The Smiths Go Northeast Day 5: Bar Harbor, ME

We started our second morning in Acadia with a hike getting this view!!!  I used Joe's Guide to Acadia to plan most of our hiking for this visit, and this morning we hiked around Jordan Pond with a view of North and South Bubble Mountain.

Then we drove over and parked to start out on Ocean Path--this was a perfect choice for our crew!  The actual hike was pretty low-key, but there were lots of opportunities to climb out on the rocks and be a bit more adventurous.  I love this picture of the boys suited up with their Camelbak backpacks!

So fun to have a drink right on your back!  Thanks, Uncle Larry and Aunt Michelle for such a cool and big boy birthday present!

Checking out what's down below...

Josh and Jackson climbed out to that point to look out over the water and check out an official USGS Benchmark.  

The picture of them climbing up to the spot does not do justice to how cute it was to watch my little boy be such a big boy with his daddy :)

Checking out the view

Jackson is like a mountain goat--he seems so comfortable navigating rocky areas!

Exploring a tide pool :)

We made several stops along the path including Thunder Hole which is named that because the waves can come into a narrow area and make a thunder sound if they crash just right...  Another spot the boys could have stayed forever and watch/listen!

Up close in the tide pool

We finished up our exploration of Ocean Path just in time to head to get some pizza for lunch and then walk across the sand bar at low tide!

All of this was underwater hours ago!

A field of creative and unique cairns!

Working so hard on his creation

Such a cheeser!

So proud :)

LOVING all of the memories we are making as a family!

We weren't sure what our schedule would be like since we were somewhere different pretty much everyday of this trip, but we did agree that we weren't going to be super strict about naps or sleep schedules.  For the first couple of days we stuck to just letting Graham nap in the car, since we were usually between destinations at that time of day.  Even though we stayed in one hotel for multiple nights in Maine, we still weren't sure whether we wanted to commit to going back to the hotel mid-day for a nap, but we tried it on the first day, and it worked out so well!  We were able to sneak in showers before dinner and have some down-time for everyone allowing us to stay out later after dinner!  The weather was even more glorious and the crowds were pretty much non-existent later in the day.   We ate dinner at Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound, which had a great area of picnic tables to eat outside and a selection of hula hoops and ladder ball for the kids to play with!

Love my littlest Buddy Bear!

Little Brother getting right in there too to see what Big Brother is doing ;)

Nature really is so beautiful

Such a great shot to capture!

Off we go!

I'm not quite sure what Jackson's pose was supposed to resemble here..

Being silly!

These next pictures are a perfect example of how geocaching takes us places we NEVER would have gone!  Because we were looking for a cache, we ended up in a tucked away area with amazing views of the water and gorgeous houses sitting right on the lake.

Once we ran out of light for caching, we went in search of ice cream!  A great end to a wonderful day!

The Smiths Go Northeast Day 4: Bar Harbor, ME

We were so excited to start exploring Acadia National Park!  We kicked off our morning with delicious muffins from our inn and decided to start at Cadillac Mountain.  This is a big tourist spot, so we thought first thing in the morning might be best.

It's the highest point along the Atlantic seaboard, and it was just so beautiful!  So many shades of blue!

Jackson was excited with his new compass we gave him!  Too bad the cord to hang around his neck broke soon after :(

Commence Mommy's heart palpitations...

We wandered around for a while checking out all of the different views

Getting an even better view

Family selfie on top of Cadillac Mountain!

Our second stop was a really neat off-the-beaten-path spot called The Ovens.

This area is only accessible at low tide, so we had to time our visit carefully!  

Three boys in an "oven"

Just the little boys

Jackson holding up the oven!

Graham could have stayed here for hours throwing rocks!

There was a letterbox cache we found with this special stamp in it that said "OVENS"

We all enjoyed the walk along the rocky shore and then walked back to the car.

We found these beautiful flowers along the way!

We went back to Cadillac Mountain for a picnic lunch and just could not get over the view!

That's Josh all the way down there!

Cairns are plentiful, and it was like a sea of them in this one area

Jackson worked on completing the Junior Ranger program while we explored Acadia, and one requirement was attending a ranger-led program.  I think we found the perfect one for our two Junior Rangers--all about tide pools!

The kids all had to wash their hands before touching anything from the tide pool

The ranger who led the program was fabulous, and we all enjoyed it!  She definitely fostered an excitement in Jackson for exploring tide pools during the rest of our trip :)

We went over to Sand Beach for a bit, but our energy was fading.  The boys and I sat on the rocks and people-watched while Josh hiked out on the rocks a little further for some more views.

So much to look at with the huge rocks, the pebbly beach, the sand, the green of the trees and the beautiful ocean!

We went back to our hotel and relaxed, planned out dinner and showered before heading back out.

We tried Geddy's for dinner, and we loved it!  Starting with the kids' drinks coming with twisty straws and little fish that hung on the straws!

Josh tackled a whole lobster, and Jackson tasted it!  It got two thumbs up!

Josh broke off one of the claws for Graham to play with, and he proceeded to use it like chopsticks to pick up the bites of food in his frisbee (that's right--the kids' meals were served on frisbees we got to keep)!

YUM!

We had tried earlier in the day to visit Bubble Rock  I would love to know what the boys were envisioning when we told them to look for a rock that looked like a bubble... 

So close to the edge...just concentrate on the beautiful scenery!

SO pretty!

I love this picture of the mountain casting such a huge shadow!

Bubble rock!!!

We met a group of friends also doing this hike and enjoying the area, so we swapped photo ops!

This was a wonderful plan!  We got a little rest back at the hotel and then were able to stay out a bit later exploring all of the cool things to see!