Welcome West Coast Guests

Last month, we were fortunate enough to get a visit from Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Abbie, from all the way across the country; Portland, Oregon! Though not NEARLY long enough, their visit was a little bit of Heaven for all of us! (As luck would have it, my newly repaired camera arrived the day they left for home....so our adventures were all documented with a lovely assortment of high quality cell phone pictures! Enjoy!)

We crammed as much as we could into the short week they were here! We started with a trip to the Portland Children's Museum, where saw the camera obscura, conducted a science experiment, and laughed ourselves to tears as we tried to make a video of us singing a multi-lingual song! Hilarious!!

Next, we visited Mackworth Island where we hiked around the island and learned some history of the city, learned ASL from some deaf children who attend school on the island, and had fun building our own fairy house in the

Fairy Village.

We took a trip to Portland Head Light and explored the ruins at Fort Williams.

Finally, we walked along the Eastern Promenade, saw the Chocolate Moose at Len Libby's, and visited several beaches, where saw and learned a bit more about digging for clams.

After we'd had seen what Portland had to offer, we headed down to Boston for a few days. We enjoyed the Freedom Trail, amazing food (Pizza Regina and some delicious Lobster Rolls at Quincy's Market, and some to-die-for cannolis at Mike's Pastries), and spent an entire day at The Boston Children's Museum.

If you haven't been to the Boston Children's Museum, it is definitely a must-see to add to your list! We spent an entire day there and saw less than half of the rooms!

Grins and Wiggles made it to the top of the 3-story-high climbing web (with Abbie assisting Wiggles), but Angel opted out after the second level, stating that the 'floor was wiggling' which was a bit disconcerting to her.

The museum boasts an exhibit where you use your body to power various things - including pulling yourself up! We had such fun with friendly competitions!

Half a day wasn't NEARLY long enough at the Boston Science Museum, where we could easily have spent a week or more - we will have to plan more time on our next trip to Boston!

Wiggles kept spinning until she was so dizzy she could hardly stand; quite entertaining to all those around her!

Angel enjoyed putting together a model of a human body.

Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of our visits to the USS Constitution (where Wiggles wooed the guard with her blonde curls which earned us a rare priviledge), the Bunker Hill Monument (where the children each climbed the nearly 300 stairs independently!), Boston Common, and, most exciting for the children, a Hotel with a POOL!

(I didn't get any shots of us swimming but how cute is Angel, walking down the hall in her towel and boots?! She wanted to swim every waking moment - before anyone else was even awake!)

Through all the sight-seeing, late nights and few naps, the kids held up remarkably well (although we did wear Wiggles and Grandpa out, as was evidenced by them napping in the hall!)

When we dropped our guests off at the airport and bid them farewell, Angel broke down sobbing, and cried for much of the (2 hour) drive home! She said she missed them already, and the following conversation ensued:

Angel: Can we please go back to Oregon with them? Why did we have to move all the way out here to Maine where there are no grandparents or cousins?!

Me: Well, we need to purchase some airplane tickets before we can get on the plane.

Angel: Let's buy some right now, please?!

Me: Airplane tickets cost quite a bit of money; it will take us some time to save enough money for our whole family to go.

Angel: How am I supposed to earn money for plane tickets? I don't have a job, and I don't earn very much for allowance because I don't like doing chores!

Me: Well, you can help ME save the money by not asking for lots of extra things every time we go to the store. Extra toys, treats and trips to restaurants may not cost a lot by themselves, but they add up. Maybe each time we see something we really want, we can put the money we would spend on it into a special "Airplane ticket fund" instead. Does that sound like a good way for you to help save up?

Angel: Yes. That sounds great.

(half an hour later, on the way home)

Me: We need to stop at COSTCO to get some groceries and get gas.

Angel: No! We can't spend any money! We have to save it all for the airplane tickets!!!

Me (chuckling): Wow! You were listening??!!