Maine Vacation

We are back home from an incredible vacation in Maine! It was the longest that we have been away from home as a family and although I was excited, I was also a bit nervous about the logistics of our family traveling and being out of our routine. It turns out that it was just what we needed and totally relaxing and full of awesome memories.

The week started by an overnight with my cousin, Jen and her family. They live in Brunswick, Maine, which is about an hour north of our vacation spot. Jen's kids are all about the same age as our kids and they love spending time together. We had a blast visiting and dancing with the Ruid-Hemberger clan! (By the way... if it was easy enough to do... I'd probably pick up everything here and move to Maine. It is incredibly beautiful and a true sense of relaxation - almost as if everything moves a little slower and that the more you take the time to take it all in, the better you are! I could get use to that!!)

Then off to Wells, Maine for our vacation. This vacation was a gift from Nick's mom and her friend. There was 17 of us all in the house and I wasn't quite sure how this was all going to work out. We are a family with young kids and have early mornings and not so late nights, not to mention that we don't usually vacation with this crew, so I was a little hesitant that it might be just too much. In the end, we not only give thanks to Nick's mom for this house and week, but also for bringing us together. This group would have never (on their own) been organized or brave enough to put together a vacation together, but it was great. The cousins LOVED having so many people around them to give them love and attention - which allowed me to feel a little bit more relaxed and not in constant "entertainment" mode. It was great to be able to visit with so many people and appreciate what every personality brings to the group.

Cousins... nothing better than friendships forever.

Wells Beach at low tide.

Truly beautiful.

I had many moments when the beauty of Maine truly took my breath away. I found myself teary several times during this trip - and not because I was sad, but because the natural beauty was so intense and I felt so fortunate to be able to be part of it.

One of my favorite parts of this trip was early mornings. I seemed to naturally wake up early and would head out (alone) for an early morning run. I would explore the town, run on the beach and even got to see the sun rise. The beach was pretty empty during this time of the day, but I would see others enjoying the same tranquility that I was finding. I realize that I am sounding totally cheesy, but it was awesome!

This is a picture from the Marginal Way in Olgonquet. Really, really beautiful!

True Maine coast.

Family picture along the coast.

All 17 of us in our family reunion t-shirts for the Family Picture.

Nick, me, Max, Tony, Randy, Jenise, Lisa, Lauren,

Nadia, Audrey, Elena, Jai

Tony, Ryan, Natalie, Sadie, Colin

Natalie has found her new passion... ocean swimming. She was in the water at every opportunity regardless of temperature. By the end of the week, she was even talking others into post-dinner swims. Above is Jenise and Natalie heading out.

Boogy boarding!

One of the nights, the "grown ups" got to go out to dinner while the older cousins babysat back at the house. This was a bit reminiscent of my childhood vacations to the Adirondacks when the grown ups did the same thing. I remember being both the babysitters and then the babysitter for my cousins. Now I can truly appreciate how much my parents must have enjoyed this night!

Max (above) is Nick's mom's friend's son. Got that...

He and his wife, Elena, live out in California and although we have met them before - we haven't really had the opportunity to spend much time with them. It was so awesome to have them part of this week and really get to know them. They are funny, insightful and just great to hang around with. On top of that... Max seems to be a kid at heart and was often found in the midst of the kids playing in the ocean, building sand castles or just being silly.

One of the fine sand castle creations by the Giumarra Gang!

We are all already talking about a possible trip back next summer!

Family Camping Trip 2011

The best year of camping yet!

Seth, Pierce, Brett, Aiden, Benjamin

Colin, Caroline, Clohe, Sadie, Penelope and Natalie.

It was HOT, HOT, HOT, but that didn't seem to slow us down... if anything, it made it better by encouraging us to take full advantage of the river right by our campsite. With the kids all another year older and that much more independent, it just made things easier and we had the ability to be more flexible.

We all arrived Friday afternoon and spent the afternoon setting up the campsite and taking swimming breaks in the river. Between all the families, we had brought 2 extra tents and set up a "Girls tent" and a "Boys tent" and the kids all piled into each perspective tent for the night. By morning (and after the middle of the night thunderstorm) many of the kids - ours included- were back in their parents tents, but it was fun for them to go to sleep among their friends.

Saturday was just perfect... two trips down the Battenkill on the tubes and so relaxing! The day ended with smores and a "Talent Show" put on by the kids. As I sat back and was watching the show, I was loving the memories of this trip for our children. All these kids have known each other their entire lives - they don't spend every minute together and don't see some of them very often, but it is still a bond that is very special. I love watching them grow, interact and show their changing personalities in the midst of it all. This group of friends is beyond special to me and Nick and we feel so fortunate to have found them. I hope that our annual camping trip remains something that we can hold onto for years to come.

Downfall of the trip... I was not on top of my usual paparazzi style picture taking and didn't take nearly as many pictures as I have in the past... totally bums me out now that we are home and I want to be able to look back on the event. Oh well. the above picture of the kids was taken as we were heading out on Sunday afternoon, but I had forgotten to take it before we ALL left and the Yonkin/Alderman crew had already hit the road... so we are missing Hannah and Owen in the group shot :(

We LOVE Uncle Chris and Amanda

Chris and Amanda do an amazing job of being the BESTEST Uncle and Aunt to my kids. On top of making them feel special about the everyday things going on in their lives... they make a point at doing special things with them and sharing their time with us. While in NJ visiting my friend, we stayed with my brother and Amanda and got to have an extra day of summer fun with them when Amanda suggested we go to the Jersey shore for the day!

We (me in particular) are lake people. Growing up going to the Adirondacks and now living a stones throw away from my parents lake, I don't think about going to the ocean much, nor is it a vacation that we have done with our kids, so it was so great to get a taste of it for the day. Chris took the day off from work and Amanda brought us to Bradley beach - an area on the shore she knew well. The weather was hot, the sand was perfect, the beach was not too crowded and all was good. It was such an awesome memory for my kids and neat for me to see them be able to have this day, this memory, be with Chris and Amanda. We love you guys!!

Chris teaching Natalie how to swim with the waves. She had only been to the Ocean one other time and was a toddler then... so she had never been out in the Ocean water "fighting" the waves. Chris and Natalie loved it and even learned how to chase the waves in. (On the other hand, Colin wasn't so sure about the waves and was even a little nervous about getting his toes wet... Sadie liked it enough until a wave got her and then she was done with the water for a while...)

Beach Time!

The reality check of this day was that I still do have three children and am constantly reminded by them that when you have kids, no event will go as you expect or want - thus keeping you on your toes and always re-defining what a successful event is. I was hoping and envisioning this day as pure bliss... the kids endlessly playing in the sand, running back and forth from the waves, maybe Colin taking a little snooze under the umbrella - while I read my book and enjoyed listening to their laughter. Well, that picture perfect moment lasted about 30 minutes and maybe 2 paragraphs of my book. Then it quickly turned into, "I'm hungry", "Can I have a snack," "I need to go to the bathroom," "Can we go to the playground," "What are we having for dinner," "When are we going to leave," and so on and so forth.... I found myself getting very annoyed at their apparent lack of understanding of how to enjoy the ocean and the opportunities that we were giving them. I had to keep telling myself that although they were not exactly acting like it, that they would appreciate this day and would be able to hold onto the memory forever. Sounds good, right??

Nothing better than a BFF!

On my birthday this past year, my best friend, Kristin, told me that we had been Best Friends for 20 years. I know it is cliched to say that "Time flies..." but it truly does and I couldn't believe that we had even known each other for that long, but 'tis true -We met and became friends when I moved to NJ and started 8th grade at age 13. So... for the past 20 years, Kristin and I have shared so much and even more unique to our friendship is that for the past 16 years, we have not lived near one another and have been able to maintain our deep friendship through almost daily phone calls and with the power of the Internet, lots of shared pictures. Over those 20 years, we have gone through the intensity of high school, first loves, college, finding "the one", weddings, marriage, homeovership, motherhood and the chaos of daily life. Kristin and her family now live in Georgia and although we still maintain a close friendship, I usually only get to see her about once a year. A few days ago, Kristin and her boys were in New Jersey visiting her parents and the kids and I drove down for a day full of fun. It was such a perfect day!

The day began with an early morning run together. I LOVED that we got to do this because I feel like my own passion for running really began with Kristin who got into running before me and shared with me all her success with the sport and since it has become a hobby that we both enjoy... but never get to do together. We will often text one another and joke around and say something like... "Hey, do you want to meet up for a run together tomorrow..." and we actually got to do that!! Then the we got ALL the kids(7 of them between us) together for a swim in the pool, a lunch date and afternoon walk at Rampo Nature Preserve. It was so awesome in how easy it was to be together. You would think that having that many kids together - especially ones that don't know each other - would be a ton of work, but it was so great. I think that Kristin and I have similar parenting styles, which makes it very easy and simple to be around each other and do things together with our kids. I also think because they hear about each other so much and see each other in pictures that the kids think that they do know each other. I hope that they always have a special relationship with one another. Below are a couple of pics of the kids from their day together.

Sadie (6), Kyle (11 mo.), Natalie (9), Noah (8), Owen (almost 7), Connor (31/2) and Colin (3)

Natalie loving having baby Kyle to play with!

Kristin and Me!

Colin loving being one of the boys!

Connor and Colin

(do you see how much bigger Connor is?? He is only 5 months older than Colin - crazy!)

This perfect day got even better when I surprised Kristin with Taylor Swift tickets for that evening. Kristin and I are both country music fans; and in particular, Taylor Swift fans and it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate her birthday, our friendship and the fun of summer.

So thankful to have Kristin in my life and to be able to squeeze little visits in with her whenever possible... and loving that we can always make the most of the time we have together and keep our friendship so strong!

The next adventure...

Apparently, we like to live a life of adventure and anxiety! "Never without a project" should be our family motto! With our house complete and perfect, we have decided to try and give selling another go-round. Make sense?? No, not at all!! However, we have agreed that we don't see us staying here long term and an opportunity arouse that we decided to give it a shot. I have lost sleep, probably gotten an ulcer and been very stressed about this decision. In the midst of this uncertainty, I know that we are a very fortunate family and we make solid decisions that are always with the best of our family in mind, and with that... I know that in the end, all will be good.
So... here is the latest. As of a couple of weeks ago, we have put our house on the market. We priced it a little bit more "competitive" than we did last summer and are fully aware that the housing market is not in a great spot and will see what happens. We have no pressure to sell immediately, so we are going to take it as it comes (let me say, writing this is MUCH easier than wrapping my head around that concept!) I do feel a little emotional seeing the "for sale" sign in the yard.

And... we have (or will finalize it on Monday) bought a piece of property to build on. It is a lot in an existing neighborhood that is very close to our current home (0.9 miles away to be exact). It is a beautiful neighborhood, with lots of places to walk or bike around. The lot is flat and a decent size with very nice homes surrounding it. We have liked this neighborhood for a while and have even looked at the lot before - but it was priced higher than we would have considered. With a recent drop in price on the lot and Nick's low ball offer... it has panned out for us to be the new owners of this lot. Nick has always wanted to build his own house and we both feel much more knowledgeable about what kind of space is important for us in a house and think we can build a house that is perfect for us, in a price range that will end up saving us money and downsizing our already pretty reasonable mortgage. Nick has an amazing eye and ability for projects like this. With a project of this size, he may not be the "hammer and nail" guy for all the building, but he will be the brains and organizer of it all. We have found a plan that we like and are excited to start thinking about the details, once we get action on our current home.

So... the timetable.... we close on the property tomorrow and will probably do little to lot in the immediate future. We will wait to see what happens with the sale of this home. Once this sells, we will look for a rental (YUCK - I can't even begin to think about the stress that this part of the process will do to me.... moving 2x with 3 kids, while working full time and having to keep up with all their activities, school work and still manage to be sane!). While in the rental, the construction on the house will happen. Depending on the time of year of all of this, will guide us on how much Nick can work on the house, thus how fast the project will move forward. So, I guess the short story of the timetable, is that we don't really have one. We could be in the new house in 9 months or 9 years.... we will see how it plays out.

Since we have made this decision, I have second guessed it about a million times. How does one know if a decision is right?? I list the pros and cons in my head over and over and make Nick talk to me about it more than I am sure he is finding amusing. In the end, I go back to my thought that Nick would never do anything that would jeopardize our family, thus if he feels good about this, I can to. Also, when Nick asks me to forgo all the immediate stress (the selling of the house, the construction, the in-between rental) I feel really good about the new house in the new neighborhood, with the tremendous pride that we will all feel knowing that Nick was the brains behind our home! :)

So... here's to the next project of the Giumarra family!

We Love Summer!

Summer vacation has been pure bliss. Weather has been OUTSTANDING and I am loving the ages of our kids. It has been 9 years since we have had a summer free of diapers, naps, bottles and sippy cups - which makes the flexibility of this summer such an improvement! I have been keeping the kids ultra busy with swimming, playdates and adventures. The above picture was taking on the top of Shelving Rock Mountain on Lake George which we did with Nick's brother and family before we all enjoyed a picnic dinner and swim in the lake. So delightful!

I am nervous that this summer is going to fly by, so I think that is why I am trying to squeeze everything into every day. This weekend is our last "free" weekend before we go back to school, which makes me ultra nervous!! Thankfully, we have lots of fun stuff coming up.... trip to NJ, camping weekend, trip to Maine, Family Reunion, etc... but in a weird way, I don't want to give up my "free" time to do these things. I don't think that even makes sense, but I am just loving living day to day and filling up our days one day at a time. I am sure it will all be good - i just may never want to return to work EVER after this summer!

S-U-M-M-E-R V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

Summer vacation is here and we are in full swing! It is a highly anticipated time of the year and we are blessed enough to be able to enjoy it as a family for the full 2 months! Although, there are many times when I think the word "blessed" is a stretch when all 3 of my kids are driving me crazy and I haven't been alone for more than 10 seconds at a time, but really - how amazing is it that we are fortunate enough to have jobs that allow us the opportunity to take a true break from the routine of live and re-charge for another year. This is our 9th summer vacation as a family and although it might be the busiest, it seems to be getter better and better.

Each summer, Nick and I have a "transition" period where we are figuring out how to be together every day, all day... How many couples (and parents) do you know that are home together every day for over 2 months? It sounds great (and is) but it takes some figuring out and sorting through. Particularly, because few dads are home with their kids and I have lots of friends that are home with their kids over the summer - that I end up being with the kids a lot! Some summers Nick has had projects going on that have become his "work," but this summer there seems to be lots of projects in the works - but nothing going on right now. During this transition period, I get bitter because I feel like I never get anytime to myself, yet I almost bring it upon myself as I like to go, go, go and enjoy every moment of summer vacation. Usually, by a week or two into the vacation, I have learned that I need to slow down a bit and Nick has learned that he needs to give me a little alone time every once in a while.

However, I haven't slowed down yet... Weather has been great and I want to take advantage of every moment of summer with my kids. Here is a taste of what we have done since the official beginning of summer vacation just over a week ago...
Monday - 6 kids up to Nannie's lake for a playdate
Tuesday - overnight at Nannie's and fun with her
Wednesday - swim lessons and neighborhood playdates
Thursday - daytrip to Galway lake
Friday - swim lessons, swim at friend's pool and BBQ with Uncle Chris and Amanda
Saturday - hike up Buck Mtn, pool party and dinner at Nannie's
Sunday - boat ride and swim at Lake Vanare, walk in the pouring rain and an afternoon of naps!
Monday - today... the 4th of July... who knows... maybe shelving Rock? Maybe fireworks?

I already fear that the summer is going to go by in a flash and that before we even realize it, September will be here and routines will be back, craziness of a different variety will be among us and we will be in countdown till the next summer vacation - until then, I promise to enjoy what everyday brings me and to love the days of nothing-ness just as much as the days full of everything!

Happy Summer Vacation!