Summer Vacation 2009

This summer we decided to take a road trip up the east coast to see Uncle Brent, Aunt Sue, Billie Jo and Natalie in Portland, Maine. The last time we made a trip to Maine was after Natalie was born...she's 7 now! So we were long overdue for a trip. We decided to drive because it was cheaper than flying 5 people (go figure! we chose the cheaper option?!?!) Not to mention, that's how we traveled when we were children and it was such a fantastic bonding experience for the whole family! (I am lying...it was just cheaper!)

The weather was great--I was a little worried that it would be chilly, but honestly it was hot! What a shock! We did go to the beach and the kids felt like little human ice cubes when they got out---no way did I even touch that water!






We ate lobster...more than one...Jeff decided he was going to be sick of lobster by the time he left Maine and I think he was successful!
Here's Eliott with his very first lobster!
and here's Jeff polishing his off...I don't think he's had enough yet!

Uncle Brent has apparently had too much lobster!


And Aunt Sue apparently had a little too much of something else... HA HA!! :)

We visited several light houses along the coast of Maine. It was really beautiful!




We picked blueberries...just like Sal!


We went to a native American Indian Festival--- kids got to do a little Indian dance and then it rained a little later...apparently they were doing an Indian rain dance!
One night Brent and Sue whipped up some amazing sushi...it was awesome!!!



And we also cooked a lobster dinner one night...here are the kids with their lobsters. Millie wouldn't touch hers without a napkin!


Jeff also managed to make a day trip to Boston with Eliott to see the Boston Red Sox play

and to the patriots training camp

Nice shot of Eliott with the Patriots cheerleaders...I am sure he will appreciate it one day!!!
That was the day Sue and I went shopping at the outlets in Kittery, Me. and Uncle Brent took the girls to Mackworth Island to build fairy houses. That is also the day Millie got a huge wad of bubble gum stuck in her hair and ended up with a great new haircut...alas if only the fairies could have been there to help me get it out maybe I wouldn't have had to use scissors!! :)

We really pack a lot into a vacation!!! Oh wait...we're not done yet!!

Of course we couldn't be that close to NYC and not stop at Aunt Brenda and Uncle Philips place. We spent a couple of nights in New York and did just a few things before we headed back home...went to the children's museum


played on one of the many playgrounds in Central Park,

had a double date (with Philip and Brenda) at a great little restaurant in little Italy and dessert at Cafe Lalo...where they filmed" You've got Mail".

and of course Jeff went back to China town for some roast duck--this man is completely driven by his taste bud!!! Well, almost.
We didn't really have a long list of things we wanted to do this time---we were just there in November and it was such a quick stop. But you know we pack it in...and wouldn't ya know....Jeff would find a way to squeeze in little sporting event! Jeff took Eliott to a Mets game with Uncle Philip and Jonathan while Aunt Brenda, Laura, Chloe, Millie and I all went to have a little "girl time" at Alice's teacup in Manhattan. It really was fun--I know the kids loved having their own little guy/girl time...and mom and dad loved it too!

The vacation was great. Being with family was great. The road trip was...well, it was great at times, and it certainly was great to have a dvd player in the car! But need less to say, after a 10 day road trip with multiple stops, traveling with 3 small children,traffic, a 10 hour drive back and not sleeping in your own bed for too long...coming home was GREAT!!!

I am so grateful to have a brother and a sister living in such fun places to visit! We are so blessed to be able to travel and do so much in such a short amount of time. The kids had a wonderful time--Chloe and Millie's favorite part of the vacation was Mackworth Island, ME. and the tea party in nyc and Eliott's favorite was going to baseball games with daddy...my favorite thing was being able to spend quality time with my family!!!

Grandma and Grandpa's Birthday Bash

Well, it has become quite obvious that I can't keep up...this blogging thang is for (the birds) very organized people out there with orderly and non-chaotic lives---I am just sure of it! So I am not sure what I was thinking! I am about to go on another family vacation and I haven't even mentioned the last one! Either I need to learn to type and upload faster or we (the trinh fam) need to SLOW DOWN!!! I think I know which one...

So even though I am pretty much lousy at this I still do it more than I ever did scrap booking...(which was..umm...Never!) So I may as well keep doing what I am doing--which is better than nothing. Hopefully one day my kids will look back and love all the fabulous things we did together as a family and will overlook the fact that I posted about july after school started in September. :)

The Wooten Family Birthday Bash goes back many years. I can't even remember when we did the first one. I do know that it was before I had Chloe because I remember getting a baby gift when I was pregnant with her...so at least 9 years. The Birthday Bash started because our family is scattered all over the US (and used to be all over the world), and remembering niece, nephew, cousin, grand children's bdays was tough and pretty much impossible to travel to all of them not to mention trying to mail out all those gifts each year! So, my parents have a weekend each summer when we cook out and have a HUGE birthday party for all of the grandchildren--11 in all! (Grandma really didn't want it to end on an odd number but it was up to me to produce grandchild #12 and Jeff was not interested---can you believe that!)

So we have hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, tons of dessert, and the occasional congealed salad (be afraid...very afraid...one should never eat something that is called" congealed"--it just sounds bad! just call it jello for crying out loud!) I mean the Wooten family does love to eat!!! And then the kids open presents from grandma and grandpa and all the aunts and uncles. It's great...just like Christmas in July! My kids absolutely love this Wooten family tradition and I am so glad that we get to see everyone usually twice a year--Christmas and Birthday Bash! I love that my parents came up with this tradition--and I am sure when it started that no one knew it was destined to become a "family tradition". But isn't that just what family is all about...finding time to be together, in spite of the distance and difficulty or cost to get there. My kids probably think it's about the presents right now, but I think they are already starting to see that the joy of being with people you love and are connected to is better than any gift they can unwrap. I know they will grow up with wonderful memories of being with family each summer---Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!