Boston - New England

We had a fun day in Boston with Collin's cousins, Sabra and Jody, and their families. We took a river boat cruise across the harbor. Ate lunch at a fancy restaurant on the pier, walked around downtown, and saw the USS Constitution. Boston is a pretty city.

 

New Hampshire - New England Summer Vacation

Our second day in New England, we went to Dover, New Hampshire. We visited the New Hampshire Children's Museum. It was a cute museum. We ate lunch at the Gyro Spot. Then we stopped at a park in Newmarket, NH. The kids saw a fish weir, mallard ducks, and threw rocks in the water at the boat ramp. Then we headed to Boston to see our family.

Maine - New England Summer Vacation

At the end of June, first part of July, we got to travel to New England, primarily to visit Collin's cousins. We had a nice flight to Boston and spent our first night in Maine. This is our first time to visit Maine and we love it! I have always wanted to visit Maine and hope to go back and stay longer. We ate dinner in Kittery, at an old seafood restaurant and tried clam chowder, lobster rolls, fish and chips, and fried clam strips.

Maine is very pretty and also quite chilly, especially after the sun goes down. We took the kids to see a light house and the coast. We put our hands in the ocean. Some of the kids got their feet wet. Ha! Then ended the night at a cute ice cream shop. They only had seating outside. So even though we were all quite cold (and ended up buying some sweatshirts), we couldn't resist trying local ice cream specialties: Maine's Wild Blueberry ice cream and Maine Sea Salt Carmel Truffle. Both were very good!

Caden's 9!

Dear Caden,

I am late in writing to you as we had a very busy summer (Although the date of the post will be closer to your birthday, I'm writing this letter to you in September). I cannot believe you are already 9 years old! The time is going by much faster than I ever wanted or thought it would. I remember when I was writing about you being only 9 months old. 

This year, you had your birthday party at Pirate's Cove Water Park. You invited some of your best friends to come and everyone had a great time! We had to have your birthday in May due to our very busy June, camp, VBS, New England vacation, to name a few things. On your actual birthday we went to see a movie with your friend, Nicholas, ate at CiCi's for lunch, and Gold Corral (one of your favorite restaurants, you also love Texas de Brazil, where we went for my birthday a few days before yours).

Year 8 was a good year for you. You made lots of friends, enjoyed Trail Life, your co-ops, Shine, and TCHE. You also participated in Homeschool PE and played basketball. You attended your first overnight camp with your church friends and had a lot of fun!

Your favorite subjects in school were math and your least was reading. You loved your Ancient Science Class at Shine and every PE class you took. 

Your favorite animal is goats and Copper has become one of your best friends. Some say a man's best friend is a dog, you would argue it's a goat!

Some of your best friends are: Owen, Nicholas, Tate, Abel, and Ivy

You love having fun and want everyone around you to be having fun. If it's not fun, you really don't want any part of it! Even some of your boring schoolwork. However, you're learning that life is not always super fun but you can try and make it as fun as possible. 

The main places we traveled while you were 8 were: The Tree House Cabins (with Michael, Sandra, and Markus) - which you LOVED and loved having them visit from Germany, Orlando, FL, and we went to Padre Island last summer. We also went to the ICE Exhibit in December, saw a number of musicals, and you went to your first Mavericks game-you loved it! 

Your 9 year checkup went great. Here are your stats:

Height: 4'9.5" (grown 3.5")

Weight: 74 lbs (gained 10 lbs since last year)

You are growing in wisdom, knowledge, and stature. I pray that you will always seek godly wisdom in your life, love Jesus with all your heart, continue to grow close to God, and have the courage to always try your best. I am so blessed to be your mom and teacher. You make me proud!

Love,
Mom