New Hampshire adventure, Day 1

Mid week we decided to take a quick trip to eastern New Hampsire for the weekend. We started early this morning to make the train at 10:30am. The train in question is the Conway Sceinic Railroad. We took the shortest trip, about an hour total, down to Conway (the train starts in North Conway). 

Pre-train ride. 

Someone's excited for the trip. 

It's tough to see, but Mt. Washington is in the distance. 

While most if us enjoyed the ride, Wes spent the entire trip covering his ears. He was exhausted and didn't like the loud noises. 

Coming into Conway!

Wearin' Daddy's hat. 

Later that day we went for a walk in the part of the White Mountain National Forest. We went up to Diana's Bath to see the waterfalls.  

Trying to get a good picture of the kids with Grammie and Grp at the falls. 

Just one level of the falls. 

And the paparazzi taking pictures.  

Tomorrow we're off to Story Land. Wish us luck. 

Farm Camp

Molly spent this past week at Farm Camp up at Wolfe's Neck Farm. Unsurprisingly, she loved it. She was a little shy at the first drop off, but quickly was comfortable enough and had a blast. 

They learned all about the farm and the animals on it. They even learned about the ocean as Wolfe's Neck is right on Caso Bay. 

On the last day the kids were able to pick a freshly laid egg right out of the chicken coop. 

Molly also wanted to pet one of the chickens (of course). 

Here she is with the egg. I'd say she's a bit excited. 

Boston

For Father's Day this year we had a special treat. We were able to spend it with Katie's family in Boston. There was a lot going on so there are a fair number of pictures here. 

The trip started early on Friday morning at the train station. Grammie and Gramp were on the same train so the kids got the double thrill of the train and their favorite people in the world. 

We had a rolling backpack for each kid to carry. Wes was extremely possessive and demanded that he carry his backpack the whole time. This led to some stress on the T and transferring trains. We all survived though. 

Another hit of the trip was the escalators. The kids, especially Wes, were all about riding them, even when we didn't need to. 

On Saturday we took the kids to the New England Aquarium. On the way there we saw a carousel and just had to stop. 

Molly, of course, rode the sea turtle (she spent the last few weeks of school studying turtles). 

At the aquarium the sea turtle was a big hit. 

We hoped the aquarium wouldn't be too crowded, but we were wrong. The people, plus the excitement and minus a nap led to some very tired kids. 

While we were in Boston we got a chance to run along the Charles River. It was a great way to see the area and have all of ME Against Myeloma together. 

Sunday was the big day. We took the kids to their first Red Sox game. Molly was really excited to both being going to Fenway and to be riding the T again. 

The kids with Gramp on top of the Green Monster. 

The weather couldn't have been better. It also helped that we were under the overhang so we weren't baking in the sun. 

What's better than having ice cream at the Red Sox? Or taking a rest in Gramp's lap?

Monday was another treat. We got to see friends of mine from high school on their East Coast trip. We spent the morning at the Museum of Science. The kids had a blast. We need to come back so they can see more of it. 

We got to see a lightning show in the same space that Katie had a sleep over for a school trip many, many, many, many moons ago. 

That afternoon we took a Duck Tour of Boston. One of the coolest things was the kids got to drive the duck boat on the Charles River! 

Wes was a trooper throughout the trip. He was surprisingly well behaved even though he didn't have a nap all weekend. The closest he go to taking a nap was about five minutes before this picture was taken at the end of the Duck Tour. 

All good trips must come to an end though. So we raced a commuter rail train out of North Station. 

Sea turtles

Molly studied sea turtles in school this spring. This weekend, as a part of a trip to Boston, we went to the New England Aquarium and... Got to see an actual sea turtle. 

 

Before that though, we saw a merry go round with a sea turtle. So we had to stop of course for a ride. 

And then we saw the real thing. 

The kids were both tired , but they did a great job at the aquarium. 

Let's dance!

This past weekend was the culmination of Molly's first foray into the world of professional dancing. Way back in the fall she started dance class at the Dance Studio of Maine and on Saturday she had her year-end recital. As you can imagine, she has loved the entire process and dance class has been a consistent highlight of her week. Here are a few pictures from dress rehearsal and the recital itself.

Getting hair and make-up ready.

This was actually from the dress rehearsal, but it sums up her "I'm ready" attitude.

Dancing on the way to the arts center.

It's tough to see in this picture, but Molly is literally jumping for joy.

Good luck kiss.

Practice, practice, practice.

A little warm-up routine with Mom.

My two lovely ladies.

And some more practice... 

Molly with the rest of her dance class. She's thrilled.

Wes got Molly some flowers and patiently waited to give them to her post-performance. He was not too impressed with me trying to get a picture of it.

All done. Time to celebrate!

Flowers for a job well done!