New England Vacation: Part 1

We took the last week of August off for family vacation to Maine. Most of our vacations while living in New England have involved, well, leaving New England, but this year we decided to embrace it and do the NE thing of quaint towns and beaches. First, we headed Acadia National Park in Maine. Last time were there, six years ago to the day, I was a tiny bit pregnant with Grace. We met the Jensens for several nights of camping and child-induced chaos. 

Megan and I had swapped a lot of texts over the past few months along the lines of "what are we thinking, camping with two one year olds?!?!" We were right to be wary - it's a tough age for camping. Henry learned to say "hot hot" (well "hah! hah!") about the fire, but it didn't stop him from walking up to it. There was poison oak. And a road. And dirt. And one year olds are nuts. But, it did end up being really fun despite the added challenge of watching the babies.

Day 1: We hiked along Jordan Pond, then checked out the beach and Ocean Trail. I love Acadia for its variety. And, it reminds me so much of Washington, although it's nowhere near as mossy.

Tent set-up with "help"

 Playing along Jordan Pond.

Hiking up the South Bubble.  

View of Jordan Pond with the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.

Watching the kiddos play. Grace and Bjorn caught a frog without any assistance or knowledge of the adults. They just reported back later, and I thought it was pretty cool. 

The children that are supposed to "ride" are, of course, the ones that insist on hiking... while the hikers whine to be carried. 

Jordan Pond with the South and North bubbles in the background.

Babies.

A quick preview of Sand Beach. 

Off to hike the Ocean Trail. 

Along the trail. 

 Panoramic of... a pretty spot, perhaps from Thunder Hole?

Patiently waiting for the shuttle. This was right before Henry dumped his bag of cereal all over the ground. Wildlife? Leave no trace? Eh...

Camp dinner. 

Day 2: We went to Sand Beach. It was hot, but the water was cold, and as children do at beaches, they had a blast, got super sandy, and Steve and Lars hiked the Beehive while Megan and I lounged (so to speak...).

In the evening we went to Bar Harbor for lobster rolls and ice cream. We found a lovely little park overlooking the harbor for dancing, running, hill-rolling, and lip-splitting.

 Does it remind anyone of the San Juans, but smaller in scale?

Turns out Henry is a burrower when he sleeps. Both kids did really well going to sleep in the tent by themselves while we tried to keep our eyes open a few minutes later (*tried*). However, we would him sleeping on Grace's pillow, or even once sleeping on Grace.

More soon!

Grace starts school (kindergarten!) tomorrow. Since she is not starting a new school, it doesn't have the emotional impact for me that it might if this was her first year of elementary school. Nevertheless, I'm very sorry to see summer end and more than a little anxious about what promises to be a very chaotic sprint through September and October. Steve is on call a ton, I have a lot going on at work for the fall, the aforementioned poorly-timed trip to California for me, and we may have promising news about where Steve will get a job next year. Somehow, as long as it was "summer" denial was helping with my angst about the hectic school year routine and bitter cold of winter. Yet, kindergarten is exciting. And we're in the midst of a heat wave so Grace and I are off to spend the last afternoon of summer at the pool!