We're back..

The Maine Gang 2011
This picture makes me happy. Not sure why. I just love Chris's curiosity and new found love for water and of course that little Buddha belly is an added bonus!

The boys are in LOVE! (Aiden with Grammie and Chris with Dziadzu)

Grammie and Aiden after enjoying some delicious ice cream.

Daddy and Chris. Life is good.

Our second annual family picture in front of this lovely appleless apple tree.

Aiden and Dziadu (above), Chris and Grammie (below) on the boys first trolley ride. They held on for their lives but "claimed" to love it!

Busy boy Aiden working hard at arranging and rearranging his trucks at the beach. I loved this piece of driftwood. It made the perfect little tike's bench. I love it so much, we brought it home with us. A perfect beach reminder! Thanks Eric for being our transporter!

Totally spent. Chris after a busy day of playing at the beach.

So... we're back and in full swing of trying to get things done around the house with two little tikes who would prefer to still be on vacation with the constant attention from 7 willing adults!

We had an amazing time and truly perfect weather. Yes, Hurricane Irene struck but after one day of rain, we had 5 gorgeous days of sunny skies and cool breezes. We'll take it! That's just what perfect vacations are made of. Aiden and Chris were truly in their glory. They were as happy as I have ever seen them. Mike and I delighted in seeing them enjoy the beach so much. Their independence soared and they were totally into running and playing for hours. Glorious for all of the adults! The week literally flew by, perhaps because so much time was spent at the beach. My only complaint is that I could go for a few dozen more weeks like that. Heck, Mike and I even got out for an afternoon without the kiddos! We were thrilled to kayak and enjoy some adult only time (thank you to all of the adults!)

If we're being honest I woke up in a funk this morning. We had a wonderful RI vacation at the beginning of the summer and ended the summer with a great week in ME with the Pt's and now what? Luckily for me, I am spoiled and yes, I have a another mini-vacation to look forward to NEXT weekend {Details to follow when I return next weekend} but the family vacations are on hold until next summer.

The car rides weren't too bad and we made it both ways without stopping. I consider that a feat. Aiden and Chris ate well, slept well and behaved well. Could we please have a repeat?

This weekend has been spent catching up on much needed laundry and cleaning. I cleaned obsessively before we left yet still came home feeling like the house was messy. Is that possible? We spent some time cleaning our garage and still have more work to do but I am beyond thrilled to have some shelving in there and we're on our way to feeling organized. Hip hip hooray! This afternoon we took a break from our chores and had a fun visit with Uncle Andrew and Melissa at Mamie and Grandpa's. We chatted, the boys ran around, swam and relaxed until they reached their breaking point then we headed home.

Early tomorrow morning we say goodbye to Uncle Danny who joined us for much of our vacation but is headed back to sunny FL. We are sad to see him go but hopefully that someday he will realize deep down inside that he was born to be a New Englander, right Dan? I guess in the meantime I'll just settle for our regular weekly phone calls. Grammie and Dziadzu are also stopping by and we are thinking of checking out Farm Fest in Suffield mid-morning. Why? Well, that's what we're all about! In the meantime, happy Labor Day. Have a wonderful, relaxing long weekend!