Alaska!

Joe and I just returned from Alaska...that's right, Alaska!!!

10 days away, without our children, in Alaska!

We spent the first day traveling (it takes quite a while to get from Maine to Alaska), the next 4 days meeting (with our Lifelines Board of Directors, the next 4 days on vacation (what we are calling our early 10th anniversary), and the final day flying back home.  

It was an adventure for sure and there are a few things that made it possible.

First, our Lifelines Board of Directors (Joe and I are two of eleven) made it possible.  We all meet together once a year and because our team is literally spread from coast to coast we usually end meeting in Orlando (it's cheap to fly to and there is good housing for large groups like ours).  But not this year, oh no, not this year.  This year our team decided to meet in Alaska (which just seems so much more appropriate for an outdoor/adventure ministry)!  And this was made possible by the Lovejoy family!  Mark and Alicia Lovejoy (two other members of our Lifelines Board) arranged everything so that we could meet there.  Mark is from Alaska and his incredible parents hosted us at their house.  It was incredible.  Lifelines paid to fly us there and because our housing was free it actually ended up being less expensive than if we had met in Orlando...can't beat that!  And the Lovejoy family was such a wonderful, gracious host to us.  And the second half of our trip was made possible by using part of our tax return this year.  We didn't go too far away from home for our honeymoon (the White Mountains in New Hampshire), so we figured that this was a great opportunity to celebrate our 10th anniversary (which will be in January) with a little more adventure!

All of this was also made possible by Joe's wonderful parents who graciously watched our children for the entire time we were gone!!!  This was a big deal for us as we have never both left Eli for more than one night and Lily never more than 3 nights.  Watching somebody else's children for 10 days...10 days of feeding them, bathing them, dressing them, entertaining them, and putting them to bed... days that included vomiting and a high fever from a sick little Lily...hot, humid, summer days with two little ones.  This was such a gift from Joe's parents (for us and our children) and I just can't express enough how thankful we are!

We had a fantastic time in Alaska...though we are a bit tired from all of the travel and oh so happy to finally be home for good!  We have lots of stories and adventures to share from our time there...and I'll be doing just that as soon as I am able to edit all of my pictures (and of course settle in a bit more at home)!

Camp!

We were home for just 4 days before we packed up and were off again...this time on vacation with Joe's family at a camp on Long Lake! It was such a great week spent with family, in the water, reading, on the boat...and taking a few pictures along the way...

It's amazing to me how basically our four families can combine into one lake house for the week and somehow not just make it work, but do really well together! Early mornings started with breakfast and a few games on the iPad (a combined birthday gift from my parents that we got in May)!  

And while the kids played on the iPad I couldn't resist this cutie...my newest niece, Annie, who we met for the first time at camp!
   Not much of the morning was spent inside, however, before the kids were begging to go out and swim. Here's Lily and her cousin Maggie jumping off the dock! And there was this great little rocky beach area...perfect for the kids (especially the two year olds) to play in...and for Eli to get a quick little foot soak!:)
And I couldn't resist a few more pics of Annie sleeping outside under the umbrella! And as always camp had some tasty food...including this hedgehog watermelon! Eli really loved playing on the beach and taking brief spins and dips in the water (he never really stayed in for very long...he would much rather throw things...rocks, toys, floats into the lake from the shore)! And after long mornings of fun, sun, and water the little ones were exhausted! And it seemed that I wasn't the only one who couldn't resist baby Annie! Eli was totally in love with her...I would find him looking at her, gently patting her head, and touching her little fingers and toes all of the time! Melt. My. Heart.
Bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles with the little ones!
But we could never stay away from the water for too long... Lily and her cousin Brenna racing in the water! Squirting Mama!
Joe and Eli defending themselves against the attack of a water monster named Lily!:)
A certain somebody doesn't enjoy having his picture taken...but I caught these of him and our nephew, Chandler, anyway!
My beauty enjoying life outside the camp. And here's our sweet little boat! I didn't get many pictures, but we spent so much wonderful time on the boat during our week at camp...riding, tubing, skiing...it was fantastic! In fact, I think that my favorite day at camp was the one that we boated about an hour an a half (through rivers and a really cool lock system) to another lake where we spent the morning at a beautiful little sand island beach with Joe's brother and his family. Other than the rough waters on the last part of our trip it really was the perfect family boat outing. Maybe we'll do it again someday and if we do I'll be sure to bring the camera!
But I did get these few pictures of us taking the boats out one evening to ride into town to get ice cream (pretty much the best way to get ice cream if I do say so myself)!
And about one minute after I took this picture a small hurricane arrived and started whipping drippy ice cream everywhere...which was quite entertaining!
So after a bit we abandoned the ice cream and played on the little rides.
And so our days went...swimming and boating and reading and eating and playing games and also a few little crafts along the way...this time making little wooden airplanes. And of course I had to try and get a quick picture or two of all these sweet little Cousins who love each other so much! And speaking of loving each other...it was so much fun watching Eli and Holly (just 3 months a part in age) really play together and love each other during this vacation!

Oh my...it was a wonderful week! Thank you Nonnie and Grampy and all of our family for such a fantastic time together!