Pre-Wedding Celebration

August 4th brought not only friends, but fun, excitement, and outdoor adventure. We were blessed to have a small group that was able to escape their hectic lives for the weekend, and so we felt it was only appropriate to expose them to our crazy antics!

We had a relaxed morning of hanging out at the house and catching up before hitting the road north to Acadia. It is an exciting thing to take 8 people on their first adventure to one of the most beautiful places I know.

Not wanting to hold back, we took took most of the crew up the Beehive Trail where clung to the sides of cliffs and looked anxiously for ladders where there was nothing else to hold onto. We made it to the top only to experience a breathtaking view of the Atlantic and the beach below where the rest of our crew was exploring.

After the cliffs made our hearts flutter, we settled on an easy jaunt to The Bowl, a pristine pond on top of the mountain. Surrounded by the woods and a big blue sky, everyone decided (OK, some decided, others fell to peer pressure...but the kind that doesn't have any negative repercussions) to take a little breather from hiking by jumping in and enjoying the nice cool playing around with Jimmy's waterproof camera, being startled by unexpected seaweed, and being chased by leaches (maybe they didn't really chase us, but unless you were up there, I guess I can describe the blood-sucking creatures however I choose).

We took the easy way down and attempted to dry off in the sun that miraculously disappeared as soon as we all jumped into the water. Making our way to the sandy beach and gathering the rest of our crew, we decided to make a stop at Thunder Hole. While it was pretty quiet while we were there, the Fire 2 crew did get a nice little splash while posing for the photo above.

Needing to refuel we made a trip into Bar Harbor. We had a simultaneous search for good food and lobster ice cream and succeeded at both. Between amazing seafood at Route 66 and Jimmy's conquest of lobster ice cream we were full beyond belief as we ventured back to our cars. On our way we discovered the joys of parking on side streets in an incredibly crowded town. One, it was very easy for us to find the cars, and two, we were not targeted by the skilled driver who managed to run into a parked car.

After inspecting our cars for nicks from other skilled drivers, we ventured to Pirate's Cove. If you ever come visit us, have us take you on this amazing mini-golf adventure. Seeing as it was only fair, the group split into a 5v5, boys versus women tournament. With Laura doing some amazing putting and making several hole-in-ones, we put up quite a fight. But, not wanting to hurt the egos of those males partaking, we let them win by a fair margin. It was a wonderful evening though and full of laughs.