Notes from the Nelsens: Our trip to MAINE! {Day 1}

We are back!

Oh Maine, how we loved you.

This little trip was everything we hoped it would be and more.

Traveling with small kids (Ryan will be two at the end of this month and Natalie turned 5 months on our trip) does not happen without a LOT of thinking and planning and rethinking and replanning, but we feel like we really made the most of our time there and are so glad we had our kiddos with us to experience it all.

And since a lot of people were curious about how this was going to go with the ages of our kids, I thought it might be helpful to pass along what we learned, but in a separate post, so this one doesn't turn into a short novel. ;) So be on the lookout for that post next week!

Trip Recap:

- We flew from Atlanta to Portland (about 2.5 hours), rented a car and drove 3 hours to Bar Harbor.

-We stayed 4 nights at The Harborside Hotel right in downtown and on the water, which gave us great views of the marina and made just about everywhere we wanted to go walkable.

-Just like we do every time, we asked for any available, complimentary upgrades and were switched our second day to a beautiful two-bedroom suite with a jacuzzi on the patio that overlooked the water. Matt and I laughed that we were pretty sure the size of the suite matched the square footage of our house.

-Both Ryan and Natalie did SO well while we were there. I'll touch more on that in the post next week, but we were so impressed (and relieved) ;) with how well they did!

-Acadia National Park was HUGE, and the views from just about anywhere on the mountain were just incredible.

-The people in Maine are so laid back. I never thought for a second about what I was wearing or what I looked like (pretty sure that will come through in the pictures- HA!). That, plus the temperature and the views made us want to move there (but not really, mom).

-We hiked (Matt used this website to plan all of our hikes), biked (we rented through Acadia Bikes who offered a free shuttle to the carriage roads in Acadia National Park), swam in the two pools at the hotel, and ate a LOT of delicious food at these restaurants: Stewman's, Side Street Cafe, Two Cats, Jordan's Restaurant, and Lompac Cafe.

-Natalie turned 5 months on our trip! -sweet pea was a dream traveler.

-Ryan did his first hike all by himself! Matt found a 1/2 mile hike (1 mile total) up to a famous landmark called Bubble Rock and Ryan did just about all of it without our help. He was so proud! "I hikin! I doin it all by myself!"

-Any time Ryan saw a decent sized body of water he said, "Dare's a whale in dare. Let me check." (*dare equals "there" in toddlerese)

Day 1:

Unloading ALL of our stuff while Ryan doesn't waste any time picking up some germs on the airport sidewalk.

Only Matt would recognize an NFL referee in the Atlanta airport. And then go over to talk to him- haha, love him. Probably made that guy's day.

After her first flight!

Ryan leading the way to baggage claim

Really bad lighting and frightening face on my end, but please look at Ryan cheesing it up in the back seat. Off to Bar Harbor we go!

2 minutes later.

Only one stop to feed and a little less than hours later, we made it! ...Checking out the views as we walk to our room.

"Dare's a whale in dare. Let me check."

After setting our things down in our room, we walked to dinner at Lompac Cafe. This place was great for kids with the bocce ball court right next to the outdoor tables. Matt and Ryan made friends with another family while Natalie and I ate appetizers. Okay just I ate appetizers. And then I went to talk too once I felt like I wasn't going to eat my arm off.