Our 8 year Engagement Anniversary

Rob and I were able to celebrate our 8 year anniversary of our engagement (August 11, 2001, exactly one month before 9/11) at the very same spot where Rob proposed.
The happy couple!

Rob and Elephant Rock

What my wonderful brother Jim looks like when he's on vacation...

Mr. Kim and Mi Jung (in her famous "everyday" outfit)

Alexandra showing us all the shells and rocks she collected while at the Point


Mr. Kim and Alexandra

Charlie, Win and Wesley enjoying a snack on the steps

A Day out with Thomas!

As chance would have it, Thomas the Train was visiting Boothbay Harbor during the last weekend we were in Maine. The boys had just been introduced to trains (thanks Ellie and Lizzie!) and were starting to figure out this whole Thomas thing. But after this Day out with Thomas, they are officially obsessed. Grammy, Poppy and Brayden, whom we like to call the triplet's big brother, joined us for the fun day out. We we thinking this would just be a chance to take a short train ride, but it turned out to be filled with other Thomas activities! This day was truly a special day for little and big kids alike!
The boys' first train ride - on Thomas, no less!

Poppy, Wesley, Rob, Win, Grammy and Charlie

Daddy and Win

Wesley and Poppy on the train ride. Wes has never sat so still. (You can see how a fairground was set up with bounce houses, tents, etc in the background.)

Thomas


Poppy, Wesley, me, Charlie, Rob and Win (one other firsts for this trip was their new obsession with riding on shoulders everywhere they went)

The boys found a firetruck to play on

Boys' first tattoos! Brayden and Wesley

Charlie

Winston showing off his ink

Winston and Brayden going down the bounce house slide (he was the only one brave enough to do so!)

Other than riding on Thomas, the boys favorite thing was the tractor ride. They loved it so much, they rode it twice! Here they are waving to Thomas in the background.

Charlie and Brayden shared a car the first time, but got to ride in their own the next time.

Charlie, Brayden, Wesley and Winston

Wesley driving his car


Such a fun day!

Portland Sea Dogs game

One of the highlights of our Maine vacation was taking the boys to their first baseball game. (The Portland Sea Dogs are a AA minor league farm team for the Red Sox.) There were so many of us (20) that it made more sense to rent a private skybox - it was amazing! We were able to go on the field before the game, food was delivered to the room, the kids all played and could run around, and we had the best view in the stadium. This will definitely be a yearly tradition!!

Our attempt at a family photo. Welcome to having 2 year old triplets. This sums up everything:

Wesley playing on the field - they gave all the kids baseballs to play with and keep

Charlie

Winston in his "I'm this Many" t-shirt

Mercy the bear (one of the 3 mascots, including an LL Bean bear mascot), Daddy and Wes (mesmerized)

Meeting Mercy, giving high 5's


Our view from the skybox

Mi Jung and Erin

Win enjoyed dipping his hand in Daddy's beer and sucking on his fingers. Father of the Year here didn't stop him...


The Sea Dog mascot visited our box!

Mullets unite! Don't worry, they have all since had haircuts...photos to come!

More Maine

Other highlights from our Maine vacation: A private skybox for a Portland SeaDogs game, going to the Maine Boat and Home Show in Rockland, lunch at our favorite Pacos Tacos, going to the (incredibly age-inappropriate) playground, lots of lobster, spending the day with Becky and her son Christopher (my best friend from high school, whom I haven't seen in 16 years), Day Out with Thomas the Train, and most of all, just hanging out with family and friends.

The boys got to experience many firsts as well:
- first chocolate milk
- first bike ride
- first train ride (on Thomas, no less!)
- first baseball game
- first real beach
- first ride on our shoulders (they loved this so much they insisted on it all the time)
- first beer (well, for Winston - more on that later...)
- first ice cream cone

Here are some photos from Wesley's and Winston's first bike rides - they loved it!!
Wesley and Aunt JenJen

Brayden, Wes and a beautiful view

Brayden helping Winston with his helmet

Brayden, Winston and Hayleigh

Safety first!

Cousin Alex and Charlie

Cousin Christian and Winston

Tom, Hayleigh, Jennifer and Scott

Brayden would often come over to help us with the boys, so we refer to him as the triplet's big brother. While they were watching Mighty Machines (a favorite), Winston put his arm around Brayden and started patting his back - it was such a sweet moment!

Charlie and Daddy, with Wesley riding a bike with Aunt JenJen in the background

Maine vacation, part 1 of many

We had an amazing 2 weeks in Maine with Grammy, Poppy, my brother Jim, Mi Jung, Alexandra, Christian, Mi Jung's parents, and next door neighbors, The Brackin/Schneider/Huston Green Pond Gang! We brought the boys to 3 beaches: a big (Pemaquid), a small swimming hole (CCIA with cousin Caroline), and a seaweed and rock covered sandy cove (Smelly Beach - the same one from last year where all they did was eat sand and rocks!).

Pemaquid
Daddy, Wes, Charlie, Win & Grammy

Charlie chasing a seagull


Here are some photos from Smelly Beach:
Charlie and his new bucket (collecting seaweed)

Wesley collecting rocks (thankfully there are plenty)

Winston

What the boys do best

Winston, Wes and Daddy

The boys were a mess after all the sand play, so we set up a big bucket of water for some water play on the deck (as a pre-bath). Grammy found large paint brushes that all the kids loved dipping in the water and using for spraying and painting. The water play was a big hit for the whole vacation.
Cousins Alex and Christian and friends Colby and Brayden came over to play

Charlie couldn't stop beaming and laughing throwing the water around


A very wet Wesley

Trying to get Brayden wet

Alexandra painting the window with water

Christian enjoyed playing in the boys' wagon