Portland and Freeport Maine

Portland, Maine

I have wanted to go to Maine for a long time.  I almost lived in Portland one summer with my brother in-law's family.  They were remodeling a bed and breakfast during the summer when I was 20, and I was invited to come along.  I even applied at a few places for a job, but at the last minute I changed my mind because I knew I wouldn't earn enough money before I went back to school.  I still regret not going.  Then when I was on my mission in Connecticut, a lot of people would talk about their cabin or lake house up in Maine, and it sounded wonderful to me.

On our drive up from Boston, a friend recommended we stop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  We only drove through and took pictures, but it was the cutest little town with fall decorations on the lamp posts and beautiful homes on the water.

So I finally made it to Maine, and I loved it.  Our first night we stayed in downtown Portland with a couple that had a 2 year old daughter.  We walked around downtown and went to some cute shops and ate some good food.  One night we even went to the movies and saw Meet the Mormons.  We were the only ones in the theater.

 Portsmouth, New Hampshire

We had some really good ricotta, cranberry, and butternut squash pizza.  We even replicated it at home later, and it turned out pretty good.

These donuts were made with real mashed potatoes, and they were delicious!

 Maine is popular for their seafood, especially lobster, so we figured we better have some.  I had it once before on my mission and didn't care for it much.  It just seemed chewy and flavorless and you dip it in butter.  Not worth the money in my opinion.  We both didn't like it.  We got the whole lobster where you have to crack it open yourself and then there was this yucky green stuff, and it was grossing us out.  

 In South Portland we went to Scratch Baking Company and had the best bagels we've ever eaten.  We heard to go early because they sell out, and we know why.  We also had some fresh whipped cream cheese from some local farm.

While in South Portland we stopped at the Portland Head Light.  It is the most photographed lighthouse in Maine, and also the oldest.  It was completed in 1791.

Freeport, Maine

Freeport is just 20 min north on the freeway from Portland.  There we stayed in the most beautiful home, with the nicest couple.  Their home was eco friendly and solar powered, and was decorated very simply and modern.  I loved it.  When we came home in the evening they had their daughter and son in law over for dinner who were near our age, and they were just starting dessert and invited us to have some and stay and chat.  We had a delicious chocolate tart and wonderful conversation.  It was funny because they were asking about our trip and asked where we stayed in Portland.  It happened to be on the same street where the daughter and son in law used to live.  They asked us who we stayed with, and they knew them and were friends with them.  They asked us where we had eaten, and they said we had gone to some great places (thanks to pinterest).  In the morning they made us a great organic breakfast.  I want to go back just to stay with them again.

Our room.

 We went hiking together around Casco Bay.

L.L. Bean is headquartered in Freeport, and they have 5 different stores and outlets there.  Freeport also has some great outlet stores in historic building that were really cute.  Brendan found a great deal on a jacket at the North Face Outlet.

Boston

In October Brendan and I took our first trip without the kids, and it was wonderful!  We had so much fun together, and it was so easy to get around and do things we wanted to do.  As much as we love traveling with our kids and making memories, it is a lot of work and can be exhausting.  Brendan's parents were nice and watched the kids for us, which I know was a lot of work, but the kids love them and had fun.

We flew into Boston and had a rental car and traveled around New England for 5 days.  It was beautiful, and we loved every place we visited.  Boston was such a cool city.  We walked around Harvard's campus, and walked the freedom trail which brought us through downtown and to 16 historic sites.

We used airbnb to book all of our lodging for this trip, and it was a great experience.  This is the house we stayed at in Boston.

 Harvard Campus

 The Old North Church was beautiful and is still used today, but it is famous for signaling Paul Revere's night ride.  I had never seen box pews before and thought they were very interesting.  Families would buy or rent them and that was the only way you could attend this church and they could be pretty pricey.  The boxes helped to keep the cold drafts out.

Captain Jackson's Chocolate Shop and the Print Shop of Edes and Gill.

 Mike's Pastry shop is famous and along the way of the trail.  We waited in line and when we got up to order realized you had to have cash only.  We were going to come back later after getting cash, but didn't have time because the line was three times as long.  At least I got some pretty pictures of some sweets.  Maybe next time.

You can see the Bunker Hill Memorial in the back.

Swiss Days and Snowbird Oktoberfest

On Saturday over Labor day weekend we went up to Swiss Days in Midway.  We enjoyed some pie with a slab of ice cream and some fry bread.  We walked around the booths and enjoyed the entertainment and beautiful weather.  

On Monday we went up to Snowbird's Oktoberfest.  We ate some traditional German food and then took the tram up to hear the alpine horns being played.  It was a beautiful view and a fun day with the kids.

Hazel's First Day of Kindergarten

 Hazel started school in August at the school that I used to teach at before I had kids.  In fact I had her on the last day of school while I was teaching.  Unfortunately, a couple days before school started, Hazel fell off her bunk bed and her teeth cut her bottom lip.  Her whole right side of her face was swollen and her chin had a bump on it.  The doctor said to only eat soft foods for a week.  She could barely smile for these photos.  

On the first day of school I sent Hazel with some applesauce as her snack because the school snack was pretzels and crackers, which she couldn't eat.  She spilled the applesauce all over her backpack, so the next day I sent her with a banana.  I got a call later in the day from the school to see if I could come over and hep calm Hazel down.  I guess some kid in the class was allergic to bananas (who is allergic to bananas?) and the teacher asked Hazel to go out into the hall to eat her snack.  Hazel thought she was in trouble and started crying and the teacher couldn't calm her down.  By the time I got to the school she was fine.  The teacher apologized and said she shouldn't have sent her outside.

We haven't had any other incidents like that, and Hazel loves school and her teacher.  She has made lots of friends.  

This is Hazel a few weeks later on school picture day without a swollen face.