Santa's Village

Over the weekend we went to Santa's Village. Santa's Village is only 30 minutes from us so it makes it ever so convenient to get to. This would be Amare's very first visit while it was Damien's 8th. It was extremely busy but we made the best of it. There were new attractions since our last visit, which was early in my pregnancy for Amar'e, about two year ago. The weather started out to be great and then at about 3:30 the clouds rolled in and brought rain, thunder, and some lightening. Needless to say this ended our fun day at Santa's Village. We weren't able to get a rain check because we waited out the downpour and this put us in the park for a little more than four hours. The policy is four hours or less. We missed it by 20 minutes! Bummer. I plan on emailing them later on today to see if they can make an exception for us. Here is look at our visit:

                                                                            (click picture to enlarge)

Andrew and I in the mirror in the nursing room. Yes, they offer multiple rooms exclusively for nursing mothers and their babies. These rooms had a changing table, sink, microwave, and rocking chairs! Can you say kick ass?!?!!!!

Nursing Room!!!

My lovely little lady and myself.

Feeding Reindeer.( I don't support animals being in captivity for any reason except rehabilitation)

Family shot!

That statue in the middle looks an awful lot like Damien. Hmmm....

That statue leading that camel looks an awful lot like Damien too. Hmmm..

This wonderful gentleman made Damien and I rings from nails, as you can see above and below.

Ring made from a nail.

5'3" is too tall for a 10-year-old! I am only 5'1.25"!

Damien loving the roller coaster.

Driving the old cars! Damien was a great driver by the way.

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Library Time

As a child, I don't remember there being a big emphasis put on reading at home...I am sure this was just fine, with me being a child, but it made it ever so difficult in school being surrounded by strong readers. I would dread when everyone would read aloud in a circle. I couldn't even concentrate on what the story or text was about. Instead, I would be skipping forward to the part I would have to read aloud and I would pre-read it to myself to make sure I didn't sound stupid reading it ( I would hate coming across a word I didn't know how to say). Embarrassing, and I am sure this somehow affected my language arts skills. We all know that reading and writing go hand and hand (to all of you grammar people out there-Sorry in advance-my grammar may not always be perfect, but I will get better as I continue to blog and read). Now as an adult, with children of my own, I am very determined to emphasize how important reading is. I have made it a bi-weekly event that I bring the kids to the public library to get books. I am extremely determined to raise strong readers. As part of our list of goals for 2012, I have gotten rid of cable and we read more. It is also suggested for Damien to read 10 books over summer vacation. He is not pumped about this, but what 10-year-old would be? I have a personal goal to read to Amar'e on a daily basis. Depending on the condition of the house, nap time, lunchtime, errands, this sometimes doesn't happen, but I make an effort. I will sometimes read to her what I am reading to kill two birds with one stone (we do not support killing anything, its just a saying). Here is a look at our selection of books we picked up last Friday at the library:

 Amare's selections

 Damien's selection

My selections

Happy reading my friends! ♥

We Went To Maine!

Over this past weekend we went to Maine to visit family and friends. We haven't done this type of thing in over a year. My brother-in-law and future sister-in-law live in Brunswick, Maine. It was such a great and relaxing visit. The first day, we arrived to a wonderful prepared quick lunch that Ryan threw together for us because he knew we would be hungry after the three hour ride. It was such a nice gesture! Now, it doesn't usually take three hours to get there but we ran into many travel challenges. We had a really fussy baby on our hands so we had to stop multiple times, we had an eye injury occur, and we took a different route that was unfamiliar to us and got a little lost. But after all of that we arrived safe and sound! On day one we took a ride to the Land's End. This is on an island and it is exactly what it sounds like, the end of the land. After enjoying the views and snapping a couple photos, we returned to the place we were staying (Ryan and Stacie's place) and starting planning dinner. We ate and then hung out for the remainder of the evening. In the morning we got ready to go to the Popham Beach, but that never happened. Slightly sad about that because it would have been Amare's first time at a real ocean beach. What did happen was that we went to visit our friend's place of employment. We call this friend 2 because he is the second Joe we know, hence 2. Anyway, 2 works at Sebasco Resort and gorgeous doesn't even describe it. The best part was the huge saltwater pool! Yes, I said saltwater pool. The water is pumped in directly from the ocean. It was just unbelievable! We had a great time visiting with everyone. Here is a look at our trip to Maine:

(click to enlarge)

 View from the front.

 Yes, Andrew is one of two. That is Ryan. Andrew's other half, and our good friend David. (Also plays keys in the band)

This is the end of the road and land. All that remains is ocean for miles and miles.

 That's me and Amar'e walking the beach at the Land's End.

 Damien is looking for pirate ships. None to be found.

 What's better than football on the beach?

 Making dinner

 Kisses through the screen

Myself, Brad, and 2 

 Love of my life. So handsome!

 The only lobster I had.

 A.M  Jam session.

 Auntie Stacie and Amar'e both in yellow bikinis

 1-2-3 JUMP! Damien, 2, Ryan, Andrew, Brad

 Pool side

 Damien having a grand-old-time!

 The pool meets the ocean. This saltwater pool was awesome! Thanks again 2!! We are so proud of you! Love you!

It was hard leaving Maine. We all wanted to stay forever! I think we are going back very soon to hit the Topsham Fair. It would be Amare's first time at a fair. Damien, Andrew, and I love fairs soooooooo much and know she will too! Look forward to that post! I hope everyone had as great of a weekend as we did!