Everyone loved their cupcakes. Thanks Aunt Heather!
Here's the big birthday boy. How a year goes by quickly.....as I can still vividly recall Patrick crawling under Aunt Heather's hospital bed (gross) when we went to visit Davis last year :) How I love my little godson :)
Patrick has proclaimed this summer that he doesn't need a nap.....and he really doesn't when the girls do. However, at 5:30 he gets really sleepy. He fell asleep, sitting up against my arm while watching the news today!
When we got home from school I began making lunch. Patrick got a Shark book and shark toys and invited the girls to sit with him. He then began his lesson on sharks, at one point saying, "Sissy, are you listening?" He did a nice job, speaking slowly, pointing out pictures in the book and giving important facts, such as a shark can smell blood in the water 15 miles away.
Shortly after we were at Casey's we were headed for the boat. There wasn't a lifevest small enough for Elizabeth, but she still gave us quite a Bon Voyage!
Grandpa was driving the boat, not the dingy. I had to put these two pictures up because it is so funny how he is riding in the dingy with Aunt Pam.
Patrick had a great time on the boat, although he face doesn't look it in this shot.
Grandpa let Patrick and Megan both "drive".
After Casey's we headed to Will's Birthday party. The kids had a ton of fun....as there were lots of kids there and a bouncey house. It was great to bounce two days in a row! Ciochi made Will a great cake the looked like a bulldozer, which the kids did a great job of dismantling after singing....think it took five seconds. Patrick loved the donut wheels.
Elizabeth and Patrick were happy to play with their pal Joe. They haven't since him in a while. There aren't any more pictures from the party.....adult beverages won Mommy over! It was a great Saturday.
Patrick and his e-bay lot of super heroes that we got. The things are so expensive to buy new in the store, this is the only way that he could have a decent amount to play with. He loves his HUGE Doc Oc.
Patrick and black Spiderman. 
Patrick and Iron Man.
This is one of the new guys Patrick got his e-bay lot. I don't know who he is.
We still love the Hulk and attempting to terrorize others as the Hulk.
This is Patrick's imitation of the black Spiderman - I think his name is Venom.
Elizabeth is the silliest sleeper.....we never know what we will find. Today the goof was sleeping with her sunglasses in Mommy and Daddy's bed.
Davis loved crawling around in the little bouncey house. He didn't quite get the animals that were in there to ride, and we didn't solicit any of the big kids to help him with those.
Patrick ran the whole time we were there. Elizabeth did manage to catch him though, for a second.
By the end of our time there, Patrick was jumping off the top of the slide into the bouncey house.....pretty daring.
After jumping we got pizza and salad and headed back to Aunt Heather's and Uncle John's house. The kids played and played and played.
We did take a break for birthday cake. At least Leah did. Davis was asleep.
When it got dark and we were covered in bug spray (don't rub it on your face! OUCH), we made a fire in the back yard. Patrick loved poking it until it became too much. Then he got scoulded, a lot, for not keeping away from the fire.
Elizabeth played in the tent that Aunt Heather put up for the kids. It was great....a blanket, legos, crayons and coloring books! 
Leah was content to fight sleep and snuggle away on mom. We had a ton of fun.
After attendance, the kids practiced wearing life vests. Patrick later told me he didn't like it.
It sure seemed like he didn't mind it though. Like the cheek action?? It was "cracking" me up the whole lesson.
Slowly but surely, we are making progress.
The have tea and eat Bon-Bon's....really. Well, chocolate chip cookies, but you get the idea.
Megan had a great time at the tea party....she was the sugar and cream girl. The Oolong tea was her favorite.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, really enjoyed pouring the tea from the teapot (good GOD it was everywhere) and eating her soggy cookie ('cause she poured tea on it). Her favorite was the mint white tea. Mom was wishing for some good Chai and quiet......
This was our cute little cabin in the woods. Patrick and Elizabeth had bunk beds, probably to coolest feature. Dad liked the dock and Mom the screened in porch where she could listen to the loons and watched the bats eat all the buggers.
Our first full day was our only real washout. It was ok, since we had grocery shopping to do. Plus, Mom came armed with rainy day activities. Painting windchimes. A heart for Sissy.....
and a house for Patrick. It went from being the cute blue house here to a haunted house - all black.
On Tuesday we ventured into Canada. We got Daddy over the border and back, successfully. He was passportless. We headed to St. Andrew, New Brunswick to an aquarium filled with local sea treasures. They had a great touch tidal pool filled with starfish, sea cucumber, crabs, scallops, and sea urchins.
Both Patrick and Elizabeth loved holding the starfish. The water was COLD so it was hard to play around too much.
Before heading into town we had a great picnic lunch overlooking the Bay of Fundy. It was cool to see how low the tide gets.
On our way into town we saw a great historic sight. It was a blockhouse built by the British in 1812 for the War of 1812. There were great rocks along the coast to explore as well as the fort.
Elizabeth liked practicing the soldiers chores,
while Patrick pretended to be a soldier.
After getting back from Canada, we went next door to the Murray's for a birthday party for Mrs. Murray. Here's Patrick choosing which lobster to put his money on in the great lobster race.
Happy birthday Mrs. Murray! Thanks for sharing your birthday treat with us!
On Wednesday we went for a long boat ride and a picnic. We rode through Lake Pocomoonshine, the Maine River, Upper Mud Lake and Lower Mud Lake before reaching the best picnic spot ever.
Along the way we were looking for moose. We didn't see any but did see bald eagles, loons and three huge beaver lodges.
The picnic spot was hidden in the woods. There was a make shift camp there....someone had left tables, a cupboard, a table and fire pit. Pretty cool considering there aren't any houses or roads for miles around. We had a great lunch, despite the mosquitoes.
That evening we went poking around Eastport and had another lobster dinner. While we were eating we saw Minke whales right of the pier where the restaurant was. It was super cool.
Patrick, Elizabeth and Dad ran down on the pier for a closer look. Mom took pictures and enjoyed her beer :)
While the weather wasn't that great, there were some wonderful sunsets. And of course, Mommy was ready!!
A rare shot of Mommy and her cutie pies.
All week Patrick and Dad, Mom and Sissy a bit, were fishing. Patrick has a Spiderman fishing pole and Elizabeth has a Barbie pole. We caught a lot of dock, rock, weeds, and mud. No fish.
Men at work.
Patrick and Dad took to stalking a fish.....luring it out from its hiding with loose worms.....didn't catch it.
On Friday we took another side trip to Quoddy Head State Park - the eastern most point in the U.S. - to see the light house and hike a bit. It was super foggy so the fog horn was blowing every minute or so. Really neat.
One trail led us down to the rocky shore. The kids loved seeing the ocean for the first time and throwing rocks in. Patrick was great at avoiding the stinking seaweed.
For being so little, Elizabeth was a great hiker. When she needed it, though, Daddy was ready with a ride.
Someone worked hard to pile smaller rocks on top of a larger one. Patrick worked swiftly to knock them all down. Sorry someone!
As you can imagine, Patrick was very into the rocks we found along the water. He would call one of us over to see how cool this one or that one was.
It was a great trip and we were sad to see it end. Everyone agrees that we will definitely back to visit Lake Pocomoonshine.
