Maine was seriously amazing and we enjoyed our first real family vacation immensely.  We flew into Portland and after checking into our hotel walked around Old Port before having dinner at Flatbread. The next morning we set out with Lucky Catch Cruises on a lobster tour.  It was great!  Everyone got to make baits, set baits, the kids got to push the traps back, everyone held and banded a lobster, and Alex and I got to throw back some crabs.  We spent the afternoon driving to Bar Harbor, checking in, and having dinner in the adorable town.  Every day in Bar Harbor we pretty much hiked/biked in Acadia in the morning, had a packed lunch, and then swam in the hotel pool in the afternoon before washing up for dinner in Bar Harbor. Thursday was rainy and windy so we had popovers at The Jordan Pond Restaurant before hiking along the Jordan Pond (which is a lake).  We climbed the rock slide trail to Bubble Rock and were nearly knocked down with the wind of the top.  About 2.5 total. It was so foggy/cloudy you could barely see the lack we left several kilometers below.  We took the Island Explorer bus back to the car before our usual afternoon/evening activities. Friday we parked at Otter Point and hiked the Ocean Path along the coast line for about 3 miles.  We explored tide pools, saw Thunder Hole, and ended up at Sand Beach.  People were actually swimming in the fifty degree water (crazy)! After taking the bus back to the car we drove the park loop and ended up at Eagle Lake for a short walk.  Saturday we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain named for the type of granite it is made of and hiked from the top down and back up again. The kids tried some wild Maine blueberries trail side. We drove to and had a strange boardwalk hike around Haddock Pond before going back to Jordan Pond to take some non-cloudy pictures.  This night we decided to have pizza in the motel before going to town for dessert. Sunday we rented bikes in Bar Harbor and took the bike trailer Island Explorer to Eagle Lake.  We biked all around the lake and to our motel for lunch before biking back to the lake to return the bikes, probably around a 10 mile bike is not more.  The kids had an interesting time learning how to use their bike gears because living in a coastal plain we do not have any elevation changes!  After dinner we enjoyed Frisbee at Agamont Park and looking at Bar Island.  We drove back to Portland on Monday and had dinner out before having to fly back early the next day.  We really loved our trip!

It’s that time of year again!  We picked the kids up from school and drove to Williamsburg for an overnight stay at Great Wolf Lodge.  We had a blast playing 5 hours nonstop the first day.  We went on all the rides now that Alex is 48 in tall and played in all the different pools together.  We had our traditional pizza by the pool for dinner.  We closed out the water park, took showers, and had a game of UNO before bed.  The next morning we went out to IHOP for breakfast since the parked opened late at 10am.  Then we played until 3pm and had to head home, but not before having delicious Pierce’s BBQ for lunch/dinner.  Everyone really had a great time!!

With the kids on break from school we took to the mountains of Virginia for a long weekend.  We stopped at Carter’s Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville on the way up to pick apples before arriving at our cabin in Douthat State Park.  We enjoyed a brisk 7am hike the next morning from our cabin and AJ showed the forest who’s boss.  We also explored the lake that was created there.  I had been sick since earlier in the week so that afternoon after putting on two pairs of pants and 4 tops to combat the chill I couldn’t get rid of, I took a nap and AJ and the kiddos explored the stream leading into the lake.  After AJ grilled delicious burgers outside we all had s’mores.  It rained overnight and we went on a short hike in the other direction from our cabin.  After lunch I played go-fish with the kids while AJ read and relaxed.  Then went on an amazing lakeside into mountain top hike and the kids had a lot of fun.  We enjoyed hot cocoa and popcorn when we got back to the cabin. The next morning we all slept in much to our surprise and we left to explore Natural Bridge State Park and the Caverns at Natural Bridge on the way home.  After looking at the natural bridge we enjoyed a very cool cave tour.  It was both kids first time in a cave and their favorite part was seeing the Virginian large brown bats sleeping.  We drove home, quickly voted and got everyone ready for school the next day.  It was a relaxing trip and as always so enjoyable to get away into nature.

Our second half of family vacation this summer was at Bear Creek Lake State Park in central Virginia.  We rented a cabin for four nights to enjoy the park.  The first night when we checked in it was raining so we enjoyed making dinner and relaxed in the rocking chairs on the covered porch.  The next day we explored the lake and hiked Channel Cat Loop trail over by the lake.  The swim beach and camping was on one side of the lake and the cabins were on another about 1.5 miles away.  After lunch at the cabin we geared up to kayak across the lake to the swimming beach from a launch by our cabin.  Brooke and Alex enjoyed playing on the lily pads and turtle slipping and sliding and having a water fight.  AJ grilled our dinner and made a fire afterwards for s’mores!  After great thunderstorms overnight it was little rainy the next morning.  So after breakfast we enjoyed a family round of Trouble and then headed for a little hike on Lost Barr Loop.  We had lunch and geared up again to cross the lake.  Unfortunately, right as we got to the swim area thunder struck and even though it never rained the lifeguards closed the beach.  Though we couldn’t swim while the sky was clear and the thunder was distant we kayaked around as a family letting each child have a turn to paddle. We waited it out for a few hours we headed back to the cabin for dinner and relaxing.  The following morning we headed to the beach first thing.  The kids and AJ had a lot of fun splashing in the lake.  After several hours we cleaned up and had a late lunch and headed to High Bridge in nearby Farmville.  It was a old railroad bridge that crossed the Appomattox River.  It has since been made into a 31 mile pedestrian/bike/equine trail.  We parked and walked a 3 mile loop of it that took us over the bridge and back.  It was warm and humid but the kids were amazing and we all really enjoyed ourselves.  The final morning I woke up early to take a quick 3 mile run and came back to pack up all of our fun vacation gear before heading home.  We really had a great time at the cabin!