Family Vacation to Maine

This is from earlier in the summer, from back in July, but I wanted to post about it...now that I'm back to posting again! :)

We haven't taken a summer vacation as a family in a few years, so getting to go away together was really special.  We decided to go back to Maine, where we had vacationed when Eve was small (and I was pretty early on in pregnancy w/Judah) bc it was such a gorgeous place, especially during the summer.

We chose a vacation rental in the same town we'd gone to before (Pemaquid Point) bc it's a fantastic location- right by the water, and we were on a private road (a loop), which made for easy bike-riding and walks w/the kids.

Anyway, the only un-fun part about heading to Maine is well, the 11 hours or so in the car!  It was pretty scary to think about, but we packed loads of things to distract the kids, and kinda just hoped for the best!  I was honestly SUPER-thankful to have just weaned Ruth- that ride would have been even longer if we had had to stop for nursing breaks ;)

After the ba-jillion hours in the car (not to mention countless potty breaks!), we finally made it to Maine!  We met up w/friends from Ezra's work, and had dinner at a fun restaurant called Muscongus Lobster Company:

They had a petting-tank filled w/claw-less lobsters and crabs, catfish, and other sea creatures for the kids to play with...ugh, those poor things!  The kids loved it, though:

First lobster- gotta touch it!

He was obsessed w/claw-collecting!

Ice cream, of course :)

Enjoying the loop

The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

Haha, love this picture!

Having lunch in Damariscotta, ME

This kid cracks me up- nakey, and fancy, and in love w/pickles ;)

Buying seafood:

Enjoying the beach- so weird to see the pine trees in the distance!  Not at all like being at the Jersey shore :)

Sand-man

Love that she's still small enough to do this- this is one of my favorite parts of having a teeny one, and probably one of the biggest things I'll miss, now that our babies are growing up!

Best buddies :)

Lunch at the Lobster Co-Op...

...complete w/lobster bib!

Swimming at the Bristol Swimming Hole

Dinner in Boothbay Harbor, ME

 Sooo glad we decided to go back to Maine- New England summers are just about the best thing on Earth!  It was the middle of July, and we had no A.C., something unfathomable in NJ.  We had the windows open the entire week we were there, and the weather was just perfect.

Ezra was funny- he said that he didn't realize how much work all the kids would be, how hard it would be to keep them busy all the time...I had to laugh, bc well, welcome to my world! :)