The Great Pumpkin Patch - 2007

I HAD to get one of these -

I mean, come on, the mashed potato of Australia ! ? ! I have to try it! (By the way, I haven't yet. Probably this weekend...)

I love this idea. I'd like to try it next year.



You can probably tell, it was a very windy day, but warm.
Isabella wasn't very aMAZEd in this maze!

And they came two by two...

First day of Baby Steps

Everyone takes their turn playing the tom-tom drum...
Gianna's turn: Isabella's turn:

Gianna during story time:

Day 3 in Maine Land's End

Near Melissa and Brian's home, there are series of islands connected by bridges. When you get to the end of the last island, the road ends and you are at "Land's End".

Of course, at Land's End there is a gift shop!

Little Maine Lob-STAH!

The girls were getting sick this day, and ended up at the doctor the next. It is evident how poor Gianna is feeling here...

And poor Isabella..

I loved this house on it's own island. It looks like it's powered by the windmill next to it.

Jammies

I still have vacation pics to post, but thought I'd put some more recent pics on.
The girls the other night in their jammies...

I know these next two are too light, but the expressions are so cute to me...

Memories of Maine...

Remember my post about the incredible sandwich I had in Maine with the cranberry mayo? Well, I improvised today and the result was pretty similar. I just mixed mayo with whole berry

cranberry sauce, and here's the result:

Um ummmmmmmm....

Happy Accident

I'm just so excited today! (Yes, being a stay-at-home mommy it doesn't take much!) I decided to have pomegranate, and it wouldn't have occured to me that the the girls would eat any of it since it's a little tart. Plus they'd already had nectarines and bananas today. Well, me being my clumsy self, I accidentally sent a chunck of it flying and the seeds went all over the floor. The girls, who had been happily dismantling the kitchen pantry, ran over to find out what the commotion was, and began eating all the seeds off the floor. I was SO excited to find another fruit they would eat that I didn't care it was off the floor. (See why no one gets to wear their shoes in the house?!?!) And aren't pomegranates supposed to be one of those "superfoods"? Yippee! That almost makes up for the girls not liking cauliflower puree I made last night.

One more trick I just figured out on - if it's a veggie they don't like, cover it with spaghetti sauce and they'll gobble it up! I learned that with acorn squash Tuesday night. Butter didn't work, but the sauce did! My little Italian girls...

Day 2 in Maine

First thing in the morning - The Brunswick Farmers Market... Brian "herded" Gianna around while Mike herded Isabella.

I shopped!

Next stop - Portland Head Light...

Built in 1790, first lit in 1791!

Next onto the nearby beach...

The girls LOVED the water!

Then the girls got a little swingin' in before we headed back to Brian and Melissa's house.

Later that night...

We had a great dinner out at Sea Dog Brewing Company (and even had babysitters - Brian's parents watched the girls while we went out!). It was such a cool restaurant / bar in an OLD paper mill. We originally sat outside in a corner overlooking the Androscoggin River. It was a beautiful view.

Just a little word of advice to anyone going out to this place. Do not sit outside in a corner overlooking the Androscoggin River in the evening! Brian and Mike were whispering something to each other, and to make a long story short, when I turned around I saw about ten 1" to 1-1/2" spiders (I don't think I'm exagerrating) making webs behind my head. They were everywhere! Always the gentleman, Brian changed seats with me. Unfortunately, I couldn't look at him because all I could see were all the spiders busily building webs around him! So we ended up with a nice seat inside. And we had a lovely dinner.

After dinner we went to Freeport, home of Maine's L.L. Bean. I didn't ever want to leave! I didn't get pictures that night, but did as we were leaving Maine, but they were mostly taken from the car. I just wanted to share how cute the area is with anyone who hasn't seen it.

THIS - - - - >
is a McDonald's. It is built in an 1850 Greek Revival house.

Isn't this a cute Banana Republic?


I just crack up over the name of this... Isabella's Sticky Buns. I see Isabella's sticky buns quite often - HA! HA!

L.L. Bean was getting ready for one of their free outdoor concerts. What I love about this, after living in California for so long, was that people bring their lawn chairs in the morning and leave them there to save your place. In California, IF your chair happened to still be there, it would have a gang member in it that you wouldn't dare say, "excuse me, I believe you're in my seat" to!