Maine--Vacation Redefined

It used to be that a vacation was all about recharging the batteries, but vacationing with a six month old and two and a half year old isn't really about that right now (especially when it involves numerous stops and camping). There weren't many books read, nor long slumbers, but there were lots of laughs and amazing memories were made.

DAY ONE: Sebego Lake

I can't think of a better place to spend the day, especially when the mercury was pushing into the upper 90s. Guy, Tatiana, and Lucas once again opened their lovely home to us. This place is a little piece of heaven. We ate well, went swimming under the stars, and felt relief from the heat.




DAY TWO: Sebego Lake and Cape Elizabeth

The heat broke and we made it out for a hike up Rattlesnake Look Out (near Sebego) to get a little idea of the surrounding area. Cally actually hiked part of the way (because we left the backpack for her back at the lake) and she did great!


We arrived at our gracious hosts, Alex and MJ's place near Portland just in time to go out on a date (they have teenage daughters who offered to babysit). We jumped in Alex's "new" convertible, grabbed some sandwiches, and hit the beach.





Our kids adore Alex and M.J (and their girls, Zoe and Isabel). They haven't had babies or toddlers in a while and both work with elementary aged kids. Whatever is the case, they have a whole lot of love to give Cally and Hazen.


DAY THREE: Cape Elizabeth- Camden Hills State Park

Once again, we got to sail on "Tweed", the sailboat that they have access to in Casco Bay. Most importantly, Cally got to see the seal island that we've been talking about since last year (every night before she goes to sleep she gets a story and about 75% of the time she requests that we tell her a story about seals).




A close second behind the seals, for best moments of the day, was Cally chomping into her first Whoopie Pie (the Maine State Dessert).


We waved farewell to our hosts as the sky started to darken and headed north. In order to get a campsite in Acadia, you have to get to the campground by noon, so we decided to head half way up towards the park to Camden Hills State Park.

DAY FOUR: Camden Hills State Park- Acadia National Park

We got up after a rainy night, grocery shopped, and pulled up to Seawall Campground a minute before noon. It turns out, there were plenty of sites to choose from on a Tuesday. We set up camp, hopped on our bikes, and headed out on a ride to the Bass Harbor Light House.


And ended the ride at the Seawall, where we had cheese & crackers and beers right at cocktail hour.

DAY FIVE: Acadia National Park

We had a leisurely morning, packed up our bikes and headed to the "nonquiet" side of the island to hit the carriage roads. We rode up Day Mountain, had a picnic lunch, and then hit Jordan Pond. The chariot was perfect, it seemed to lull the kids to sleep and carried all that we needed for the day.





DAY SIX: Acadia National Park

We spent the day at Echo Lake (where the water is warm and there are lots of things to do). We set up our umbrella on the beach at the lake, swam, hiked up to Beech Mountain, swam again, ate lunch, biked to Seal Cove while the kids napped, swam, and then packed it up and hit the lobster pound.







DAY SEVEN: Acadia National Park- Waterford, ME

We packed up our camp and headed out to Great Head and Sand Beach for a hike in the park.




Then we headed West to Dave and Bonnie's home for the annual Bates gathering. After almost five hours in the car, and setting up our tent in the rain, John was thrilled to eat be treated to a traditional Maine Lobster feast.

DAY EIGHT- Waterford, ME

The Bates crowd never ceases to amaze me. For the past four years, John's buddy Joc has coordinated a gathering of their college friends. The last two years, we've converged at someone's home where there are some work projects that are in need of being done. Once the location is determined, a date is set, and everything just comes together. Food accumulates and gets prepared almost magically, projects happen, and fun is happening all around. This year we went to Dave & Bonnie's house in Waterford Maine. The weather was perfect, the meals delicious, the comraderie unbelieveable. Cally immediately took to the kids (in particular 6 year old Ander and 14 year old Emily) and everyone seemed to take to Hazen. We worked hard, played hard, and had a good old time playing at the lake, making tie dye t-shirts, and catching up!








Phew! Another year, another trip to Maine. We love it, we'll be back, but now I need a real vacation....... that just might not happen for another five years! That said, the kids were troopers, they were in five different places in ten days. They slept in cars, backpacks, the chariot, nests in random houses, and our tent. It wasn't easy for any of us, but we are getting used to it. And sleep...... well, there will have to be time for that later.

Ricker Pond

For the past four years, our dear friend Medora has reserved a bunch of campsites at one of Vermont's state parks. She makes the reservations in the middle of winter and invites all of the Wombats and their families. Last year we couldn't make it, but this year we needed an excuse to take a break from our siding project and join in on the fun. 9 families (18 adults and almost as many kids) all joined up at Ricker Pond in Groton State Park and we had an amazing time.

Cally loved being surrounded by all her "friends". She ranged around independently between campsites and was always being looked after by one of the adults or kids. And Hazen was never without one of his aunties to make him smile.



And even the dads did some bonding with group initiatives:


While at times, things got a little hectic, there is nothing better than being surrounded by good friends, the natural world, campfires, and a lake to cool off in:


And Thank you, ladies, for giving John and me another rare "biking date". You all jumped at the chance to watch our children and we were so appreciative of going on a ride together. Even if it did end with a crash where John's face made direct contact with his handlebars and landed him in the ER on Sunday. Even so, it was worth the escape and we knew our kids were in excellent hands


Having this community of friends is amazing. I feel so, so lucky!

Shingle Shin-Dig

We live in a great place. We have great friends and a beautiful house..... that is so close to being done, but not quite there. For the past two years, we've gotten so used to the look of Tyvec paper as our exterior, that we hardly notice what is missing. Last summer, John tried to do the siding himself, but didn't get all that far before he realized he was in over his head. This spring, we hired two fine carpenters and a lift to jump start the project. Once the tough stuff was done and the coffers were empty, we tried to motivate to do the shingling ourselves, once again. But we needed something to jump start the momentum. Which is why, we had to call in the troops, once again, and ask our friends to help us make some more headway on our siding project. It's never fun to have to ask for help, but it's great to have it once you get it. A few weeks ago, we had a Siding Party. This is what our house looked like at 9am:



And this is what it looked like by 6pm:



Five fine men worked on a gorgeous day. My job was to keep these fine men fed, dip shingles, and do my best to keep kids entertained. Fortunately, the kids did a good job of entertaining themselves and a few of my ladies helped keep everything sane:






And since then, we've kept the momentum going. During the day, while the kids are napping, I dip shingles. When John comes home from work, he jumps on the staging, picks up the nail gun and gets going. Once the kids are fed and in bed, I get back to dipping....... and so that is how our summer has been going. I've got stain between my toes and the kids fall asleep to the sweet sound of the compressor and nail gun.




But we're getting there!

We can see the light and feel really good about what our families home is going to look like.

4th of July

Happy Independence Day! We made it down to the Warren Parade for a fun morning of left leaning political floats and festivities with our friend's the Dormers.








Part II of the day included a hike up Mt. Abe with Tom and Cara (who even helped carry Cally up the steep section to the top).