Fort Popham & the Extended Roundy Tribe

We still have several more days to enjoy here with the Maine Roundys. We enjoyed touring Fort Popham right next to the beach.

(Photo courtesy of Emmanuel Roundy Age 5)

Here we are: 12 Roundys all together! 

The Maine Roundys

Anaya and Renee

The Traveling Roundys

Pine Trees at the Beach

In Maine the typical beach is not your typical palm-tree-white-sand beach. But, as you can see, it’s simply beautiful anyway.

James & Jada had their debut with the ocean here at Popham Beach. They LOVED it! They were quite fascinated with the waves even though it was just one small little lapping wave at a time. 

While James & Jada were introduced to the ocean for the first time, Emmanuel & Elena were introduced to the Atlantic. (Their first encounter with the ocean was last year--the South China Sea.)

Look Mom, sand hands!

I wanna be like my big brother!

The Scenic Route

We drove up Route 2 through Massachusetts and soaked in the majestic scenery. The mountains were quite misty and mystical at the same time as it was a drizzly day. It took us WAAAAY longer to arrive in Maine than expected, but the drive was breathtaking. See for yourself!

Rainy Days & One Perfectly Sunny Day in NY

Our time in NY with the Cochran clan was most relaxing. The days were cool and rainy and the kids enjoyed catching rain drops and adding to their caterpillar collection.

The whole clan gathered together for a picnic Saturday afternoon and it was the most gloriously sunny day you could ask for. With good food, endless games of horseshoes and great friends to catch up with (aka hunting stories retold), we were all grateful for the warm sunshine and the rain that held off till nearly dark!

Time with Gram

We had an eventful visit with Gram and family in Pennsylvania: Lots of good food, a Skip-Bo game, visiting aunts & uncles, splashing in the creek, and enjoying some special moments with Gram! Please be in prayer for Gram! She just fell on Thursday and yesterday had a successful surgery to repair her broken hip. Pray for healing and encouragement. We love you, Gram!

Great Times as a Family in North Carolina

We were blessed to have Grady, John and Sarah with us during part of our time in North Carolina along with Misty.  It is the first time in quite a while that we had the whole family together.  The kids loved going on four-wheeler rides with Uncle Grady.

As you can see Jada is petrified of dogs. :)  She really enjoyed being out in the mountains, romping around in the dirt, and taking a moment to relax with Corky.

We enjoyed a time to celebrate Jenny's birthday while the whole family was there as well.

We went for a swim and enjoyed learning how to paddle around in kayak.  

Eating lunch can be just a little too exhausting at times.  I think he really had a good nap that day. :)
Jenny had learned from a magazine or friend how to make ice cream using two ziploc bags, some ice and a few other ingredients.  I don't know if the kids actually got to eat theirs  I think they had a little too much fun mashing the bags. :)  It does work though and tastes quite good.  You can get in touch with us if you are interested in the recipe.

Getaway Together in Tennessee

While we were in North Carolina, Jenny surprised me with two nights away in Gatlinburg.  When we were married almost 9 years ago we spent the first part of our honeymoon in a cabin in Gatlinburg.

On our way over the mountain we drove up to Clingman's Dome.  It is the highest point in the smokey mountains.  You can drive most of the way up, but then we had to walk up just about 1/2 of a mile to finish of the trip to the top.  We have driven BY Clingman's dome many times, but it is usually at the beginning or end of a 14 to 16 hour drive to Wisconsin or Missouri.  It was a real treat to hike up there.  We were high enough that clouds were blowing across the path up the mountain.  It was awesome.

We were going out to do some shopping for clothes as Jenny's birthday present.  The kids stayed with Grandma.  We went to lunch together while we were out, and that is when Jenny decided to share the surprise that we were not going back home that day.  We had a great time relaxing and hanging out together.  The second day we rode the cable car to Ober Gatlinburg.

On our trip back to North Carolina we drove through Cades Cove and enjoyed some awesome displays of God's Creation.  It struck me that all of the beautiful places that I have seen in my life and all of the ones I have yet to see were created in 6 days by God.  How awesome is that.  It is one thing to say that God is all-powerful, but sometimes for my little mind to really understand I need a simple example of his power to help me begin to understand.  On our way back to North Carolina we drove on a one-way four-wheel drive rode.  It was beautiful!

Picking Peas and Spending Time at the Pool

The morning after we arrived in Maryland we went and picked strawberries and english peas.  It was a great time to get out as a family and we really enjoyed eating the peas and strawberries later. :)

While we were in Maryland Jenny's Aunt took us to the community pool on Father's day.  We really had an awesome time as a family and the kids enjoyed swimming with Aunt Jean.  She was able to teach emmanuel how to do a proper swimming stroke with his head under the water.  They had several pools and some awesome slides.  After a great time at the pool we had an awesome dinner that included T-Bone steaks.  MMMmmmMMMmmMMMhhmmMM!

Whitewater Rafting with Family

Rafting Fun

On our way to North Carolina we caravanned  with Jenny's brother Grady, Sarah and John (Jenny's nephew).  We moved the car seats around and the kids enjoyed spending time together on the road.  All of the kids traveled really well.  We picked up Jenny's sister at the airport in Knoxville. The first week that we spent in North Carolina Jenny's whole family was together for the first time in quite a while. One of her uncles and her cousin came up to the mountains for a few days and we were able to go rafting down the Nantahala. It was a great time. The water was 48 degrees...brrrr.

Potty Training can be so exhausting

This summer we are potty training the twins. Sometimes this can be quite exhausting. We had James waiting on the potty after lunch and he fell asleep. They are both doing well, they have certainly had their share of accidents, but I suppose that is to be expected. I was hoping to hold a fifteen minute class with them on the how to use the toilet and be done at that point. Alas, it seems to be a much longer endeavor.