Liam and Micah

Downtown Portland, Maine

The first morning we arrived we walked around downtown Portland. We had breakfast at Bintliff's and then tried to get Liam to nap in a nearby park. That didn't work!

We stayed two nights in the downtown Portland Regency and two nights on the Garden Inn waterfront. The Regency is newer and probably the best hotel in Portland, though we preferred the Garden Inn, not just because of what happened to us at the Regency. On the second night in the Regency we were awoken by very loud industrial noises above our head. It went on for hours and hours and it wasn't until about 3am that the technician finally arrived to fix it. We were given a 15% discount for one night and free lunch. We're not difficult customers or people who take advantage, but we do believe in some form of fairness, so because we were so tired and cranky and unimpressed with the discount, we took Micah and Tanya to the free lunch, where we each ordered appetizers, a meal and for some of us, martinis. We'd recommend either hotel in the long run.

After lunch the ladies went to Soakology to get a foot soak in a spa -- a gift certificate from Grandma Arens to Tanya which she graciously shared with her sister. Thanks Grandma Arens!

Later we went to the Portland Museum of Modern Art where Liam experienced an umbrella stroller for the first time, and loved it.

Welcome to Portland (and off to Saccarappa)

Aunt-T, Micah and Wiley met us at the airport, took us to "Flatbread" on the water in downtown Portland, where Liam perused art and was mesmerized by the open fire pit stove. This was dad's first trip to Maine and as a fan of trees and old brick buildings, not to mention Tanya, Micah and Wiley, everything was grand.

Liam was excited to see Tanya, Micah and Wiley and pup Soze. These dogs are 2-3 times the size of Liam, and while he protects himself when they're around, he also giggles uncontrollably as, especially Soze, circles around him. Dad's been known to say (ie, 'project") that Liam appreciates the balance between thrill and safety and this was evident around the dogs.

We couldn't have felt more welcome (um, Tanya "painted" her refrigerator with a welcome sign!) on our visit and had a fantastic trip.

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Liam's First Airplane Flight

The family was off to visit Tanya ("Aunt-T") and Micah in Portland, Maine. We had no idea how the flight was going to go, but we ended up having incredibly good luck with people on all flights moving seats in order to let Liam have the center seat. At this time, Liam had almost no experience with TV monitors and so the two in front of us were immensely entertaining before take-off. Melanie fed Liam as we were taking off and moments after, just as his dad does often does after taking off in a plane, he fell asleep. We looked at each other in amazement, high-fiving every few moments because we just couldn't believe our luck. It was of course a 5+ hour flight. Later he got very cranky and dad had to take him to the back of the plane. The plane began experiencing very bad turbulence. Liam stopped crying and began to focus instead on what was going on around him. He slept a bit more and while wasn't nearly as cranky, did this constant switcharoo between parents, where he wanted to be with mom 5 seconds after he wanted to be with dad which was 5 seconds after he wanted to be with mom.

Humboldt State Park

For Liam's second camping trip, we drove 5+ hours north to Humboldt State Park to camp with Lucy, Ramon, Diego, Annie, Issa, Joaquin, Paul, Meredith, Lucas, Cassie, Leda and dogs. Everyone had a great time.

Turkeys Make Me Laugh

Liam and dad spent some time watching 6 turkeys periodically gobble gobble down the hill. Each set of gobbles made Liam laugh.

Piano with Mom

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Swim Lessons with Mom

Starting in late April, Liam began swim lessons with mom.


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Big Bird Watches Over Liam

May 12: He's still awesome

Happy Mother's Day!

This is Melanie's first Mother's Day with Liam on the outside -- for that, we've been celebrating the entire weekend!

Sometimes it's not until a child is older that they can appreciate how important a good mom is -- the appreciation is sweetest when the history and deep friendship that is the bond between child and mom matures in adulthood. The appreciation gets deeper with the birth of one's own child. This is Mark's experience anyway. He is thankful for his own mom, wishes her (Nana), Donnis/Grandma Arens and Melanie all a wonderful mother's day. He knows that Liam will someday grow to realize the extent of his own appreciation for HIS mom and for that, we all thank his mom, his Nana Nemeth and his grandma Arens...and wish them all...

a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! :)

Farm First

We've been having fresh organic vegetables delivered to us on Fridays and decided to go tour the farm from where they come. We had a great tour and then picked and ate fresh asparagus and strawberries. Mmmm.