Downeast by Northeast

In the backyard...

We did a crummy job of blogging while we were on our vacation -- our internet connection was quite slow and it took a long time to upload pictures.  So I'm going to try to catch up a little.

Our trip was so fun! One of the coolest things we did was to buy a kayak!  We ordered it from Amazon and it came in 2 days -- thanks Amazon Prime!  We all enjoyed kayaking in the bay behind our house, but McKay especially loved it.

We loved hanging out on the bay behind our house, and some days we just played around all day, watching the bay, relaxing in the woods, playing games and watching movies.  It was very sweet.

Our Abby is so wonderful!

Acadia

And we LOVED Acadia National Park!  We thought it was stunningly beautiful and so very interesting!  Here are a few of the many, many pictures we took there...

McKay and Todd atop Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the East Coast.

Another view of Cadillac Mountain... this show some of the many islands in the distance off the coast of Mt. Desert Island, where most of Acadia is located.  I could not believe how cool it was.

One of my favorite features of Acadia was the Carriage Roads that you could bike or walk on... there are 45 miles of them.    Twice Abby and I rented bikes and cycled all the way around a few different lakes.  It  was so fun!  There are bodies of water all over!  And the Carriage Roads were perfect for taking McKay on walks, as well.  

The Carriage Road alongside Eagle Lake

Eagle Lake -- one of the lakes Abby and I biked all the way around.

We had a lot of fun when Todd's niece, Allie, and her friend came up for the weekend from Boston.  We spent a day with them in Acadia.

Todd, Allie, and Abby flying a kite on Sand Beach

Boston

Finally, we had to leave our lovely house and beautiful Maine... but we got to continue our trip for a few more weeks by spending time in Boston.  We were so happy to spend a few days there -- over the 4th of July, no less, because we have such happy, happy memories from when we lived there... poor Abby and McKay.. every 5 minutes we were pointing out something like "Oh, Abby!  This is where you used to chase the pigeons!" or "This is where we would go for walks -- everyone was so fascinated by the triplets!"  or "This is where you had your first orange scone!  You were so cute!"  They got a little tired of that, I'm afraid.  But it's true that our family LOVED that city and that we were very happy there!

On the Esplanade with Allie... it was so fun to hang out with her!

Fenway!!! It's super fun (even if the Red Sox lose).

Make Way for Ducklings!!!

The Public Gardens... the site of many family outings to ride the Swan Boats and feed the ducks and geese!  It's within walking distance of our apartment and we spent a lot of time there.

The Boston Temple

And finally, we went to the Boston Temple.  It was opened just after we moved, so we hadn't been there yet.  We didn't have a chance to go in, but I could not restrain my tears as we walked around the grounds.  It is lovely!

I'm so glad I know that because of the covenants Todd and I made in the Salt Lake Temple our family will be together forever.  We missed our Alex when we were at the temple!