Back in the Summer of 2010…

8 years ago today my sister got married!

The Fairy Houses of Mackworth Island

We had friends visiting from Philly all last weekend.  In addition to enjoying several local beaches, touring Fort Gorges and eating our fill of Labor Day barbeque, we also visited Mackworth Island.

Kids Crafts: Homemade Play Dough

Summer is great, but entertaining my daughters 24-7 can be hard.  At 11 and 7, they’re more independent than ever, but they still need & welcome suggestions when they’re bored.  That’s why I’m always on the lookout for creative ideas to keep them happy.

I found a great activity book while we were in Vermont called Weekends with the Kids.

Snow Tubing

Friday we got another foot of snow.  Yeah, I thought spring was on its way too, but HAHAHHAHAHAHHHH!!  We live in Maine.  So yesterday (Saturday) we decided to put all this white stuff to good use. Via SNOW TUBING.  We drove to Seacoast Snow Park in Windham.  Only 25 minutes yet a world of fun away!

Here we are at the bottom of the hill.  When we first started we were feeling perky and WAY EXCITED!  So we hoofed it up the hill.  I overheard a family walking alongside us saying it was GOOD to walk, that we were all doing it the old fashioned way.  (Old fashioned = code language for WORK OUT)

Here we are at the top.  I cannot tell you how much FUN!! it was cascading down.  Snow spraying hitting your face, the wind in your hair.  I felt positively giddy.  As you can see, there’s not a huge wait for a lane.  This is b/c there are 12 lanes to choose from. And snow tubing sessions are divided into 2-hour blocks.  Only *so many* tubes are sold per session, so things keep moving.  Single riders can go in any of the 12 lanes, but if you want to link your tube up with other riders, you have to choose the proper lane: 2 riders, up to 6 riders, or more.

The four of us hoofed it up the hill once and rode down.  Then we hoofed it up again and went down again.  After this we were TIRED.  The hill’s not that high but it ain’t that short either. So we decided it was time to be carried.   That’s right; CARRIED!  Not on the backs of sherpas but via conveyor belt or rope tow!  The conveyor belt works just like you’d imagine.  You step onto it and stand with your tube as it whisks you up the hill.

Image: Seacoast Fun Park

We didn’t use the conveyor belt method. Mostly b/c all the double tubes had to be carried that way and the wait was much longer.  As we were all using single tubes, we opted for the rope tow.  The rope tow line was fairly short and the method more appealing.  You sit in your tube and relax.  A handle connected to your tube is looped onto a metal claw attached to the rope.  You and your tube are yanked up the hill to the top, where at a specified location you toss yourself off your tube and proceed a few steps to collect your ride.

Image courtesy of Geoff (maybe that's his kid?)

Here we are waiting at the bottom of the hill in the rope tow line.  You can see the mechanism to the left, pulling the happy tubers up to the top.  The wait was short and while waiting we listened to music over the loudspeakers.  They were playing “The Q” – the Top 40 radio station here in Portland.  Very toe tapping / booty shaking music, sure to put you in a good tubing mood.  My younger daughter is a BIG Q fan – but that’s for another post altogether..

Me & “Greenie”

Here we are back at the top, waiting in line for Lane 1.  Lane 1 is the best lane – single riders only – it’s curvy and has a mogul in one spot.  Worth the short wait.

After this I couldn’t take anymore pics b/c my iPhone camera stopped working.  Personally, I think it got jealous of the fun we were having and decided to stick it to me.  So I didn’t get any shots on the rope tow, or while tubing down any of the lanes.  But that’s probably for the best.  We went a total of 9 times in our 2 hour session, mostly linked together in a big mass of four tubes.  The added weight only served to increase our speed, velocity & fun — so together we FLEWWWW down the hill, Whoopping & hollering and having a BLAST!!  I’m glad I couldn’t take photos — for once I simply sat back and enjoyed the ride. 🙂

PedEgg – the NEW family pastime!

Last week, an anonymous donor (really Curly Wurly Gurly) made our day by sending us a very special package.

It arrived so innocently.. WHAT COULD THIS BE??

And then.

OH MY GOOODNESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

My VERY OWN PED EGGGGGGGG!!!

HURRY HOME HONEY. We’re WAITING….

The first scrapes made us all a little nervous — would it hurt??

NO WAY! The PegEgg is (as they say) “so gentle, it won’t even pop a balloon!”  Soon we were in PEDEGG FRENZY!!!!!

My children and I were fighting tooth & nail to be the next to scrape off Daddy’s heel callouses.  Talk about FURY!  I’ve never seen such scrambling (especially by CHILDREN) to get at a pseudo beauty product in all my life!   And the fun didn’t end there – oh no.  Because in between scrapings we rallied to be the next to OPEN the PedEgg and gaze in wonder at all the little skin bits.

Talk about sensation!  Even though most of them had fallen into my lap like so many sloughed off snowflakes, we were still AMAZED by how truly captivating the whole process could be.

Our only criticism?  The PedEgg is “so safe & gentle, it won’t even pop a balloon!”  SERIOUSLY.  NOT that we were looking to leave John footless, but the PedEgg took FOREVER to get even the barest amount off.  We were tempted to try the cheese grater.

Next up?  Someone please send us the SHED-ENDER!!

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!