Lunch

Acadia

The week before we moved, we went on a camping trip to Acadia National Park.  It was one of those things that we knew we absolutely had to do with the kids before we left Maine, but that kept getting pushed back and pushed back, until time was slipping away altogether.

On our way out of town, we picked up our bikes, and after realizing we could no longer fit all the bikes in the car and on our 2-bike rack, we purchased a new 3-bike rack (which we are so thankful to have).  After all the bikes were situated, we took off on the 3-hour trek to Acadia.  Hubry and I had been to Acadia early in our marriage and done some of the more difficult hikes, but we were planning on keeping things a bit more low-key with the kids around.  We mainly wanted to show them the beauty we remembered, and it was nice that it was in the middle of the Summer so that we could actually go swimming (at a warmer lake and a frigid ocean).

Overall, the trip was well worth the drive, though it would have been nice to have a few more days to meander and explore.  We only attempted one hike, and after carrying children on our backs for a mile straight up the side of a mountain, we decided we better stick to bike and carriage trails from then on out. :)  I mean, we're strong and everything, but that was quite a workout.

We went away with two main observations.  1. Acadia is such an expansive park with a one-way loop around it, that you really end up spending a lot of time in the car driving from sight to sight.  With little kids this can be a bit trying, so we had to scale back our expectations quite a bit when we realized how much car-time was involved.  2.  After having lived on the coast of Maine for a year, Acadia is nowhere near as impressive as it was before.  In fact, we came away feeling like we had seen equally breathtaking views within 20 miles of our humble home.  We were truly spoiled by natural beauty and easy-access to it living in Brunswick...

Here are a few pictures of the trip.

New Bike rack

Our outdoor home

The Fairyhouse

Smores for breakfast (b/c it was too late when we finally got back from swimming the night before to start a fire)

happy, happy

thunder hole without the rushing water

Totally exhausted after the hike up the mountain.  She was a trooper!

We just sat right down on the ground next to our car and made a picnic lunch b/c we were all sooo hungry.

Jordan pond catching fish and frogs

awwww, how sweet :)

Family photo (see those two dots in the background?  That's Songbird and Bro)

Jordan Pond house - delicious popovers with ice-cream on the lawn after a long bike ride after a tough hike... Doesn't get much better than this :)

Happy with a full belly

First day of School

We are homeschooling again this year and loving using Ambleside online, and in addition to this the kids are attending the Masters Academy of Fine arts on Monday afternoons where they learn about theatre, music, art, and history.  Songbird attends the 6 year- old class, and Bro attends the 4 year-old class.  Raindrop and I do our weekly shopping and errands while they are at school.  This is the sweet bunch on their first day...

We've Moved

To Georgia!!!  Here's a few pictures of the most important things- the yard, the treehouse, and the kitchen:)