Day 2 (full day) Shaw's and Puffin Cruise...

So, on our second full day in Maine, "The Way Life Should Be," Christine and I decided to take Harrison to the ER since his fever had lasted over 72 hours. We went to the hospital in Augusta and it was the smallest, least crowded ER I have ever seen (except for on TV) Wasn't there a Michael J. Fox movie called Doc Hollywood? It sort of reminded me of that, only it was not set up in an old house!) It was quaint! The downside was that even though we were taken right back, we ended up waiting for quite a while for the entire staff to enjoy a leisurely lunch (at least that's my best guess!) When the PA finally came in, he was rushed and rude-taking offense to any questions we had. But, we got a prescription and were on our way back to meet up with the guys and girls.

We all set off on a short road trip to the coast for some lobstah and a puffin cruise. Below is our food at Shaw's (featured in the movie, "Message in a Bottle" with Kevin Costner) We had originally planned to eat on the deck, but we didn't account for the STRONG seafood odor or the heat wave (85 degrees!), so we opted for inside. I was really excited to finally try some honest to goodness Maine Lobstah! It was so thoughtful of our hosts to treat us too! (Thanks again guys!) The lobstah meat was good, but the actual process of getting it out was pretty messy and thank goodness for Ted's mini-lesson! One step thoroughly grossed out Paige and I! The onion rings were good too!

Noah looks like an old pro

Harry hamming it up for the camera. I don't even think he tried a bite. This lobstah was simply a prop he used in order to gain more camera time! (Disclaimer: No lobstahs were harmed in the filming of these photos. OK, they were, but they were delicious!)
"Now I have to put my finger where!?"

So sweet.


"Ahoy, puffin ahead!" (OK, not really... we were still docked at this point, but it sounded good)

Gracie and Sophie

On the way out to the island where the puffins hang out... It was pretty chilly as the sun was starting to go down. I'm not feeling too bad at this point, but poor Christine. What a trooper to still take a few snapshots feeling as bad as she was)

Harrison and a borrowed hat

Once we returned to the dock and Christine and I felt normal again, Sophie started saying something was "Stinky" we turned to find her plugging, and I do mean plugging her nose. What character this girl is! I love it!

Below are the tourist trap every "local" hates, but Christine and the gang were so patient and even joined in to humor us out-of-towners!

Lobstah Sophie

"Please, don't eat me!"
Noah the clam

Lobstah Gracie

Harrison is happy as a clam!

I don't know what look Harry is going for here...

see below for the second half of our day!

Day 2 continued...Pemaquid Point

After the Puffin cruise, we drove just a little bit further and up the coast to Pemaquid Point to see the lighthouse. All I can say is BREATHTAKING! It is so beautiful there! The granite cliffs with the waves crashing against them and the lighthouse above is perfect. God's beauty surrounded us and we felt so calm and relaxed (except when Harry and Ted were scaling tall uneven rocks with kiddos in their arms!) Gracie watching the sunset.
Me and the kiddos...(Me- feeling MUCH better to be on stable land!)
Team Chenoweth in Maine

Mommy and her boy

Noah on the rocks. He is such a cutie pie! Gracie really loves him.

Chillin' with Daddy

Sunset Girls

Now, this was taken through the McDonald's drive-thru on the way home from Pemaquid Point. The guys and daughters went inside to order (see previous post for mention of Gracie's urges!), while the ladies and sons opted for drive-thru. Christine asked the drive-thru employee to tell the guys ordering (or maybe it just Harry) that they had cute buns. She did and Harry's response was to back into our view so we could have a more enjoyable view. You can't take us anywhere! When we got back to the house, we couldn't wait to get out on that porch and relax again before bed. (Did I mention we slept in Paige's room (Thanks Paige!) and she has a sleep number bed. We just could not figure out our number! We ended up sleeping in a crater but still comfy. On Full Day 3 or 4, Christine discovered our predicament and fixed it up just right! Thanks Christine!) Another wonderful day with the coolest family in Maine!

Stay tuned for (full) day 3 and don't forget to check out Christine's version of events!

Day 1 in Maine- "Tasting"

OK, so here is the first post from our vacation to visit our friends. Christine had a great idea... each of us are going to post our very favorite pictures and describe the day from our perspective. It should be fun to see the differences. I had a REALLY hard time choosing which pictures to post. Check out her version by clicking her highlighted name above...

Now, the afternoon we flew in we had a little adventure. Ted and Noah picked us up in Boston and we were on our way to their house where Christine was slaving in the kitchen to make us a yummy spaghetti dinner. We were an hour into the 3 hour drive when the van decided it needed a break, so we took a little detour into a town in New Hampshire (I can cross this state off my list of places to visit now!). We had a lovely impromptu dinner at a little cafe (although, it was not as yummy as the spaghetti waiting for us back in the kitchen) and browsed in a nice little home decorating store while we waited for our new driver (Christine) to come south to rescue us. We thought we did a good job of entertaining ourselves inconspicuously, but apparently we were fooling ourselves... As we left the store, one of the guys made a crack about a male employee (who was on the phone for the last few minutes we were in the store) saying he looked like he was calling the cops on us. We all laughed and walked out to find a police cruiser slowly inching past the storefront keeping his eyes on us the entire time! (the center was closing soon and we were about the only people in the area.) I guess we were not buying anything so... Christine got there JUST in time! Boy, those Yankees are a suspicious bunch! ;-) On our first full day they took us to the Sea Dog Brewery where they brew their own beer (and do some cooking too). We went to do a little "tasting". Here is the gang (minus one awesome hostess) in front.
Above is Sampler tray of their very own beer.

This was Harry's face throughout pretty much the entire tasting!


Harrison is ready to taste anything right about now!




Sophie is doing a little "tasting" of her own! What a cutie pie!

I "tasted" some Maine Blueberry Pop and REAL New England Clam Chowder while I was IN New England! How cool is that!?! Campbell's has nothing on the Sea Dog!

This REALLY IS Blueberry pop! Looks like Noah has been hitting the Sampler Tray too!

After we got home from the Island, the girls let the hens "taste" some of their feed too!

Maggie is thinking about "tasting" the Southern visitors or the hens, I'm not sure (not really, but the night before for sure!) . She really warmed up to us pretty quickly. What a beautiful, well-behaved dog.

Day 1 in Maine- Continued...

After lunch and "tasting" our favorite family took us to Bailey Island. It was beautiful. There is a rocky coastline and a really cool gift shop with great prices. It was a great place to rest and watch the kids (and Harry) search for shells, rocks, crabs, etc. It was perfect timing with low tide. The weather up there is wonderful. Not too hot or humid like we have in the South. I ended up having pretty good hair days! Christine and I both ended up getting the girls matching dresses. Below the girls are in the ones from Christine. We got the girls "lobstah" lollipops in the gift shop for them to eat on the drive home. (You're welcome Ted!) The girls rode everywhere with the Daddies, so we ladies had no lollipop aftermath! We had to take 2 vehicles everywhere as our crew was pretty massive. It was nice though. It gave us girls time to catch up and the guys were able to talk about whatever guys do, with the exception of two VERY talkative preschoolers interjecting every now and then! The other bonus of having the girls ride with their daddies is that my Gracie has a tendency to get the "urge" to check out random restrooms pretty frequently, so they had to make more stops on all our road trips (You're welcome again Ted!) "Boy, are these lollipops WICKED good!" (See, we blended right in! Although, I did have a few people tell me I have an accent!)
Best Friends
Harrison was REALLY happy tucked up against pretty Paige. She was so helpful with the kids. She is a wonderful young lady with cool shades!
Finally in MAINE!!
Sweet boy! Christine was so sweet to take all the pictures for me because I forgot to bring my battery charger for my camera. She is really very talented, and I am really very grateful!
Here are the girls being goofy.
More goofy girls!
Here is a pretty rock Gracie is showing off. "Look at this one Mommy!"
Sophie found one too!

I LOVE this one of Baby Boy! He came down with a fever of 103.5 the night before we flew to Maine, and it continued for 3 days, yet he kept a smile on his face pretty much the entire time. He is a great baby. We got some great souvenirs in the gift shop, and then headed home to have awesome spaghetti (finally) and relax on the perfect front porch in the comfy chairs... more to come... check back for Day 2 details and don't forget to visit Christine's version too!

A Few Last Favorites...

Harrison holding Daddy's hand
Kissy-kissy from Sissy!
Back at ya!

We got home late last night from visiting our wonderful friends up North. We had a fantastic time and didn't want to leave! It definitely ranks way up there in our list of favorite vacations! I'll be posting some pictures as soon as I get them from Christine as she had to take all the pics for me since my camera battery died. Thanks again Christine! We miss you already!

More from our photo shoot...

We are going to visit Gracie's friend Sophie in Maine. I'll have LOTS of pics when we get home!