New Backpacks and Kennebunkport

Today was a big day. Mom took the kids to Southern Maine to get backpacks for school, and also to visit an old friend.

First we hit the LL Bean store in Freeport, where, as always, the kids loved the giant boot.

The backpack department was a little overwhelming...so many different colors and styles! The girls had fun picking out the ones they liked the most.Since we have an LL Bean visa card, we get free monogramming for the packs. They said they would be ready in an hour, so we headed to the outlet store to kill some time.Then we had a nice snack at the little stage in the middle of the LL Bean complex, where they have outdoor concerts.Finally the packs were ready to be picked up. They looked great!The kids wanted to wear their new backpacks all around the store. They are pretty excited for school to start soon....and so are their moms!After we were done shopping we headed even further south to Kennebunkport, where we visited with Brenda's former co-worker Dave (they worked together on the Benicia Bridge project in California). Dave's family is from Quebec (that's his mom in the photo below), and has been vacationing in Kennebunkport every summer for the last 40 years! We hit the beach right away, where the waves were much larger than usual due to Hurricane Bill.Emily and Kate received candy necklace gifts from Dave's daughter Ava and his niece Kate, and of course they forgot everything else going on around them as they focused on the candy.Mom however couldn't help but notice the giant waves coming nearer and nearer. In the photo below (taken right after the one above) Mom is standing in water, holding onto Kate (who is still focused on the candy) and watching Emily hold her ground in knee deep surf. It was time to get the kids up on to the seawall!Dave and Ava didn't mind the big waves too much. Emily and Ava are almost the same exact age--they were born just five days apart back in California.Em and Kate really wanted to play in the sand, so Mom let them for a couple of minutes........but pretty soon they were back up on the seawall, happily bribed with teddy grahams.At this point, still two hours before high tide, there was no beach left and the police started ordering people to move their parked cars off the beachfront road. It was definitely time to head back to the cottage!Dave's sister Jillian is on vacation too, along with her husband and their daughter Kate. They live in Toronto.After a bite to eat the wading pool came out, and the girls all jumped in and had a good time.It sure was nice to catch up with Dave and to meet his family. We wished that his wife Shawn could have made the trip to Maine too, but she had to stay back home in California. Maybe we'll see them all next year!Here's what usually happens at the end of a big day like this one.