Super fun weekend

We have had the best weekend with our great little family. On Thursday, Adam worked a bit earlier in the day and managed to be out in time for us to head to the drive in. We took out the back seat and loaded up with all sorts of pillows and blankets, then we opened up the back and watched the movie that way. We'd stopped for a pizza on the way, so we had a nice picnic dinner while we watched the movie. They were playing Despicable Me, which was cute and the kids both liked. They really loved the whole experience, though, and each of them told me over and over again how much fun they'd had.

   

Then on Friday morning, we decided to take a spontaneous trip to York's Wild Kingdom. We'd never been, and we all really enjoyed ourselves. Adam went with the kids on an elephant ride, which was pretty cool, and then we explored the zoo area. The kids didn't have patience for too much animal viewing, but they liked feeding the deer, petting the goats, and watching the alligators. After we worked our way through the zoo, we stopped for lunch and then went over to the area that has amusement park rides. There were a lot of rides for kids-only, and Sophie and Ben really enjoyed going on by themselves like big kids. Sophie even took a ride on the roller coaster by herself. We went on once as a family, but Sophie was tall enough to ride alone, so she asked to do it again by herself. It was pretty cute to see how excited she was. By the time we'd seen all the rides, the kids were ready for a break, so we decided to head out.

   

Since we were already in the area, we thought we'd drive over to York beach and check out the ocean on the way home. We stopped for about an hour and played on the beach. Luckily I'd thought to pack their swimsuits, and they had a ball jumping through the waves.

   

By the time we left the beach, it was dinner time. The kids decided they wanted clam chowder for dinner (what better way to end a beautiful day in Maine, right?), so we stopped at a restaurant on the way home. It was a wonderful day. We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got home, but the kids still managed enough energy to play outside with their friends next door for most of an hour before bed. 

Saturday was spent at home. I did a little yard work in the morning while Adam ran into work and the kids played with their friends. We spent the afternoon lounging around, watching movies, playing games, and snuggling. 

And then today, Sophie was invited to go the movies with her friend, Madeline, and stay overnight for a sleepover. She sounds like she's having a great time, and it's been fun having Ben at home by himself... he asked to have a campfire outside and cook s'mores, so that's what we did with him this evening. 

I really hope we can have more days like these before the summer ends - we're trying so hard to soak up all this free time before school starts up!