"Nuggle?" is what Kiera says when she is asking for some love... some sNUGGLES! It melts my heart. I can be running 45 minutes late with unbrushed teeth and if she says "nuggle?" I basically drop everything to bolt to the couch with her. Many times she would like her sippy cup to join us in our nuggles, usually she needs her blankey as well and on occasion, she will request that anywhere between 3 to 7 baby dolls join us too.
This Spring has been very wet, but also very fun! We have two new golden retriever puppies....Baxter and Bailey. They are brother and sister and we are having fun getting to know them. They are obviously a handful and we are told on a daily basis that we are stupid/crazy/insane for taking on even more responsibility with our busy lives, but as always, we will make it work somehow! That being said, we have all agreed that we should probably draw the line here for awhile :)
Leary's Landing held it's annual Kentucky Derby Party again this year and, thanks to my sister Emily, Bar Harbor was FULL of fantastic hats. She spent hours making nearly a dozen Derby hats for just about anyone who asked if they could have one. Then... the day of the Derby, she came down with what I have named the "Bar Harbor Plague." It is a horrible illness that is spreading through our town, kicking ass and taking names. Although she didn't get to enjoy much of the party, she did make an appearance and all three of the top 3 nominated hats were her designs. Pretty darn crafty. 
Probably the biggest achievement of my LIFETIME (warning, I'm being dramatic) was that we turned 3 of our properties into very cool weekly rentals. You can see them here: www.youngfamilyrentals.com . Jeff has lived in the Quarry House for 20 years and has had 3 kids along the way and multiple (not as cool as me) lady friends :) haha! Transforming that very full house into a clean, neat, and nicely decorated rental home was right up there with childbirth in difficulty (again, the drama.) But the point is that it is DONE, and cleaning out the house that thoroughly is good for the soul!
We celebrated Lexi's 8th grade graduation in June and we're all looking forward to the road that she has ahead of her. If she continues to be this respectful, fun and well rounded little individual I don't think that she will have a single problem excelling in the next 4 years :) I'm pretty proud of who she is, and I wish that I had had more to do with it, but I'm just lucky to know her from here on out.
Lexi with one of her favorite teachers - Ms. Allen
