Finally....A Real Vacation

While I posted about 2 summer days that we actually got to spend playing in a summer way, September was rung in with something amazing - a relaxing vacation week! While there were definite events and moments that tried to counteract our relaxing (condo sell falling through, uncomfortable run-ins with our builder, constant phone calls to the builder's realtor to try and get issues resolved that needed to be resolved asap), we for the most part had a great week there.

We started out the week with Maureen's family. They came up for Labor Day weekend. Friday afternoon was spent getting settled, lounging out on the deck and hanging out with each other. A lot of nothing is the absolutely perfect thing to "do" to get in vacation mode.

Cade Trying Out the Paint

He had a great time painting with Emily!

The Budding Artists

Cousins

My Handsome Dylan

Cutie Cade

Joe Trying out the Baby Adirondack
Cade Looking at Him Like He's a Nutcase

After that mellow day, we ended up packing in quite a bit on Saturday. After getting dressed, breakfasted and out the door (no easy feat for 8 people to do), we headed to Clark's Trading Post, a favorite fun "tourist" spot in the area. First up was the trained bear show. It really is amazing and I am in awe every time I see it.

Next up was the train ride. It's funny how my boys feel the need to move. We loaded on the train and both of them were so ridiculously wiggly until the moment the train started. Then they both sat with me so peacefully to enjoy the ride and "watch the show."

See the train goes through territory that the Wolfman claims as his own and he rides after the train and rants and raves and does whatever he can to convince you to leave his property! As for us, we tell him to "Scram you old goat!" It's totally campy but kids absolutely love it.

Wolfman's Sweet Ride

The Wolfman is Pretty Jacked
I'm Not Messing With Him

We went in Merlin's Mystical Mansion which was a weird optical illusion type ride. Dylan was a little unsure of it during the ride (told me he was going to close his eyes) but was captivated enough to ask many questions about it throughout the day. We went through the museums they have of old stuff. Dylan and Cade were fascinated by a self playing piano....actually it was a self playing one man band of sorts that still worked. For just a quarter, you could watch the entertainment. While we were wandering, Patrick and Emily got to play on Segways. It's not a huge place so just a few hours was plenty to enjoy it fully. Then we grabbed some fast food and drove the beautiful Kancamangus Highway to the town of North Conway. This is how the boys enjoyed the scenery of the Kanc:

North Conway is known for good shopping and that's what we did there. We hit up a few outlet stores and some of our other favorite spots. The Hickey family introduced us to a fabulous store we had never gone to before - The Christmas Loft. It was chocked full of holiday scenes that the boys absolutely loved. Not shocking, Dylan was most interested in the set up of a Halloween village (think the traditional tiny houses that you see decorated shelves in homes at Christmas time, only spooky). We also hit up the awesome (but seriously crowded) general store where we picked up some treats:

Then we had an early dinner at one of the Hickey's favorite restaurants in town. After an action filled day with short naps, Mike and I called it a day and our car headed back to our condo. Maureen and her crew stayed behind for some more fun and came back later that night. We would all need a good night's rest that night because the next day, Mike's cousin, Gretchen, and her family were meeting us for a little family reunion and a hike up a mountain.