Planes Trains and Automobiles

 We just got back from the single best vacation we've ever been on.

We spent a week in Maine at a family camp called Kingsley Pines.  (Google it.  You'll be sold.)

This is the third year we've gone to camp and, for me, it was the most fun.  I attribute that to a few things:  the weather was beautiful (75 degrees with hardly any humidity, thanks to Hurricane Irene); we know the repeat families from previous years so we're more comfortable; Henry is old enough to go to his own classes which leaves Landon and I free to do our own thing.

Kingsley Pines (KP to those who know and love it) is a sleepaway camp for kids all summer and then they open it up for families the last two weeks of summer.  We sleep in cabins on bunkbeds, there are counselors for each age group, the food is all-inclusive, it is on a lovely little lake with sandy beaches, there are dozens of activities to do.  As a parent, it's the best vacation because I don't have to entertain or feed anybody.

With Hurricane Irene looming the weekend before camp was to begin, we were worried they would cancel camp.  Instead they chose to push back check-in from Sunday to Monday.  We flew in to Boston on Saturday afternoon and we were one of the last flights they let land that day.  We spent two nights during the wind and rain in a hotel in Boston.  We spent A LOT of time at the pool, needless to say.  We were supposed to take the Amtrak train from Boston to Portland, Maine (about 2-1/2 hours) but they canceled our train.  We hurried and rented 12-passenger van, picked up our friends at the airport, and drove to Portland.  After turning in our van, KP sent a shuttle bus to pick us up for the 30-minute drive to camp.  When camp was over on Friday, we rode the train back to Boston.

There was a family from Israel at our hotel in Boston.  They had two boys the same age as our boys.  The kids did not speak English, but throwing a football around the pool transcends language.  The parents spoke great English and we talked to them for hours.  They were very curious about the Mormon church and we were very curious about their living on a kibbutz.  Incredibly nice people and I totally regret not exchanging addresses with them.  They gave Ethan and Henry a Hebrew card game (don't worry, the instructions are in English as well).  As I was describing KP to the mom of this Jewish family, she said, "It sounds like 'Dirty Dancing'!  Do you know that movie?"  Of course!  And you'll see from the photos below, it looks like a movie.  Perfect.

The past 2 years we've attended KP with our friends, the Israelsens.  This year the Israelsens recruited 2 more families, the Fullers and the Warners.  Here's a group photo.  KP didn't know what to do with so many Mormons!

Ethan got his face painted on Carnival Night.

 Oh, and his hair painted green.

Between the 4 families of friends, there were 3 4-year-old boys:  Mac has the shark face, Henry is in the red starred sweatshirt, Owen has the bright blue face. 

 Landon was pretty good on the stilts on Carnival Night.

 I was horrible on the stilts.

Jenni was awesome on stilts!

 Henry attempted to set the bottle upright using a stick and a ring.  Harder than it looks.  I never saw anyone succeed, even adults.

 Lobster and steak on the final night.

 This is what we see at every meal.  The tables are right at the water's edge.

 This rock became known as 4-year-old Rock.  They congregated here after every  meal.

 Ethan lost a tooth at camp!

More Carnival Night fun.

 Human Slot Machine was hysterical.

 The 4-year-old group did a Slip-n-Slide one afternoon.  Mac and Henry are waiting for their counselor, Jonathan, to get things nice and slippery.

 Here goes Henry!

 Landon was learning to unicycle one day.

 I used a waterproof camera case and swam out to the Blob to take photos from the water.

 Here's Henry and I sitting on the Blob (trampoline).

 Next to the Blob is the Iceberg.  That's Landon climbing to the top.

 Ethan and our friend Ray tried sumo wrestling.

 Cup-stacking races.

 Ethan kayaked for the first time!

 Our friend Rich doing a nice back-flip off the Blob.

 Jenni, Cammy, and I spent a lot of time in jewelry class making beaded bracelets.

 One day they added a foam machine to the Slip-n-Slide.  Ethan couldn't get enough of it.

Here's all the kids rinsing off in the lake.

 Landon, Ethan, and our friend Jed playing Nuke 'Em (a variation on volleyball).

 Henry's favorite activity was building sand castles.

 Did I mention the lake is around 75 degrees?  Awesome.

 Landon and I both rocked at archery.  My fingertips are still numb.

Henry was supposed to move the cookie across his face into his mouth using only his facial muscles.  He just chose to eat the cookie.

I played tennis for the first time ever.  I threw pottery on the wheel for the first time.  I made 3 bracelets.  Landon went mountain biking and hiking.  We both did archery.  Landon went canoeing.  I went to yoga class a couple of times.  High Ropes course.  Unicycling.  Frisbee.  Windsurfing.  Sailing.  All this while our kids were in the care of counselors doing ceramics, going on the motor boats, frog hunting, playing dodgeball, coloring, making ice cream, making paper boats, learning to play tennis.

Greatest vacation for the Farmers.