included) rode the zip line.  Unfortunately Will couldn't go on it since the weight limit was 75 lbs and that kid won't be 75lbs until he's 18.  It's a bird, it's a plane.....no...it's Shaun soaring gracefully like an eagle high atop the mountains:
We then left and checked ourselves into our much nicer, less ghetto-ish condo in North Conway.  But only briefly...

We then took a drive over to Attitash where the kids went on the Alpine Slide (Joelle proclaimed this her favorite), some water slides and a bungy/jumpy thing.  I give you Exhibit A, B & C:
Heading up for Alpine Slide

All three kids jumping..

Day three took us to Lost River, Shaun's favorite place on Earth (besides Hart's Turkey Farm).  Lost River is actually a really cool place to go.  It's almost as if you are journeying to the center of the Earth. 

Some of these caves are extremely difficult to navigate.  Shaun actually went through most of them with the kids - with the help of vaseline and machismo.  However, he stopped at the Lemon Squeeze, which is similar to being reborn (and no, I'm not talking in a Christian sense).

Kids mining after the caves.  This is the biggest racket going - you basically get a bag of dirt with hidden "gems" and you get to rinse them off and "discover" them.  The kids absolutely love this money-maker.

After Lost River, we headed over to Clark's Trading Post, another fun family spot.  The kids and Shaun rode the train into "Wolf Man" territory.  However, the Wolf Man must be on the Atkin's Diet, because he sure is a whole lot skinnier than years past.  Oh, and he's wearing Keen sandals.  Part wolf, part fashionista.  I secretly think he's hot.

While at Clark's, the kids decided to get wet on the water blaster boats.  Some girl cut Mina and Will in line so they decided to blast her the whole ride (she's in the purple/teal bumper boat behind them).  It was good fun watching our kids gang up on another child.  I believe a small tear escaped my eye.  Then we learned from Joelle that the girl was only trying to get in line with her sister.  Whatever..she still deserved it.

After Clark's we headed back to our little bungalow in North Conway.  The kids swam in the pool that night, and we all got a good nights rest for our adventure to Story Land the next morning...

Happy Birthday Joelle!

Today is Joelle's birthday.  She is now 11.  WOW where did the time go?

Happy Birthday Joelle!  You make us very proud!

JUST A SMALL DETOUR (Day One)

Well, we are back from our trip. Notice I didn’t say vacation. A vacation doesn’t involve a 5-month old. The amount of baby stuff we needed to bring for four nights bordered on obscene – stroller, play pen, vibrating chair, Baby Bjorn, bottles, diapers, bottle brush, burp clothes, formula, etc…

 Just taking a day trip involved much planning on my part as to what items Beckett would need. And when you forget the formula at Story Land, well, that part will come on Day Four.

Let me go back a bit to our first day up there. As Shaun noted in the post below, things started off rough. We belong to RCI which is an exchange program if you own a timeshare. We never use our timeshare in Newport, RI due to our week falling when the kids are still in school (early June), so we generally always exchange into another resort. Most of the time the condos are a bit “dated” and, putting aside what other reviewers say, it’s still a crap shoot. This particular week was a Friday to Friday interval, but I called to let them know we would be checking in on Saturday instead. The very nice man who answered said he was glad I called since they had limited hours on the weekend. He gave me the unit number we would be in and told me a lock box would be on the door (and gave me the combination for that).

 After about 4,000 “Are we there yets”, we came to our destination.  It was a long, dirt road, and Shaun and I weren’t holding out too much hope on it being a nice place. We drove by a house in the woods that had the word, “Office” on it (which we knew was closed) and continued on a bit further to our stop. Our feelings on the place were correct – it was a tad “ghetto-ish.”. We pulled up to unit #4 which was missing a lock box. I got out of the car and peeked in the windows and saw people inside. Confused we drove along each unit thinking perhaps I was wrong (never happens!) on the number and did not see any other lock box.  The problem was the office was closed, we had zero cell phone coverage (base of Pinkham Notch) and it was a Saturday night in the height of tourist-ville.  To be honest, it wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened, considering we weren’t happy with what the outside looked like. But, we had four kids, one of which was starting to morph into a monster (Beckett).   

 We ended up staying at the Christmas Farm Inn (a place I am familiar with as my company sold it to the current owners) in a cute little cottage at $400/night. Ouch. 

 Anyway, it all worked out. We complained to RCI the next morning, and they got us into a nice townhouse in North Conway (better location), and we should be able to recoup the money we spent at the Christmas Farm Inn. We also received a call from the ghetto condo – it seems the Magoons checked into our unit by accident!!

 

Ghetto condo...

Lovely indoor pool at ghetto condo

Just a little detour….