The Shack

The first week in August Rob, Pookie and I went up north to my aunt's house, which has been named the "Love Shack" or just the "Shack".  Nothing fancy, but I love it there.  The only thing that I would change is the location of the grocery store.  My mom always drilled the importance of having a grocery store within walking distance.  Auntie told me that there was a Hannafords 20 min to a half hour away.  OnStar decided that there was a closer one, but that ended up by being 58 minutes away.  Yep, I had to drive almost ONE HOUR in ONE DIRECTION to get to a grocery store.  UGH!  I don't think I have ever done my shopping so fast!  Normally it takes me an hour and a half to do my shopping.  It took me 45 minutes.  I did manage to get everything on my list though! 

While I was at the grocery store Rob was putting Pookie's bed together.  There are two funny stories to go with this:
1. With my emergency trip to IKEA, I planned on getting Pookie a crib.  Something that could turn into a toddler bed so we could use it for the next few years.  Well, as it turns out, IKEA just had a recall on one of their cribs.  So they decided to pull ALL of their cribs, and they won't be back until December.  That isn't going to help me out any.  I talked it over with Rob, and we went with a toddler bed that had three sides to it.  We just turned the open side to the wall, and presto-chango, we had an enclosed space for the baby. 
2. As Rob was putting the bed together, he noticed that there was one rather important piece missing.  The bottom section that you put the mattress on, is apparently sold separately.  And I forgot to buy it.  Well, I didn't forget, I thought it came with it.  Apparently I missed the memo.  Anyway, I got crafty.  Pookie is about the same size as the suitcase.  I put in a pillow and some blankets and I made a nice little bed for Pookie.  Yes, I had my son sleep in a suitcase.  The next day Rob went to Lowe's and had them cut a piece of plywood to fit the bed.

Pookie in the suitcase.

Pookie in his bed.

As for the rest of the vacation, we went on a train ride, which was a lot of fun.  It left North Conway traveled north, then the engine was switched around and we headed back.  It was a very cool old train.  The conductor gave us a guided tour as we went along. 

We went to the Polar Cave's:

I know, there are not any pictures of the actual caves. I did make it through two of them. With that being said, I had Pookie strapped to the front of me and I was wearing flip-flops. Neither of these were conducive to going through caves. Also, Pookie freaks out when I lean forward and he's in the carrier. I can't say that I blame him. Luckily they have walkways around to the end of the cave if you don't want to go through. The scenery was beautiful and it was a lot cooler there. But with all the walking up the steps I managed to fog up my glasses.

Later in the week we did some outlet shopping. Pookie is growing like a weed and need new cloths.  I'm a little impressed with myself.  I managed to go into a Coach store and leave a Coach store without buying anything.  I also stuck to my shopping mission.  This is rather impressive.  Although I am very upset that we were not able to make it to the L.L. Bean outlet.  I actually needed a few things from them.  Oh well!  Luckily there is a regular store and an outlet that are close by.  I'm sure I can find what I'm looking for there. 

We also went to the beach. Rob was able to take his Sea-Doo out on the lake. It's a small lake, but I think he managed to still have a good time. While Rob was off on the Sea-Doo, Pookie and I had fun on the small beach. I managed to dunk Pookie in a little deeper than intended. Poor thing was sputtering. At some point I need to sign him up for swim classes. We are around water way too much for him not to know how to swim. Mostly we just sat at the waters edge, and Pookie tried to eat the sand. He seemed to have a lot of fun splashing around.

But the thing that I think I enjoyed the most was just being able to bum around with my hubby and baby. We were able to watch some family movies and I was able to read a book.  From cover to cover!  In a week!  It's hard to find time to read on a regular basis.  Hopefully that will get better with time. 

Poor Pookie, we kept managing to mess up his schedule. But all in all he's a really happy baby and was a complete trouper. I can deal with a few bouts of crying. At the end of the trip I was trying to convince Rob to let Pookie and me stay at the Shack. But then I realized that I really needed my car, and I had to come home. At least for a little while!