the fRamily vacation (#2)

we just returned from our maine adventure. where we had no access to cell phones, blackberries, or the worldwide web. it was a welcome break and returning is a bit depressing, but i believe we will all survive.

maine is an amazing state. we all want to go back. thank-you teddy roosevelt for having the foresight to create the national parks system. acadia national park is one of the most beautiful places on earth and i am sure if it were not for the parks system it would be overrun with vacation homes. i am in love.

because it would be very difficult to record the entire trip in a blog...i will be really brief and give a quick narrative with lots of photos.

it was magnificent. we had a couple of major discipline problems, but those were overcome and i think we all returned with more love in our hearts.

in the minivan on the way to the airport
(we had so much stuff we had to get a taxi, none of our friends had enough room to take us)

enthusiastically experiencing an airport for the first time
(it made airport time 1000x's more fun!)

the girls were very excited to fly, but also a bit worried
we had to wait on the runway for awhile and i think the anxiety started getting to jen
once aloft she asked if we were going to be above the clouds, and was so thrilled to see the tops of clouds.
once above the clouds she postulated:
"maybe if we get high enough we can see Jesus"



we arrived in boston starving
we rented a white chevy uplander and drove straight to the north end for some delicious sandwiches at milo's

we wanted to make haste so we drove and ate...
i ended up wearing a good portion of my sandwiches
but it was amazing



before we knew it we were in maine
(jen got camera shy and we were in no mood to wait)

we drove to freeport, me and stopped at the original ll bean store
we had forgotten a number of pieces of vital camping equipotent
(and we would realize all week more and more of the things we forgot)
we bought me a headlamp, lindsay a pillow, and a couple of bookmarks for friends

jen was wigglin' her bum....
and then we had to get ice-cream too (thanks to amanda & todd!)


our friend mimi (who lives in NYC) made us an amazing cd which brought tears to all of our eyes as we drove through the beautiful countryside of maine listening to handel's "ombra mai fu" by aria

we all wanted lobster so we stopped and tried it out...

we later realized that we prefer scallops...but when in maine...


we stayed in a totally random hotel near ellsworth maine the first night.
woke up andlearned that there was a blueberry pancake breakfast in
celebration of the 4th of July

just before breakfast the girls heard their first bagpipes...

one of these guys aksed if the girls were from africa
the girls wanted to know why he would ask such a crazy thing
we did too...



pancake assembly line

please note all the festive attire
i wish these bites could be bigger

this is soooooooo yummy


after breakfast we walked around the town fair where you could watch karate guys split wood in half with bare hands or dunk a lobster in a tub of water (a human lobster that is)

clowns
(are they scary or funny, we never decided)


then we watched the parade
paulette was a little too cool for the parade, but once the candy started flowin' we were in business
there were lots of these kind of guys

but only one of these

oh and a elvis impersonating postman

i am too tired to finish up the 4th...there shall be more soon.