Our Trip to Boston!

John and I decided to get away this past weekend to help celebrate our Anniversary that was last month. Thanks to my sister Betsey and Brother in law David we were able to go Kid less. They had 7 kids between ours and theirs for the weekend!! Our kids had a ball!
Saturday morning, we took the train down to Boston from Portland. It was so convenient, and it was great not to have to deal with Traffic, Parking, Tolls, Gas etc.. We toured around the city and saw lots of sites. We ate lunch at Quincy Market, which was fun- there were so many food choices! We had Red Sox tickets for Saturday's game. We went to Fenway and unfortunately the game was rained out and rescheduled for Sunday night. We spent about 2 hours there and were able to get a couple Yankee Player's autographs, one of which was Mariano Rivera's who will probably be in the Hall of Fame at some point. Let me make it clear that we are NOT Yankees fans, but it was fun to get those autographs and be so close to the players. Two of them spent close to an hour signing- quite impressive.
Sunday we hung out at our hotel. We stayed at a downtown Hilton which is normally $300/night, we paid $140 with Priceline- What a deal!!! My High School friend Amy met us at our Hotel and then we headed to the Prudential for lunch. We ate at "The Top of the Hub" on the 56th floor- Great View and fun to catch up with Amy. We went on a "Duck" tour Sun afternoon and got The "Red Sox Nation" Duck Truck- how appropriate! The Tour was fun- had never been on the Charles River before. Our Tour Guide was a Hoot- played "Cops" by Poilce officers and by the Jail etc..
Went to Fenway Sun Evening and saw The Red Sox play the Yankees-. We only recognized 3 of the Red Sox players (Timlin, Wakefield, and Crisp) as they had already made the playoffs, so the normal Starters were resting up. At any rate it was fun to watch! We had to leave in the bottom of the 8th so we could make our 11:20pm train home. The Red Sox won in the bottom of the 10th 4-3.
All in all it was a great memorable trip and one we'll hopefully do again sometime.

Cheerleading!

Madeline and Christine are Cheering for the Rec Dept. Last night was their first game! They had fun and did well. Coach Kim gave Caroline a sweatshirt so that she can be an Honorary Cheerleader too, she was so excited!

Got Dog Hair????????

This is our Dog Autumn after a Brushing session. Isn't she beautiful?!!! Yes all that hair is from just this afternoon- Help, it's SHEDDING season!

Anyone need an Acorn washed?

What will they come up with next?

We are in Mourning!

Yesterday evening John found that Madeline's Gerbil Mackenzie Michaela (aka Chippers) passed on to a better life. He went to put a paper towel roll in the cage and saw Mackenzie's sister Jasmin working diligently, but Mackenie was not showing her face. Digging a little deeper, he found her cold body with teeth still attached to one of her toys. The girls and I came home from a Church Activity and John had us all sit on the couch as he announced that there had been a death in the Family. The girls seem to be doing okay, Madeline of course is taking it the hardest. Mackenzie lived a good life (almost 3 years) and was active till the end. We will miss her terribly. For all of you wondering, the answer is "No, we are not getting another gerbil". No other Gerbil could replace our little Mackenzie.

Sunflower

This Russian Mammoth Sunflower grew to an astounding 10ft 5 1/2 inches tall! It took allot of tlc but it survived the Japaneese Beetles and Deer!

After Chris and Melanie's Wedding, John's Mom and Sister Alicia and Family came up to Maine to visit. We hadn't seen Alicia in 9 years and had never met her husband Ezzedine or daughter Ameena because they live in California. We had a fun visit! Ameena is adorable and is really a "miracle" baby as she was born at 24 weeks gestation. She loved being in the 60 degree Ocean water but hated the warm bath afterwards, it was a hoot!!! John's Mom was able to stay with us a day after Alicia and Ezzedine left so we had a fun time visiting Boothbay Harbor etc.!

Catch up Time!

So, I thought I'd catch up on a couple things we did over the last couple weeks of School Vacation! Here's a slideshow of a fun Cookout we had at my sister Betsey's house and also a day we spent in Portland with our friends the Flynn's. Chris Flynn and I have been friends since Kindergarten! They still live in Mass but were up vacationing in York. Fun Memories!

Six Flags!

When we were in Mass a couple weeks ago, we went to Six Flags with John's Brother Jeff and family! We had a great time. John and i went on "The Superman" Rollercoater. It was INTENSE to say the least. It goes 77 miles per hour and quite a bit of the time your butt isn't even touching the seat. I closed my eyes through much of it, can't wait to do it again!!!!!! The kids had a blast too! Jeff and Sharon let us use passes that they had, so instead of paying $150 for all 5 of us to get in, we paid $45- thanks guys! We hope we can go again next year!

Saying Goodbye to Jen!

We have been blessed for the last year or so to have an Awesome Babysitter! Jen has always been so dependable and the kids absolutely love her. She would come once a week and babysit when I needed to sleep (after working a night shift) and John had to work. She would take the kids to the Beach, paint their nails, play games etc etc. Well Jen has now moved up North to pursue her education in Nursing- she is going to make a wonderful Nurse! We miss you Jen and hope to see you soon!

Caroline's First Day of PreSchool

Caroline had her First Day of PreSchool today! It was a Full day, so she's pretty tired. All went well and she says her favorite part of the day was "playing with friends". She'll be going one Full Day and two 1/2 days a week. The last picture is of Caroline and one of her teachers, Miss Jen. I was teary as we dropped her off this AM, I can't imagine what her first day of Kindergarten will be like!!!!! Kids grow up soooo fast!

Portland SeaDogs Game!

Friday, John called from work and had the idea of going out and "doing something" as a family. I looked at the movie selections and nothing was appealing, so I went on the Minor League Baseball team's website and found out they were having a Home Game! This was at 5:30pm and the game started at 7pm. I called John back and said we were going to a Baseball Game! He was not keen on the idea as "Portland is so far away" (45 minutes) and we would get there late and miss the National Anthem. Well John was outvoted and with lots of coaxing we were on our way to Portland. We arrived at the top of the 2nd inning.
We've lived in this area for 7 years and never been to a Game. It was a fun experience and something I'm sure we'll do more often. Halfway through the game, John leaned over and said "This was a good idea after all", A HA I was right for once (ha,ha,ha)!!!










Madeline won a Camera Scan Contest! Everyone could see her on the big screen as she won 2 tickets to FunTown SplashTown- she was thrilled!


Caroline with Slugger, the team Mascot.


Sad Skroski Girls after the SeaDogs lost the Playoffs to the Trenton Thunder 5-4. Hopefully they'll have better luck next season.




Christine had her miniature bat signed by Iggy Suarez, one of the stars of the SeaDogs!


On the way home- Pure exhaustion!

First Day of School!

Last Wednesday Madeline and Christine started school, Christine 5th grade and Madeline 3rd. John's Mom was here for the occasion which was a treat as she has never been visiting on the first day before. The girls had a great Day and are looking forward to a fun year. Christine has Mrs. Snell this year and Madeline, Mrs. Mott. Caroline wanted it to be her first day of Pre-School, she insisted she wear her Back Pack too. Will post her first day of Pre-School Pictures when she starts this week.