Friday: Freeport and Friends

Warning: This is going to be a monster post, BUT it will be my last about our vacation, for those who are wishing I would just move on already (but it is MY blog :-)).

I think I mentioned already that we went to spend Thursday night and Friday with some good family friends, Roger and Eileen. They live in a beautiful farmhouse from the 1800s in Richmond, ME. The property around them is just so serene and peaceful, and they are some of the warmest, most hospitable people I've ever met. We love visiting them and wish we got to see them more often. Gabe became quick friends with Eileen and "Mr. Rogers" (this is what he called Roger), and they were so good with the boys. Eileen gave Gabe tours of the yard and barn, where he stumbled on a mini-glider that he LOVED. He also spent some time catching bugs with the bug catching kit that was one of his "surprises." It was just a great time all around. I should also mention that the ladies went shopping after the boys were down at this place called the Christmas Tree Shoppe - let's just say it's good I don't live by one of these. We found this Tide Buzz machine for $1.99! Now, we didn't have room to put them in the van to bring them home, but still!

On Friday, we weren't entirely sure how to spend our last day, but ended up thinking it'd be nice to see the ocean again before we left. But, it was raining, so we decided to in to Freeport for a little while and visit LL Bean. LL Bean is another "must see" when in Maine. You can read a little bit about the history here. Their store in Freeport is great and has a trout pond and a new aquarium where kids can stick their heads up in this little bubble and see the fish (demonstrated by Gabe below). Caleb was super tired and cranky, so Eileen offered to take him and walk him around for a bit. To my surprise, he didn't make a peep when she took him, so we went off to do some souveneir shopping and she called a few minutes later to say he was sleeping! So she sat out in the rockers they had with him while we got to shop leisurely, which was great. We also got a pic with the signature boot, their original product.

After LL Bean, the weather seemed to be holding out, so we went to Winslow Park / Beach on Casco Bay. Again, beautiful, and we had so much fun wading and playing in the sand and watching clams spit! We realized that if we watched the sand close enough you could see the clams shooting up these little spurts of water all around. We didn't actually dig any, but it was fun to see and one of the little girls there showed us that if you dropped something heavy a bunch of them would spit at once. I tried to get it on this video, but you have to watch VERY closely:

After Casco Bay it was time to shower up, pack up, eat a great dinner and hit the road! The boys were out within 10 minutes and slept for about 10 straight hours, which was great! It was a smooth trip home.

You can see pictures from Roger and Eileen's here, pictures from Freeport here and pictures from Casco bay here. Below are some of my faves.

All is all this was such a great trip; one I'm glad we did and will always remember. Thanks for letting me share all the details with you!

The yard at Eileen and Roger's:

The farmhouse:

Dinner in the breezeway before we left:

My mom and Eileen with the boys on the glider:

Gabe and Mr. Rogers:

Gabe and Eileen at Casco Bay:

Beach baby at Casco bay:

Gabe hanging out, with daddy exploring in the background:

Rinsing off the sand: :-)

View of Casco Bay:


Mom and me by the boot at Bean's:

Eileen and Cay Cay post-nap:

Gabe in the fish tank at Bean's:

By the trout pond:

Mom by the clock at LL Bean's: