I'm very sorry I haven't written all summer long but I am going to tell you about some of it.
Our plan was to fly to our aunt and uncle's house in NJ a few days earlier. Then we would drive up to Maine with them because they had an extra car. Our grandparents, Dedicek and Ceci, invited the whole Tetrev family to stay at their house for a visit. I got to ride with with Aunt Tara, Uncle Brian, and my two year old cousin Jack the whole day as we drove northward. Jack was sick, and he threw up twice in the car!
When we all got there, every cousin except Anja was there. It was 10:30 P.M. at night, so we pretty much just went straight to bed. All the kids slept in the basement which they sort of turned into a giant bedroom for us.
The next day we all got up for breakfast excited because it was the 4 of July! In Bath, Maine the Fourth is a big deal just as it is anywhere else in the USA. At about 9:00 in the morning, we all loaded up in the cars to go into town for the parade. It was so hot out! There were a lot of old cars in the parade, a couple were model T's and old fire trucks. My favorite float had a bunch of WW2 and Vietnam vets on it. After the parade, I asked Dedicek if he would take Kaija, Caden, and myself to the fireworks store since it was Independence Day. We got roman candles, M-150s, fire crackers, bottle rockets, whistlers, and little lite up tanks.
That night all the boys slept in a tent not to close to the house. Caden didn't make it through the night in the tent because it was too hot so he went back to the house. The next morning we swam in the swimming pool, but it was like arctic waters even though the air was extremely hot. We ended up getting used to it.
After breakfast all the guys went golfing while Ceci, Aunt Macy, and my mom took all six of the oldest kids to Popham Beach, but the water was so cold we didn't know how people from Maine could handle it. I know that we couldn't because we are all from South Carolina and Texas. After the beach we went to an old restaurant called Spinney's for ice cream and some union rings. As I remember I think I got moose tracks.
when we were finished with our ice cream we hurried down to the civil war fort for a little look. It was huge!
When we got back Dedicek, Uncle Brian, and my Dad were all taking a nap. So we all jumped in the pool until they awoke to swim with us. Uncle Brian was the only Dad that jumped in to play. After dinner we watched a movie before we went off to the tent.
That morning we were all really fired up because Dedicek, Uncle Brian, and my Dad were going to take us to the 4 of July carnival! everyone except the Moms, Emory, and Jack went because they were setting up Emory's 4th birthday party.
The carnival was under the bridge in Bath, were I think is the home of the 2, but once the largest crane in the world until Japan built one. All the good rides were closed, but there ended up being some pretty fun ones. We did the giant slide, the, the Teddy Bear, the Tilt-A-Whirl, the helicopter ride, the jump castle obstacle course, and the bumper cars.
My least favorite rides where the people eater and the Ferris wheel because the people eater wasn't scary, but it was sort of funny for me and Henry because we got to watch each other go "Ohhhhhhhh" until the ride was over. The Ferris wheel was boring because the scary guy running it stopped the ride every five seconds and didn't let my dad go on it with younger kids. My favorite rides were the bumper cars, the Teddy bear, the Tilt-A-Whirl, the helicopter ride, and the Giant slide.
We where very thrilled when we got home because the Moms had finished the water obstacle course in the yard. Everyone had to run down the driveway to a baby pool and either get the objects with your teeth or with your feet. Then you would have to crawl though a small tunnel made of pool floats. Next you had to put your forehead on a baseball bat and turn 4 times. After the bat was the bean bag toss where you had to toss three bean bags in. I think the hardest ones were where you had to use a noodle as jump rope, then hop with a ball between your legs to a chair to sing twinkle twinkle little star while being sprayed in the face with the hose. My least favorite part was the Dads spraying us with a hose and a blower. They would spray at each other so it would make a powerful spritz that made you feel like someone shot you in the back with a shot gun. Then you had to jump in the pool and swim to the other side.
When the excitement was over, we all went to the back porch for dinner and lobsters! They were very tasty. After dinner we played some field games and hopped in the hot tub with some of Emory's new birthday bath toys.
To be continued on part 2.