How can I summarize a wonderful 11-day vacation in just a short blog entry? I will do my best, but I can only share the highlights of our trip to my favorite place on earth...
Josh surprised me this summer by planning a vacation to Bar Harbor, ME and Acadia National Park. We honeymooned there, and I absolutely love it! We went one other time, when Hannah was only 8 months old, but we could not do as much with an infant. This time, Josh suggested that we stay in a large cabin and bring along his mom, to help out with the kids and even give us a chance to get out alone once or twice. We ended up having a wonderful time!
Of course, a trip to a national park is both fun and educational at the same time. I bought the kids two books while we were there:
Discovering Acadia: A Guide for Young Naturalists and
Who Pooped in the Park? Acadia National park: Scat and Tracks for Kids. Hannah fell in love with them and tried to identify many plants and animals we saw. In fact, plants, animals, and the ocean became the overriding theme of the trip.
The first day, we took a whale watching boat trip out into the Atlantic Ocean. All three kids loved it! After seeing boats, puffins, and a variety of sea birds, we finally found a group of three finback whales swimming nearby. The kids squealed with delight every time they surfaced.
After a wonderful three-hour boat ride, we returned to Bar Harbor. Poor Becca was exhausted from the excitement and the cold and slept the whole way back, bundled up in a few coats to keep the wind and spray off of her face.
We also took several hikes while we were in Acadia. The kids favorite trail was
Wonderland Trail near Seawall on the quiet side of the island. The first day we walked on it, the kids enjoyed stopping and looking at all of the flowers along the path.
We scrambled over rocks by the ocean, picking up shells, and enjoying the view.
Ben even saw a fox when he and I hiked a little further down the trail. He asked me about the kitty with the fluffy orange tail! We returned on a beautiful morning at low tide so we could see all of the tidal pools. The kids loved climbing from pool to pool looking for snails and crabs among the seaweed.
We also enjoyed driving
Park Loop Road. One day, after a morning of heavy rain, we saw dozens of waterfalls pouring over the rocks off of the mountains.
We could even see streaks of white down the mountainsides where additional waterfalls drained away the water from the heavy rain.
Along the road, a turtle laid her eggs in the damp earth. The kids laughed excitedly as we watched her deposit several eggs into the hole.
Another day, we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the
Jordan Pond House. After we ate, we hiked the nature trail through the woods and along the pond. We stumbled across a pair of loons. We quietly watched, afraid to breathe too loudly, lest we frighten the shy birds away. Instead, the loons swam right over towards us and then swam the length of the pond beside us, staying far enough away, but providing beautiful views. They even made their haunting calls repeatedly for us to hear. Even Becca can identify loons now!
Overall, we had a wonderful trip. I could write about all of the amazing birds we saw, from warblers to falcons to sea birds, or about the
Margaret Todd, the boat the kids called a pirate ship the whole time we were there, or about the fun ice cream shop we enjoyed in downtown Bar Harbor, or about Somes Sound, the only fjord in the US other than in Alaska. But, I do not have the time or space. However, I greatly recommend Acadia National Park as one of the most beautiful and educational places on earth. It will always hold a piece of my heart!
Because it was Becca's vacuum, Becca got to be the primary helper. First, they laid out all of the screws.
Then, Becca put each screw in the hole.
Finally, Josh tightened the screws. The kids jumped up and down with joy as they told me how they fixed the vacuum!
