what i learned in maine (in no particular order)

 

I am actually capable of eating my fill of lobster

My husband is not

Broken thumbs hurt

When you have a really dumb story about how you broke your thumb (especially if it involves wine), make something up

You use your thumbs for a lot more than you think – or as Matt so eloquently put it, ‘Without an opposable thumb, you’re not even an ape’

There is no worse sound than the thud of a 5 year old falling out of a bed, even if she doesn’t even wake up

When Darby moans and then yells in her sleep, ‘It’s not FAIR!’ she may have no recollection of it in the morning, but I will likely never forget it

Straddling the border between Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Darby will find it really funny when I take a step to the right and tell her that I left her in another town

It’s even funnier the seventh time

A carriage ride with Charlie the horse is worth every penny

The inn keeper we passed who gave the girls a carrot to feed Charlie gave us a wonderful experience along with a root vegetable

Darby can NOT finish a lobster (despite all pre-ordering assurances to the contrary)

When we are away from home a social story and a calendar are worth their weight in gold

In a moment of magic, Kendall can run up to a 3 year old in the park and say, “We would play Ring Around the Rosy” and they will

When Darby finds a penny and then declares, “I’m already lucky. Let’s leave it for somebody else to find” my heart soars

Seeing Kendall dig in the sand with her little buddy from school is so sweet it almost hurts

Talking to another mom with a child on the spectrum is always a relief and a comfort

When Darby says, “Mama, can you get me some weed?” I don’t need to stage an intervention. She’s just trying to landscape her sand castle with sea grass

If I eat enough, my fat jeans will no longer be my fat jeans

Darby will sit on the bottom of the pool a hundred times because Kendall asks her to

Sisterhood is glorious

Darby can swim the length of the pool

Kendall can dunk her face and kick to Daddy

An i-pod will get Kendall through fireworks

But she’ll still shudder ever so slightly after each boom

A $23 lobster roll is no better than an $11 one

I’m much better at blocking and tackling for Kendall than I used to be

A 2 year old boy won’t care if she decides that his name is ‘Boots’

Toasted marshmallow jelly beans and gummy bears after breakfast will not kill anyone

Public bathrooms with automatic flushers, multiple stalls and hand dryers are sensory nightmares

When Kendall dunks her face and then says, “I’m a superstar!” I could eat her

When I tell Darby she cannot wake me up before 6am, I will find her at my nose at 6:01 stage-whispering, ‘Mama, it’s after 6″

When Kendall barks at the pool no one notices

When the sun kisses my girls, they are breathtakingly beautiful

If I take over 500 pictures of them, I still may not end up with ‘the shot’  that I think I’m looking for

Kendall’s new ‘no’ is ‘no no no chi chi chi’

6-hour, waterproof sunscreen is neither

The hotel attendant that told Matt about the 4th of July parade through Kennebunkport couldn’t really care less that it’s actually on Memorial Day

It’s pretty obvious by 9:55 when there’s no parade at 10

Matt calling the cars zooming by ‘a parade’ is still funny

We’re getting the hang of it – all of it

The best part of going away, no matter how magical the trip, will always be

Coming home