Biking in Acadia

In the middle of a very busy fall, we stole a day to take the kids and head up into Acadia National Park for some bicycling and some fall colour.  We did a little less bicycling than anticipated-- due to coughing fits from a lingering cold, and saw less colour than anticipated--due to a very wet summer and hurricane Irene, but we did enjoy a day with the kids away from the to-do list.

Biking...

And not so much biking...

We found fall colour in splotches, here and there.

And we found the wind on top of Cadillac Mountain!

It was a good day!

Squeezing in Summer

It's been a crazy summer, but what other kind is there really?  The idyllic days of summer that I remember from childhood were just that--childhood.  As a parent, I've come to realize that vacations are actually a lot of work when I'm the one packing suitcases, planning meals and finding some kind soul(s) to take care of feeding and watering all the assorted critters that we've accumulated along the way.

But-oh-so-suddenly, school is upon us, along with the mad scramble to freeze, can, jam, ferment or otherwise store everything that managed to survive in the garden despite my neglect of it in this crazy summer.

So, in a last desperate grab at some fun family time, we've managed to squeeze in as much summer as we could in the past week.

Perhaps it was the pressure of so few remaining days, or maybe it was the beautiful weather (or just being home?) that got us moving, but in any case, we finally managed to get to a local baseball game and then one of the summer concert series hosted by LLBean.  We got to see America last Saturday night.  So far as I can tell, they still haven't named that horse...


Then we got onto the boat for the first time this summer as well.   We sailed out of Freeport harbour into Casco Bay as far as Bustin's Island, peeking into Mere Point for a glimpse of Birch Island before racing back ahead of the thunder clouds.  And speaking of Birch Island, we just spent an afternoon there with some good friends a few days earlier and left Lydia and Moriah to spend the night with them on the Island camping out under the stars...with the mosquitoes...

Zac-up to his usual tricks

Gus, playing in tending the fire.

a rare sighting of Birch Island monkeys  

Rachel--making grass dolls for the little girls

the camp-out quartet

(Photo disclaimer:  since I discovered my camera battery was dead on the ride out to the island, I used last year's photos from Birch Island.  So, if everyone looks a bit younger, now you know why!)

So, now that our schedule has evened out and we're keeping closer to home by the necessity of being back into school , I'm looking forward to grabbing those remaining afternoons and weekends of great weather to squeeze some more summer fun into.

Wolfe's Neck State Park

We needed a place to get away from projects and to-do lists today so that we could spend a few hours together before Rick went to Norway for the week.  Wolfe's Neck State Park is one of my favorite close-to-home destinations, and one that we share with most everyone who comes to visit us.

             And who could resist an invitation like this path to the shoreline?

The tide was high, and the shoreline narrow.

                          
                               

Here's Rachel out on the point.



                                                           




                                                               And Gus...

      was as goofy as ever...
 

I do love this man!

                                              

Lydi and Riah--best of friends.

                                          

And now, back to the to-do lists!  The garden is calling my name, the raspberry canes need sorting out, chickens need feeding and watering--constantly, and then there's those last pesky bits of school to be finished.  But today, it felt like vacation!

life in vacationland

Today being Memorial Day, we took some long overdue family time and went kayaking by Great Island.  We did some island hopping in fact, and stopped off at a few small islands to explore and snack.

And goof around

Gus was my paddling companion in the Lyza M'Aura this afternoon. (The boat that Rick and I built a couple of years ago.)

We saw hundreds thousands millions of these jellyfish everywhere we paddled today.  There were so many of these translucent orbs in the water that our paddles would send them soaring through the water with every stroke.     

What a day!  What a place to live!!