"Bug Light" House in South Portland, Maine!

Can't believe we've been to Maine sooooo many times and never made our way to this cute lighthouse. It's called "Bug Light" and it was built in 1875 and it is seriously one for the most elegant lighthouses in Maine. It was built with plates of cast iron and was dubbed "Bug Light" due to its small size and it's the cutest thing this side of the Atlantic Ocean! Every time we come to Maine we always go to Cape Neddick to see the Nubble lighthouse and although that will always be my favorite my second favorite is now this cute little bug light! The history behind all these lighthouses are amazing and love that we have them all over the ocean for a wonderful purpose to always guide us on the way home!

our adventures in New England.

This is how much we love New England. 

Although we spent most of our days in Newport we also drove to Maine, ate at this magnificent Mexican restaurant in Kittery, explored the outlet stores, saw two lighthouses, and also stopped by the Boston temple on the way home.

A lot of driving was done, but when you have three wonderful states of New England huddled within a 180 mile radius it's worth the driving time. Luckily we are a singing, license plate, i spying game playing kind of family while traveling on the road. I'm pretty archaic when it comes to road trips without the movie watching, always sleeping (unless your really tired, and have been lacking sleep all week like Sierra), and nonstop radio playing. Okay...so I may have given in a little with Noah by handing him my phone to play a game, but he was such a good little traveler I couldn't say no.

There was so much that I wanted to record, and vine but I was appreciating every moment spent with these kids. They all knew that this would be the last long traveling trip with Sierra...at least for a while.

Enjoying this time without documenting their every move actually felt good. Sometimes it feels so nice to just walk along the ocean without a camera in hand, pick up rocks with your kid without creaking your neck trying to take a selfie (which I hardly ever do), and sit on the rocks off of the Cliff Walk with your little one to hear the waves crashing.

Okay...so I do take a lot of photos, but we do need memories for our posterity right?

So here are some moments of our trip to New England, and I hope that everyone has a wonderful long Labor Day weekend!

Jamestown-Verrazano bridge

 Point Judith lighthouse & rock towers.

Cliff Walk at Narragansett, RI

 Mansions at the cliff walk.

^^ Nubble lighthouse, in Cape Neddick, Maine ^^

^^ woke up to a foggy morning in Maine but still had smiles on our faces ^^

Special thanks to my husband who was my photographer throughout this trip.

And to the tripod that helped in taking this family photo of us! 

**The stars were definitely aligned in giving us these wonderful moments!**

an ode to a new school year.

I know many of your children have gone back to school already & I hope that they all had a great start to a new school year.

By the looks of it via Facebook it seems like many of your kids enjoyed their first day. I saw how lovely they all looked dressed up carrying their backpacks, & oh how they treasure those!

All your children looked so happy & excited, and lets hope that they'll carry those smiles all year round! 

Sending our kids back to school sure is bittersweet because they grow up way too fast!

Enjoy your children while they're little because before you know it they'll be off to college, hence our last major summer trip.

Let their hearts carry that inner child with them whether it's building rock towers or 

playing with balloons, & save the pictures that they color even if its filled with scribbles. 

Listen to them as they come home & tell you about their day. Better yet, ask them how their day went first. 

Let's not be in a hurry to rush this school year or hurry our kids into becoming small grown ups. 

Enjoy their youth, cherish it, enjoy even the small little things that they say or do.

Most importantly...listen. 

Nowadays that's all a child wants is for us as parents to listen & be there for them. 

This is an attribute that I have learned to improve throughout my years of motherhood & have done better at not always being in a hurry or rushing my life away with my family. 

Time is precious & so are the lives of our children. 

Luckily for us school doesn't begin until the day after Labor Day. We love New England and are enjoying the adventures of Newport in Rhode Island. 

We are making every memory count! 

Happy Tuesday to you!