Family Fun

A big part of our Maine trip this year was all the family time we got to enjoy.  It was great to have both sets of Grandparents on hand, and of course we loved spending more time with Gwyn before she has to head back to Uganda.

Having so many family members around made it pretty easy to keep a certain little boy entertained.  He quickly discovered that he could have one person read him a book, then move on to the next lap and read it all over again.  This was a technique he employed repeatedly throughout the week (as evidenced by the following pictures.)

We also had the chance to get in in some quality game time with the family.  Some old favorites like Dutch Blitz and 10,000 Places to See Before you Die are always hits, but we also expanded our gaming repertoire with a game called Island Bocce.  

Island Bocce was developed originally by the Little Raven Island Jones camp, thus the "island" moniker.  It follows the traditional Bocce rules with the added hazards of steep inclines and large boulders.  It can make for tricky shots, and tough bounces to say the least.  We all had fun trying it out though, and even Aiden wanted to get in on the action.

Here is a mother/ daughter relaxing on the beach shot.

Aiden checking out the kayak.

I think I mentioned before that Maine activites can, more often then not, revolve around food.  

Often we'll gather around the wood fire, or the picnic table as we prepare and anticipate the next tasty meal.

During our stay we were lucky to get a visit from the Little Raven Island Jones crew.  In this case that consisted of Uncle Dan, Aunt Kathy, Cousin Megan, and Megan's daughter Chloe.

Chloe looks bigger and cuter every time we see her, and it was fun to watch her and Aiden play side by side.

We also found time while Meg was visiting to take a quick sauna, which was our second of two saunas for the week.  Absolute relaxation was achieved.

As I said before Aiden was well loved on this vacation, with lots of comfortable laps to sit in and open arms to hold him.

Although far from all of the Maine pictures that we have, these have been the ones that best show our time with the fam.  We're not done yet though, I think we may have got at least one vacation post left in us.

Until then though, here is a picture showing Aiden battening down the hatches for a stormy lake crossing...