Portland, Maine

What a beautiful state! We had such an unexpected great time here. One thing we learned about Maine is why it’s called “vacationland.” The coastal shores were absolutely breathtaking. The people were so real. My assignment was by far the best experience I’ve had so far. So here’s the infamous photo!

The adventures were endless. You could climb mountains, hike cool trails, visit farmland and see the ocean all in one day. Everything just makes sense there. We’ve decided we will absolutely be visiting maine again. Maybe take on another assignment one day!

We’ve debated turning this sites name into “Tanner and Papas travels.” He just has to stop bringing that cold Ohio weather with him when he comes.

Maine is known for some fun things. And we tried to do them all. Minus the lobster rolls because well Anthony’s allergic and I don’t eat lobster.

We tried Maine blueberry pie, moxies, whoopie pies, Pier fries, explored the coast, we hiked mountains, visited the desert of Maine, searched for moose, ( didn’t see any ) found tourmaline ( and garnet ), visited a bunch of lighthouses, explored Portland on bike, and visited LL bean flagship store.

I forgot to post this with Acadia. we saw a sign off the side of the road for blueberry pies so we stopped and grabbed one. Mount Desserts- Homemade pies. Thank goodness we did, it was the best blueberry pie we’ve ever had! The wild blueberries in Maine are much smaller than the typical blueberry. To me it was sweeter.

Moxie=disgusting …medicine tasting …extremely unhealthy soda pop. Quite literally they used this for medicine at one point.

Tried some potato donuts !

One thing that shocked me…was at the end of the pier is a bathroom-that you had to pay money to use. Immediately no. And a nightclub. No lookout. So it was neat to see all the shops but mostly a tourist trap. Who the heck pays to pee????

I just have tons and tons of beach pictures. Any chance we had we were at the beach.

Our favorite was pine point beach. It was so beautiful.

The dogs were even able to enjoy some beaches too!

We did lots of rock climbing.

Portland headlight house photo credit to Anthony that’s a good pic!

I think after our first lighthouse we saw. Tanner was over it. I mean I get it. He is more interested in running around and again climbing on the rocks.

We got on a boat and rode over to Peaks Island. Super cool little island. Got to see the open ocean from one side.

Attempted to make our own little balancing rock formation. And took a rest watching the waves.

LL Bean does a pumpkin fundraiser where they have all the local kids in the schools carve pumpkins and people come help donate to the sunshine camp!

Some of the kids were really talented. After the event is done they let people take whatever pumpkins they want home. So tanner of course had a full wagon full.

Halloween was fun in Maine we even attended the Damariscottia pumpkin festival. It was tucked away in the sweetest little Oceanside town.

Tanners favorite holiday is Halloween so of course we tried to fill it with as much fun as we could. We even decorated our camp site! Won 2nd place and got a free t shirt!

Anthony got the opportunity to hike mt. Washington in New Hampshire with his friend Josh. It was nice Josh came out to visit us from Ohio.

This picture reminds me of Anthony’s tattoo.

Such a bizarre place. Just a reminder that our part of the world was once an ocean. We did wander in this wonder. Immediately Tanner took his shoes off and was ready to run around. But the grounds also serve as a home for the bees! So we quickly put those shoes back on and explored a little.

We did enjoy ourselves here in Maine. It turned out to be a very nice stay along the coast and even when we moved campgrounds up north a bit we got to enjoy the country side a little as well.

This is where I found some garnet! And we decided to try to go hike an old mine for some tourmaline.

But again mostly we loved the coastal side and all the vitamin sea we could get!

Oh !! Tanner started his home Pre-k. Everyone always asks what we plan to do with this smart boy and we always say we would homeschool! So we’ve begun! We’re using the Good and the beautiful pre k lesson plans and so far LOVING them. It’s easy enough for us and he enjoys them. We don’t force him and we have a weekly set schedule. ( or atleast we try to )

If you’re curious about his social aspect this boy is a social butterfly !! He’s made so many life long friends. Our absolute favorite sweet little family. Alyssa Chris Osiris and oden! My goodness they felt like they became family! We even got to go trick and treating with them! They are a full time family as well in Maine. But they enjoy the cold. We were so sad to leave them. But know we will come across their paths again!