maine vacation ~ kayaking

Because our little cottage was right on the water, we were able to take advantage of going down to the shore a lot. (We loved the smell of the ocean, too!) In fact, when we weren't on the road visiting the Acadia National Park, I think we paid a visit to the shore at least once a day (if not more).

We enjoyed exploring the shore line in search of treasures. We found A LOT of mussel shells and some small snail-like shells. Nathan and the kids found many other unique treasures where eventually they made a treasure pole so they could hang their collections for all to admire. (See the treasure pole post for more details.)Owen really wanted to catch a fish with his net just like he does at the river back home, but never had any luck with that. The kids did manage to catch two crabs along the shore - a big crab and a little crab. Apparently, we made the mistake of putting the two together so when we went to release them the next morning, we found out what crabs eat (each other as the big crab ate the little crab)! Oops! Sorry, little crab...you never had a chance!

The cottage also had 2 kayaks there that we could use, and we borrowed a tandem kayak from some friends to bring up with us. Ivy and Owen were excited that they were going to go in the boat. BUT, they couldn't go until the men had a test run first...
Nathan made sure the kids had some paddles of their own.

Then, they were in...

...and off on their boat ride.

Some had to stay behind though because they were too little...


Meanwhile, this huge rain cloud loomed overhead. Joel apparently forgot what one of these clouds looked like when he told Nathan, "That's not a rain cloud." (I guess our friends from Kansas hadn't got any rain for a month or so, and they had been enjoying (or suffering through) 100+ degree heat. Yikes!)

Soon after our kayakers went out into the deep blue sea, the sky opened up cutting their kayaking trip short. BUT, it wasn't long until they back in their kayaks again once the rain passed.

Not only was Owen hoping to catch some fish with his net, some other guys wanted to catch some fish, too. On another day, Nate and Joel planned a special guy-time outing so they could go deep-sea fishing in kayak! They woke early in the morning and set off in the kayak...


(Ivy took over the camera here and got the play-by-play of the men paddling away. I must say she did a pretty good job, too!)
Ivy and Owen loved riding in the kayak so much that they wanted to do it again. In fact, Owen didn't even want to get out of the boat after their first kayak ride. This time, Owen wasn't as excited about another kayak ride.

BUT, he soon warmed up to the idea and started loving his boat ride again.

One little girl was not happy about being left behind...


It wasn't until Letty and I found this fascinating rock full of birds

that she at least stopped her screaming

and tolerated hanging out with her Mama
but in her heart, she wanted to be in here...

We had a great time at the shore. We can't wait to go back!

maine vacation ~ the cottage

We stayed at this cottage for the week in Hancock, Maine...

The owners call this place "The Tides Cottage".

The place is located along the Sullivan Harbor on Frenchman's Bay. It was a true New England coastal cottage and rustic in its own right...right on the water, nothing too fancy, needing a fresh coat of paint on the walls and ceilings, uneven floors, noisy steps, stinky water, but quite perfect for our vacation and no drippy ceilings when it rained. (The information we got on the place warned us that the roof would drip when it rains, but it didn't even after a huge thunderstorm rolled through one night.) We loved the feel of the home and the comfort it provided. We really felt like we had a real Maine experience and adventure (and we even shopped at Reny's, too!).

This is the view in the back of the cottage.

Here's the inside...

the kitchen where we cooked most of our meals

the living room which had the most comfortable couches in it and a great big area for the kiddos to run and play in (the organ turned out to be a great source of entertainment...you had to pump the pedals back and forth to get it to play

the steps which you had to step carefully on the top step or you would alert everyone in the house that you are coming down the steps or that you are awake

This was the shower in the upstairs bathroom. As soon as Ivy saw it, she LOVED it. (In fact, when she first saw pretty much everything in the cottage, she would excitedly remark, "Look at this! Wow! Look at that!") This shower was also where she had to change her clothes at our first morning there. Can't you tell that it just has dressing room written all over it?
the bedroom where the kids slept

the bedroom where our friends slept (it was on the dark side of the house)

our bedroom which our friends graciously let us sleep in...it had an awesome view of the water! It was our intention to give our friends this room since it was bigger and would allow them to spread out more in, BUT if you see in the pictures, the side looking out to the ocean were all big windows with no window coverings on them. This was also the side where the sun rose on, and it would start rising at 5 o'clock in the morning and would be shining in all of its glory by 5:30. We are use to waking up early, and our kids are early risers, while our friends (even their sweet little son) love to sleep in when they can and they felt that the sun may wake Levi up earlier than they wanted so they gave us the bedroom. The doors opened to a balcony, and the room had this nice bench in it.

The sunrises were spectacular. On this particular morning, my camera doesn't do justice as to how gorgeous the sky and water were. The sky was so red and the water was so blue that when you gazed at the sky's reflection in the water, you saw the richest color of purple one could ever see. So remarkable!
We also enjoyed watching the lobsterman's routine every morning between 5 and 5:30. Two men would drive down to the shoreline in their pickup truck and unload a canoe where one man would row out to a little motor boat docked in the water. That man would drive the motor boat back to the shoreline to pick up their supplies and the other man (who had parked the pickup truck up further so the tide wouldn't wash it away)...The two men would then drive their motor boat out to their lobster boat, load up their supplies and lobster traps, and ride off to work on the ocean. It was so fascinating to watch them.
That's where we stayed!

maine vacation ~ overview

I know...I know...you are most likely surprised...no, you are SHOCKED to be reading this! SO, as soon as you gain consciousness and pick yourself off of the floor, you can begin reading. :0)

I am THE WORLD'S worst (wanna-be) blogger, and for that, I apologize. I have been having some inspiration from a friend, though, who has been so with-it and on top of things by writing about our memorable vacation with them, and I thought, "Well, if she can do it being 7+ months pregnant and chasing a very busy little boy around, then I can do it, too (and before I forget about any of it and blog about it a year from now)!" (Peer pressure! What can I say? Grandma and Gramma, you can thank Jess!)

Here it goes...

First of all, I have TONS of pictures to post and TONS of stuff to write about. So many memories! So much fun! Our family took our first ever real vacation as a family of five. This year, we vacationed with some dear friends of ours who we wished lived so much closer to us so that we could see so much more often - the McClenahan family. What a blessing and encouragement this family is to us, and we forever cherish their friendships!

We stayed for a week (the first week in August) in Hancock, Maine, which is about 20-25 miles from the Acadia National Park. We stayed in a peaceful little cottage right along the Sullivan Harbor of Frenchman's Bay. We enjoyed sunrises, kayaking, treasure hunting, picnicking, fishing???, sight-seeing, napping, exploring the shoreline, live entertainment (by Ivy and Mr. Joel), letterboxing, and just plain being together as family and friends. We saw all of the breath-taking beauty and majesty God created in this Acadia National Park region, including sights like Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Cadillac Mountain, and Thuya Garden. I especially enjoyed seeing Nathan let his guard down for a change, relax, get some much needed rest, and laugh! And, I loved hearing and seeing the excitement from the kids in all that we did. I loved how we felt like we had not a care or worry in the world for a whole week!
And, then, it was back to reality...
But, for now, we'll just think back on the fun and rest we had.

Did all of this really happen?

dunk

Ivy and I had an interesting lunch conversation today starting out with talk about our neighbor's dog being in Heaven and escalating to our being in Heaven. As I explained to Ivy that I did not know whether dogs or any other animal would be in Heaven (as I believe the Bible doesn't really indicate either way), we did talk about how we could go to Heaven...that is, by realizing the sin and bad things we do in our lives and recognizing that the only One who could bring bridge that gap that our bad things make between us and God is the fact that Jesus came to Earth, lived a sinless life, was beaten and killed on a cross for our sins, and then was buried and rose again and ascended to Heaven. I further explained that I knew that I was going to Heaven because I knew Jesus and I love Jesus and I believe that He is my Lord and Savior of my life. Ivy then remarked, "I know Jesus, too. And, I love Jesus!" She pondered what we had talked about for a few moments and then asked, "Mom, do I have to be dunked?" (Needless to say, we then had a great discussion about baptism!)

...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ~Romans 10:9-10