Portland, Maine

For months leading up to May, my inbox kept getting more packed with information about our last days and weeks at Tuck. Activities, parties and events galore. Not to mention the emails we got about graduation. But the two weeks in between the time when classes and finals ended and the students actually graduated - also known as Disorientation - was seriously packed. Something to do every day. 

One of the activities I really wanted Ryan to do was a trip with his classmates to Portland, Maine. I didn't think it was feasible for our whole family to go. I just felt like it would be more of a hassle than anything. Plus, Leah was still in school and we'd have to take her out for at least two days. So, I deleted the email and pestered Ryan to go with his friends. 

Well, Ryan didn't want to go without me. 

I didn't want to go unless there were other families going. 

So, I pestered a few other families and voile! Everyone was happy. I purchased some cheap boat shoes (because you can't go to Maine without boat shoes) and off we went.

I'm so glad we did. Our girls were amazing on the three hour drive there. When we arrived, we loaded a ferry and headed to Whitby Island for a private lobster bake.

Kate loved the ferry ride and my heart skipped about 17 beats as she leaned over as far as she possibly could to feel the ocean air on her face. So then I quickly took her inside so she could view it safely from behind the glass.  

Honestly, I turned in my little lobster ticket and got a plateful of the most deliciously fresh lobster I will ever eat. 

We played on the grass and hiked down to the shore and just had a great time relaxing in the sun. Kate, per her usual self, hated the grass and Leah loved playing with everyone...especially her Beloved Blythe. 

The girls loved the hotel room where they did NOT nap. Kate made a new friend in the mirror and then slammed her finger in the drawer. It wasn't pretty. Note the bright green bandage on her little finger. That was after we cleaned up all the blood.

We distracted ourselves from no naps and smashed fingers with dinner and a night out to see the Portland Sea Dogs. It was a relatively warm  night, but little girls with 1% body fat get cold quickly.

Unlike most of the students, we skipped the pub crawl and retired early to ready ourselves for a day of sightseeing. Leah was obviously enthralled with our current book of choice - a Boxcar Children mystery.

After the girls fell asleep, Ryan went to grab some ice cream with his good friend Brent. It, apparently, was the highlight of his entire trip. He came back and would not stop talking about the blueberry sour cream crumble ice cream. (I'm writing this post more than two months later and he still hasn't stopped talking about it.)

The next morning, the weather had a different idea. We braved the rain for a yummy breakfast with the Holbrooks. But we weren't brave enough to do much more than that. We decided to head to Freeport to checkout the flagship L.L. Bean store with the Dances. After enjoying the giant aquarium and enormous children's section, we snapped a picture in front of the big boot and headed to Trader Joe's to make my heart (and tummy) happy. 

Then of course we had to get one more blueberry sour cream crumble before heading home in the rain. 

 

I'm so glad we decided to go and experience Maine firsthand with some of our very best friends!