Labor Day Weekend 2018

Another Labor Day, another island trip in the books! Which means another picture heavy post!

We headed back to Hat Island this past weekend to spend the long weekend with family. My sister, her husband and little one, Hudson, my parents and our little family of four spent Friday through Monday at the beach.

Like all good holiday weekends, we spent our time eating, sleeping, drinking and enjoying each other's company. We each took a breakfast, lunch and dinner to to contribute and to say we ate till we couldn't eat anymore is an understatement.

The kiddos spent time digging in the sand, collecting seashells and digging for clams. Lincoln was more than excited to help catch some crabbies and surprised us all by digging in and eating them too.

Finn was just happy to be there as is his good natured self. Now we're back, ready to embrace the very best time of the year!

Happy Fall, ya'll!

Memorial Day Weekend 2018

Coming back from vacation is always the hardest! It's also my last week at home before headed back to work so I'm super bummed about coming back to reality this week. All that being said, we had the very best time at our favorite place this past week! 

Lincoln, Finn and I headed out to Hat Island with my mom last Monday for a full week of island fun! We introduced Huckleberry Finn to the island and while he can't quite enjoy it yet, I think it's safe to say he's a fan. Lincoln had a BLAST and was treated to a few extra special adventures this trip. 

We arrived late on Monday and got settled in. It was the first time Lincoln slept in a room all by himself and he was a champ! I think it helped that he really tired himself out playing in the sun each and every day. Our first full day was Tuesday and we took full advantage. There was plenty of laying low, a slow walk, and lots of fun digging in the sand! 

Later on in the week, my parents neighbors asked Lincoln if he wanted to take a 4-wheeler ride up to the island fire station and he was so excited! He got treated to a special tour and couldn't stop talking about it or "Fireman Bill." 

Thursday night we had the biggest mishap ever, when poor Lincoln woke up in the middle of the night, came into my room and proceeded to throw up all over me, the bed, floor, himself, etc. It was horrible, but he stayed calm and we got it cleaned up and everyone back to bed. He felt much better Friday morning, but I was TIRED. 

Friday evening my dad and Kevin arrived! We enjoyed having the extra hands and Lincoln and Finn enjoyed having daddy around, because he's way more adventurous and fun than mommy is! Kevin and Lincoln enjoyed a few kayak rides as well as some more adventurous exploring. 

Saturday we had some friends out for a few hours. After they headed home and my parents headed to an island dinner, we cozied up with a movie and a fire for the evening. 

Sunday morning we woke up and took Lincoln to the fireman's breakfast! As a fundraiser, they open up the island fire station and serve breakfast. Lincoln was beyond excited to get to eat breakfast inside a fire station, but even more so to see all of the fire trucks again. This kid was in heaven. The rest of Sunday was spent relaxing as we settled in for our final night on the island. 

Now it's back to reality. I'm soaking up every last minute with my Huckleberry Finn before having to head to work on Monday. 

A Hat Island Thanksgiving

 Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and a very Happy Thanksgiving. We spent the past week out at our favorite place, Hat Island, and celebrated Thanksgiving, island style for the very first time!

Lincoln, my mom and I left Saturday and spent the evening in Everette before catching the ferry over on Sunday. Our drive was fairly smooth until the very end, when Lincoln ended up getting car sick all over himself and the car seat. It was awful. I felt so bad for the little guy. My mom and I do not handle puke very well, so while we gagged our way through cleaning up the mess, Lincoln huddled down in the front seat of the car until we could get him all fixed up.

On Sunday, we met up with my little brother, went to breakfast, ran some errands and did a final grocery run before hopping on the ferry that afternoon at 3PM. The wind was crazy and the boat ride was extremely rocky but we made it! And then we ran into our first mud slide. Ugh. My mom and I got Lincoln settled down with a movie and proceeded to make about 7 trips back and forth with all of suitcases, coolers, grocery and a 22 lb turkey.

While getting to the island can take a lot of work, once you're there, it's full on relaxation mode. We spent Monday and Tuesday cooking up a storm! I made Christmas Cookies, Peanut Butter Balls, French Onion Puff Pastry Puffs and helped my mom with the Kibbeh.

Wednesday brought the arrival of Kevin, my dad and my little brother! We headed out Wednesday morning to pick up Kevin and ran into ANOTHER MUDSLIDE. We weren't able to get around this one, so my mom called a friend to pick up Kevin and deliver him to us, and we did the same for my dad and Griffin later in the day.

Thursday was the big day and it ended up being the most relaxing and chaos free Thanksgiving yet! Lincoln and I made cinnamon rolls to start the day and we all lounged around, watched Christmas movies and hung out while the turkey roasted and the food cooked in the over. My mom had prepped so much of the food throughout the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving that there wasn't much for us to do until right before dinner time, when we made a salad, some mashed potatoes  and cooked the grape leaves as well as warmed the stuffing, rice dressing, meat pies, etc. Dinner was delicious (as always), the drinks were flowing (for those of us who aren't preggo) and we were all sufficiently stuffed. We ended the night with Christmas Cookies and Peanut Butter Balls and more holiday movies!

Friday was a lazy start, when Lincoln actually slept in till 8:30!! A holiday miracle in and of itself. We spent the day eating leftovers, lounging and cleaning up and packing before heading out on the 7 PM ferry that evening and making the long drive home.

It was a great first Hat Island Thanksgiving, mudslides and all! Now back to the work grind.