We started things off with a Forth of July cookout at our house. This was also a “Welcome Back” for True’s as they returned from Colorado. They came back at a good time as we have spent every Forth with them since we’ve lived in Maine and it was nice to have this year be no different.
People started to arrive around 1:00. We decided the prior day that we would invite people to BYOL, Bring Your Own Lobsters! Everyone did just that. We had quite a few creepy red bugs before it was all said and done and tons and tons of other food. It looked like we had enough food to feed an army.
You guys, Caden, and Lily were completely interested in the lobsters. Chad, the resident lobster expert, took them out and allowed you all to touch them. Adam, you said, “That’s really scary.” Everyone
got a kick out of that! Chad is an excellent cook. He cooked out lobsters and make excellent looking lobster rolls for everyone else. JD, you didn’t want to try lobster this year. You said that you tried it last year and didn’t like it; maybe next year you’ll give it another shot??
We didn’t have fireworks this year, but we DID have a ROCKET! Chad brought at rocket from home. It was pretty neat; he set it up on our stone well thing, backed up and lit it up! It went SO high into the air
that we all lost sight of it. We saw it go up high, disappear, and that was it! We all took about 15 minutes to search the neighborhood for it, but came up empty! It served its purpose though; all of the kids were totally impressed by it. I think the adults were too.
After dinner we played a few games of PIG on the basketball court. JD, this is your new favorite game. Everyone was excited to play. Later I gave the kids a ride around the yard on the lawn mower, per Lily’s request (we must be Mainers now). As it got later in the evening, Mom broke out some small sparklers. Lily and you both had fun with these and ended up lighting all of three boxes in about a half hour.
It was a great day all around and nice to have the True’s back in the fold. Carli in known for making some pretty cool dessert cakes and on this day she didn’t disappoint. An American Flag cake, check it out:
After everyone left the four of us decided to turn on the Boston fireworks “Pregame.” As we watched the build up, Adam went into the kitchen and said, “Hungry for Chicken.” We had so many extra chicken wings from earlier provided to us by Chad F. We all agreed with your suggestion, Adam dug in first! After we filled our bellies it was about 10:00,
clearly way passed bedtime. Mom and I decided that we would let you both stay up to watch he fireworks on TV as it was only about a half hour away. Before I knew it, it was about midnight when I woke up on the couch to the three you snoring away. It appeared none of us would see those the fireworks this year.
The next day we all slept until about 9:00. What a nice treat and a well-deserved long nights sleep. We arrived on Plum Island in Newburyport around 10:30. Funny, this is where Mom and I used to come before we were married. It has changed quite a bit. I remembered it having more of a beach. We met Colin, Carli, and Lily and on this day, we had the beach to ourselves.
Colin and I worked with all of you kids to build a BIG sandcastle. The pictures I took of it really don’t do it justice. Lily helped Colin make little castles to decorate the top of our big mound-castle,
JD added some height to the castle and had much fun making tunnels from one end to the other, and Adam had to be stopped from smashing JD’s tunnels! Mom and Car had some nice catch up talk to take care of while we constructed our caste. This beach had a pretty cool rock jetty that you both enjoyed walking on.
After the beach we went to Leanna and Adams house for another small cookout. Adam made some chicken and burgers and Mom brought her yummy dessert. Adam and Marin spent some time playing in her schoolhouse tent, while JD, Adam and I played kickball around the yard. We also discovered that they have peaches, apples, grapes, and blackberries growing in their yard!
Sunday rolled around and we FINALLY bought a couch. JD, you know how much I disliked our old couch. Mom and I bought it about 10 years ago, and it looked like it was about 20 years old! The couch we bought is fine for now, Mom and I both like it very much. We also rearranged almost our entire house on this day. Adam, you took a much needed (and appreciated by us) FIVE hour nap! This allowed us a lot of time to get things situated!
Last week brought the beginning of, “Hot Summer Nights” in South Berwick center. Every Thursday from the beginning of July through the end of August the town has a band of some sort play for free at night. Last Thursday was one of our favorite local guys, Slaid Cleaves! He was born
around here but makes a living in Texas signing mostly Folk/Country/Rock music. He was great on this night. Adam, you put on a show for everyone by shaking your thing for his first few songs. You both got your faces painted later in the evening. Adam, you got a plane on one cheek and a truck on the other. JD, you got the, “Incredible Hulk” on your cheek! Slaid was so good on this night; we enjoyed the show with Kevin and Jessie from down the street. JD even got Slaid's autograph!
Saturday of last weekend, we spent at Ocean Park. Mom really wanted the four of us to spend this day together and we figured Ocean Park would be a great place to relax. Mom says that we always have perfect days here and Saturday was no different. We arrived at about 9:30 and immediately set up camp as the tide was headed out. There were very few people on the beach when we arrived and we were able to just sit and enjoy the beach for a bit.
After hanging out in front of the Billow House, playing in the sand, we took a walk down to the creek. Once again NO sand dollars, but you guys both had so much fun in the fast moving water. JD, you brought
your boogie board down and rode it from one end to the other. Adam, you spent most of your time jumping off the sides of the sand into the creek. The current was pretty strong but you insisted upon walking through it by yourself, not holding my hand. We must have spent and hour and a half at the creek alone.
We left the beach around 4:00 and headed home. You both conked out in the backseat by the time we hit the highway. Later that night I went out in Portsmouth with Chad and Colin and you both went…..to sleep!
Yesterday, Sunday, we all slept until 8:00. I was very happy about this! In the morning Adam and I went outside to hit some golf balls. Adam, you clearly are going to swing golf clubs and baseball bats as a lefts. This made things difficult for you as JD’s small clubs are a set of right-handed clubs. This didn’t stop you though; we were out there for a while!
Soon enough I was off to play golf with Chris, Chad and Chad for Chris’ birthday. Adam, you wanted to come with me so badly saying, “Addie come golf, Addie come golf?” You were quite upset when I pulled off. You and Mom brought JD to a birthday party for Owen. Mom said that all of the kids came running up to her car, as they were so happy to see JD. Mom said that it was quite the sight to see.
We all met at the Hamers house for a cookout late in the day. The boys played 18 holes in about 5.5 hours and the ladies and kids, along with some other people, were waiting for us back at the house. It was a perfect day for golf and nice to see everyone at night.
Throughout the course of this week, we also cut Adams hair. We sat him on the bar stool on the deck and gave him some chocolate. This might have been the only thing we could have given him to ensure he
would sit still for a few minutes. Along with the chocolate, I distracted Ad while mom trimmed his hair. Adam, as you saw you’re hair being cut off, you had a concerned look on your face and your said, “Addie’s hair??”
We didn’t have fireworks this year, but we DID have a ROCKET! Chad brought at rocket from home. It was pretty neat; he set it up on our stone well thing, backed up and lit it up! It went SO high into the air
that we all lost sight of it. We saw it go up high, disappear, and that was it! We all took about 15 minutes to search the neighborhood for it, but came up empty! It served its purpose though; all of the kids were totally impressed by it. I think the adults were too.After dinner we played a few games of PIG on the basketball court. JD, this is your new favorite game. Everyone was excited to play. Later I gave the kids a ride around the yard on the lawn mower, per Lily’s request (we must be Mainers now). As it got later in the evening, Mom broke out some small sparklers. Lily and you both had fun with these and ended up lighting all of three boxes in about a half hour.
It was a great day all around and nice to have the True’s back in the fold. Carli in known for making some pretty cool dessert cakes and on this day she didn’t disappoint. An American Flag cake, check it out:
After everyone left the four of us decided to turn on the Boston fireworks “Pregame.” As we watched the build up, Adam went into the kitchen and said, “Hungry for Chicken.” We had so many extra chicken wings from earlier provided to us by Chad F. We all agreed with your suggestion, Adam dug in first! After we filled our bellies it was about 10:00,
clearly way passed bedtime. Mom and I decided that we would let you both stay up to watch he fireworks on TV as it was only about a half hour away. Before I knew it, it was about midnight when I woke up on the couch to the three you snoring away. It appeared none of us would see those the fireworks this year.The next day we all slept until about 9:00. What a nice treat and a well-deserved long nights sleep. We arrived on Plum Island in Newburyport around 10:30. Funny, this is where Mom and I used to come before we were married. It has changed quite a bit. I remembered it having more of a beach. We met Colin, Carli, and Lily and on this day, we had the beach to ourselves.
Colin and I worked with all of you kids to build a BIG sandcastle. The pictures I took of it really don’t do it justice. Lily helped Colin make little castles to decorate the top of our big mound-castle,
JD added some height to the castle and had much fun making tunnels from one end to the other, and Adam had to be stopped from smashing JD’s tunnels! Mom and Car had some nice catch up talk to take care of while we constructed our caste. This beach had a pretty cool rock jetty that you both enjoyed walking on.After the beach we went to Leanna and Adams house for another small cookout. Adam made some chicken and burgers and Mom brought her yummy dessert. Adam and Marin spent some time playing in her schoolhouse tent, while JD, Adam and I played kickball around the yard. We also discovered that they have peaches, apples, grapes, and blackberries growing in their yard!
Sunday rolled around and we FINALLY bought a couch. JD, you know how much I disliked our old couch. Mom and I bought it about 10 years ago, and it looked like it was about 20 years old! The couch we bought is fine for now, Mom and I both like it very much. We also rearranged almost our entire house on this day. Adam, you took a much needed (and appreciated by us) FIVE hour nap! This allowed us a lot of time to get things situated!
Last week brought the beginning of, “Hot Summer Nights” in South Berwick center. Every Thursday from the beginning of July through the end of August the town has a band of some sort play for free at night. Last Thursday was one of our favorite local guys, Slaid Cleaves! He was born
around here but makes a living in Texas signing mostly Folk/Country/Rock music. He was great on this night. Adam, you put on a show for everyone by shaking your thing for his first few songs. You both got your faces painted later in the evening. Adam, you got a plane on one cheek and a truck on the other. JD, you got the, “Incredible Hulk” on your cheek! Slaid was so good on this night; we enjoyed the show with Kevin and Jessie from down the street. JD even got Slaid's autograph!
Saturday of last weekend, we spent at Ocean Park. Mom really wanted the four of us to spend this day together and we figured Ocean Park would be a great place to relax. Mom says that we always have perfect days here and Saturday was no different. We arrived at about 9:30 and immediately set up camp as the tide was headed out. There were very few people on the beach when we arrived and we were able to just sit and enjoy the beach for a bit.
After hanging out in front of the Billow House, playing in the sand, we took a walk down to the creek. Once again NO sand dollars, but you guys both had so much fun in the fast moving water. JD, you brought
your boogie board down and rode it from one end to the other. Adam, you spent most of your time jumping off the sides of the sand into the creek. The current was pretty strong but you insisted upon walking through it by yourself, not holding my hand. We must have spent and hour and a half at the creek alone.We left the beach around 4:00 and headed home. You both conked out in the backseat by the time we hit the highway. Later that night I went out in Portsmouth with Chad and Colin and you both went…..to sleep!
Yesterday, Sunday, we all slept until 8:00. I was very happy about this! In the morning Adam and I went outside to hit some golf balls. Adam, you clearly are going to swing golf clubs and baseball bats as a lefts. This made things difficult for you as JD’s small clubs are a set of right-handed clubs. This didn’t stop you though; we were out there for a while!
Soon enough I was off to play golf with Chris, Chad and Chad for Chris’ birthday. Adam, you wanted to come with me so badly saying, “Addie come golf, Addie come golf?” You were quite upset when I pulled off. You and Mom brought JD to a birthday party for Owen. Mom said that all of the kids came running up to her car, as they were so happy to see JD. Mom said that it was quite the sight to see.
We all met at the Hamers house for a cookout late in the day. The boys played 18 holes in about 5.5 hours and the ladies and kids, along with some other people, were waiting for us back at the house. It was a perfect day for golf and nice to see everyone at night.
Throughout the course of this week, we also cut Adams hair. We sat him on the bar stool on the deck and gave him some chocolate. This might have been the only thing we could have given him to ensure he
would sit still for a few minutes. Along with the chocolate, I distracted Ad while mom trimmed his hair. Adam, as you saw you’re hair being cut off, you had a concerned look on your face and your said, “Addie’s hair??” 
