Benjamin's First Trip to Mount Desert Island:)

We try very hard each year to make at least one trip to Mount Desert Island.  In the 12 years we have been together, we have missed very few years.  So, this year Gabe's summer was just too busy and we ran out of time.  We were trying to go at the end of August, but the hotels were too expensive, and I was too pregnant to haul all of the camping stuff up there to camp (which is how we usually visit). Looking at the calendar we realized on Sunday that if we didn't go for Monday night there wouldn't be any other chance this year.  So, feeling energized at the time, we decided to go for the night.  It was a quick trip since we didn't get to leave Portland until 2pm on Monday, but we got to go and had a blast being there. On Monday evening we didn't arrive at our hotel until the kids bedtime, so we had just enough time to run downtown and get some Ben and Bill's ice cream and to see the shops.  The next morning we woke to fog.  The hotel had a surprisingly good continental breakfast, and since it was free we stocked up and let the kids eat as much as they could;)  It is interesting traveling with 3 kids as young as ours are because everyone definitely looks at you like you are crazy and almost everyone has some comment about it.  Thankfully all of the comments that they shared were nice and the kids were largely well behaved in the public setting.  After breakfast we drove to hike Bubble "Mountain". It is only 0.5 miles up and not at all strenuous, but has a great view, which is why we try to do it every year with kids.  Well this year it was pretty eerie because of the fog.  We did still get to see the balancing rock and Noah's fear of heights was largely non-existent given that he couldn't see how high up we were. I carried Benjamin, Gabe carried James after his 0.2 mile attempt, and Noah walked the whole way, which he didn't have a choice about, but I was very thankful none the less that he didn't ask to be carried or complain.  Next we drove up Cadillac Mountain for a picnic (the fog had cleared) and finished up the day with a drive around the rest of the island.  It was a quick trip, but really fun, and we survived our first overnight trip with 3 little ones in a hotel room;)