The Maine Event

Recipe for a Great Maine Adventure

Ingredients:

4 adults

4 children

1 minivan

2 pack 'n plays

2 sleeping bags

everything else in the house

6 days vacation

1 beautiful Maine setting

Mix together 2 adults and 4 children in a tightly packed minivan at 4am. Turn around at least once to retrieve various and sundry ingredients that have been forgotten. Then finally let the mixture "sit" (drive) for four hours. Stop for a "quick" break at 8am, but don't be surprised by your lack off recipe efficiency. You're dealing with a lot of ingredients here! Continue to sit until arriving in New York city. Add some wonderful friend ingredients to the mix. Marinate with friends for about 2 hours (while kids play, babies eat, and adults catch up--such a treat! Thanks A family!)

The A family with MG!

Taking in the city

After marinating, mix again in the minivan and plan to sit for some time. Sit, sit, sit. Meet up with a lot of other recipes who are also sitting and waiting, waiting, waiting. Forget to fire up the "burners" (or gas tank) and make a mad dash for the nearest fueling station... Sit for 13(!) more hours and finally be ready to "bake" in Maine. We made it!!! Add 2 grandparents and enjoy "baking" on the banks of Moose Pond in a beautiful log cabin.

Add throwing/skipping rocks, swimming, canoeing, motor boating, fishing, kayaking, ping-ponging, hiking, and horseback riding to the mix. Savor the hours. This is what baking is all about! Alas, you'll also add a hurt J (who fell through a hole in the wooden tent floor and scraped his leg on a rusty nail. A near miss, thank the good Lord! It could have been much worse!) And add a sickly T, who came down with a stomach illness/high fever Monday and was later diagnosed with strep throat on Tuesday! Never fun. Continue to mix so as to work these bad ingredients out... which you will by Wednesday. Don't underestimate your fortitude at this point. You CAN do it! And it is so worth it...

T, feeling better and riding like a cowboy

M, in a matching coat, riding like he's been doing it all his life!

When the baking is over, place your nearly-done recipe back in the minivan and have it sit some more... Marinate overnight with more friend ingredients along the way (Such fun M fam! Thanks for a great visit!)

Then, finish the recipe with another extended time of sitting (whew!) until you arrive at your final recipe concoction. Take a deep breath. You've done it!

Praise God for a wonderful trip!