Our trip to the Islands

The Islands of Maine, that is.

We spent one week camping on Mt. Desert Island as is our (almost) yearly tradition. It was Tobi's first trip to the Island, Ben's third and my 25th???...(I lost track over the years). I always imagined someday coming with my own family to camp in Blackwoods campground in Acadia. So in some ways this vacation was a dream come true. In other ways it was a challenge...like keeping a one year old off the ground for a week, especially since she is really into eating rocks (or any other things that will fit in her mouth).Overall Tobi did really well all things considered. The whole gang was there , my mom and dad, Sarah and Ryan and their 4 kids, and of course us.
Three camp sites, 3 tents, 2 pack n' plays, 3 Coleman stoves, our air mattress that needed to be re-filled quite often, 1 battery for Ben's c-pap (the whole campground should thank us for that!), and three cars LOADED with goods for the week...and a good time was had by all!



We went hiking...

And biking...


And beaching...

And we ended our week with tea lunch on the lawn of the Jordan Pond House.

We hit Island #2 on our way home. Ben's Dad just took a new position as the pastor of a church on Islesboro, ME (which if you can't tell by the name is, in fact, an island).

So the family has just taken up residence in the parsonage and we stopped by for a visit and to check it all out! The Island is only accessible by ferry.
It is about 14 miles long and 3 miles wide at its widest point which made for some beautiful ocean views. We took a ride around the island as the sun was setting...and around every bend there was another beautiful cove with just a lovely view.

We stayed the night and were able to attend church on Sunday.

Ben played the piano for the service (without Tobi on his lap...this picture was just rehearsal time).


Then we ate lunch at the Dark Harbor Shop.

There was something just lovely and relaxing about Island life...maybe because it was summer..maybe because we were just visiting...but whatever it was, we left feeling very excited for Ben's family and how God has provided all this for them.



(I have many more pictures of our Island adventures posted on Flickr.
For more Acadia pics you can click here.
And for more Islesboro pics you can click here.)