Coney Island!

My first post on the updated WordPress! (Means nothing to you but wanted to document the fact for myself!)

Anyhow, last Saturday we went to Coney Island to celebrate the anniversary of Syvlie’s birthday! She turned 4! We met them at Deno’s, the section of rides for the kids. They had lots of fun riding boats, spinning on dragons, a roller coaster, monster trucks, fighter jets and “hot air” balloons. After that we rode on the Wonder Wheel, played skee ball and had a beer on the boardwalk. All the kids rode back with us in the car to Starr and Brian’s house for dinner and cupcakes. Good times!

Sienna’s already learned how to cat call from a car! LOL

Starr bought these and I scanned them in. Look at my roller coaster fiend! And poor Sylvie!

I love this capture!

 Heading to the Wonder Wheel!

Starr didn’t want to go in the moving car so Brian kept her company.

Girls in the front!
Boys in the back!
The Boys checking out the beach
Do you see the bird on the dog?

First Day of K!

Yesterday was Sienna’s first day of Kindergarten! I can’t believe it!
First day of K!
I saw a popular thing around the internet with people taking photos of their kid’s first day and a sign of their grade. I had Sienna write the K and hold it up for me when we were leaving the house.
Her friend, Emma, is in class K102 with Miss Cregg as well so I’m glad she knows someone. There are about 3 other kids from her PreK class in there as well. The first day was only until 11:30 and they got served lunch before leaving. Sienna said she ate the roasted chicken, rice and chocolate milk. There will be days I’m going to pack her lunch as some of the menu items don’t really sound so healthy (uh, mozzarella sticks for lunch??).
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Waiting in the auditorium with Emma
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I took 2 photos like this, this one is the better of the 2.
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The teacher had the kids draw a picture of them and whoever took them to school this morning. Then we would write a note on the drawing for them to see when they are feeling sad or scared in class. Looks like that boy in the red shirt is already tired!
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Here’s Sienna’s drawing and my note. She loves when I sing that song to her so I thought it would be nice to write that on her drawing.

Today is the first full day of school!! I hope she is doing ok.

Ellsworth, ME

Yves had to go to a GS conference in Chicago in July for a week, leaving the day before MY BIRTHDAY! So, instead of wallowing at home without him, I decided to drive up to Maine to hang out with Geneva and her girls. Remember we went to visit them last year during Hurricane Irene. I was hesitant at first for a couple of reasons.
1. Driving all that way by myself. Got spoiled being the navigator and seeking out restaurants to stop at and hotels with pools, on the go with my Ipad. Not a fan of fast food so stopping at the rest stops to eat wasn’t appealing.
2. Sienna had been driving me nuts the past few months with her attitude, whininess and defiance. Typical 5 year old stuff and still pale in comparison to some others of her age range but again, got spoiled by her usual easy going spirit of her younger years.

Well, finally just decided to go for it and I’m so glad I did. The drive to and from Maine were very pleasant and we both got along very well. I even rented a movie that I downloaded onto my Ipad just in case it was needed. It was not! (And hence, I let it expire as I wasn’t aware it did so after 30 days!) I broke up each trip into 2 days because really, what was the rush? And Sienna loves staying in a hotel with a pool. Plus, she had a real good time having a constant companion to play with between Phoenix and Lennox!

On the way up, stopped in Manchester, CT for gas and since it was lunchtime, ate at a Friendly’s (who doesn’t want ice cream too?) And by luck, there was a shopping center across the way with Michael’s AND Joann’s fabric! Wooohooo! I researched the night before for a midway point and stayed at a Holiday Inn in Seabrook, NH. Investigated some dinner options online and decided on Galley Hatch Restaurant, where I had the best clam chowder ever!! I also had their shrimp and scallop pizza on gluten free crust! It was pretty good!
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Chunky, creamy clam chowder!

While in Maine, we got to go to the Children’s Museum in Bangor. It’s actually called Maine Discovery Museum and it was really very nice! Sienna would have stayed longer if she could!
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Goodnight Moon Room
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Charlotte’s Web pig

On my actual birthday, Geneva took the girls for the day and told me to go enjoy myself. I spent about 2 hours browsing a store called Marden’s, sorta like the closeout store Amazing Savings but bigger! Then I went to Bar Harbor, a cute little waterfront area with little shops and restaurants. Very touristy but still cute. I had a lobster roll for lunch and treated myself to 4 scoops of ice cream from Mount Desert, the very same store President Obama went to! I got Mexican choc, choc raspberry, chili choc and Maine sea salt caramel. The Mexican chocolate was my favorite!
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Some other highlights!
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lobster!
04. LightaMatch
Layne teaches Sienna how to light a match so she could light a smoke bomb firecracker!
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Sparklers at night
07. Hiking
Hiking!
09. HikingFriends
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Reaching the end of the hike (1.3 miles)
11. SwimLake
Swimming in a lake
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Going to an Estate Sale (Geneva almost bought this doll house)
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2 girls in 2 buckets (that’s Lennox on the left!)
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Jumping, jumping and more jumping!