July Camping Trip

From Friday, July 5 through Sunday, our little family took a little vacation north to go camping among some other fun activities. Half way to Camden Hills State Park, we stopped to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. We had never been there before but heard great things about it. When I checked out their website, I was really excited to try and go on a Friday because in the summer they have Fairy Fridays:

Every Friday in July and August will be full of fun at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens for little fairies, gnomes, elves, and wizards. The Bibby and Harold Alfond Children’s Garden will be the perfect place for Sugarplum Fairy music and dancing on the maze; fairy puppet shows, stories, dress-up, crafts, and games; the Great Bubble Machine; and, of course, building fairy houses. See the Fairy Friday schedule below.

10:00 a.m. –  Fairy Stories (Story Barn)
11:00 a.m. –  Fairy Garden Puppet Theater (Story Barn)
12:15-12:45 p.m. – Sugar Plum Fairy dancing (maze)
12:15-12:45 p.m. – Great Bubble Machine  (maze)
2:00 p.m. – Nature Investigations (meets in the Story Barn)
Self-guided activities:
     Fairy and Gnome games
     Fairy crafts
     Fairy coloring sheets

We got there a little later than I would have liked; we were hoping to get there by 10, but didn't make it until 11:20. So we ended up missing the stories and puppet show, which I was sad about. We did however still get to do some other fun things, like Meo made a fairy wand, and got to dance around in a storm of bubbles in a garden maze. It was ninety degrees that day and we were all sweaty and drinking water constantly. We ended up only getting to stay a couple hours and only managed to visit the children garden. The place is huge, so we were sad we didn't get to spend more time there. But we had so much fun while we were there, and I got lots of ideas of things of want to do in our yard, such as make a little canopy from plum trees. We will definitely be making plans to visit again in the future.

Making a fairy wand

He was generous with the glitter :)

Education hut

Meo's fairy wand

chickens

water break in the tiny house

He LOVED gnome bowling

Fairy dance with bubbles!

My climber always seeking new challenges

I loved this little plum tree canopy

the bear from "Blueberries for Sal"

walking across the trick rope bridge

After visiting the gardens, we headed to our campsite in Camden. We set up camp, then had some time to head into town to pick up a bandana for me (I forgot one and new I'd need one for our hike in the morning) and walk around to see the sites.

Meo was excited about our tent nest

Making dinner

The humidity really curls our hair right up

laughing and screaming down the streets of Camden

20 weeks pregnant

That first night we were greeted with unexpected thunder storms. It poured for hours and drastically cooled the earth down, so we were very appreciative of the surprise.

Thunder storm!

In the morning, we woke up with the sun to spend a day hiking. We looked forward to an early start hoping that it would prevent us from overheating as it was supposed to be ninety degrees again. I started off by wearing Meo and Robbie wore the backpack (I hate our backpack because it's too large for my frame and makes my shoulders ache so I would prefer to carry the heavier Meo).

Ready to hike; 20 weeks

The humidity got to me quickly however, and I soon found it difficult to breathe. I decided that I didn't want to push my body too much and risk hurting the baby or myself, so I let Meo walk for a bit, just to give myself a little break and see how he did. Well, he surprised us both by walking about a mile up the mountain! We couldn't believe how well he did. The going was a little slow (Total hike up and down was 3 miles and took 6 hours as opposed to our usual hour/mile pace), but it felt like a good pace for this pregnant Mama and I was actually able to enjoy the hike up Mount Megunticook and take in lots of scenery.

And this is how he mastered going up and down stairs without using his hands

Hiking with my little Meo (20 weeks pregnant and 22 months old)

With only a quarter mile to go to the summit, we could tell Meo was getting sleepy and we stuck him on Robbie's back despite Meo's protests. We were right; he was asleep within a few minutes.

Taking a break

On the summit

Meo woke up while we were on the summit, and decided he wanted to make the last scramble himself.

We stuck him back in the carrier for a while on the way down, but Meo kept getting frustrated because he wanted to walk. We were worried it would be too steep for him, but decided to let him try, and once again he amazed us with his keen sense of balance and strong legs.

cooling off in a stream

Back at the campsite, it was so hot it was disgusting. We were all so tired that we were super cranky, and Meo kept weeping. We all took a shower together, and then were going to take a nap, but it was way too hot in the tent and Meo was breaking out in a heat rash. So we hopped in the car and put on the AC so Meo could cool off, and headed into town to find a pizza place for dinner (eating pizza after a big hike is one of our traditions).

Pizza and some cooler temperatures put us in better spirits, and back at camp we decided to drive up Mount Battie before settling down for the night. Of course Meo was an expert climber after his big hike in the morning, and it was all we could do to get him to stop climbing every single rock and tower in sight.

"Meo, you cannot sit on the edge of the very tall monument!"

Back at camp, we enjoyed a small campfire Robbie built us before getting a very restful night of sleep.

breakfast

In the morning, we packed up, stopped at Zoot Coffee Shop for some coffee and toast, then headed 20 minutes down the road to visit Hope Elephants. This a an elephant sanctuary that isn't open to the public unless you call and make an appointment in advance. It is the home to two ex-circus elephants, who after many years of being mistreated and abused finally have a comfortable place to live where they seem to be at peace. The man who runs the place used to work at the circus they were a part of. He fell in love with the elephants, quit the circus and dedicated his life to helping elephants. He traveled all around the world studying and working with elephants and became a veterinarian specializing in elephant care. Now he has a large, heated barn with a soft sand floor, and an acre of land for the elephants to wander around and explore. They have had very traumatic lives, but seem to be content now. This was Meo's first time seeing elephants, and he loved it. You could just see the see the sense of wonder in wonder in his eyes. We were glad that we went so that Meo could see the old gals, and to support a great cause.

Meo trying to pick up an elephant tooth

We had a wonderful, very full weekend, but as it always does after a vacation, it felt good to get back home.