This year, the Firefighter Summer Olympics were held in San Jose. Being almost 7 months pregnant with Collin and having a rambunctious 2-year-old Madeline, mommy decided that rather than accompanying daddy to the softball fields and staying in a hotel for a week, we would fly to Maine and spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa in their summer home. We left on Saturday, July 17th with Grandma and Grandpa. Daddy took us to the airport and it was hard to say goodbye. He and Madeline have never been apart for more than a couple days and although he and I have spent weeks apart due to strike teams, etc. I was emotional about being apart for 12 days. Our flight was delayed over an hour, but Madeline was a pretty good girl at the airport (if you can call Long Beach an “airport”). She slept the entire flight and only cried a couple of times when we hit turbulence. She also slept most of the 3 hour drive from Boston to Boothbay. We kept busy our first day in Maine…cleaning the house, grocery shopping, buying Maddie some toys for our stay, etc. Mads slept 13 hours that night…mommy slept at least 12.
The next day, after a stop at the Trivett store for a much needed lobster roll, we visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, which were absolutely breathtaking. The brand new children’s garden had just opened the previous week and Madeline had a blast exploring the exhibits. Here are some pictures from the children’s garden and also throughout the remainder of the gardens. We only visited a portion of the main gardens because Mads fell asleep on Grandma’s shoulder (all of her exploring in the children’s garden tuckered her out)!
We spent a lot of our time in Maine just relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa’s beautiful home. Madeline loved swinging on the porch swing, exploring Grandma’s garden (she overcame her fear of bugs on this trip), and having campfires in the backyard. She absolutely loved the neighbors’ dog “Diva” (who she will describe as “a big old fluffy white dog”). We saw fireflies the first couple of nights we were there, but had no luck catching any. That will be a job for daddy next year. Mommy was not super eager to go traipsing through the bushes in the dark to catch bugs. Madeline squealed with excitement the first time she saw one light up in front of her.
(I should caption these photos with an explanation…Madeline was holding Grandpa’s beer (a Blue Paw of course) while he took his turn at horseshoes. Mommy and Grandma thought she looked so cute standing there with her baby, stroller, and this beer that we just had to get a picture for Daddy. While Mommy snuck around to take a picture, Madeline snuck a little drink of Grandpa’s beer…which she thoroughly enjoyed. What can I say, the girl has good taste...hahaha!)
We were lucky enough to have a visit from my dad’s cousin AJ and his family who live in Boston. They spent the whole weekend with us and Madeline was so excited to have the boys to play with. She was just crazy about Cameron and Connor…and they were so good with her. They played catch, the matching game, chase…pretty much anything she wanted them to do the entire time they were around. We had a big lobster cookout the night they arrived and Madeline was fascinated with the lobsters. She got to hold one for the very first time and even gave him a kiss! She was not too crazy about the fact that we all sat down to eat her friends after their trip to the “jacuzzi” and refused to eat any lobster herself, but she did try some other new foods while in Maine (lamb, calamari, white American cheese, and even had her very first s’more – yum!). While AJ, Sharon and the boys were in town, we stumbled upon this amazing little park just a few miles from my parents’ home in Boothbay. I believe it was called Barretts Park. The boys were able to swim and all of us got a little sun while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Maddie and Mommy (and baby Collin) were even able to take a dip in the chilly Atlantic. Madeline kept asking where the sand was at this beach…she truly is a California girl =]
Our last couple of days in Maine were spent seeing some new sights and visiting some of our old favorite hangouts. We took Madeline for a ride on the train at the Boothbay Railway Village. The village also contains a museum of old buildings, automobiles and even a fire station, which Madeline loved. After our ride on the train, we headed out to Ocean Point to comb the coast for sea glass and shells (one of Madeline’s most favorite activities). Ocean Point is absolutely beautiful and I would have to say it is one of my favorite places in all of Maine. We also dined at some of our favorite eateries, including McSeagulls and Robinsons Wharf. Mommy even got to try the infamous “Waffle Dog” which left me slightly underwhelmed.
It is always hard to leave Maine. It feels like home. It always makes me very sad to think that the house…our room…our bed…sits empty most days of the year. The time that we have there is so wonderful and we look forward to many more trips with our family in the years to come. It is a place where I want my kids to look forward to visiting every year just as much as I do…and I know they will. It was a little easier to leave this year because we missed Daddy so very much and we were anxious to see him. We had a 7:15 pm flight out of Portland to catch and Grandma and Grandpa drove us to the airport to see us off. Maddie and Mommy shared a lobster quesadilla at the Shipyard Brewpub in the airport before heading over to the gate to wait for our plane (so I guess I did manage to sneak the child some lobster…hahaha). This is when things began to go horribly wrong. The plane that was to take us from Portland to DC arrived about 20 minutes late. In that 20 minute time period, a thunderstorm hit the airport and the airfield was completely shut down. We had boarded the plane but sat helplessly on the runway for at least 40 minutes while torrential rain pounded the plane, lightning flashed all around us, and wind rocked the plane back and forth (keep in mind this was a SMALL plane so it was pretty horrifying). Once the rain stopped, our plane took off and our pilot seemed hopeful that we would make up some lost time in the air. Mads and I only had a one hour layover in DC before catching our plane to LAX, so I was pretty nervous that we would miss our flight. Chris and my parents were working on contacting the airline to see if the plane would be held for us should we arrive late. We were set to arrive in DC at 9:50 which would have given us 20 minutes to get to the next plane before takeoff. We’re not sure exactly what happened but our arrival was a tad bit delayed and we touched ground at Washington-Dulles at 10:05. I sprinted from one end of the terminal to the next with Madeline, a backpack, and fetus in tow only to watch our plane taxi away from the gate as we arrived. I’ve never felt so hopeless in my entire life! Mads and I were stuck in Washington DC for the night…with no luggage…no car seat…no daddy. Customer service was horrendous…you’d think that a pregnant mother traveling with a two-year-old might get a little help, but that most certainly was not the case. They had booked Mads and I on the 6:00 am flight to LAX and suggested that we sleep in the airport that night…SERIOUSLY?!?!? I demanded a hotel room and all they could provide us was a $99 room at a hotel 20 minutes away. We were also told that we would have to call for the shuttle, which would be 20-30 minutes out. At this point, it was almost midnight…Mads and I were both exhausted. The only nice person I could find in the entire airport was a cab valet who helped us find a hotel just 5 miles from the airport and a car seat to transport Mads. We were able to get the last two seats on an 8:00 am flight the next morning, so Maddie got about 6 hours of sleep in our overpriced hotel room, while I lie awake stressing. My big girl was such a trooper through all of this and really was a ray of sunshine throughout this horrible nightmare. She was awake our entire 5 hour flight home the next morning, but really was an amazing traveler and behaved remarkably considering she was confined to a single seat with a seatbelt the entire time. We made 5 trips to the bathroom (which was interesting to say the least), played the matching game a few times, colored, listened to music, sang, read books, drank ginger ale…everyone around us thought she was a doll, so I really can’t complain. We were both so excited when our plane touched ground and we met daddy at baggage claim with both of our bags (which I was sure the airline would have lost).
I’m pretty sure this was my last time traveling across the country with the kids by myself…at least for the next 10 years! I certainly will never fly United Airlines again and will never book the last flight of the day. I learned a lot during this trip, but most importantly I was reminded not to sweat the small stuff. After making it through an ordeal like this (with a happy two-year-old and healthy fetus to boot) I feel like super mom!
The next day, after a stop at the Trivett store for a much needed lobster roll, we visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, which were absolutely breathtaking. The brand new children’s garden had just opened the previous week and Madeline had a blast exploring the exhibits. Here are some pictures from the children’s garden and also throughout the remainder of the gardens. We only visited a portion of the main gardens because Mads fell asleep on Grandma’s shoulder (all of her exploring in the children’s garden tuckered her out)!
We spent a lot of our time in Maine just relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa’s beautiful home. Madeline loved swinging on the porch swing, exploring Grandma’s garden (she overcame her fear of bugs on this trip), and having campfires in the backyard. She absolutely loved the neighbors’ dog “Diva” (who she will describe as “a big old fluffy white dog”). We saw fireflies the first couple of nights we were there, but had no luck catching any. That will be a job for daddy next year. Mommy was not super eager to go traipsing through the bushes in the dark to catch bugs. Madeline squealed with excitement the first time she saw one light up in front of her.
(I should caption these photos with an explanation…Madeline was holding Grandpa’s beer (a Blue Paw of course) while he took his turn at horseshoes. Mommy and Grandma thought she looked so cute standing there with her baby, stroller, and this beer that we just had to get a picture for Daddy. While Mommy snuck around to take a picture, Madeline snuck a little drink of Grandpa’s beer…which she thoroughly enjoyed. What can I say, the girl has good taste...hahaha!)
We were lucky enough to have a visit from my dad’s cousin AJ and his family who live in Boston. They spent the whole weekend with us and Madeline was so excited to have the boys to play with. She was just crazy about Cameron and Connor…and they were so good with her. They played catch, the matching game, chase…pretty much anything she wanted them to do the entire time they were around. We had a big lobster cookout the night they arrived and Madeline was fascinated with the lobsters. She got to hold one for the very first time and even gave him a kiss! She was not too crazy about the fact that we all sat down to eat her friends after their trip to the “jacuzzi” and refused to eat any lobster herself, but she did try some other new foods while in Maine (lamb, calamari, white American cheese, and even had her very first s’more – yum!). While AJ, Sharon and the boys were in town, we stumbled upon this amazing little park just a few miles from my parents’ home in Boothbay. I believe it was called Barretts Park. The boys were able to swim and all of us got a little sun while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Maddie and Mommy (and baby Collin) were even able to take a dip in the chilly Atlantic. Madeline kept asking where the sand was at this beach…she truly is a California girl =]
Our last couple of days in Maine were spent seeing some new sights and visiting some of our old favorite hangouts. We took Madeline for a ride on the train at the Boothbay Railway Village. The village also contains a museum of old buildings, automobiles and even a fire station, which Madeline loved. After our ride on the train, we headed out to Ocean Point to comb the coast for sea glass and shells (one of Madeline’s most favorite activities). Ocean Point is absolutely beautiful and I would have to say it is one of my favorite places in all of Maine. We also dined at some of our favorite eateries, including McSeagulls and Robinsons Wharf. Mommy even got to try the infamous “Waffle Dog” which left me slightly underwhelmed.
It is always hard to leave Maine. It feels like home. It always makes me very sad to think that the house…our room…our bed…sits empty most days of the year. The time that we have there is so wonderful and we look forward to many more trips with our family in the years to come. It is a place where I want my kids to look forward to visiting every year just as much as I do…and I know they will. It was a little easier to leave this year because we missed Daddy so very much and we were anxious to see him. We had a 7:15 pm flight out of Portland to catch and Grandma and Grandpa drove us to the airport to see us off. Maddie and Mommy shared a lobster quesadilla at the Shipyard Brewpub in the airport before heading over to the gate to wait for our plane (so I guess I did manage to sneak the child some lobster…hahaha). This is when things began to go horribly wrong. The plane that was to take us from Portland to DC arrived about 20 minutes late. In that 20 minute time period, a thunderstorm hit the airport and the airfield was completely shut down. We had boarded the plane but sat helplessly on the runway for at least 40 minutes while torrential rain pounded the plane, lightning flashed all around us, and wind rocked the plane back and forth (keep in mind this was a SMALL plane so it was pretty horrifying). Once the rain stopped, our plane took off and our pilot seemed hopeful that we would make up some lost time in the air. Mads and I only had a one hour layover in DC before catching our plane to LAX, so I was pretty nervous that we would miss our flight. Chris and my parents were working on contacting the airline to see if the plane would be held for us should we arrive late. We were set to arrive in DC at 9:50 which would have given us 20 minutes to get to the next plane before takeoff. We’re not sure exactly what happened but our arrival was a tad bit delayed and we touched ground at Washington-Dulles at 10:05. I sprinted from one end of the terminal to the next with Madeline, a backpack, and fetus in tow only to watch our plane taxi away from the gate as we arrived. I’ve never felt so hopeless in my entire life! Mads and I were stuck in Washington DC for the night…with no luggage…no car seat…no daddy. Customer service was horrendous…you’d think that a pregnant mother traveling with a two-year-old might get a little help, but that most certainly was not the case. They had booked Mads and I on the 6:00 am flight to LAX and suggested that we sleep in the airport that night…SERIOUSLY?!?!? I demanded a hotel room and all they could provide us was a $99 room at a hotel 20 minutes away. We were also told that we would have to call for the shuttle, which would be 20-30 minutes out. At this point, it was almost midnight…Mads and I were both exhausted. The only nice person I could find in the entire airport was a cab valet who helped us find a hotel just 5 miles from the airport and a car seat to transport Mads. We were able to get the last two seats on an 8:00 am flight the next morning, so Maddie got about 6 hours of sleep in our overpriced hotel room, while I lie awake stressing. My big girl was such a trooper through all of this and really was a ray of sunshine throughout this horrible nightmare. She was awake our entire 5 hour flight home the next morning, but really was an amazing traveler and behaved remarkably considering she was confined to a single seat with a seatbelt the entire time. We made 5 trips to the bathroom (which was interesting to say the least), played the matching game a few times, colored, listened to music, sang, read books, drank ginger ale…everyone around us thought she was a doll, so I really can’t complain. We were both so excited when our plane touched ground and we met daddy at baggage claim with both of our bags (which I was sure the airline would have lost).
I’m pretty sure this was my last time traveling across the country with the kids by myself…at least for the next 10 years! I certainly will never fly United Airlines again and will never book the last flight of the day. I learned a lot during this trip, but most importantly I was reminded not to sweat the small stuff. After making it through an ordeal like this (with a happy two-year-old and healthy fetus to boot) I feel like super mom!
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