Vacation July 2007- Millinocket Lake, Maine

My Mom and David go on vacation up to Lake Millinocket every summer (well, at least for the past five or so years). Usually we all tag along, and it's tons of fun... We spend the week relaxing, hiking, swimming, and of course going out on the boat we rent from the owners at Twin Pines, which is the *resort* we stay at- really a group of cute little cabins that is family-run and owned which sits on a peninsula jutting out onto the lake. It's too gorgeous for words on sunny days- Katahdin looms over the lake in the background, and the water is so crystal clear you can see all the way to the bottom in most spots. The air is so clean up there that you feel when you first arrive as if you're able to take a nice deep, fresh breath for the first time in months. There's just nothing like being in touch with nature and taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of the earth.... Here are some of our pics from summer 2007:

Sunset over Lake Millinocket, July 23, 2007- Katahdin hiding behind the clouds!

I loved the way the sun glared off the water and illuminated the ripples... More sunset July 23

And this one, though dark, is one of my favorites of the sunset- I love the dark, rich colors.

Ilyana chilling with the Mama duck and ducklings, July 23, 2007.

Baby ducklings and baby duck-fluff girl! :o) July 23, 2007


Owen hanging out, July 23, 2007


Illy in the bouncer, Monday July 23, 2007


I know this picture looks kind of weird, but it was taken in the pitch-black. I wanted to capture all of us hanging out and roasting marshmallows by the fire, which is one of our favorite things to do when we go to Millinocket. Here you see Matt, Mitch, Frannie and Mom enjoying the night! July 23, 2007


Sleepy Daddy and baby girl, July 24, 2007


So Will and I went on a hike... an eight-mile hike up a mountain which left us sore for the next few days. Here I am, tired as hell, taking a break on a big rock off the path. Wednesday, July 25, 2007.


A cool little shroomy we saw on our hike! July 25, 2007

We were on the last mile or so of our hike, almost delirious (we'd been out of water for hours with the sun pelting down on us) and feeling very discouraged... And we rounded a corner and saw a moose bathing in the pond! As soon as he heard us, he ran for the woods, but I captured him... Sort of! If you click on this pic to look at the bigger image, you can see him off on the edge of the pond, hidden partially by the brush. July 25, 2007

Mom and David went hiking the day after us, but they actually had the balls to hit up Katahdin! Here's Mom, triumphant at the top... July 26, 2007

David, finally resting at the top of Katahdin! July 26, 2007

The Birth of Bendy Ruggles

May 9, 2007 was a momentous day for us. Little Ilyana Arana Shayla Boudle finally made her way into the world at 2:13 PM, after three days' worth of contractions and being sent home two nights in a row.

The first night was quick- they checked me and watched me for about an hour, and then let me go, saying I wasn't progressing fast enough.

The second night, after having contractions all day long and into the night, we went back in. They kept me for a while, making us think that I was going to be staying- so we called my mom, she came down to the hospital and we were all very excited! Ilyana would finally be coming... or so we thought. The nurses asked me if I would like some medication for the pain, and I said yes (of course!) because I hadn't slept at all since before my contractions started, and I was EXHAUSTED. The nurse told me that if they gave me some morphine I would be able to sleep and rest up for the heavy labor and pushing, which they were worried might be difficult for me if I wasn't able to sleep before it. Of course we trusted them, because they're the nurses, even though it seemed odd that they would give a narcotic to a pregnant woman!

What they neglected to tell me was that giving me morphine could slow down my contractions, and that's what it did. So I was able to sleep on and off while Mom and Will gorged on caffeine, thinking they'd be up all night into the next day. When I woke up in the early morning hours, Mom and Will were still wide awake, and the nurses told me the bad news- my contractions were less steady and frequent than before I came in the night before! Never mind progressing, I had regressed. I was so upset that they hadn't explained the possible consequences of the medication before giving me it, because now I had to go home AGAIN. And my poor mom and fiance- they'd now been up all night for no reason and would still have to be there when it actually DID happen.

When we went in on the third night, I wasn't really dilated enough (at about 3.5 cm) that they would have admitted me normally... But I was really tired and they thought they'd let me hop into the jacuzzi tub to see if that would move things along some. Apparently the tub helped, because after one hour in there splashing around and eating orange popsicles, I was at 5 cm and it was decided I would definitely stay. I had hoped to be able to pull through labor naturally, but it was an entirely different story once I actually felt what those contractions are like after 5cm! I got the epidural (which, believe me, is the weirdest feeling in the world- your whole lower body feels like a fast-asleep foot) and proceeded to chat away and be happy through the rest of my labor. I was even talking to Will and my Mom like normal in between pushes! After about 35 minutes of pushing, the doctor asked if I would like to have my baby on my belly, to which I growled, "yes!" and in the next few minutes, Illy was here. Although her Daddy had claimed he wouldn't want to touch her until she had been cleaned off (typical guy), he changed his mind once he saw our baby! Here are her first pictures; both right after she came into the world, and throughout our 2 day hospital stay and family visiting...

Weighing In!

Our new family! I wavered on putting this one, because I look like such dog crap, but it's the only pic of all three of us that was taken minutes after she was born. So please ignore my ugliness here.

Me and Ilyana- look at how little she is compared to my hand! Of course, I was swollen, but still...

Mom and David holding her for the first time!

Uncle Mitchy and my Nana visiting with Illy!

Swaddled girl, May 10, 2007.

Me holding Illy, May 10.


Me, little brother Owen , Aunt Tami and the Bend! May 10.


Getting some Da-da love, May 10.

The random hand is actually Kristen :o)


Aunt Tam Tam visits with the Bend, May 10. Hush was there visiting too, but we didn't get any pics because he was too nervous to hold Illy just yet!


The day of heading home, May 11, with Daddy!

Rewind: Pre-Bendy Disney Vacation

Well, I claimed this was pre-Bendy, but really it's not. I was two months pregnant on our vacation, I just hadn't found out yet... Partially because I had an inkling I was, but I didn't want to feel guilty riding all the rides that said "Don't ride if you're pregnant", so I decided to wait until after our vacation to take the preggo test. I never claimed to be a saint ;oP but she turned out beautiful, so who's to say the adrenalin rush didn't do her body good??

I have been a Disney freak all my life. This is a lot to do with the fact that my grandparents loved Disney and brought all of our parents and then us grandkids up watching the movies, playing games, and basically worshiping the ground that Walt had walked on. I went to Walt Disney World for the first time when I was sixteen with my mom, brother Mitch, Aunt Tami, cousins Miles and Bobby, and my best friend Merry, and we had a blast... so of course, as an adult, after graduating college, I decided to go back. I used all of my gift money from graduation on a vacation for Will and I from September 9-16, 2006. I would definitely recommend that time of year to ANYONE who hates waiting in lines and frying like an egg- the weather was gorgeous, still hot but not sweltering, and since it was right after all the kiddos went back to school, there was barely anyone there... They weren't even using the fast pass tickets because the lines were all shorter than the fast pass wait time! To top it off, it was GREAT being able to be there as an adult without young ones- no worries about waiting outside the rides with the too-short ones or whining about which rides to go on :o) I have to admit, we didn't get as many pics as I'd like (you'll be shocked to know that once you see how many are below... lol) because it's really hard to enjoy yourself on rides and in restaurants while still taking snazzy shots. I did get some really good ones in the Animal Kingdom though, which was my favorite park. Here are some of the best pics of us enjoying our one and only vacation alone so far-- WDW!! Have a magical day~~

Magic Kingdom- Cinderella's castle at night. It was lit up beautifully, but was very hard to get a good photo of. If you look closely, you can see the kids from Peter Pan flying around the topmost spire.

This is me, sitting in Rabbit's house. Rabbit must be very short.

Will in Eeyore's gloomy place. I don't know how you can be gloomy in Disney! :oP

Me, in Pooh's thoughtful spot!


No, that's not me. It's some random lady. I was just taking a picture of the Nemo sculpture.

I'm sitting on one of the "L"s in the "All-Star Movies" sign on the front of our resort.

This is from Fantasmic, my FAVORITE show we saw! Yes, the water is on FIRE!

Awww. He's so cute. My man, waiting for the bus!

Please don't squish me!

Will, trying to pull the sword out of the stone. I guess he's not secretly a knight. Damn.

Spirit of Aloha show. That was a good one too! One of the fancy dinners you can trade in two of your regular sit-downs for on the dining plan. Psha!

Fire player man from Spirit of Aloha. He was awesome. And sexy too. Which helped.

More fire player man.

Cute Willis in the tunnel!

Us, realllllyyyy tired.

Mickey and Minnie bush.

Will and I, tired but in love and having fun! I like this picture, I actually look like I have a tan. Which I don't, I have a burn which faded into.... my pasty pale skin. No tan for me.

This is our resort, nothing too fancy... All-Star Movies! I like the randomly huge characters though.

This sign cracked me up. I want one.


Another statement sign- in the Animal Kingdom. So true...


Hidden Mickey! We sucked at finding them overall, but here's one! Yay!



ANIMAL KINGDOM PHOTOS:
I liked taking pictures of the animals. You can catch them in some pretty funny poses... The safari ride was the best!! I definitely recommend it... It's so amazing to be driving through this environment where these wild animals have free reign and can come so close! I had a blast.

Zebras on the Safari Ride


Crocodile. I didn't get too close.

Funky black and white ducks.

Will beats a drum on the pathway! Taking a short walking break.

A tiger, lounging.

Rhino on the safari ride!


Fake ruins, but hey, they look neat.

Scary lizard thing. I forget what kind it actually is. Other than creepy.


I <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoDW531uSN0YrvrDj78w4u_FJGa8Op3C55spZtCb2-6BSpGtOtVmjRDRXw73xX97rw68Cars_dYcHNWnrv5WKW8X2qOBQ16-Ainq1Qk5wFhxntBhL5EFWbKHrX2FnpIb1btucz88u5QI8V/s1600-h/maybegazelle.JPG">I think these are gazelles?? If anyone knows more about animals than me, your FYI on what the ones I don't know are would be appreciated! I just thought they were adorable.

Flamingos!

This giraffe was really fun. He was walking behind us for a bit.


Yes, this is a gorilla. And yes, there's a branch in front of his face. What do you expect when I'm on the move in a safari van??

Antelopes or something like that?


Okay, so even though I've seen plenty of birds in my day, and not so many tigers, zebras, hippos and giraffes, I think this is my favorite animal picture I took that day. I just like the colors and composition of the photo.


Bulls staying as far away from us as they could.


The crazy African bongo band... they were good! :o)