…as in playing in and on the water…
…sunset watching
…fishing
…floating with friends in Sargent Mtn Pond
…swimming in a very cold, salty tidal river
…letting fish nibble your toes
…walking on water
…snorkeling?
…kayaking
…collecting
…boogie boarding?
…fetching
…rock hopping
…and steaming
Maine is for playing in the water.
Maine vacations always mean lots of hiking…
Our first day found Mr O and I hiking up the Asticou Terraces Trail to the Thuya Garden.
This is not only a short, sweet hike with a beautiful view of Northeast Harbor…
…but it also has the garden at the end as a reward.
Without children, we spent much more time relaxing in the garden than we did hiking…
It is a garden of perennials and raked paths.
Our second hike, up Penobscot Mtn Trail, was our most strenuous…undertaken before the younger children arrived…
The view…well a picture is worth a thousand words…
We try to do this hike each year…just to prove we can…This is our two family group…minus me.
This hike also has a reward at the summit… we get to cool off in Sargent Mt Pond…
We have learned to wear our bathing suits on this hike…
On the way back down the view is just as fine…
After the children arrived we did two hikes that our nearly five year old grandson could hike. The first was Flying Mt…
It has just enough challenge…and just as fantastic views.
The reward at the end of this hike is picnicking and wading on the shores of Somes Sound.
Our last hike on this trip was up Day Mt…
…another climb that is child friendly…
…and still has a beautiful view.
Maine is for hiking…
My very sporadic posting will be interrupted by our annual vacation to Maine. There we will enjoy family, friends, food, hiking, reading, and relaxing…but not the internet. I will be taking three cameras with me…plus my iphone…so I should to have plenty to share when I return…
Sometimes frosting just isn’t needed…
…if you have a fancy cake pan…and make Vanilla Blueberry Pound Cake…
and decorate it with turbinado sugar…that looks just like beach sand…
…and blue pennants made of ribbon…
…And eat it at the beach.
"I look back upon a day spent in what the world would call idleness, and for which I myself can suggest no more appropriate epithet, but which nevertheless I cannot feel to have been spent amiss. True, it might be a sin and a shame in a world such as ours to spend a lifetime in this manner; but for a few summer weeks it is good to live as if this world were heaven."
-- Nathaniel Hawthorne
I will have to agree with Mr Hawthorne….
Recently my grandchildren have been enjoying the book Angelina at the Fair that was given to their Aunt E in 1986. It is inscribed “Happy 4th Birthday E! We’ll be going to the fair soon – Just like Angelina!”. The story concerns an adventurous mouse who takes a younger cousin to a fair where they go on a ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and a Haunted House before the little cousin gets lost.
Maybe because of this story, when he heard that we were going to the North Stonington Fair Mr J immediately was interested in riding the ferris wheel.
It was difficult sitting through dinner…
The animals were a little more fun…
Dels Frozen Lemonade was enjoyed…
Ribbons were earned for being good farmers…
That ferris wheel was always within sight…
And finally we were there…
He wasn’t frightened at all…
We could see Mom and Miss E waving from the train…
Unlike her brother, Miss E really didn’t like the rides…
Mr O got some great shots of us on the roller coaster…
I like roller coasters and now have someone who will go on them with me…
Miss E did not want any help catching this fish…
Before we left the fair Mr J got to go on a pony ride…
I have been going to county fairs since I was in a 4H club showing my rabbit. It was nice to return with grandchildren and to remember how hot, dusty, and fun it had been.
