Yes June!

Ah June, the end of school!! I am currently counting down the days until the end of the year; the arrival of summer after all the school work is finished is really an awesome treat.

Here is Calvin getting a fresh haircut with a lightening bolt on the side. Anna Marie cut our hair at our house for a couple of years during and after covid, and I miss her doing this so much! I really didn't know how good I had it until it was gone.

I really don't remember how we ended up out at the beach with the Gendlers, but since both of their boys are friends with 3 out of my 4, they are good friends. This attempt at a group picture was inspired by the beautiful sunset, but thwarted by the boys themselves. Sometimes, you just get what you get. The goofy pictures are so great for the memories, even if they aren't destined for a frame.

One of our annual summer traditions is getting to spend time with all our cousins! Uncle John and his Louisiana crew came to town early this time, because Aunt Kelsey was pregnant with their little boy due in July. Aunt Kelsey looks so beautiful with all her little girls around her lap!

Our extended family around the Tampa area came to the Proses to see John's family. Since they travel so far and the opportunities are limited, these are usually the times the whole family gets together. The whole couch full of cousins is such a fun way to see how much they really have all grown.

We stopped by Uncle Mark's house to see his property and some cool back yard renovations he had made. He gave the boys a little ride on his front loader (or whatever this machine is called, ha!). This brought back so many memories of all the actually dangerous things Matt did as a child on the farm, but started some good conversations about what is really good for boys as they grow up.

James got to be one of the 'mascots' of our church's VBS this summer, and the blow up shark was a resounded success. He danced, he hugged kids, he acted out skits. He did it all! 

These really are some great pictures and capture some of their experience. I love VBS!

I took my young life girls shark tooth hunting while the boys were at VBS one day. Extra time with them is always a treat.

Me & my hat. Does it look good? the Selfie will help me decide right. No, I still am not sure, but oh well. I like it anyway!

We had our gorgeous tree behind our house trimmed up so the limbs wouldn't get to heavy over our driveway and pool. It was a good idea, but it was stressful to watch. The workers got into a fight after one of them crushed our back gate, and they took him with them to fix it at the end of their job. We told them we'd pay them for their labor when the gate was returned in good condition. What a crazy experience.

Summer time sleepovers with the Zepps! We planned one for June and one for July. I really can't believe how much Mag and James have grown. It is really so atypical that it just is kind of awesome to have a 'tall' friend too!

Boys playing outside, building forts, playing video games, eating so many snacks, riding hoverboards, and having a blast.

This was David's first sleepover with Atlus. He was so excited, and I let him go because James was going to spend the night with Magnus. I knew he would look out for David, and he would tell me if David was not behaving, ha!

A couple of trips to the playground, and then we met up at the McDonalds to swap our kids back. I am grateful for the friendships we all get to have with these great kids.

I decided to make oatmeal cream pies for Father's Day. They were delicious, and now I want to make them again after looking at his picture. So good!

We had a plaque made for Coach Christ to celebrate our season with the picture I took of our team with their massive trophies. I loved how it turned out!

The end of June was part Matt&I's anniversary trip to Maine and part the boys staying with Grammy&Papa in Georgia. Papa had the go kart gassed up and ready to go, and he had cut the track for them to race on in the front pasture. They were so excited about riding in the go kart; it was what they looked forward to more than anything else!

A little fishing on the pond next to the cabin. The boys learned how to drive the trolling motor and got to use our little john boat.

We sent many different selfies to each other while we were apart, and it makes me laugh because of the goofy faces we made. You can't pretend to make some super model face and send it to your kids. It has to be a silly face! Which is good for me, because I've never mastered the supermodel face anyway.

Hermione went to stay with Caleb for dog school, and she had a great time!

The boys played football outside with Papa and got so sweaty they ended up just getting the hose out and spraying them all down to cool off. I love this sweaty group shot!

Matt and I made it to Maine! We arrived super late (or was it super early?), so we stayed in a hotel close to the airport. We got up as early as we could to make our way to see the sites. I had to wear my needlepoint hat because it was from Maine- so appropriate! We started off by going to Bar Harbor and visiting Acadia National Park.

We could see the islands just in the harbor, so we stopped to take a picture.

These views at the top of Cadillac Mountain! Wow, they go on forever on a clear day like this.

We explored some of the trails around the top of the mountain, and stopped at their little gift shop to buy a lemonade and a whoopie pie I think? It was warmer this day than I had expected it to be!

Because we only had one day, we mostly drove through the park to see the highlights. This next stop was Sandy beach, and wow was it different! The rock and trees are not what we are used to seeing. So beautiful.

I couldn't believe anyone would want to 'go to the beach' at this location. ha! Our next stop was 'Thunder hole' where the water had worn away a hole in the rock. When the tide came in, the water would get caught in the hole, and make a crashing sound like thunder. So very cool!

We went down into the town of Bar Harbor to see what it was like, and it was just the cutest thing. We ate at a seafood place that had its own pier. We had lobster of course, because we were in Maine! We actually decided we had to try to find our favorite Lobster Roll while we were visiting. So, we ate lots of lobster, and we enjoyed every minute.

We stayed at a little bed and breakfast south of Bar Harbor (because I couldn't find any availability for the B&Bs I called. Kind of disappointing, but not after we got to experience Booth Bay. It was really lovely!

We were sitting having lunch at this little bay side restaurant, when my parents called. They said Hayden had rolled the go kart when he was doing a lap and hit a hole. Poor buddy was a little shaken up, but thankfully no broken bones. He was super brave. We of course felt terrible that he had gotten hurt when we weren't there, but were so thankful that he wasn't seriously hurt. The go kart go put up for the remainder of the visit, and Hayden rested inside with plenty of video games and movies.

Another one of the things on our bucket list for Maine was going on a whale watching tour. We booked one for Boothbay Harbor, and went out in the afternoon. It was beautiful, but not easy to see whales. There were a couple, super far away. Just saw a flick of a tale or a puff from their blow hole. Still worth seeing and doing, but nothing like national geographic.

We also went by 'bird island' where researches live to study the puffins. I tried to see one and take a picture, but they are really small birds! Seeing one from far out was pretty impossible for me. I did catch a glimpse of one, but honestly it was only because I could zoom in super close on my picture to see it.

The ride back to Boothbay Harbor was lovely. There is a boat parade for the 4th of July with so many large yatch like boats with masts for their sails- wild! We didn't get to see it for ourselves, but many of the boats came a few days early, which was really cool to see.

The sunset from the law of our bed and breakfast, the Topside Inn. I really enjoyed getting to sit here and take in the view. The breakfast was wonderful, and the room comfortable. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner that evening, and walked around town with the evening lights on. All around charming!

We found a little ice cream place that had the same 'ice cream chairs' that my grandmother had when I was a kid! They must have actually come from an ice cream place. So cool!

The last thing on our bucket list for Maine was to visit light houses. We decided we could visit 3 on our last day in Boothbay, and we set out in the morning after our breakfast. I don't remember what any of them were called, but the last one was the 'Forrest Gump' one from the movie. That was my favorite for sure because we could climb up inside it.

Second light house.

We saw a rocky beach, so we thought we'd stop to look for beach glass. Didn't find any though. 

Forrest Gump light house!

As it turned out, our bed and breakfast called and said we could check out early. We had made the mistake of planning to drive to the airport early in the morning, which would have made us miss the breakfast at the bed and breakfast anyway. We thought it would be better to drive closer to the airport in the evening and stay like we had when we arrived. Lucky us it worked out! So we packed our bags after light house looking, and started the drive back up to Bangor. 

On the way, we stopped at our final place to try lobster rolls, called 'Red's Easts'. It was recommended to us by our friends the Rosenaus, who are from Maine. It was hands.down.the.best. We stood in line for an hour or so in the middle of the afternoon, and it was totally worth it.

We made one last pit stop at a place to look for beach glass, because I was a little sad that we hadn't gotten to go to this one island where there was really awesome glass. Lucky us, this little pebble beach was on the way, and we found some!

I love traveling with Matt, but coming home to our boys is really a wonderful thing. It makes me grateful every time. These wild boys all piled into one inner tube (half of a the former star wars ship), and it made me laugh.

Thank you Lord for our wonderful memories from June 2022. It is wild to see this now, especially after the memories from May were still so powerful. June felt like a lovely, almost painless float down the river. Thank you for time with Matt, for us to get away and connect. Thank you for time with friends to spend the night and have some special time. Thank you for VBS and for the silly shark costume that was such a hit. Thank you for the break from school. Thank you for time at the farm in the summer to play and get outside, fishing and go karting. Thank you for memories made with their grandparents. Thank you for all your gifts Lord! Amen.