After we left our place in Prouts Neck, Riley still had 10 weeks of rotations to complete in Portland, and we were essentially homeless. It's a terrible time to look for temporary housing in Maine, because summer is when EVERYONE is coming to stay and vacation. So long story short, after months of searching for an affordable location, we found a dinky, relatively inexpensive place that would let us stay through the end of July. We had two mattresses and Ledgers pack-n-play and that's essentially what we lived with. The tiny place in Windham was right by a major highway and was the size of a large hotel room...without any of the perks. And we lived on top of another apartment (the poor soul who had to live under our three, stomping, screaming banshees....so, so sorry) Needless to say, it was an adjustment. Basically, we couldn't all stay in that space at the same time during the day. It was just too small.
Hinder still had 3 weeks of school left in June at his elementary school 45 minutes away, so for the majority of the month our schedule looked something like this:
7- Wake up, Riley leave an hour early to take Hinder to school
8- I get the little kids ready and fed, then out to do errands, go to a park, or something to keep them out of the house
11- Naps
2- Leave to get Hinder
3- Pick up H- outing to a park or beach
7-dinner
8-bed
Repeat, repeat, repeat
It was exhausting in many ways, but a blessing in other ways. Providing entertainment and "fun" for the kids all day everyday goes directly against my parenting philosophy, so I had reservations about doing this for so long. But in the end it forced me to get out with the kids several times a day, and enjoy Maine in all it's summer beauty to the fullest! We did everything we love to do here at least one more time. The rainy days (and there are a lot of them in Maine in June!) were killer, but otherwise, we really enjoyed all the beaches, playgrounds,playgroups, and state parks we could. And we have wonderful friends that let us use their trampolines and backyards too! It took a bit of planning, but we made SO many wonderful memories to take with us. Here's what the month of June looked like:
Hike up Bradbury Mountain at Bradbury State Park. The kids all hiked themselves, Ledger only needed help at the end, but he HATED the top. Complete terror at how high we were! We laughed that we failed on naming him (Ledger Summit).
The South Portland Bug Light kite festival. We picnicked while watching the dozens of kites large and small. Riley was a bit mopey because there was a strict no stunt kite rule, and he had been hoping to play with his.
Our new friends, the Tanner's, joined us on an outing to Mackworth Island where we saw live horseshoe crabs. Hinder pointed out that he thought these two were mating. Thank you, Animal Planet.
We scored discount passes to the Children's Museum, so I planned that on a stormy day and we spent a good five hours there. The kids loved it! Also, Ledge got his first hair cut. All the sudden he wasn't my little baby anymore.
Too many other rainy days we spent at the mall.
We are going to miss Maine beaches! Fort Williams and Kettle Cove were our favorites this month. The ocean is amazing! Hinder spent one afternoon searching for hermit crabs.
Kettle Cove Creamery has been on our bucket list since 2012, so we finally experienced that homemade goodness and didn't regret it!
This will be known as the summer of 100 parks. Some days we went to 3-4 different playgrounds, just trying to keep those kiddos interested!
It sounds like a barrel of fun everyday, but most of the time, my days looked like this...
Soooooooo much driving...
Once school ended our days were basically the same, except we didn't have to drive down to Scarborough every day. The weather warmed up and we enjoyed beaches more, Sebago Lake, and the Deering Oaks wading pool.
To keep the kids occupied and quiet so Ledge could get a daily nap, we started a little summer school program. I love watching them learn and teach each other.
Swimming lessons started for H and V and it was a definitely highlight of their weeks. Hinder was in level 1 and did awesome, absolutely no fear! He was the only kid in his class to not use any floatation device. *So proud* This was Vylas first year, and she was the eagerest preschool level beaver there ever was! Her swim cap makes my day!
They both had excellent teachers and made so much progress with swimming!
Riley and I found a few moments for ourselves. The day before Father's Day we headed to Bangor, sans kids (thanks Jennie!) and enjoyed a Fall Out Boy concert. It was a blast! They put on a great show!
