Out of all the holidays, Memorial Day in Kennebunkport is pretty special to Alan and I. Our first was when Caroline was two years old and it's been so much fun ever since. Watching the kids grow and take part has been really neat.
So, this year it was projected to be cold, but not as brutal as last year! Thankfully, it was cool but not cold. The cold, moist air didn't settle in until the parade was finished. Caroline had a ball with her Brownie Troop and George had a lot of fun watching. This will probably be the last year watching it with him as he moves in to taking part in the parade as well! We'll see ;)
This year was a little different as Barbara Bush passed away last month and George Bush was in town, but went to the hospital the day before because he was ill. His first he's missed in decades :/
No cookouts this year, besides dinner at home. The rest of the day was spent hanging around the house and relaxing before a busy week ahead!
We didn't even know someone else was taking a picture, but
George ended up on the K'port FD FB page :)
(which reminds me of those awesome pictures of Caroilne that were
Ahh sweet Mother's Day. My favorite day, although it still means waking up at the crack of dawn like the other holidays, but at least it's met with "Good morning Mommy. Happy Mother's Day!" versus "WAKE UP! Let's go see what I got!!!!"
We tried something different this year, breakfast NOT in bed. It was nice and easier to eat :) Then it was gift time and relaxing time. We were going to go on a walk, but I woke up with a horrible sinus headache and congestion so we just lazed the day away until it was time to head over to Barbara's for a Mother's Day lobster feast.
We enjoyed the afternoon there, hanging out and eating and then we headed home. With a detour at Big Daddy's. It was opening weekend and a nice way to end Mother's Day ;)
May. I forgot just how busy you were. Don't worry, I wont doubt you next year. I'll remember, that you are busier than December and you yield no cookies or presents. May is filled with teacher appreciation day's, all the field trips crammed in to one month, LOTS of school board items, all the doctor appointments for me because I wont have a chance during the summer and for the kids because that's how they align because of their beginning of the school year appointments. Then you add in Mother's Day, Memorial Day, extra fun things you added and you've got yourself a busy month. But, not much to take pictures of :)
Dress up lunch!
Dress up breakfast
Finally, a beautiful morning!
Dress up day at school!
She finally got to show her friends
her costume
Her class singing the school song
Alan and the new grill
(can't say its his since I do most of the grilling )
George's teacher appreciation cards :)
George at the eye doctor
George's little bird
He came down the stairs one morning
and said he saw a baby bird in the nest.
I didn't believe him.
Then I came down the stairs and saw it later that day
It hadn't made a nest, but it does like sitting on the wreath or
the deck rail. It's been hanging around for about 2 weeks
The last half of April was a blur. Between trying to get back into the swing of things post vacation, getting ready for spring and summer - finally, lots of doctor appointments, and lots of school board things, we really crammed a lot in! May is even busier, but it's the final push until summer break!
Our first picnic outside!
Caroline helping out the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital
As with any vacation, our last day was bittersweet. We had a great time and were just really getting into the vacation mode and we didn't want it to end. We tried to keep it going, but since it was Spring Break all the returning flights were booked so no extra day for us! Thankfully, we tacked on the extra day in the beginning before we arrived because it definitely wouldn't have been enough.
On our last day our flight didn't leave until 6pm and we didn't have to meet the bus that would take us until 3pm so we made the most of it! We got a 1pm checkout which definitely helped! First up was breakfast at O'hana. We had been looking forward to this for a long time! I had heard nothing but good things about O'hana's food and the breakfast had the extra benefit of having some of our favorite characters, Lilo and Stitch! Thankfully, one of Disney World's best restaurants is located at the Polynesian so all we had to do was roll out of bed and go next door!
Breakfast was absolutely delicious and there was plenty of it! It was served family style so whenever you were low on a couple of things, they refilled everything. This was great for the Stitch and Mickey waffles and meats, but since I'm really the only egg eater there was a bit of waste. To start off, we were served a sweet pineapple bread and the house juice was a blend of papaya, orange and mango that Caroline and I especially loved!
The characters went on a restaurant wide parade, just like the Tusker House, which the kids loved. We loved meeting Lilo and Stitch and it was nice to say, "goodbye" to Mickey before we left. Pluto was hanging out outside the restaurant so we made sure to stop and say "hello" and "good bye" to him as well!
With stuffed bellies we headed back to our room and changed into our swim suits, did a little bit of packing and headed to the pool for a couple of hours.
Then, it was time to take showers and finish packing, return the stroller to Bell services, and drop off our luggage as well. We headed back to Capt' Cooks one last time and grabbed a light lunch. We ate outside for the first time there since the weather was gorgeous. We learned that isn't the best, because even though it's beautiful and shady, the birds there are relentless! The ducks were sweet and not a bother, but oh those birds! One dive bombed George's hot dog and grabbed the bun. It came back a second time and Alan almost hit it as he smacked it away from George!
After that I grabbed a few last things from the store there that we had missed earlier. After breakfast we actually checked out the store for a few last minute souvenirs. Caroline decided she just HAD to have a stitch stuffed animal like George too :)
We found time for one last stop for Dole Whips and then it time to say "good bye" for real. As we waited for the bus Caroline stopped and chatted with the hula instructor. I stayed aside with George and over heard a bit of the conversation. It was so sweet, I about died. They had really taken to each other.
The kids loved the bus ride to the airport since we let them sit next to each other and we sat in the seats behind them. Quite grown up! Then we got settled into the airport, checked out the cool Harry Potter store they had there since Universal has Harry Potter World (which we'll head to in a couple of years) and boarded the plane. The good thing was it was non-stop, 3 hours, but the bad thing was once we got to Providence we had a 2 hour drive back. George slept the ENTIRE flight back! Woke up once, but went right back out. We hit a drive-thru on the way out of the airport area and then Caroline fell asleep.
We were glad to be home after a long journey, in our own beds and to see Lucy and Butterscotch the following morning BUT we also would have preferred waking up at the Polynesian ;)
All in all, it was an amazing trip and one we still talk about daily. Just the way it should be :)
Caroline modeling her flower clip
which Lilo pointed out that it was similar to hers!
Aww Mickey! We'll miss you!
Stitch!
He was indeed Fluffy! :)
He also loved that George had him on his t-shirt
Lilo!
Maraca and parade time!
One last family picture, with Pluto!
We hadn't seen Pluto yet so we were glad he
was there for breakfast
Ahh a little relaxing time to rest my belly
while the kids jumped right in.
Everyone had a lot of fun with the GoPro and doing interviews
this trip. Caroline had practiced interviews at school so she was quite versed!
Sigh, time to check out
The kids were mostly always in the hallway in the stroller
so this was cute to see them walk down the hall, with their bags,
but also a sad little "last time" picture
Since they were always in the stroller I got to hit
the elevator button every time so there was a bit of a
fight this last time :)
Some pictures of the entrance areas to the hotel
George loved this lobby tv! He could watch his shows that he had been missing this week :P Caroline was off to the side chatting with the hula instrctor
Once last meal at the Poly
Good bye Cinderella's castle off in the distance
We walked approximately 55 miles, Alan and I's pedometer differed,
