I tried to upload a bunch of pictures of our recent vacation but blogger is still giving me fits about photos so I gave up.  You'll just have to get on facebook and friend me if you want to see pictures (lots of pictures, haha).

So, yes, we went on a little vacation.  I was very excited as this was our first 'real' vacation as a family.  Typically any time we go somewhere it is to see my family in PA, which is nice but I felt like doing something special.  I thought it would be neat for the kids to see the ocean so I did some research and found that York, Maine not only has a few nice beaches but a little zoo as well!  Everyone in this family loves animals so a zoo was right up our alley.  I booked a hotel for two nights and planned our itinerary.  Lydia was especially excited to be staying in a hotel. For some reason she has been fascinated with the idea of a hotel for a while now.  We got up on Thursday morning, ate breakfast and headed out.  We had a 3 hour drive with one stop to feed Seth and let the girls get their wiggles out.  Our first stop was Nubble Light- a cute little lighthouse with big rocks and crashing waves.  We ate our picnic lunch sitting on the rocks watching the birds and waves.  Lydia and Anna were not as interested in just sitting watching the waves as Jake and I so we drove down to Long Sands Beach.  It was in the high 60s and breezy so the beach was pretty empty.  Seth slept in his carseat while Lydia and I played in the waves.  Anna was afraid of the waves so she and Jake built sand castles and buried feet.  It was fun!   After that it was time that we could check into the hotel and I wanted to see if the girls would nap.  We got a crib from the hotel for Anna, set up the play pack for Seth and Lydia slept in one of the queen beds.  We got all settled in and lay the girls down.  I took Seth to the lobby so he wouldn't keep anyone awake.  I talked to the girl at the front desk about places to eat and she mentioned that Dominoes Pizza had a discount if you ordered online.  I looked into it and realized that getting delivery was a much better option than getting everyone up and ready to go to a restaurant.  So I ordered some pizzas, breadsticks and soda.  A good vacation supper!  The girls did a great job of napping and were ready to wake up and eat.  After that we went to the hotel pool.  Lydia LOVED it.  She was able to walk in the shallow end (3 ft).  Anna liked it too and really enjoyed jumping in to Jake.  She was, however, upset that she couldn't get down and walk in the water like Lydia did.  We stayed in the pool until bedtime then had quick baths before everyone collapsed into bed.  I had been worried about everyone sleeping in the same room but the girls were so worn out that they slept just fine.
On Friday we got up and had breakfast at the hotel then headed to the zoo. Since the zoo was not open until 10 we walked to a nearby playground that I saw on a local map.  The girls had lots of fun on the huge twisty slide.  Short Sands Beach was there too so we ate a little snack and watched the waves.  After a few hours at the zoo everyone was getting pretty tired and grumpy. We did see all the animals, but enough so we left for lunch.  I packed the cooler so we didn't have to buy lunches out and that worked out very well.  After our picnic lunch everyone was revived and ready to go to the beach again.  We went down to Short Sands and found that there was a stream of water running down the one side of the beach.  This suited Anna quite well and she had a ton of fun playing in the water and building a dam with rocks (with Daddy as supervisor) :)  Lydia wasn't as brave with the waves as she was the previous day, I think because there was the option of slow moving water and rocks and sand.  We had bought a little innertube earlier in the day so I took that and had fun playing in the waves.  A few times I was a little bit worried because a big wave would come in.  One time a big one splashed down on my head.  Even though I had fun I don't think I could ever be in love with the ocean.  One thing I didn't like was the noise.  The waves were so loud and never stopped (obviously).  I have never been a fan of loud noises and I don't hear well when there is 'background' noise.  So the beach/ocean aren't for me!  But fun for short visits.  After about an hour at the beach we repeated our routine from the day before- naps, order in supper and pool time! 
Saturday morning we had our hotel breakfast then packed up to head home.  We stopped by the Kittery Trading Post on the way home and got a few souvenirs.  We also stopped at a yard sale and found a little picnic table for the kids which I had been looking for! :)  We stopped for lunch and even made it home in time for the girls to take naps in their own beds! 
Even though it was a very short vacation it seemed like the perfect amount of time.  The kids had fun and really enjoyed themselves but didn't have time to get bored with anything.  I'm hoping to be able to do it again next summer and maybe visit some different beaches.  A lady told me about two places to try- Goose Rock and Ferry Beach.