Good Times with Great Friends!

This weekend we were visited by our good friends Tim and Carlye who flew in to see us from the Twin Cities. They last saw Tatum when she was 2 1/2 months old at New Years; needless to say, they were amazed at how much she has grown and how vibrant her personality is.

Being that we had friends in town we (Lindsey and I) decided to do an adults night out in Portland, Maine with our friends Tim and Carlye as well as some local friends, Mike and Dana (a rarity for us these days). We started the night out at a neat Belgian Beer Garden that had an eclectic selection of draft beer. Following this, we headed to The Blue Spoon in Portland's East End neighborhood for a delicious dinner. Both places were well worth the trip from Brunswick!

Getting ready to head out!

On Saturday we drove an hour north to the harbor town of Camden and visited Camden Hills State Park. Here we hiked up Mount Megunticook, one of the highest points on the Atlantic seaboard. From a perch near the summit, we were treated to an amazing view of the park, Camden, and the harbor down below. The view was also quite spectacular because the leaves are starting to change colors which made for a very colorful view of the area. The leaves will be at their peak in a few weeks. After a downhill hike and a yummy lunch the remainder of the day/weekend was spent relaxing...well, almost everyone relaxed except for Tatum...who started walking this weekend! While we still have a ways to go, she is walking approximately 10 steps at a time which is very exciting!

There's a "Full Moon" in Brunswick, Maine!

One of Tatum's favorite times of day is bath time. It is easy to see why with her selection of bath robes to wear! While she is small, we finally have proof that Tatum is growing as illustrated by her old bath robe. After this small wardrobe malfunction, we were able to find a more appropriate outfit and we resumed business as usual. The after-bath routine typically involves some exciting reading (Farm Animal Sounds or Goodnight Gorrilla) followed by some relaxing music to get her ready to sleep through the night.

Walking: Take #2

While we still have a little time before Tatum is officially "walking" (as in, on her own) we were very excited to see that she has more and more interest in walking around the house with her push toy. Prior to Thursday night, she has shown little interest in walking with her toy since we made the last video. I was beginning to worry that she would take after me (Lindsey) and wait until she was 16 months to walk. I am not certain that I can stand too many more months of sweeping the floor 5x/day so as to keep her from looking like a shaggy dog due to all of Eli's black hair! Enjoy...

Tatum Goes To Beantown!

With the extended weekend here, we decided to join our friends for a weekend in Boston, which is only 2 hours south of us. This trip included many firsts for Tatum! It all started off with her "semi-first" train ride on Amtrak's Downeaster line. After arriving and getting settled in, everyone was hungry for lunch so we headed to the North End (a.k.a. "Little Italy"). We found a small restaurant where Tatum enjoyed the authentic rigatoni! Just outside of the restaurant on a neighboring street there was a festival of food and Italian music going on, so we stopped by that as well for some oh-so-good Italian dessert. After lunch it was nap-time for our friends' children so we decided to walk the Freedom trail with Tatum (thinking that she too would nap - but that did not happen!). We stopped by Quincy Market, the Granary Burial Ground (which has Sam Adams' tombstone), and ended at the Boston Common. By this point, Tatum was exhausted and passed out for about 15 minutes in her stroller while Lindsey and I walked around the commons. We enjoyed some of the famous sites including Frog Pond and the swan boats on the lake in the Boston Public Garden. After this we decided to take a walk down the trendy street of Newbury, which is home to many boutiques and outdoor cafes. As we circled back to start heading to the hotel we walked down Boylston Avenue where we saw the finish line to the Boston Marathon. This has special meaning to me as I ran the Boston Marathon in April 2003, roughly 2 months before we were married. After a 45 minute power-walk we made it back to our hotel in the Charlestown neighborhood where we met up with our friends for dinner at the Warren Tavern, Massachussetts oldest tavern. Former patrons include both Paul Revere and George Washington!


Day two was also a busy one as well. Before heading out into town, we stopped by a playground in order to enjoy the beautiful morning. We then took a water taxi from the boardwalk outside of the USS Constitution to Long Wharf, home to the Boston Aquarium. From there it was a short walk to the Boston Children's Museum. This is a great place and it is free to active duty military members and their family. Most of the exhibits are geared towards older children, but there is a toddler area reserved for crawlers only that Tatum enjoyed. One of the highlights included a waterbed-like depression that Tatum did not seem to enjoy too much! After the museum we headed back to Quincy Market where we shopped for some souvenirs for Tatum. Although it took a little while, we finally found what we were looking for....a Pink infants Boston Red Sox cap! Tatum has been wanting one since she is a part of "Red Sox nation." After all the walking, shopping, and playing, we were exhausted and it was time to get on the train back to Portland. Before this we did make time for one final stop in the North End in order to get some authentic Italian pastries. After a yummy chocolate dipped cannolli and [true] butter cream frosted cupcake the trip was complete and it was time to head back.