Back to life, back to reality...

We're home. And for the most part, it's good to be back. We had a wonderful time on our trip, even though the weather could have been a bit less damp and a tad warmer, because we got to spend some quality time together as a family. Mark and Anthony got to have tons of bonding time which was great. I sometimes feel guilty about all the time I get with Anthony, so it was nice to see Mark get a bit of it too on this trip. As an aside, as Mark was leaving for work this morning, Anthony noticed that Daddy was packing his bag, walked over to him, hugged his leg, and said, "Bye, Dah-y." "Ohhhh, Bud! I'm going to miss you so much today. I wish I could stay here and hang out with you all day." That says it all.


But yes, despite all the fun that comes with going on vacation, there's something to be said about coming home and getting back into the regular routine. It feels good to be back, especially since we were greeted with fall-like weather when we returned. Bonus! I currently have the windows open and there's a nice, cool breeze circulating throughout the house. Love it. Today will be spent doing laundry, going grocery shopping, mowing the lawn, and mentally getting refocused with WW and working out. Man, a week can totally derail you- yikes!

So here's a recap of the last 3 days of our vacation...

Friday, August 8th

We woke up and headed to the KOA Pancake Breakfast. YUM. That's all I have to say about that.

Even though it was kind of spritzing rain, we decided to head back to Acadia National Park to do a short hike on the Beech Cliff Trail, as the little hiking guide we bought claimed, "for such a short and easy walk, this is probably Acadia's most rewarding view." And boy, it didn't disappoint. Despite the overcast skies, the scenery was amazing. I can only imagine what it would have been like if it had been clear out. Ah well, hopefully next time... Anthony was a trooper on the hike! He climbed rocks and dodged puddles like a pro! He must have worked up an appetite, as he ate a huge lunch upon returning to camp and then slept like a log for nap.


After nap, we headed to a local winery, before going back to Acadia to drive around since it was flat-out raining at this point. And c'mon let's be real - if there is a winery to be found, the Lewins will find it...and stop in for a visit... The wines were great - we bought a few bottles to bring back home and then headed to Acadia. We stopped at Jordan Pond, walked around a bit (since the rain had subsided), and then did the obligatory visit to the gift shop. Anthony insisted on getting a "voof." (Can you figure out what that is? No, I don't blame you. It's "moose." Don't ask, I don't know...) We also bought him a book, Goodnight Maine, that he's really enjoyed reading since he can relate to so much of it, having just been there and seeing a lot of what the book talks about.


We left Acadia and headed back to Bar Harbor one last time for dinner before heading back to camp and packing up all that we could so we could get an early start Saturday morning. What a fun way to end the trip. Bar Harbor is so cute and our meal was great. Anthony especially enjoyed sharing Daddy's clam chowder with him!

Goodnight Maine, we had a great time!

Saturday, August 9th

We got on the road around 9am and took scenic roads through Maine and New Hampshire since Markquest was at the wheel and he can come up with alternate routes like nobody's business. The stretch of 95 through Maine that we drove going up is so boring and the part of NH we had to travel through was dead stopped due to an accident or something, so we welcomed the detour. It added about 2 extra hours to our drive, but was worth it since we got to see so much of the two states that we wouldn't have seen if we had just stayed on the highway. We got to our Motel 6 in Hartford, CT around 6:30pm and Anthony went down around 7:30 without a struggle. Phew!

Sunday, August 10th

The drive from Hartford home was pretty non-eventful yesterday, unless you count the MAJOR hail storm we got caught in on the Jersey Turnpike! Holy hail, Batman! The hail balls were the size of quarters and, although the size didn't surprise me since I have seen bigger hail before, I have never been in a hailstorm that lasted for as long as this one did. It hailed for a good 20 minutes or so...nonstop. It was so loud that we couldn't hear each other talking unless we yelled. Crazy! Luckily, for us, we hit the area where it was hailing as soon as it started so we didn't encounter any ridiculous amounts of traffic; just the regular "slow down to almost a stop because it's lightening, thundering, raining sheets of rain, and hailing" traffic that is a given in that kind of situation. Once the weather lightened up though, we were on our way as if nothing happened. And as soon as we hit Delaware, the skies were sunny again. Weird.

We made a stop in Maryland to see Gramma/GG, in which she insisted on taking us all out to lunch. We lucked out and got 2 for the price of 1, as Lisa had just taken Gramma to church and was able to do lunch with us too. It was such a good visit, especially since Mark doesn't get the opportunity to see her as much as Anthony and I do since we usually go visit during the week when he's at work. And also, Anthony is growing and changing so quickly these days that it was fun for GG to be able to see all that he can do now and to spend some time with him. He loved seeing her as much as she loved seeing him, especially since she let him have a sip of her iced tea. He reciprocated though by sharing his grilled cheese with GG. So cute!


All in all, SUCH a good time away from home. We needed it. As Mark was getting ready for work this morning, he was whistling and when I asked him why he was so happy on a Monday morning after being out of the office on vacation for a week, he simply said, "I don't know. I think I'm just recharged."

Amen.

Lobstah & Lily Pads

After Anthony woke up from his nap yesterday (which is surprisingly going very well - naps are lasting about 2 1/2 hours on average!), we decided to drive around and explore Southwest Harbor and Bass Harbor since the weather was kind of blah - overcast and spitting drizzle. It was neat to see parts of the island that we hadn't gotten a chance to see yet.

Our outing ended at Thurston's Lobster Pound for dinner. It was superb! Thurston's is a local restaurant in Bernard, ME and is a no-frills kind of place. Totally our kind of joint. It's right on the water - literally. It's built on a double-decker deck that sits out on the water and the view of the harbor is so quaint. Anthony tried his very first bite of "wasahhh" (i.e., lobster) after numerous attempts on our part to get him to taste it since we first got here. He loved it! Hmmmm, maybe we shouldn't have pushed so hard, as it appears that dinners will now be more expensive from here on out! Uh, well.

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Even though the sun still hadn't seemed to find it's way out of the clouds by this morning, we hitched up our bikes and headed to Acadia to do a 6-mile bike ride around Eagle Lake. What can I say? It was beautiful.

And now, I sit here blogging and drinking Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale while Anthony naps and Mark is out fetching lobsters to make us spaghetti w/lobster cream sauce. Ahhhh, the life!

I found it!!!

And here, it all it's glory, is the post I thought I lost. YAY!!! :) However, due to the timing of when I found it and/or re-posted it (or something), the original posting date was lost, so my travelogue dates are a bit all over the place in this blog. Oh well, at least I found it for posterity's sake!

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Mainely roughin' it...


...if you count sitting at the campsite and blogging while your child naps in a heated pop-up "roughin' it!"

That's right, we're in Maine...camping for a week!

I figured since we're here and we have access to the Internet, I'd take advantage of Anthony's naps and try to document our trip via pictures and commentary for posterity's sake. (And for the two or three of you that actually read my blog and care about what we've been up to!) Here goes!


Friday, August 1st

In an attempt to avoid some of the Friday afternoon D.C. traffic, we decided to head out of town around dinner time, which is usually a good bet that the heaviest traffic has passed, as Friday "evening" tends to start around 2pm in D.C., especially in the summer. We also figured that that would allow Anthony to spend the first leg of our road trip sleeping since our departure coincided closely with when he goes down for the night. Nice try, Dina & Mark. Thanks for playing.

Yep. Not only did we hit a ton of traffic, the Cherokee started overheating despite numerous dollars getting parts fixed and replaced so that this WOULDN'T happen. 90+ degree weather, sun beating down on the Jeep, heavy traffic (which equals no movement), towing a pop-up. Not a good mix, my friends. So needless to say, I began to stress out, especially since we decided that turning the A/C off would be helpful (so I was sweating), our trip had just begun, and Anthony was not cooperating with the "time to go to sleep" plan like we had hoped. Hmmmm...

Once we got out of D.C. though, the Cherokee started cooling off (phew!), the traffic eased up, and we were on our way. Nothing too eventful on our way up to Hartford, CT, unless you count stopping at a rest area in Jersey for some much needed (Starbucks - shhhhh, don't tell Mark I ratted him out!) coffee as a form of excitement. We got into Hartford around 1am, checked into our Motel 6, convinced Anthony that it really wasn't play time, and fell asleep soon after.

Saturday, August 2nd

Despite getting to bed at an hour that I wasn't even sure existed any longer the night before, Anthony had us up at his usual 6am - ready and raring to go! Although Mark and I were beyond tired and weren't in a hurry to hit the road since check-in at our campsite didn't start until 4pm, we decided to take advantage of an early start so that we could make stops along the way should we run into anything cool. We hit the local Dunkin' Donuts (mmmmm, DD coffee...my fave) for breakfast and were on the road by 9am.

The drive through the rest of CT, MA, NH, and ME were brutal. Not for any reason other than pure exhaustion. It was the kind of tired that you just can't hold your eyelids open, despite how hard you try. I felt so bad for Mark, as he did all the driving since I was/am nervous about driving while towing another vehicle. We made several stops along the way...for coffee...3 times to be exact...before we found ourselves at a local farm stand right after we crossed into Maine. The stand was so cute and so quaint - ended up getting some produce before hitting the road for the last leg of the drive.


We pulled into the Bar Harbor KOA around 6pm and set up camp. The campground is beautiful, so family/kid-friendly, well-maintained, and is just busting at the seams with amenities. It is not the type of place that you would camp at if you really wanted to become one with nature. Screw that, hello KOA! Ahhhhh, yes. This is my kind of camping. We're talking showers, laundry facilities, heated pool, playground, cable, Internet access, but ironically making cell phone calls out have proved to be unsuccessful. That's okay though.

After setting up camp, we headed out to one of the local lobster "pounds" - that's what they call them! - for lobster rolls and corn on the cob for dinner (SO DELISH!) before we called it a night. We went to bed eagerly anticipating the rest of our vacation and so glad that we made it to ME safely and in one piece...considering the excitement we dealt with on the way out of D.C.

Sunday, August 3rd

We woke up to rain. Actually, we both woke up in the middle of the night to rain. And lots of it. And said rain was continuing to fall when we woke up. "We're not going to let a little rain stop us!" - that was our motto that morning. After showers and breakfast, we hit the road to Rockland (a 2-hr drive from Bar Harbor - what were we thinking after spending the better part of 2 days in the car???) for their annual Lobster Fest. Since we're such suckers for farmers markets, we stopped at the Bar Harbor farmers market before heading out of town. We got some pesto goat cheese to file away for later and continued on.


The drive to Rockland was uneventful, but the weather got increasingly yuckier as we drove. Still, we weren't going to let it get the best of us and decided to press on. Surprisingly, as we pulled into Rockland, the sun came out and we ended up having a really nice afternoon on our hands. The Lobster Fest was fun. We ate lobsters, Anthony rode his first carnival ride, we spent some time walking around the festival, Anthony had loads of fun playing in the "Splatter Tent" - a tent set up with tons of kid-friendly activities, and then headed back "home."


We came back to a wet, excuse me, soaking, camper. Ok, not all of it was soaking wet, but there were parts that were. It was the kind of situation where I walked in first and promptly turned around to Mark and said, "Holy shit. Get ready. You're going to be really pissed when you see this. Just know that." To make a long story short, we bought this camper used so there were/are things that we didn't realize needed touch-ups and/or repairs until we walked in it after leaving it alone all day in the rain. I will leave it at that.

Up until that point, we really did try to make the best of the situation - rain, lack of sleep, etc. But we had reached our breaking point. To spare you some of the nasty conversations and ugly situations that proceeded to take place that evening, I will just say that I wasn't so sure we would both wake up alive the next day. If nothing else, I was convinced we were headed to divorce court as soon as it opened the following morning.

Monday, August 4th

We both made it to see daylight - hallelujah! With a new found outlook on life, we started the day with blueberry pancakes, a dip in the heated pool, hot showers, and a much-needed low-key morning. Anthony went down for a nap, Mark and I enjoyed the pesto goat cheese we bought at the farmers market and a local brew we bought the day before while Anthony napped, took advantage of the quiet time by reading outside - it was in the low 70s, sunny, breezy, no humidity, absolutely gorgeous.


After Anthony woke up from his nap, we decided to take a spin through Acadia National Park to drive Park Loop Road and drive up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain - the highest point on the East Coast. It was spectacular. I was mad that I forgot the camera, but knew that we'd be back for more extensive visits, and picture-taking opportunities, later in the week so I sat back and took it all in. Like some other places I've been, I just can't put into words how beautiful it is here. Among other things, I am struck by how calm and pristine it all is.

We ate dinner at the Log Cabin Restaurant. Mark indulged in another lobster and I opted for the salmon. Surprisingly, Anthony didn't want anything to do with his chicken tenders...he wanted my salmon instead! What can I say, he's got good taste. :)

After dinner, Mark dropped Anthony and I off at the campsite, I put Anthony to bed, and Mark went out shopping for materials to repair the camper. He came back bearing them, other necessities like a 4-cup coffee maker, laundry detergent, a flashlight, and 2 Harbor Bars.

Ahhhhhh. Harbor Bars.

They are the epitome of yumminess. A local treat, they consist of vanilla ice cream, sandwiched between 2 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, dipped in a thick layer of chocolate (Meg, stop drooling!), and worth every gram of the 20-something grams of fat in each one. Seriously.

Tuesday, August 5th

We woke up (again) to overcast skies but no rain, so things looked promising. Had a pretty low-key morning. Spent a couple hours doing laundry and minor repairs on the pop-up before heading to downtown (read: touristy) part of Bar Harbor. So cute. We got take-out sandwiches at a restaurant downtown and ate down by the water. It was windy and chilly - hard to believe it's summer, as we donned our sweatshirts and coveted our warm, toasted sandwiches. It was so peaceful, despite the crowds. We sat on a park bench that overlooked the water decorated with different colored boats.


We all had a blast, especially Anthony. He spent the entire time we were there running (literally!) around, chasing birds, rolling down hills, tasting pine cones, and playing with rocks. It all wore him out well and he went down for a nap easily and as soon as we returned to our campsite.



So here I sit, blogging during nap time. Mark is taking advantage of nap time by continuing the repair work on the camper. As I sat here writing, I heard, "I feel like freaking Betsy Ross over here." I look over and find him mending a hole in the corner of the tent. Hilarious.

Not sure what the rest of this afternoon will bring after Anthony wakes up, but we're thinking about heading to Acadia Nat'l Park to do some biking. Whatever we end up doing, it'll be great. Rain or shine, this vacation is about spending quality family time together...and we're getting that. And it's great. We don't get that very much at home these days - work, various social engagements, schedules, etc. get in the way.

Hopefully tonight will bring our first opportunity to light a campfire. It is currently sunny, breezy, high 60s, bright blue skies. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this will continue...at least for one night!

Scenes from Acadia

This morning, we got up bright and early and headed out to Acadia National Park at 8:15am to do some hiking. It was spectacular! The views were breathtaking. Pictures just don't do it justice.

We first stopped at the summit of Cadillac Mountain and did some exploring. The peacefulness that surrounds you when you're up there, especially that early in the day when there aren't that many other people there, is tangible. It is so quiet and so serene that it's hard to understand why the rest of the world is so chaotic. Anthony had a blast, really enjoying the "hike" and the fact that we let him walk like a big boy.


After Cadillac Mountain, we headed down to Sand Beach to do a 1 1/2 mile hike along the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. Although Anthony wasn't too excited about it at first, we opted for the backpack this time since our hike would take us up steep rocks and along cliffs that I wouldn't trust him on, especially with his level of curiosity these days. Again, the views were amazing. It was hard to believe that what I was looking at was the ocean...from a mountain top. And the ocean was right there. Wow.

Tuesday, August 5th - Part II

Well, we didn't make it to Acadia to bike yesterday. Anthony took a very good nap, so we didn't feel like we had a large enough block of time to devote to the ride we want to do in the park. So instead, we hit the local brewery - Atlantic Brewing Company - for a tasting. The beer was awesome, the weather was perfect, and the kiddie accommodations were top-notch, so we decided to hang out for a while. The place was complete with a large fleet of Tonka trucks, lots of rocks, and little kids that Anthony enjoyed playing with.

We really enjoyed ourselves there - all three of us. One of the kids really took to Anthony and vice versa. It was so fun to watch the two of them "play." The other kid was 4 1/2 though which meant that Anthony was enamored with him (since he was older and cooler) but wasn't too much of a conversationalist. The other kid didn't seem to mind though. After trying really hard to engage Anthony in conversation, he finally asked Anthony, "Do you talk?" No answer. Again, "Do you talk?" No answer. I finally jumped in (I was trying to stay out of their interactions up until that point) and said, "Well, Anthony's only 2, so he's still learning how to talk." "Oh okay. Hmmmm. Does he have a brain?" Gotta love childrens' naivety.

Here are some pics from our afternoon:


And I'm happy to report that we did indeed get to enjoy a campfire last night!