Lobstah & Lighthouses - Our Family Vacation to Maine, pt. 4

The Monday after we returned from Bar Harbor was a needed day of rest. We slept in as much as possible, then spent the morning with James' family, and returned to the hotel for the kid's first proper nap in several days. That evening, we drove around and explored downtown Waterville, took a brief tour of the beautiful Colby College campus, and grabbed dinner at a local favorite - The Governor's Restaurant. One review described The Governor's as an IHOP on steroids. I'm not sure if that's totally true, but it had that vibe - with lots of comfort food and delicious baked goods. We were stuffed after a big meal, but took a large slice of blueberry pie to go. Daddy and Mommy enjoyed that treat in bed after the kids went to sleep.

The next day was bittersweet. Our vacation was drawing to a close, and that morning was our final time to visit with James' family. John and Kaden played with a cool wooden train set leftover from his childhood while Phil and James poured over old family photos and reminisced about the good old days. Audrey did her best to entertain and succeeded in delighting her great grandma. I love the picture below of Mary smiling down at the wiggly baby girl on the ground. I know it was emotional for James to say good bye since we're not sure when we'll be able to return. But we were very thankful for the opportunity to spend so much quality time catching up with his grandparents and uncle. I made sure to get some family pictures on the big camera before we left.

4 generations of Wentzels!

One final ride in the wheelbarrow before we left the farm

lots of love

That afternoon was rainy and grey, and so we decided to drive back down and spend a little more time exploring and shopping at L.L. Bean. Since Kaden was so tired and strung out last time, James didn't have time to look for anything for himself. So this time I walked around with Kaden and we spent a lot of time looking at the giant fish tanks while James found some new outdoor gear. We also found a small painting of the Bass Harbor Head Light to add to our travel art collection. That helped me feel like our vacation was truly complete.

On our way to dinner, we drove by "Eartha" - the world's largest globe, which can be seen through the front windows at the Garmin store. Kaden was enthralled and still talks about it.

After that we had one final meal, and then headed back to the hotel to get as much rest as possible before our big travel day home.

in the restaurant

For the most part, the kids did well on the flight home. It happened at nap time. Kaden did finally fall asleep during the last 20 minutes or so before we landed, which meant he was (understandably) a train wreck when we woke him up to walk to the baggage claim. Imagine our 2 year old splayed out on the floor like a starfish and screaming as if his world was ending. Poor guy. Audrey was a trooper till we got to the car. We let Kaden "drive" for 30 minutes while I nursed her and pumped, but apparently that was not enough for our hungry little girl. She cried and cried all the way home, requiring multiple stops to attempt to feed and soothe her. What should have been a 2 hour drive home took nearly 4 hours so, and it was very late when we pulled into our drive way.

Over all it was a wonderful trip, and definitely worth while. We made a lot of memories, saw some beautiful sights, and - best of all - got to spend a lot of quality time with family. But traveling with two young kids is certainly no picnic and we will be sticking a little closer to home for a while.