Five Year Anniversary: Meo's first camping trip

This Saturday (June 9th) was Robbie and my 5th wedding anniversary. I can hardly believe it! To celebrate, we decided to go back to the place where Robbie proposed to me and where we spent our honeymoon: Acadia National Park. In honor of our special day, I just wanted to take a few moments to share with you how Robbie proposed to me nearly 6 years ago before I tell you all about our awesome weekend.

It was August 27th, 2006 and Robbie and I went on a camping trip with our awesome friends Andrew and Lindsay. We had spent a few days there and on that particular day we decided to hike several mountains in one day. Here I should note that several months earlier, Robbie had told me that if he ever proposed to me, he would want it to be someplace special, like on the top of a mountain or something. So from that day on, whenever we hiked a mountain, I would be a little nervous that he was going to pop the question. Hiking that day was one of those times. We ended up hiking up four mountains that day, and after the first one (Gorham Mountain), I got over my jitters. The second mountain we hiked was Champlain Mountain, which is one of my favorite hikes. You begin by walking around a pristine lake, the Bowl, before ascending. The climb is gentle, yet steep enough to make it a little bit of a challenge, but most importantly the view is spectacular. All around you are rolling hills and pointy mountains, endless green trees, and a beautiful blue ocean dotted with green islands. Whenever we hike Mount Champlain, I always feel like I have escaped reality and have become a hobbit on some great adventure. I love it. Robbie loves it to, and on his way up he decided that this was the mountain he would propose to me on. At some point he told Andrew and Lindsay his intention, and when we got to the top he took me off to the side. At first I was suspicious, but then he just held me in his arms and was talked about the beautiful view. Somehow the conversation turned to me and about how happy he was with me, and that he loved me and all the reasons why he loved me. And before I could prepare myself he was kneeling in front of me and I couldn't help but try to stop him by squeaking "no, no no!". But down he went and he pulled out a ring he fashioned from a dandelion and asked me to be his wife. Of course I said yes. It was so romantic and I loved him with all my heart. I still do and always will. Meanwhile, Andrew and Lindsay were holding hikers back so they wouldn't interrupt our moment, and when we returned to the summit everyone was giddy and congratulating us. It was so amazing, and that spot has become our favorite place on earth. As for the rest of the day, we hiked two more mountains, then were treated to an amazing dinner by Andrew at fancy Portecelli's while wearing all our stinky hiking clothes (best meal ever), and then all four of us snuggled in our two person tent while it rained through the night.

Andrew, Robbie, Me and Lindsay after we got engaged on Champlain Mountain 2006

Giddy after getting engaged

Newly engaged

On our honeymoon, we spent a week in Bar Harbor. First we spent a night in a bed and breakfast where we enjoyed the comforts of a a king sized bed, champagne and a balcony that overlooked the sunset. Then we camped for 5 days, and finally ended the honeymoon with 2 nights at a different, lovely bed and breakfast. During our week of camping, we got a lot of hiking in. I think in total we hiked 12 mountains or so, one of which was Champlain Mountain. There we visited the spot where Robbie proposed to me and posed for a photo.

On our honeymoon at the spot we got engaged

Now, five years later, and with a beautiful baby boy, we revisited that spot. Our lives have changed so much, but our love for one another has only grown stronger and now we have a wonderful boy to join us on our adventures. We are truly blessed.

Five year anniversary at the spot we got engaged, plus one :)

Okay, now you are probably wondering about how our trip this weekend went. We left on Friday morning for our four hour drive northeast. We weren't too worried about how Meo would do in the car, he has already proven to be good on long car rides when we went to all the weddings last month. Robbie and I were reminiscing about the time from about 0-3 months when he hated being in the car and Robbie would or I would have to reach into the back seat and put our pinky in his mouth for him to suck on because he wouldn't keep a pacifier in and that was the only way he would stop crying. Thank goodness he isn't like that any more. A little over half way there, Meo woke up from his nap so we decided to stop at Subway for some lunch. Robbie's parents had generously given us a gift certificate to Subway to celebrate our anniversary; thanks very much!

Thanks for Subway Grandma and Grandpa!

By the time we reached Blackwoods Campground in Bar Harbor, it was late afternoon, so we got started right away. I put a picnic blanket down for Mattimeo to play on while we got set up, and right away he crawled to the edge to collect pebbles to stuff into his mouth. This became a theme for the weekend: put Meo down and he'll eat rocks. At first, I thought well whatever, they aren't going to hurt him. But after he had a coughing fit when he put one in his mouth and we weren't sure if it was from swallowing a small rock or not, we decided that he wasn't allowed to eat rocks anymore. So I spent A LOT of time holding him all weekend. It was tiring sometimes, but it really wasn't too bad.

Daddy setting up the tent

Delicious pebbles

Meo and I checking out the tent

Ooo, I can still collect rocks from here!

I had brought his Bjorn Babysitter to put him in anticipating that he would be crawling all over the place. That was fun for about two minutes and then he didn't want to have anything to do with it for the rest of the weekend.

Momentarily contained and happy baby

After we set up the tent, we made some dinner. Well, Robbie made dinner while Meo and I took a walk around the campground because he was a busy baby. We ate Annie's organic Mac and Cheese with broccoli and peas. We stuck Meo in his Bumbo seat with a tray, but by mid-meal he was squirming out of it, so from then on we just let him sit on the blanket freestyle to eat meals.

Meo enjoying some veggies

Mac and Cheese is delicious!

Robbie and I enjoyed a couple of celebratory drinks :)

That night it was raining and we were tired so we decided to go to bed early. We played in the tent with Meo for a while reading him books and letting him crawl around like a crazy baby until he got worn out and was ready for sleep. For sleeping, Robbie and I brought our Therm-a-rest sleeping pads and a bunch of blankets for some extra padding and warmth. Unfortunately whoever borrowed my pad last managed to get a leak in it so one of them deflated immediately. Since I I needed to lay on my hip and Meo was going to share a pad with me, Robbie let us sleep on the functioning pad while he just had blankets. This was too bad for him because his back often hurts sleeping on the ground, and the lack of padding made it worse. But he seemed to sleep just fine and soon both he and Meo were snoring. I on the other-hand did not fare so well; I couldn't sleep! I think I was nervous about Meo getting too cold, or accidentally covering him with our sleeping bag so I couldn't relax. I tried everything: counting backwards, going through relaxation exercises, etc. but it wasn't until nearly sunrsise that I finally got in a few z's. Meo slept the entire night despite my tossing and turning and even through the thunder and lightening. He was so awesome! And somehow I felt rested in the morning despite my nearly nonexistent sleep.

Meo nursing himself to sleep for the night

In the morning, we woke up early and enjoyed some raisin toast, grapes and  pears for breakfast before our big day of hiking.

Mmm, cinnamon raisin toast

Chomp

Ready to hike!

Robbie and Meo

For our hike, we decided to choose something not overly strenuous, but something that would take most of the day. We decided on parking at the Gorham Mountain parking lot, hiking up Gorham Mountain, hiking down to the bowl then up Champlain Mountain, back down to the bowl, hike to sand beach, then walk a mile on the trail beside the ocean to get back to our car. I wore Meo on my back in the ERGObaby for the entire hike and Robbie wore a backpack with our food and water. I was worried I would get tired carrying Meo for so long, and though my shoulders burned by the end, it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Both Meo and I wore lightweight, sun protection clothing that wicked off sweat so between that and the breath-ability of the performance ERGObaby, we didn't have any problems with overheating.

Meo and I at the trailhead

Peeking at my little hiker

Robbie

Checking out the great view

Overlooking Sand Beach

On the summit of Gorham Mountain

All three of us on the summit of Gorham Mountain

I just have to throw this on in there: here is a comparison to when Robbie and I hiked here 5 years ago on our honeymoon:

Robbie and I on the summit of Gorham Mountain on our Honeymoon in 2007

Nursing at the summit

Nursing with a view!

Checking out the view

Exploration

Meo has really started to look at the things we point at and are explaining to him, it's really awesome!

Looking at two hawks that were really close to us!

Trying to drink from the camelback

After Gorham mountain we hiked down to the bowl. It was cool running into places we remembered visiting in our past, like this particular little brook:

Meo and I crossing the brook 2012

Me crossing the brook in 2007

By the time we reached the bowl, Meo was snoozing.

Robbie was really tired too, so he took a break. I couldn't take a break because Meo was sleeping so I just wondered around photographing little fish.

Robbie resting by the bowl

Then we began our ascent up Champlain Mountain.

Approaching the faux summit

Me climbing with Meo on my back

By the time we reached the faux summit (it seems like you are almost to the top, but you really have 30-60 minutes to go), Robbie was ready for another break. Meo was sleeping again at that point, and I got a second burst of energy and did NOT want to stop. So despite Robbie whining about stopping 8 times, we trudged on until we got to to the top. Robbie referred to it as a "forced march", and I sang "The Ants Go Marching" song to help him along. I felt so strong, and was nearly flying up the mountain I was scampering along so quickly. Robbie said he felt like he was so tired and weak he was going to be blown off the mountain. Yes, I did feel a bit like a slave-driver; if had been the other way around, I probably would have just sat down and started crying. But I just felt so strong and happy, I couldn't stop! It was awesome! (sorry again Robbie).

Me and Meo, super pumped at the top!

Summit of Champlain Mountain

At the Summit

At the spot we got engaged 6 years ago

Engagement spot again

The top was quite windy, so we found a little sheltered area to enjoy some lunch and rest.

Lunch!

Lunch

Lunch

Note the mischievous smirk as Meo hurries towards the edge

Whoa, edge of a cliff!

Dad says, "No way Meo"

Having so much fun hiking (10 months)

Blowing Raspberries

The we headed back down. Meo fell asleep again, so I refused Robbie breaks once again until after we got past sand beach. So we marched for three hours through the woods with a sleeping baby boy on my back. At one point I got really mad at Robbie; we had only been going down for fifteen minutes when I felt wetness on the back of my leg. When I turned around I found him squirting water out of the camel back! He was trying to lighten his load...which was not even heavy at all since we ate all the food. I was so annoyed. Then 5 minutes later we ran out of water! I was so thirsty! I was mostly frustrated because it's important for me to stay hydrated since I am breastfeeding. But I got over it and we survived. It's hard to stay annoyed when you have such a beautiful view stretched out in front of you! I couldn't help but feel like a hobbit on a grand adventure, especially wearing my Vibram Fivefingers; I think they are as close to barefoot leathery hobbit feet you can get really.

Admiring the view

Heading down

Robbie heading down

Our journey down would take us past the bowl, to the sea in between those two peaks, then on the other-side of Gorham Mountain on the right.

Almost to Sand Beach

We took a break before we got to Thunder Hole after Sand Beach. We were both exhausted and thirsty and Meo was ready for some milk. Also, we needed some coffee since we hadn't had any that day. But it was an amazing day and a really fun hike, and we were really happy at the end of it.

We went to the campsite to change, and decided we didn't feel like cooking and cleaning and went out to eat instead. Their we had delicious vegetarian nachos, and pizza with thin, wheat crust, pesto, goat cheese, Parmesan cheese, artichokes and spinach. It was amazing.

Yum, veggies!

Nachos

Pizza!

This is Meo's poop face haha

After we ate, we walked around Bar Harbor for a bit and got some ice cream. We even ran into our friend's Leah and Tim, who got married the same day as us and also had their honeymoon in Bar Harbor; they were there celebrating too. That was really cool.

That night, Robbie wanted to have a camp fire so we picked up some wood. We were hoping Meo would be mezmorized by the fire and just chill out so we could relax by it. That was true for about 5 minutes. Then Robbie and I had to bounce and sing with him until eventually I decided he was ready for bed and I crawled into the tent with him and went to sleep. Robbie joined us after the fire died out and he could cover it up properly. That night, I slept like a "baby", and Meo did too.

Starting the fire

My boys watching the fire

In the morning was soooo cute. He woke up and stretched, then proceeded to wake up Daddy. I somehow managed to capture this on video!

Then we had to eat breakfast and pack everything up. I wore Meo on my back and carried stuff to the car and went for a walk while Robbie took down the tent.

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

Before heading home, we went to the Opera House for some coffee and a toy store to get Meo a little wooden car. The Opera house was a coffee shop we visited on our honeymoon and played Scrabble at. It's a really sweet coffee shop and it was fun to be there again. Robbie read books to Meo and I searched through the desk drawers trying to find the notes we left in them five years ago. I didn't find them this time, but I'll look again some day.

Reading Dr. Suess with Dad

What a face!

Searching in the drawers for our notes

Getting tired?

Walking around Bar Harbor

Meo loves his new car

The drive home was great; Meo was a little angel. We stopped at Ruby Tuesday's for lunch and stuffed ourselves full on their spinach artichoke dip, salad bar, and broccoli soup. Turns out Mattimeo LOVES spinach and artichoke dip; although I am not sure how healthy it is hehe.

At Ruby Tuesday's

On the way home we also went to Gray Animal Farm, but that story will be for another blog post. The last thing I wanted to share was the super awesome anniversary presents we gave each other. The five year anniversary is supposed to be celebrated with a "wood" gift, so that was part of the reason why we spent the weekend in the woods. We purchased an American the Beautiful Pass which allows us to get into all the federal and state parks and beaches free of charge for a year. I am really excited about this because a lot of great beaches around us usually charge and it will be nice to go to them as much as I want this summer. And I can bring other people with me! For Robbie, I framed our wedding vows. I decorated it with leaves and greens and browns since those were the colors we used at our wedding.

Wedding Vows for a five year anniversary gift

From Robbie, I will be getting a painting that our friend, Gib made.It is a beautiful barn owl and I am so excited to see it finished and in person. Here is a sneak peak though:

Barn Owl by Gibrian Foltz

So as you can see, we had a fantastic anniversary. And Meo was so much fun to bring camping; I hope to bring him lots more this summer. I am so happy and in love and excited for whatever adventures the rest of our lives will take us on.