Monday, July 20, 2009

Maine 2009

We are back from our week in the woods at Lake Pocomoonshine in Maine. It was a great and relaxing week away. This was our cute little cabin in the woods. Patrick and Elizabeth had bunk beds, probably to coolest feature. Dad liked the dock and Mom the screened in porch where she could listen to the loons and watched the bats eat all the buggers.
Our first full day was our only real washout. It was ok, since we had grocery shopping to do. Plus, Mom came armed with rainy day activities. Painting windchimes. A heart for Sissy.....
and a house for Patrick. It went from being the cute blue house here to a haunted house - all black.
On Tuesday we ventured into Canada. We got Daddy over the border and back, successfully. He was passportless. We headed to St. Andrew, New Brunswick to an aquarium filled with local sea treasures. They had a great touch tidal pool filled with starfish, sea cucumber, crabs, scallops, and sea urchins.
Both Patrick and Elizabeth loved holding the starfish. The water was COLD so it was hard to play around too much.
Before heading into town we had a great picnic lunch overlooking the Bay of Fundy. It was cool to see how low the tide gets.
On our way into town we saw a great historic sight. It was a blockhouse built by the British in 1812 for the War of 1812. There were great rocks along the coast to explore as well as the fort.
Elizabeth liked practicing the soldiers chores,
while Patrick pretended to be a soldier.
After getting back from Canada, we went next door to the Murray's for a birthday party for Mrs. Murray. Here's Patrick choosing which lobster to put his money on in the great lobster race.
Happy birthday Mrs. Murray! Thanks for sharing your birthday treat with us!
On Wednesday we went for a long boat ride and a picnic. We rode through Lake Pocomoonshine, the Maine River, Upper Mud Lake and Lower Mud Lake before reaching the best picnic spot ever.
Along the way we were looking for moose. We didn't see any but did see bald eagles, loons and three huge beaver lodges.
The picnic spot was hidden in the woods. There was a make shift camp there....someone had left tables, a cupboard, a table and fire pit. Pretty cool considering there aren't any houses or roads for miles around. We had a great lunch, despite the mosquitoes.
That evening we went poking around Eastport and had another lobster dinner. While we were eating we saw Minke whales right of the pier where the restaurant was. It was super cool.
Patrick, Elizabeth and Dad ran down on the pier for a closer look. Mom took pictures and enjoyed her beer :)
While the weather wasn't that great, there were some wonderful sunsets. And of course, Mommy was ready!!

A rare shot of Mommy and her cutie pies.
All week Patrick and Dad, Mom and Sissy a bit, were fishing. Patrick has a Spiderman fishing pole and Elizabeth has a Barbie pole. We caught a lot of dock, rock, weeds, and mud. No fish.
Men at work.
Patrick and Dad took to stalking a fish.....luring it out from its hiding with loose worms.....didn't catch it.
On Friday we took another side trip to Quoddy Head State Park - the eastern most point in the U.S. - to see the light house and hike a bit. It was super foggy so the fog horn was blowing every minute or so. Really neat.
One trail led us down to the rocky shore. The kids loved seeing the ocean for the first time and throwing rocks in. Patrick was great at avoiding the stinking seaweed.
For being so little, Elizabeth was a great hiker. When she needed it, though, Daddy was ready with a ride.
Someone worked hard to pile smaller rocks on top of a larger one. Patrick worked swiftly to knock them all down. Sorry someone!
As you can imagine, Patrick was very into the rocks we found along the water. He would call one of us over to see how cool this one or that one was.
It was a great trip and we were sad to see it end. Everyone agrees that we will definitely back to visit Lake Pocomoonshine.

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