Our Trip to Maine

After our amazing trip to Vermont the previous fall, we set our sights on a new state for 2014 - MAINE! We had initially planned to go with friends but it ended up falling through and at one point we were thinking of cancelling the trip altogether. I'm so glad we went though, because we didn't realize at the time, but this was our last fall in New England! We went the weekend of October 9-12 and so we spent the final day of our trip celebrating Tyler's birthday.

This was Kaylee's first trip and night away from home and on the drive she passed through 4 states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine) and luckily napped through all of them :)

Our first stop was at the lighthouse in York,

Litte did we know this was the last time Abbie wouldn't cry when we asked a stranger to take our picture...

We met up with the Simmons family at Old Orchard Beach - they were staying in a beach house with family that weekend so they actually let us stay in their house in Portland that night!

The sky and ocean looked so cool!

Sarah and I - my first time in boots at the beach :)

J&A Playing at their beach house

After our first night in Maine and some amazing doughnuts for breakfast ... we headed up the coast to continue or journey. The next two nights we stayed at a house in Camden.

On our drive up to Camden

Looking down at Camden

love these two!

The kids posing before our lobster dinner

Tyler and I had lobster, Jackson tried and liked crab and Jackson and Abbie ate fish and chips

 On Saturday we headed up to Acadia - it was a couple hours north and not the best weather but worth the trip!

And abbie won't look ...

Abbie loved this leaf and took it home with her :)

The brightest tree we found!

 
The last day was Sunday, and Tyler's birthday! We celebrated with breakfast at home before packing up and heading to church but not before picking up more donuts :) Then we headed back to Portland where the wonderful Sarah Simmons watched all 3 kids while we went out on a little birthday lunch date!

33 years old!

Oh sure, now you'll smile Abbie! Tyler was just a little bugged

Jackson the adventurer

The potential family christmas card photo ... if only Abbie wouldn't have been screaming!

We had a great trip though and were so glad we visited Maine!

September Fun

September is a great month to be in Connecticut, the leaves are starting to change and we feel a crisp air, but there are still plenty of warm sunny days to enjoy!

Each Saturday morning began with Jackson's soccer game.

Cheesey Smile for Picture Day

His First Soccer Team

We were excited for Grandma to come visit for a few days! She was excited to meet Kaylee but Jackson and Abbie love her so much that they wouldn't give her much time with her because they wanted to play with her the whole time :) They had fun making shakes and even went on an overnighter trip to NYC! Tyler had a few meetings in the city and so they tagged along and explored while Kaylee and I stayed home.

Kaylee turned one month! 9 pounds 10 ounces

One Saturday we went on a big adventure in Western Connecticut, we started apple picking stopped at some waterfalls and ended up in Kent, a charming town with yummy sandwiches and an ice cream shop.

Jackson and Tyler went on their first father-son campout.

We went Pumpkin picking in Avon.

The month ended with my 29th birthday! I was spoiled with lots or presents and treats.

After dropping the big kids at school, Kaylee and I met Tyler for Brunch

Abbie and I have matching flyaway bands!

My Cake Bakers!

First Days of School

Abbie started joy school this year! She along with Alice, Arianna & Mariah took turns hosting joy school on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Jackson was in preschool. The other moms (Jeanette, Christina and Emily) are so great and did such amazing crafts and activities with the girls. While they are just 2 years old, they all have fun doing crafts and learning their letters!

So excited for her first day!

Big brother with a send-of hug, he didn't start until the following week.

Jackson started his second year at Pine Grove Nursery School, this year in the 4s class. His teachers are Mrs. Grinrod & Mrs. Peletier. Last year there were 7 girls and 3 boys in his class, and this year he's got the opposite - 7 boys and 3 girls which of  course Jackson was thrilled with. He had three of the same friends from last year, Audrey, Nate & Levi. It will be a longer day, starting at 9:00 and ending at 1:45 pm, he even gets to eat lunch at school. Of course picking out a new back pack and lunch box was his favorite part of back to school shopping. He chose a Firefighter Dusty Backpack and an Avengers Lunchbox.

He also got to start soccer the following week and was on a real soccer team. We were honestly a little underwhelmed by the whole Avon Soccer Club. There were no practices and the teams just met on Saturdays at 9 am for 20 mins of drills and then a 30 minute scrimmage. But Jackson had a real uniform so that's all he really cared about!

Our little soccer boy!

Kaylee's Newborn Photos

We hadn't used a photographer since moving to Connecticut, so I started looking around for someone to take Kaylee's newborn pictures before she was born. I told Tyler about it and he informed me our neighbor across the street, Kishore, recently bought a very nice camera and had been getting into photography. So in Tyler's mind, it was a no brainer that we have him take our newborn photos ;) I wasn't so convinced but since he was doing it for free I had to agree. 

The shoot didn't turn out super well but these first two pictures made it all worth it. The top one was used as our baby announcement photo. The rest of the pictures below have never been seen my anyone else. Abbie refused to be in any photos because she was nervous around the photographer and even Jackson wouldn't look or smile because the large camera scared him... But looking back (a year later) I'm still glad I have these photos ;)