Leones Do Mt. Battie, Maine

Following our visit to Boston, we headed north to Maine. Our destination: Acadia National Park and a quaint little rental cottage right with a view of the ocean. 

But first, we stopped at Mt. Battie and took in the breathtaking view. Reaching Mt. Battie was not without challenge, given the pre- Fourth of July traffic. By the time we arrived, we were very ready to stretch our legs and admire the amazing views of the Atlantic.

Certain unnamed older children gave their mother a near-heart attack by standing with toes overhanging drop-offs. Needless to say, despite the amazing views, I was very happy to be back in the van with all seven munchkins safe and sound.

My two youngest girls. Oh, how I love these little ones! 

Honestly, do girls come any cuter than these two?
Marguerite (2), Lucia (1)

William, at the top of the world. Or at least at the top of Mt. Battie.
What a handsome guy!

One of my very favorite photos from the trip.
These three, the former youngsters of the family, are now our middle crew. And what a triumvirate they make.
Therese (6), Andrew (8), William (11)

Leones Do Boston

We vacationed this summer "out East," hitting Boston for a couple days, and then heading up to Maine.

In Boston, we checked out Boston Commons, hiked the Freedom Trail, explored the USS Constitution, and visited Joe's cousin Helen and her beautiful family in Jamaica Plain.

The five youngest Leones got their first taste of the subway. 

We admired the swan boats and reminisced of "Stuart Little."

We noted that Boston ducks are every bit as cute as Wisconsin ducks.

We met cool Revolutionary dudes and made sure our faces reflected our excitement. Or something like that.

We got into the Revolutionary spirit on the Freedom Trail.

We checked out the Old North Church. One if by land; two if by sea. This is where it all happened!

We stopped for lunch, of course.

We checked out massacre sites.

In fact, some of us had to point out the exact spot of said Boston Massacre.

We met still more cool soldier dudes and asked them about their weapons.

We let the soldiers lock Joe up for a while.

Andrew too.

We checked out street vendors doing all manner of interesting things—like playing water chimes.

We checked out the statue of William's hero, Paul Revere. (This was the whole reason William wanted to come to Boston.) 

We endured near-heat-stroke in line to explore the U.S.S. Constitution. 

We mugged for cute (partial) family shots on Old Ironside.  

We resisted the urge to swab the decks and enjoyed being shorties when we reached the low-ceilinged hold below.

We rejoiced that we were on the ferry, headed out of the 98 degree heat and into an air-conditioned restaurant. 

We broke the bank just a bit and ordered all kinds of shellfish, including lobster for dinner at Ye Olde Union Oyster House.
For at least half of dinner we were lead to believe we were sitting in "The Kennedy Booth." Turned out to be a bald-faced falsehood.  The dinner was a success not only for the excellent food but for much-needed AC. The meat-locker atmosphere was just what we needed after managing the whole Freedom Trail with seven kids in high-90's weather.

Random Kiddie Shots

Some cute shots of the kids from this summer:

Cute Marguerite, fresh out of the tub (with leave-in conditioner in her hair).

Therese lost her first two teeth—on the same day!

Our two little ones, hanging out at their siblings' cross country meet.

Miss Bright Eyes Lucia.

Farmer Andrew

The boys love to go with Joe to the farm implement store on Saturdays. Rigs this big are a ton o' fun!

Big Veggies

We are no slackers when it comes to growing veggies in this family.

We are no slackers when it comes to growing weeds either.

Thankfully, we also grow big helpers.

William's turnips!

Joe's turnips.

Andrew's pumpkin.

Fifteen Kids and Counting

For four crazy-loud and fully entertaining days this summer, we had FIFTEEN children and FOUR adults living in this house.

Yes, my brother Tom and his wife Anne Marie arrived from Idaho with their eight kiddos and immersed us in life in their world—which is clearly almost as crazy as life in our world. We had nineteen of us living in this four-bedroom house. Add heat indexes above 100 degrees each day, and it was a cooker here in more ways than one.

Never have we laughed so hard or had quite so much fun.

Oh, how I wish these cousins were growing up next door to one another.

Here's hoping that the Lathams come back very soon.

Cousins!
Eight Lathams + seven Leones.

My sister-in-law, Anne Marie, with her beautiful daughter and her adoring niece, Marguerite.

Therese and Marguerite were ga-ga with all the baby-holding opportunities.
(Girls: Lucia was that age less than a year ago! Okay, so Lucia was at that size for only about a day!)

Sisterly Love

There is napping. (Yes, we do have beds in this house.)

And there is playing. Lucia is catching up with Marguerite (seated) size-wise!

Religious Freedom Rally

Joe was invited to join the distinguished ranks of Sen. Glenn Grothman, Rep. Evan Wynn, Julaine Appling, and Matt Sande to speak at our most recent Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally at the Federal Courthouse in Madison. Always a defender of the good, the beautiful, and the true, Joe gave a rousing speech—successfully out-shouting the very vocal protestors with unarguable, unassailable facts.

I was very proud of Joe. Those who know Joe know that he is nothing short of opinionated. But he is also logical and well-reasoned and has a great way of engaging the audience with well-constructed arguments. In this case, he was not arguing a claim for a patent application.  Rather, he was arguing that people of faith in the Unites States of America should be free to practice their faith, and no government should require its people (employers, in this case) to purchase goods or services (insurance, in this case) which contravene the tenets of our faith.

Joe Leone, you rocked the house and did an amazing job. I love you for telling it like it is.

Our friend, Syte Reitz, wrote an insightful post, featuring rally-goers, Joe and Lucia Leone.

Rep. Evan Wynn (for whom I am now working, incidentally) introducing none other than Joe Leone.

Joe Leone, doing what he does best—talking.  ;)
What an amazing defender of religious freedom I have in my husband.

Just after Joe finished speaking, he grabbed Lucia and posed for this photo.
And just as this photo was being snapped, protesters turned their signs to ensure Joe and Lucia had a nice little backdrop. Lovely, eh? 

Homeschooling

We homeschool for so many reasons.

Infographics like the one below help to highlight just a few reasons. (See this earlier post for a comparison of homeschooling with private as well as public schools.)


Created by: CollegeAtHome.com

Andrew Receives Jesus

Our little man, Andrew, receives Jesus for the very first time on his all important First Communion Day, May 2012.

As Catholics, the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives. This is a very big day, indeed.

Boy Scout Campout #1

William participated in his first-ever Boy Scout campout in May. This was a basic-skills camp experience where the boys worked to demonstrate their abilities in areas such as handling an axe. William did well and started working toward merit badge requirements at this overnight campout.

Loading the trailer for the campout.

William arrives at camp.

Setting up one of the big tents.

William's sleeping tent, shared with a pal.

William and his great friend.

William discovers a nest of goose eggs!

William waits for his turn to demonstrate that he knows how to safely use an axe.