Maine, part one

Our adventure up to Maine was a huge success. We spent more time traveling than actually in Maine, but we had a good time doing that too. Hannah was great in the car. She read books, played, sung to "my music" and watched Dora, Berenstein Bears, and Elmo (courtesy of the public library) on the portable DVD player we borrowed from the Harrelson family. Wow, did that DVD player make a difference. We didn't have them on our long car rides as kids (and we took some big ones) and were fine, I learned to count from exit signs and mile markers, but Hannah doesn't sleep for more than 30 minutes in the car, and only once a day. She had some very late nights and long days and the DVDs were quite helpful. I can also say that we didn't have any potty accidents the whole time. She was very good about telling us when she needed to go and then holding it until we got to a place to stop. We did have 2 emergency pull off to the side of the highway incidences within about 15 minutes of each other. Even then though, her car seat stayed dry. I"m sure the passing traffic loved seeing me holding a bare bottomed girl at an angle where she wouldn't get herself wet! Our first night on the road we stopped in VA at an old hotel, complete with the old horsey swing set. I"m not sure how safe it was, but we couldn't keep Hannah off of them. One of the horses was broken and Hannah had to pat it's head and tell him it would be alright. We got right back into the car and drove to Newark, NJ. Mimi and Papa caught up with us there (only an hour or so behind us - and they left Sunday morning as opposed to Saturday afternoon!) and stayed with Hannah while Justin and I headed into the Big Apple. We caught a train into the city, rode the subway to Ground Zero (what Justin really wanted to see) and then back up to Time Square. Justin saw the Statue of Liberty when he was a kid, but this was his first NYC experience. We ate dinner at 10pm from a vendor and then headed back to NJ on the train before our parking garage closed. It was a very short experience but I loved every minute of it. I think that was it for Justin, he's done NYC now and has no desire to go back. Party Pooper. The next morning we drove across Staten Island (saw the Statue of Liberty in the distance) into Long Island and drove to the Hamptons. Justin's cousin, Elizabeth, has an awesome store called Homespun. Everything in the shop is made in America. It's a great shop with very tasteful merchandise. Elizabeth has a great gift for finding wonderful items for her store and her house was gorgeous and beautifully decorated as well. The Hamptons are lucky to have her there! We drove all the way to the end of the Hamptons and caught a ferry to take us into Conn. We saw lots of lighthouses (yippee!) and several people in our group (Justin included) rode on a ferry for the first time. It was a fun experience and a neat way for everyone to stretch their legs for a while, and still put lots of miles behind us. We got off the ferry and drove on up into Maine. We arrived at the hotel greeted by lots of Vitters. Stay tuned for
part 2.

Summer Fun - Catching Up

We are back from our trip to Maine. It was wonderful, and I promise to post some pictures and details, but before I can do that I need to put some pictures up from some events before we left.

The Friday night before we left town, we went to the Riverbanks Zoo for Member's Night (we missed the first two because we didn't know about them - Thanks Sharon for sharing the info with us!) with the Harrelson family. Hannah got to ride the train and the carousel for the first time (they were free!). She ride the carousel twice and loved it. She absolutely loves the zoo, and had a great time with Bethie and (little) Austin. Thanks Erin and Robert for helping me out so much too :). We will certainly be going again next summer. (more pictures are on Facebook)

Hannah has loved going to the Taylor's swimming pool this summer and playing with Logan and (big) Austin. She likes to try to keep up with the big boys. This past time, the boys rescued a frog from the pool, and while Logan and Hannah were busy watching him hop away, Stephanie and Austin were saving a bat (yes, a real live bat) that had spent some time floating. Austin did a good job of keeping Bree away from the bat. Hannah loves the water, but loves it even more with friends. So does Mommy! Thanks for all the fun pool dates Steph!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July. We were a little worried about Hannah and the fireworks, since last year was a disaster, but it was great! She loved her 4th of July dress and wore it day after day after day. Luckily her bathing suit was worn most of the day so she really didn't have the dress on that much. We camped out at the Parrish Family's Chapin lake house again and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Hannah would call it her house, and she loved to swim off the dock. We had two boats there and she liked when she was actually on the boat ride, but you had to convince her to go because she really wanted to be in the water swimming. She is amazing in the water. I had to find a float for her this summer that would allow her the independence that she wants in the water. The one I found is great. She's too little for it technically, but handles herself better than most older kids in it. She very rarely wants you to touch her. She has amazing control over herself in and does a great job of actually swimming. She's a great kicker. Justin isn't really touching her at all in the picture of Hannah swimming. She LOVES to jump into the water, off the dock, the boat (the side of the pool) and has even started to do it without us catching her (only in the pool). She goes under, bobs back up, shakes off the water and says "do it again!". She also loves for her daddy to "1,2,3" her. This involves Justin throwing her into the air and catching her. She was also a big fan of her family jumping in off the dock and splashing. Uncle Jeff and Daddy's jumps were the craziest, Grandaddy's was the biggest splash and wave, and even Mimi jumped in one time. We literally spend hours at a time in the water. Kodak was with us and did an AWESOME job in his crate (this is a new thing for him since the house has been on the market), he even got thrown in multiple times and discovered it was okay to go in the water where he couldn't touch. He also went on his first boat ride. He seemed to like it okay.

Fireworks went well too, surprisingly. We took the boat out to Spence Island and watched the fireworks from the middle of the lake. It never even phased Hannah. Immediately after the show she fell asleep and slept the whole boat ride home. The next day (Sunday) we got to see lots of fireworks from the dock. People all around the cove were shooting them off and we got to enjoy them! Hannah and Maddie loved it.

Justin had the birthday he likes the best. Hanging out on the water, in the boat, with lots of good food and no stress! It was a great weekend with great fun, food, and especially friends and family. Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday Justin!

Father's Day Project

This week Hannah and I finally got around to making her annual Father's Day gift. Each year we've made Daddy a garden stepping stone. One day he'll hopefully have somewhere to put them! The past two years I've had to have serious help getting it accomplished. This year I did have some serious help, in the form of an eager two year old! She was so excited. She grabbed the water while I was grabbing the camera and dumped all of it in, about a cup too much. The extra cup was supposed to be reserved to add a TBSP at a time. Oops. Cute picture though. She actively helped with the whole thing. This is the first one with her hand prints. Her feet have gotten bigger (obviously) and aren't as cute as her little 2 month old feet were. She loved doing her hands though. We had to redo it several times before we got it right. Unfortunately, it was a rainy afternoon (or the threat of it) so we had to do it inside, but surprisingly there were no huge messes. Whew. I wonder what next year will hold.