Maine Coast in Autumn by Harrison Bird Brown (1831-1915)

Up here in New England, Fall is definitely making its presence known.

The calendar doesn’t say its officially Autumn until a week from now (The Fall Equinox is Wed. September 22), but the chilly wind is a blowin’ and the trees have the subtlest hue of color to them.

This is one of my favorite times of the year; its actually always been THE favorite, but spring up here in Maine is pretty amazing too.  I’ve looked forward to fall every year since I was little because my birthday falls in Autumn.  I also love the amazing weather, the beautiful colors, I.’s B-day is in the fall, all the other Holidays to look forward to – Halloween, Thanksgiving, soon to be Christmas, the apple picking – and cider, Pumpkins….There’s just so much to love about fall!  And its finally here!!!

We have been in Maine for a few years now but have not had the occasion to make it anywhere north or west aside from a trip through the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Maine.

This weekend, we fixed that a bit.

We went up to an area near the Canadian border where there is a mountain range called the Bigelows.  They are absolutely amazing!

Much of the range is state reserve land and is protected….and wild.  We had the added bonus of being able to take our kayaks out and take a look at these beautiful mountains from the water too.  The peaks are just breathtaking, and I. noticed one was even shaped like the letter “M”.

Having these places still be what they always have been is priceless, and sharing them with children is even better.

This is why protecting and caring for our planet is so important.  If not, eventually, places like these will be gone.

Some great charities to support that help preserve land include

The Sierra Club

Coastal Mountains Land Trust

The Nature Conservacy

The raspberries are in high season right now and they’re having a banner year here in Maine.  Its just amazing what we have in our yard.

Tons of huge, red, sweet, raspberries all over the vines.  I have to pick them whenever I get a chance and I still haven’t gotten all of them.

Its kind of a crappy job cause the mosquitoes and biting flies are really bad; its like they’re guarding the berries.  But, I keep reminding myself how expensive raspberries are a pint, and how much my 3 boys love them.

They could each eat a pint to themselves and still want more; especially little Orion….Mr. T. has dubbed him our Berry Processing Unit…or BPU!!

So for my little BPUs, its back to the raspberries for me!  Its not so bad – I do get to eat while I work!!

There is a nice heat wave gripping the east coast right now, and our little neck of the woods has not been spared.

Its been humid and in the 90s here.  To some, that may not be that bad (it’s in the triple digits and this humid in spots) – but to a northerner like myself, its rough.

Luckily, my mom is visiting and has rented a little cabin on one of the lakes by our house.  The boys have been in and out of the water a gazillion times over the last few days.  Poor nanna is missing her central air though.  Its 10 degrees warmer where she lives, but, she’s equipped for it with her AC and there are only fans in her rental.  She’s a trooper though so hopefully she’ll make it the next 2 days.

Up here its predicted that the temps will lower Wed and Thurs, but it’ll still be humid.  We’ll see.  I hope not.  It’d be nice to get back to that lovely cool weather of Maine.

I was telling the boys its only 6 more months until Christmas!  Ahhh to think about cool, fresh snow!!

Our trip to Islesboro, while fun, didn’t go exactly as planned….thanks to baby O.  Such is life with a 1 yr old though!

To make up for it, we went to one of our favorite beaches in the area.  Its a bit farther away than some, so we don’t get there that often.  Which is unfortunate, because its so beautiful, and the closest white sand beach to us (Maine has quite a few beaches but many are rocky and others have grey sand).

We had a lovely day.  O. got a bit too much sun, and waaay too much sand.  But it didn’t bother him at all!  The bigger boys swam in the very cold water – and Mr. T. and I got in for a bit too.

It was exhilaratingly cold water.  If you’ve ever swam in the northern Atlantic Ocean you know what I mean!  K. was in for a bit, but I. stayed in for quite awhile.  When he got out he was soooo cold.  Some time in the sun warmed him up, but, he had gotten chilled to the bone out there on his boogie board!

We got to stay for quite awhile, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day!  It really made up for our….um….interesting day yesterday!

It’s always an exciting moment the first time one of your kids gets something big; walking, talking, reading.  Well, K. just “got” bike riding!

He’s up on two wheels and riding all by himself!  He’s thrilled, and so are we!!!

He ditched the training wheels last fall, but the snows came and he never had any time to master the skills.  Then, we went to Acadia.

The trip to Acadia is important because when we were there we decided to bike some of the famous Carriage Roads.  Because K. wasn’t riding on his own yet, we rented a “tag along” bike ( a kid’s sized bike with a mechanism that hooks it to an adult bike turning the  two bikes into tandem bikes).  This was a huge help for him in learning how to balance, and feeling strong and confident on a bike.  I can’t say enough about how much this special ride gave K.

In fact, the next time he got on his bike after this ride, he rode independently for the first time, staying up for quite awhile!

Needless to say we’ve bought a piece that will turn the kid’s bikes they have now into tandems with one of ours.  It’ll be a great investment because it will let us take longer family bike rides now, because, even though K. can ride now, he can’t go far since he’s just getting his bike muscles going.  Not only that though, it’ll be perfect for O. when he’s ready to give up the training wheels.

So now, every day possible, K. is out riding his bike up and down the road and loving it.  How lucky Mr. T. and I are to share in all that excitement!  And how lucky K. is to now know what it is to ride a bike.

There isn’t much to be said about the oil spill in the gulf that hasn’t been said already.  Its a senseless tragedy that could have easily been avoided.

While I have thoughts and views about why and how I feel this has all come about, thats not what I wanted to talk about.

It’s all those creatures that are enduring this tragedy that don’t have a voice.  They didn’t ask for this, and they don’t benefit from any of the results from oil drilling, in fact, it’s quite the opposite.  It all hurts them.  But this.  This will affect the oceans, and in turn the entire natural world in ways we could never fathom for years and years to come.

And can you imagine if they can’t cap it today, and this $hit keeps spewing into the oceans until August?

It’s overwhelming…and I can only imagine the thoughts and feelings of those beings this is directly affecting whether they be two legged, four legged, winged, gilled or otherwise.

The best thing we can do as common “everyday” citizens (ie. – someone without some expertise that would really really help in this situation)  is help support reputable organizations that are addressing clean up efforts along the Gulf Coast.

The National Audubon Society is accepting both donations as well as volunteers.  If you have time or money to give, they’re a great option.

The second best things we can do is support efforts to move away from oil and generate more sustainable products and energy options for our country and the globe….in hopes that this heartbreaking event, or anything like it, never happens again.

Write your government officials both local and national and tell them what you want.  Consider using alternative sources of energy yourself.  Make your voice heard with your dollar by supporting companies and organizations using alternative sources of energy or making products that don’t rely on oil (there are  soooo many)…..Whatever you can do to help move us all away from an oil based lifestyle.

Otherwise, in some form or another, this will happen again, and again, and again…..

Oddly enough, it’s been in the high 80s here in Maine..and It’s only May!!  That usually doesn’t happen until the end of July/beginning of Aug.  In fact, my friend who grew up in Maine was telling me a funny story in which the state actually closed the State House because it was……93 degrees!!  She and her husband were back visiting her family in Maine from Texas; he laughed his a$$ off.

So, what I’m trying to say is, high temps, especially in May are really really rare up here in the great North.  But, when they do get hot, we’re so blessed and lucky to have a fantastic swimming hole nearby.

It’s a beautiful spot, and the lake is clean and cool because it’s spring fed.  There are quite a few other options for swimming in the area too, but, this is our favorite because it’s close, has a float for jumping, has a beach and shade…..and did I mention it was beautiful!

We’ve been there the last 2 days and the boys are ready to be in the swing of going to the lake every day.  I, however, am hoping that really isn’t where were at quite yet.  I don’t like really hot weather and will be glad to see it return to normal spring temps tomorrow.  When it does get hot though, it’s priceless to have a lake like this one right in your backyard!

The guys all hanging out by the lake where we had our lunch

The weather ended up being absolutely perfect this weekend, so, we did head up to Acadia National Park and it was just fabulous!

Acadia is only about 2 hours from us, so it wasn’t a horribly long  ride for the kids, which was good.  When we arrived on Friday late morning, our hotel was able to let us check right in, which was awesome.  We were able to settle in and make some sandwiches then head out for a hike.

The view from the top!

We hiked up and around the hills and went to “The Bowl”, an amazing lake at the base of the mountains.  And we also hiked to the top of one of the “peaks” where there are just the most spectacular views of the ocean.

Then, the next day, after breakfast, we headed out for some biking.  The carriage roads that run in and around Acadia are really something.  They get you to beautiful places and are meticulously maintained.  Biking and walking on them was a lot of fun for all of us.

After that it was back home!  We all had a really nice trip and were glad everything came together so we could go.  Hopefully we’ll get to head up that way again soon.  Until then we’ll just have to settle for all the beautiful places right out our back door!!!  Living in paradise is soooo hard!!

We finally did it.  We’ve been talking about it since last season and we finally made it official, I. now has his own kayak.  A nice, lightweight kayak made just for kids.  This allows us, all 5 of us, to go out paddling as a family.

I can’t wait!  I didn’t get to paddle at all last season because O. was so little.  This year (we’re hoping) he can sit in the middle of the tandem kayak we have, K. can paddle up front while Mr. T. paddles in the back…and I have my own kickin’ Wilderness Systems kayak.

Did I say I can’t wait?  I absolutely love kayaking, and only got to enjoy it for 1.5 seasons before feeling too sick and pregnant to go, or having to tend to O.  Now with I. having his own, we can get back in the water together.

I. is pretty psyched too.  He feels really mature, and, I think he too is looking forward to the independent time he’ll have while he’s paddling in his boat by himself.  K. is feeling quite big as well since he’s graduated to paddling the tandem.

And, we’re hoping that little O. will be happy to be in the water and that that, some snacks and some toys will keep him occupied for at least some shorter paddling trips so we can all enjoy all the amazing kayaking Maine has to offer.

After all, the family that kayaks together stays together!!