A "necessary" Evil?

The twin's requested McDonald's for their birthday lunch. There is only one restaurant with a play area close by(this is not the real picture of it, just one I got off the Internet). Anyway like every visit to one of these fast food play lands, I sit and think about all the children that have spread their germs before us. And I wonder why I still allow myself to bring my children to these places. I am always certain no matter how much sanitizer I make the kids smear on their hands, we are walking away with so much more than an afternoon of fun.

Sure enough, Elliot was throwing up the next day, followed by Caleigh that night. The boys have yet to get sick, but...
So I am sending out the question, are these playgrounds even worth it. Yes, you get to sit inside away from the elements, and the kids work out their energy, but is is worth the days that you are house bound afterward, because everyone is so sick?

And as a side note, this particular play land we visited was gross, we only let the kids play for a short while.

A Friday night in NH

We spent our Friday night in Maine. It was so fun. Mike got home from work around noon, and after naps we headed up to Maine at 2:30. We checked out the huge Kittery outlet Mall. We did mostly window shopping, but Miles did spend some of his birthday money on a new pair of shoes for school. The mall is so spread out you have to drive to each group of stores, because they all have their own parking lots. But, it was nice to see some real shopping and as soon as we have money I am totally going back. After our heads were dizzy from all the great window shopping we went to "Flo's" according to the Travel Channel they have the best hot dogs in New England. "Flo's" was closed. sad. So we found a seafood drive-up restaurant (not hard to do in Maine) and enjoyed Fish and Chips and Clam chowder. All my kids love clam chowder. Then we hit York beach about 6:45 and played until 8:00 then headed home. It was a great Friday.

Our 1st starfish sighting. And a little crab.

Elliot loves the beach.

A new addition to the blog

I added the link to Mike's blog. He started it when we got here and it is much more entertaining than mine. He doesn't update as often as I do, but when he does he spends a lot of time making it a great blog to read. So for all of you who didn't know he had one or haven't checked it out in a while, he has one and you should check it out. Enjoy!

Soccer Sign ups

So no picture here, sorry. But I went to sign the kids up for soccer and the guys who run the program talked me into coaching. Now anyone who knows me well knows I am not sporty. I am lucky to go for a walk and not sprain my ankle. But I do like my children and I am my mother's daughter, so I should be able to pull this off. Right? Now if I only had Rachel to be my secretary and organize treats and call all the parents about stuff, this would be easy.

The Goodwin Library

Monday is our Library day. They always have a fun kid craft for the children to sit down and do. The Library is small, but they have a good selection of books. Caleigh has found a new series called "Dear, Dumb Diary" I am so happy they all seem to enjoy books and reading.



Here is Caleigh at a Cartooning workshop that the Library offered. They had a professional cartoonist that came and talked to them and worked with them. She didn't want to do it at first, I am sure because she tends to be shy with new things. But once we got there and she started drawing, I could have left and she never would have noticed. The cartoonist (I should have gotten her name) said Caleigh did very well for her age and thought she would enjoy another art program they offer in the fall. Caleigh had so much fun and she even got a new notepad and pen to practice her art.

Cool Park

The boys and Caleigh loved the castle.


The kids thought this was a Penske.

As we try to figure out life in NH I have been looking for fun things for the kids do. We were spoiled in Boise with SO MANY parks so close to our house. So far we have only found 1 in our town and it's the elementary school's playground. But, the town next to us has a couple good ones. Here's pictures of the one the kids liked best.

This girl loves to dance

The town next to ours had a kid concert the other night. The group's name was Tunebuggies and it was made up of local music teachers. They were really good, and the kids had fun getting their PJ's on for the concert. Elliot is at the fun age where she dances on demand. She also hit's now when greeting other babies. Sorry Christopher and Kaelen.

Our week in a nutshell

This week we are still working on finding our rythm and figuring life out in NH. So here is our typical day.
-wake up breakfast/DVD watching(we don't have TV)
-TV off get dressed/brushteeth/ make beds/ put away pjs
-work pages for kids while mom does chores/Elliot colors(mostly on paper, but she's one)
-EXERCISE we go on long walks and the kids mostly ride their bikes. We have some good hills so they are learning for the first time to ride down hill.
-home for lunch and rehydration. The humidity takes a lot out of you, so we have to all have water bottles, all the time.
-playdates with friends or prescheduled activities.
MON.library day

-then we wake up Mike and I try to get out of the house and do grocery shopping or a family outing.
-then Mike is off to work and I am try my darndest to not be too bored. Me and the kids do crafts, read, visit friends, run in sprinklers (the kids do, I watch), and more movie watching.

So this is us right now. I am signing the boys up for soccer which will start in Sept. along with school. Caleigh is going to be doing a cartooning workshop at the library Mon. night, but I think it is only two weeks.

The community does have storytime, and other family activities in the park every Wed. and even sometimes Mon. So we walk to those.
We are really enjoying NH and love and miss you all.

To my family regarding your blogs

This post goes out to my family members who are not keeping up on your blogs(you know who you are...). If you did not know I have moved to New Hampshire and will not be able to see you for a while. Which means my only visual contact with you will be through the blog sphere (I don't know if that's a real word). So those of you who's last post title read's Mother's Day, I would invite you to take some time and add a new post. Yes, I do realize that we can't all be blog obsessive at I am, but Mother's Day?

I love you all and would love to SEE you!

Joseph Smith's Birthplace

We can now add Vermont to places we have been. Before my parents left we traveled to VT to visit some of it's wonders. The first stop was JS birthplace. What a wonderful spirit that is there. The tabernacle choir is piped through the trees and it sounds like they are really there. There was a wonderful missionary couple from Utah that gave us our tour. The Elder was wonderful at telling us stories of Lucy Mac Smith and her family, the memorial, and he even gave us a great lunch location. It was a wonderful visit. The kid's favorite part is they got to ride a golf cart to the different home locations. The cellars of some of Lucy Mac's family are still there and preserved.





The memorial itself is 381/2 feet high, one foot for every year that Joseph lived. The story of how it was brought to it's location and the man behind it all, was amazing. And I couldn't do it justice, but there was no doubt that the Lord's hand was involved.

Travelers guide to NH

So here are a few questions answered and fun things I thought you might like to know...

1. There are not many lighening buys here. We saw alot in the midwest on the way, but not so many here. There are however a LOT of Junebugs, they are like big flies and spiders combined(in my opinion).

2. The Lobster in Maine was so good, but I don't know if I am a lobster fan. Well, I guess I should say, I liked it, but I don't know if it's worth the money to me. Plus it's my first time having lobster, so Maine lobster could taste the same at Idaho lobster, I would never know.

Fun Fact about NH.
-most people use the side door when they come to visit. So a lot of people put all their cute "welcome" stuff at that door. Our home doesn't have a side door into the house, just the garage, so this is a New England thing we won't experience. My neighbor said even the service people come to the side door.

-In the super market they don't call the cart a "cart", they call it a "carriage".

-No one has central air. Well, I guess the rich do, but most people don't. Our house even being 4 years old is without the modern day convienence. We had to go buy air conditioning units(the ugly ones that stick out your windows) when we got here. It was too hot!

-The people here have an accent. It is like a Boston accent. I am getting pretty good at imitating it. It's really funny to hear the kids use it. Today, when I was out and about, this boy was whining to his mom that he needed new shoes. I wish my kids would whine with an accent. I don't even care which one.

-In the middle of every town is a church with a steeple. It is so neat seeing all the arcitecture.

Well, that's it for now. Oh and here are a few more picks of New England

We liked the ant sculpture in this photo.

This is the building Mike will be teaching in at UNH.

35 Skyview Dr.

This is our back patio. Our neighborhood.


This is our backyard.

This is our new house and neighborhood. I will post pics of the inside as soon as I have it all put together. Right now it is not quite there.

These our are front yard trees.

Happy 4th of July

The kids in front of the new house.
Henry Longfellow's home.
Downtown Portland, ME
Portland Head Lighthouse.
Fox's lobster house, can you see the lighthouse in the background? We lobster rolls and lobster bisque. Just so we could say we have eaten lobster in Maine.

Our 4th of July was wonderful. We didn't go to Boston. After finding out the train was going to cost $30 per person we decided to do something more local. So we went to Portland, Maine to Henry Longfellow's house (he was a famous poet) and there was a reading of the Declaration of Independence. Then we went to the Portland Head lighthouse. We ate lunch at the park that surrounds the lighthouse. It's was a beautiful day, not too humid. Then we went to York beach just up the road and the kids played in the ocean. For dinner we went to Fox's lobster house. You can eat inside or they have a walk up window with picnic tables. Our view from the patio was another wonderful lighthouse and the ocean. Then on the way home we found a Fireworks store and bought a package of fireworks. They were AWESOME. We have never been able to have great fireworks in Idaho, because it is so dry. They were so big and fun. The kid's thought it was so great. It was a really great day.

A great Sunday

On our way to NH we went through Palmyra, NY. It was Sunday and we decided to get a late start and see Joseph Smith's home, the temple, and Hill Cumorah. It was such a great sabbath day. The weather was beautiful and the spirit was so strong. I think mostly it reminded me how real the gospel is, and how blessed I am. The sacred grove was so peaceful and I can see why Joseph picked it to say his special prayer.

In front of Palmyra, NY Temple.

The view of the Temple from the Smith's property. On top of Hill Cumorah! For any of you who visit and see the steep climb to the top, there is a parking lot on the top. We discovered it after we walked the hard climb.

Here we are in the Sacred Grove. The weather was so humid, but in the grove it was beautiful. It was not hard to imagine a young boy of 14 walking through the trees.

Getting here...

So this is our moving truck, it's the biggest we could get. All of our stuff acutally fit in this truck.
Here was my view for 5 days on the road. Tiff made us signs that, mine said "I'm with the Penske" it helped a lot to keep cars from getting between us. Mike had a sign that said "NH or bust" and "first time penske driver"
The 3rd day was a hard day Illinois weather did not agree with us. There were a few cars that had spun off the road and driving was scary, but we kept trucking through.
This is the swanky hotel we stayed at in New York. It was so nice, the hotel was just remodeled and we were the first to stay in the "new" room.

We have arrived!

After 5 days in the car we have made it to New Hampshire!!! I have so many pictures to come, but I just wanted to let you know we made it. The ward here is amazing. They welcomed us with cleaning supplies and meals for the first 3 nights.

I have to say when we pulled up to our new home I thought, "I feel like we are camping." There are trees everywhere. I mean everywhere. When you pull into a town you can't tell your in a town because everything is hidden in trees. My parents say it is similar to the Oregon coast, but I have never been. It's a little claustrophobic right now, but I hope we will get used to it. Our backyard is nestled up to the woods. Romantic right? Now, let me tell you about the ticks, chiggers, mosquito's, poison ivy and oak, and sumac. I have to coat my kids with "Deep Woods OFF" before they go out to play. Plus at night I have to do "tick checks" with the kids to make sure they haven't picked up any. Only 40% have Lyme disease. And the mosquito's still carry west Nile over here. I am thinking of inventing bug-proof suits. please send ideas for patterns.