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Tonight we ended our vacation by having some leftover birthday party ice cream cake and singing happy birthday to the birthday boy!

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The birthday boy!

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The annual jumping off the dock into Swan Lake.

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Hanging out down at the rock beach.

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Took the crew to see Guardians of the Galaxy this afternoon!   Awesome movie, and the kids all loved it (except for Evan, who missed most of it, he was so tired, he fell asleep!).   After the movie we enjoyed some delicious fried fish!   And now the kids are in bed and the relaxation continues!

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Just hanging out by the fire pit tonight!

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Spent the day at Funtown Splashtown USA with our friends.   Kids had a blast.   Evan went on all the slides he was big enough to ride all by himself!   Shaun tried 2 fast slides, didn't like either one but he at least tried!  And David, went on Excalibur, the wooden roller coaster at Funtown!  They ended the day with a well deserved Dippin Dots treat.   Great start to out vacation!

The Everything is AWESOME Boys Birthday Bash!

Today was the annual birthday extravaganza!  It's a day filled with lots of family, lots of friends, laughing, craziness and fun!  This year the theme was LEGOS; specifically the lego movie and like the famous song from the movie, everything really was awesome!

Lego Movie Tees!

We are ready to party!

I usually like to come up with quirky names for the food based on the birthday theme, like lasts years Hulkdogs and Thorburgers.  This years "Everything is Awesome" theme; made the naming of the food easy.  We had Awesome Hamburgers, Awesome Hot dogs, Awesome Chicken Wings, Awesome Pulled Pork, Awesome Potato Salad, Awesome Sweet and Sour Kielbasa...you get the idea!

The food!

Everything is Awesome, even the food!

I'm creative when it comes to food, but I don't typically bother with birthday games; instead we rent a giant inflatable water slide!  It's fun for the kids and I don't have to come up with games and entertainment!  The best part is the company comes and sets it up and takes it down at the end of the day.  Money well spent!

The "Awesome" inflatable water slide!

But I'm not completely against birthday stuff.  I do enjoy a good pinata!  This years theme though, surprisingly didn't lend itself to purchasing a pinata as I have done in the past.  So it was Pinterest to the rescue!  I found some tutorials on how to put together a lego piece using some Amazon boxes.  A lot of peoples sweat and tears went into this project, so thanks to those who helped me!

The Lego Pinata that took 5 people to get 100% ready!

The craziness after the pinata is opened!

Even Mom and Dad get into the theme!

My homemade lego ice cream cake.  It never looks pretty, but it's so yummy and I enjoy making them!  We'll pretend the candy legos I spent an entire afternoon making didn't all fall off the side because the cool whip was too soft!

It's also been a tradition to set off fireworks at the end of the night.  It's not usually dark enough, but the kids still enjoy the show.  Especially the sparklers!

We got some good ones this year!

It's always a long but super fun day and we really do have the best family and the best friends!  Thanks to everyone who made our boys day extra special!

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Everything is AWESOME!

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GG came for a visit today while MIL and I worked to get our house ready for their party.  She'll be moving to NH this fall and we are all looking forward to having her around more!

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Deck Renovation Project Day 55: The screen guys came back to finish the door, just missing one last piece on the end.  They were hoping it would be ready tomorrow, but since tomorrow is Saturday, I won't hold my breath!

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Deck Renovation Project Day 52, 53 & 54:  Lots of paint and yesterday's biggest development was coming home late from a day trip to Water Country and seeing the start of the screen installation!  Today it was more finishing work and hopefully the rest of the screens will be installed tomorrow!

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Annual trip to Water Country today!  Wish it was warmer but still lots of fun!

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Evan showing me his freckles...unfortunately they don't show as well in the picture.

Staycation 2014

After celebrating the 4th of July, we were officially on STAYCATION!  It was a nice relaxing week and our big day trip this year was to take the boys to Story Land.

Monday July 7th:

On Monday we stayed close to home so that Dad could get the oil changed on his car.  We all drove up to Laconia and hit the Captain's Cove on the way home.  The boys love to play mini-golf and since right before we played there was a fast moving thunder storm that passed through, we had the place pretty much to ourselves!  On our way home we tried out an Italian restaurant that had good reviews on Yelp and we were not let down!  The food was delicious and fresh and I'm looking forward to going back again.

Argh!

Ahoy Matey!

With their prizes after playing!

Tuesday July 8th:

Tuesday we headed into Boston to take the kids to the Children's Museum.  We never think to take the kids there.  Even when we lived right off the Blue line in Revere, we never ventured much to that museum.   The boys had a blast and it was nice because it wasn't too crowded.  We left around noon and headed north to have lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.  We thought the boys would get a kick out of it and that also meant that we could hit up the Cheesecake Factory on our way out and pick up some dessert for later!

David pulling his own weight using the pully's

Shaun's turn!

Evan needed a little help getting up, but then he held on tight for the shot!

Woodworking!

Sitting on the bobcat!

Construction Worker Evan!

The big bubble maker!

Wednesday July 9th:

Wednesday was a stay home and purge the playroom day!  Not exactly fun, but it was necessary!!

Thursday July 10th:

Thursday we got up, I packed some lunches and we headed north to Story Land!  And no trip to Story Land is complete without the traditional pictures with Humpty Dumpty and the weird clown!!  We spent the morning riding on the rides we thought would get more crowded as the day went on and then left the park to have the packed lunches I made.  When we returned to the park I decided to leave my camera behind.  I wanted to go on the Splash Battle and since we no longer have a stroller to push (YAY!!!) were don't have any place to leave things when we all want to ride.  I got all the "token" shots that I needed to get before lunch so it was all good.

Oh No!!

The boys and I after our adventure on the Dr. Geyser's Remarkable Raft Ride!

David, Shaun and Dad ride the Bamboo Chutes!  At the end of the day we convinced Evan 

Evan hanging out while I watch the other boys ride the Polar Coaster, another ride he eventually rode at the end of the day!

Polar Coaster!

Evan and I on the Antique German Carousel!

#ClassicStoryLand

Cooling off!

My boys with Humpty Dumpty!

Friday July 11th:

We started our day taking Evan to his swimming lesson and then headed straight to the Lost River!  The boys had a blast here last year so we made sure to take them back again!

Even Dad has a fun time climbing through all the caves!

Evan was a little nervous but he made it through with a little help from Dad!

I love our Staycations and I'm already looking forward to next year!  Our next big summer trip is our annual trip to Maine!  That is coming up in a week!