We are SO excited to be updating the blog this month from our new house! We are loving all the space in the house and all the space OUTside! Corinne has her own room again, as does Lincoln. Sophie and Ayla are enjoying having the third floor to themselves. We have a room just for the piano and we even have a separate playroom and office. The best thing is the location though. We are the last house on a dead end street with lots of other families. The kids are outside riding bikes and playing in the street with all the neighborhood kids every day. Because playing in the street is so much fun, we haven't used the huge, fenced in backyard too much, but it's nice to know that it's there. It's less than a mile from our previous house and we're still within the Small school lines, so all the girls can stay at their current schools. We couldn't be happier! :)

Even though we spent the first weekend in July moving, we took a break on the fourth so spend the day at the beach with Grammy and PopPop. Boogie boarding was fun and then we enjoyed a bbq at our house afterward. A weekend of moving had us pretty tired, so we skipped the fireworks this year.

I had the rest of the week off and although Trevor had to work, the kids and I had fun. We spent one day at Sebago Lake and none of us got out of the water (except to eat) for five hours. Even though we love the ocean, warm lake water is so fun to swim in!

We went to York's Wild Animal Kingdom. I read the forecast wrong and it was pretty cold. We weren't dressed properly and definitely wished we had sweatshirts and pants! The animals were neat, but the girls have been spoiled with some pretty awesome zoos, so this one didn't impress them. We did get to hold a boa constrictor and have our picture taken. All the kids were brave and Lincoln even held it's head!

Sophie and Lincoln had a ton of fun at Bounce Zone for Chase's 5th birthday! It's definitely a great place to take kids to burn off some energy. Lincoln looked like he had been sprayed with a hose by the time we left because he was so sweaty!


Trevor and I celebrated our fourth anniversary in luxury at the Inn by the Sea spa. We had a couples massage and went out to lunch. It was a very relaxing afternoon!

Trevor went striper fishing on the Kennebec River near Bath with Mark, Jeremy and Justin Stewart. They didn't catch anything, but still had a great time! The same day the guys were all fishing, Amanda, my mom and I took the kids to the beach and met the Cote's there. All the kids had fun swimming and playing on the playground at Willard.

Amanda and I competed in the Tri for a Cure and despite the pouring rain I met all my goals! I finished 9th in my division and 68th out of over 1000 women. The run was definitely my least favorite part, but the biking made me want to bike more. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing more sprint tri's in the future. Amanda and I enjoyed much deserved margarita's with our families and the Wellman's after the race!

Ayla and Sophie spent three weeks at rec camp. Ayla's highlights were a trip to FunTown/SplashTown, Water Country and an overnight white water rafting trip. She made some great friends and really enjoyed all the trips. Sophie's camp went to StoryLand, Sebago Lake and a few parks. Both camps also took the kids bowling, roller skating, to the rock climbing gym and the rec swimming pool. They both want to go back again next year and Ayla said she wants to be a camp counselor for the little kids when she's old enough.

Corinne spent two weeks at Ultimate Rock Camp. She formed a band with five other girls and over the two weeks they learned six songs, one of which was an original they wrote together. They had two performances that I was unable to attend, but Trevor and Ayla went to both. We're getting a recording of the last one from a parent, so I'm eager to see it and share it with those who would like to to see it. She loved the camp, the teachers and the girls in her band.

Trevor surprised me with a birthday party! The Benn Family and the Cote's came over for a bbq, cake and ice cream. It was great to celebrate with family and friends!

Because we had so much fun at Sebago Lake while I was on vacation, we decided to head back for the day with Trevor. We forgot the first time we went it was during the week, so we were not huge fans of the hour long wait in the car to get in to the park. The wait turned out to be worth it because the girls spent the whole day swimming! Sophie had a friend with her, so they played with each other leaving Corinne and Ayla to hang together.

Sophie is officially riding her two wheel bike!! She finally learned how on Lincoln's new two wheeler, which gave her the confidence she needed to ride her bigger bike. She's been asking to go on daily bike rides in addition to riding every day up and down our street with the neighborhood kids.We took a trip last weekend to the library with all six of us then went out to lunch and rode our bikes back home. Family fun!

Our last day in July was an epic one! We spent the day with Raymonds at Long Pond. The water was really warm- I don't think Sophie got out of the water the entire day. They caught frogs, went sailing, paddle-boarding, played on the float and enjoyed two bbqs and a fire. Great company makes for great times!

The girls are flying out to Kansas this week to visit Grandma Connie and Grandpa Bob for a week. Then they go with Grandma Gay and Grandpa Dave where Trevor, Lincoln and I will meet them for the last week. We're excited to visit with our family and get caught up with everyone!