Team Cohen: July 2018

Mommy and Daddy fled Texas to venture up to the Northeast. We escaped the heat and enjoyed cooler temperatures of Maine and Massachusetts. While we were gone, our children were in the FANTASTIC hands of Nana and Zayde. Here are the pictures taken in our absence. They were kept fed, very busy, and mostly happy.

enjoying Brushy Creek splash pad

They went to the new compound in Driftwood for some playtime.

Then the kiddos of Team Cohen got to be THE VERY FIRST people EVER to try out the pool.

I think they liked it.

Playing in the front yard one day:

Gabi snuggles with new kitty Casey in her bed.

Playing in the backyard another day:

Keeping busy means getting messy sometimes.

snack time

Gabi thinks she's pretty sneaky.

Another day, another trip to Driftwood:

On July 28th, my big girl officially got her "half," turning 5.5 years old. Nana helped celebrate by providing baking assistance for some special cupcakes.

Even though Nana and Zayde were excellent companions, Gabi, Ethan, and Spencer were fortunate to spend time with their favorite Austin cousins also!

Gabi got to pick up Joey from school.

Nana reads with 3 grandsons in her lap.

cousins bath!

On the day Mommy and Daddy traveled back to Texas, they ran into Andrew and Wesley at Springwoods Park, and they all allegedly played very well together. Thanks to Alice for sharing these pictures!

Mommy's not breastfeeding. There's no babies in or attached to Mommy's body. AND we're blessed with some great great grandparents who are capable of and willing to take amazing care of neglected and deserted children. When all those factors combine at just the right timing, Mommy and Daddy get to go away for a vacation by ourselves! While the temperatures in Texas near 100 degrees daily during the summer, we looked towards New England where the high temperatures are about 30 degrees less. Off to Maine first aka "Vacationland" aka "The Way Life Should Be."

First stop: Acadia National Park (considered the crown jewel of the North Atlantic coast)

Our hike on Day 1 took us up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard. Although the clouds and fog were rolling in, we still had plenty to view and appreciate.

(that time I set up the timer on the camera just a little too far away)

That night, we did in fact watch "The Great Maine Lumberjack Show" and loved it!

Day 2 took us on an adventure along Park Loop Road. We started at Sand Beach, a unique existence of shell fragmented sand that is rare to Mount Desert Island. The water rarely exceeds 55 degrees, and it was foggy, but it was fun to visit nonetheless.

We continued our hike along Park Loop Road towards Otter Point, stopping to explore cliffs and other neat points to observe.

(by far, my favorite/proudest picture of the entire trip!)

Before our second day at Acadia was complete, we drove out to visit Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.

That night, we were delighted by the Bar Harbor Music Festival, a beautiful outdoor concert at Blackwoods Campground Amphitheater surrounded by darkness, peace, and forest.

On our last day at Acadia, we intended to explore the sights around Jordan Pond. With the morning's storm, we stalled a bit at the park's only restaurant onsite, Jordan Pond House, for its well-known tea and popovers (and alleged good view of the pond).

We tried to sneak over to Thunder Hole at high tide, hoping to catch the phenomenon
where waves crash with a thunderous boom when seas are up at this natural rock inlet.

With the rain behind us but the fog still with us, we hiked up and found Bubble Rock. Which was a big rock. That looked like a bubble...

With 2 failed and foggy attempts to have a good view of Jordan Pond, we had to walk on down to find it ourselves.

Goodbye, Acadia. Hello, Portland (biggest city in Maine). We had the excitement of seeing FIVE different lighthouses in one day, starting with Portland Head Light, one of the most photographed lighthouses in the country.

If you squint and use your very best imagination, you can pretend to see Ram Island Light in the picture with Jon below.

Tour of Portland continued:

Spring Point Ledge Light (closer look coming later)

Casco Bay

Views from Fort Allen Park along Casco Bay:

trying a blueberry donut at "The Holy Donut" which
uses fresh Maine mashed potatoes

Two More Points of Interest (that we photographed) in Downtown & the "Old Port" -
1) Portland Observatory- Built in 1807, it is the only known surviving tower of its type in the United States. Using both a telescope and signal flags, two-way communication between ship and shore was possible several hours before an incoming vessel reached the docks. (The museum wanted to charge me for climbing the 7 stories up, so you can see how high I got in reality.)
2) We paid tribute to the Maine Jewish Museum. Expecting some rich Jewish history described, we weren't terribly impressed, but we were glad to support them anyways.

We continued to Two Lights State Park on Cape Elizabeth where we were supposed to observe the "twin" lighthouses from afar since we couldn't get close to the private property. We only found 1...but enjoyed climbing on the rocky cliffs and watching the waves crash into the edge of the Atlantic coast.

Our final 2 lighthouse visits of the day (even though 1 was a repeat):

teeny tiny "Bug" Light

the closer view of Spring Point Ledge Light as promised

After cleaning up, we boarded our sunset cruise for the evening, which we're pretty sure doubled as a Mailboat Run, carrying passengers, mail, and freight to the islands of Casco Bay for over 2.5 hours.

On our last morning in the Portland area, we drove out to Mackworth Island that had a shady forest trail with lovely ocean views.

Goodbye, Maine! Hello, Massachusetts! We were very excited to visit Team Kaye in Natick. Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jon got straight to work with enthusiastic nephews Noah and Sammy.

We headed to Boston on Sunday for an epic day of touring, exploring, TWO playgrounds, TWO merry-go-rounds, a splash pad, a pool, and an adventure Jon never knew was even on his bucket list. Keep on reading, blog fans! We started in Boston's Public Garden, the setting of Robert McCloskey's 1941 children's picture book Make Way for Ducklings.

Party Bus ready! (ignore creepy old man in the back)

swan photo bomb

having fun on the bronze statues that serve as a tribute to the literary duck family

Merry-go-round #1:

Aunt Debbie pairs with Noah while Uncle Jon partners with Sammy.

Mitchell and Amanda pretend they're on vacation...

...when really, WE'RE still on vacation.

Walking along the Freedom Trail:

Noah makes sure Aunt Debbie truly walks the trail.

Red Coat can't even bother to open his
eyes to protect the Old State House.

AND THEN, on our way to some more attractions by Boston Harbor, we ran into Kilted Colin in Quincy Square. Somehow, Jon ended up starring in the show wearing a pink kilt, and the rest was quite memorable.

Kilted Colin had some unique skills, pleasant greetings, and impressive dance styles.

With his head held high and a bright smile on his face, Jon danced proudly in his pink kilt.

The kilted helpers assisted Colin up and down the 10 foot tall unicycle. They watched as he played the bagpipe and took off several layers of undergarments, leaving on only his Superman tighties at the end. Meanwhile, his sarcasm and dry sense of humor entertained folks of all ages.

For the sake of Jon's legacy, I have just about the whole thing recorded for posterity:

Introductions: "Chris - cool!
Rob - right on! Jon - ....... - ..... ok!"

amazing dance moves even though
Jon's "flossing" can use some work

How else do you get up a
10 foot unicycle with a bagpipe?

(One would ask the same question for going down.)
This time, Jon's body plays a bigger part.

After calming down from Colin craziness, we continued the epic day of fun with merry-go-round #2! This time Aunt Debbie rode with Sammy.

Leaving Mitch and the boys behind at a playground, Amanda took us to explore a little further along the Boston Harbor and other points of interest.