I will start where I left off almost two weeks ago. I finished up work on a Friday and we were all excited to spend the next 11 days together. JD, you an I kicked off that weekend with a trip to watch the Portland Sea Dogs play ball! This was your first trip to see any type of professional baseball!
You brought your glove just in case we caught a foul ball or a home run. You didn't quite understand the concept of foul balls. You asked me on the way, "Where are we going to put all of the balls we catch?" I explained that its rare to even catch one ball in your life time at a game never mind one a game!When we arrived we were greeted by the Sea Dog mascot, Slugger. You really liked him and did your best to find him once we were inside the park. When we got inside I was looking up at all the seat numbers and I said under my breath, "I wonder which way we go?" You quickly replied, "Daddy, why don't we just look at the map" and you ran over to the map right in front of me!! During this evening we at pretzels, hot dogs, popcorn, soda, and Twizzlers! You gave Slugger a high five four times and we came about as close to catching a ball as you can come. Maybe next time..
The very next day we went to my cousin Kim's house in Reading, MA. Grammie has been wanting to get all of her Great Grand kids together now for months and months. We had five babies born into the family within five months of each other. Ad was the first and Dave the last. Kim lives in the middle of us all and was nice enough to volunteer her house for the festivities.
Adam, you split time playing with the older kids and the babies. All of the babies are pretty much on the same page, walking and a little bit of talking.
You spent time at the water/sand table and in the yard where there was a tent/tunnel type of set up. Nana was here as well as her brother, my Uncle Don and Aunt Cathy.
JD, you played with Sam mostly, and Lily a little bit. You both played in the pool with many of the other kids. Typically, you were the first two in. JD you jumped in quite a few times and I had to tell you to calm down a little cuz you were splashing Grammie and Grampie! Adam, Heather said that you have to take up swimming in the future because you already have the physic. I think we'll stick to real sports, just kidding!!
Great Grand kids are as follows: Sam and Lily Weafer, JD and Adam Hart, Livy and Dave Cranney, Fin Weafer, and Bo and Ella Willis. Over the past many years I have really been able to get to know my cousins even more now then when we were young. My Uncle and I have become close too. My hope is that down the road you will be able to connect with one or two of your second cousins as you will with Megs kids. They are a great family and there is a lot to be learned from them. If you guys ever need anything, you could call on any one of them. This day was just about perfect. All of the kids were well behaved to say the least and the adults got to spend some much needed time to catch up.
Grammy and Grampie had a great time too. At the end of the day Grammie stood up to say some words. She was shaking and noticeably emotional. She said how much it meant to her that we all took time from our schedules to get together. She mentioned also how much we all mean to her.
I think in the back of her mind she may think that that will be the last time we get together as a group before she passes on. She and Grampie have been a great influence on my life, more so than most Grandparents. Grampie and I have a great relationship and talk on the phone often. As much as I hope she's wrong about spending time with us all together, I fear that perhaps she is right.The next day we packed up the truck and headed out on the first leg of our week long trip, Gray Maine, to Grandy and PopPop's house.
We arrived at noon and it was a bit cloudy outside. JD, you were upset because you wanted to take the new boat out, and Ad, you were outside climbing up and down the rock steps for what seemed to be forever! After we got settled, 
Pop Pop arrived home and he was also excited to take out the boat! JD, Pop Pop and I went down to the dock to see what the conditions were like. We figured a little rain won't hurt anyone, so we jumped in and headed south on the lake in Pop Pop's new boat.I had never been in it before, but by now JD was an old pro. You knew just where to sit and what to do. Pop Pop is still getting used to lake and the boat but by the time we got to the big lake, he asked me if I wanted to take the "wheel". I did. I must admit, I was all for it, not nervous at all. I liked being with you both out on the lake. I enjoy hanging out with Pop Pop. We have started to find quite a few things that we have in common and have had some real conversations over the years that have meant a lot to me. Anyway, I burned rubber on the water and cant wait to get back behind the wheel!
At night we celebrated Grandy's Bday with grilled chicken and cake for dessert. JD you were "Scared" when it was time to go to bed and needed someone to come up and, "Dress the Witches" with you. Whenever you're scared its of witches and a long time ago, I came up and told you that we would dress them in such a way that they would not be scary anymore. This usually involves them in underwear, with roller skates, and they usually end up farting quite a bit! We had a very nice relaxing night, it was a nice way to begin our trip.
They next morning, which was Monday, we were off by 8:00 to head up to Lily Bay, Maine and Moosehead Lake. We were all excited to be sharing our time here with my cousin Dick, his wife Heather, and son Finn!
We arrived around 11:30 and hopped in to the canoe that Heather left for us in the morning. The four of us (we left Asbury at Grandy's) piled into the canoe and off to the island we went.Uncle Don's camp is both Mom's and My favorite place on earth. This was our fifth year in a row going up over the summer. JD, you have been with us every time and you were only a few months old the first time. Ad, this is your second time up. The camp is set back 100 ft from the water and there are three boats to use while we are there.
We have been up there with Nana, Uncle Don, Aunt Cathy, my cousin Don, Sarah, Lily, Sam, Dick, Heather, and now little Finn. Each time we go we are guaranteed serenity here that is like nothing else we see any other time throughout the year. Here I am sure to smoke a few nice cigars, have some good beer, take out the kayak for an early morning 'stroll', fail at water skiing, and most importantly share precious conversation with people in my family I'm not always able to spend time with.Adam, you spend a lot of playing in the water near the dock. You were surprised to see the guppy fish swimming near the dock.
You also enjoyed feeding them some of your own Goldfish! You went in the water tube with Mom and I, played ball, got to know Finn very well, and when we weren't looking, you climbed to the top of the ladder that we had inside the camp!JD this was the first year that you were able to take full advantage of the whole entire camp. You jumped off the boat and dock, you swam 10 times more than the rest of us, we played water ball, you looked for bugs, we went exploring on the back side of camp, you went skinny dipping (for the first time!), helped with dishes, played in the loft, and went for a rain walk with Mom. You were up late all of the nights, one night until 11:00. It was so fun to watch you roam the land as if you had been there for weeks. You played so well with Addie and Finn, they both followed you around wherever you went. Your time at camp was spent the that its meant to be.
Mom and I got exactly what we came for. We were able to spend time together in nature as we had done so much before you both were born. As you get older we promised each other that we will get back to camping more often.
It was nice to get to know Finn, and great to catch up with Dick and Heather. Its always a sad day when we leave the Weafer camp and for some reason it always rains. This was the first year the Mom and I were solely responsible to close it up. It was fun and I can't wait to get back.The day after we arrived home from Moosehead we met Nana and Grampie B at Ocean Park as they were up here for a vacation of their own. They didn't have the best weather for the week, but spent some time in Portland and were at least able to get to the beach on this day.
We arrived here around 8:30 and they were waiting for us. I'm sure I've mentioned that this is not only Nana's favorite beach, but favorite place on earth other than her home. Both she and Grampie were happy to spend time with you both. You both walked down to water with Nana.
Adam, you played in the sand with her using a shovel and sifter. I know that it meant a lot to my Mom to spend time at her favorite place with her Grandkids. I used to joke with her about buying a place around the beach area but nothing really came of it. I still think it would be good for her to use as an escape to a place she loves where she can relax and be herself.Today we did a lot of yard work to make up for what we missed for the week. We all had a wonderful week together and today was a little bitter sweet as I go back to work tomorrow. Mom and I try to provide you guys with true quality family time. Not only are we spending time together but we're learning from these times and we hope that at some point they become as special and memorable to you as they are to us.
