I love this photo collage, because it truly reflects the joy in this vacation we take every year. (We got back a week ago.) And being from Texas, it never ceases to amaze me that my kids are growing up spending 4 days in Maine every summer! (Not to mention hanging out in Boston and New York City occasionally!?!) Traveling in New England was just a daydream of mine growing up, and it was my top pick for a honeymoon trip 17 years ago. THAT didn’t happen (and sorry, but Galveston is just not the same), but I HAVE gotten to spend the last 10 years of my life being a perpetual New England tourist – funny how the Lord provides for those hopes and dreams sometimes.

This is the view (yes, really) from the deck of the cabin we stay in each year. It overlooks Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine and is one of the most popular summer vacation towns around. And the cabin is a ministry of a very sweet and generous couple who have a home right there on the cove. The studio cabin sits in their large backyard right at the edge of the cove. It used to serve as the art studio of Mr. Smith’s mother. The Smith family’s ministry is to let pastors and missionaries come and stay there for up to 3 nights a year for free. The guest book is filled with notes from folks all across the country and the globe who have had the privilege to come and rest and get refreshed there – 20 years worth! And we’ve been enjoying it for the last 10!

Our first order of “business” is to cross that adorable white drawbridge (which is just a short walk from the cabin) and walk around in the cove shopping area. Pictured above is the kids’ favorite destination – the “penny candy” store. Inside, you grab a sand pail, and walk around filling it with individual pieces of any kind of candy you can imagine – all around 5-25 cents a piece. Then the trading and rationing begins and continues throughout the rest of the time in Maine. (There’s also fudge, and toffee, and turtles for mom and dad!)Kayla and I sported french braids for one of our days at the beach, and I discovered that I can still french braid my own hair! I used to braid mine and all of my friends’ in high school for various occasions. I keep seeing young girls with french braided hair these days….maybe it’s coming back in style! Anyway, it’s a great way to keep Kayla’s hair free of sand and tangles at the beach when she will agree to let me do it.
(And she loves being a “twin” with me – don’t know how much longer that will last!)The kids just love the beach. It is amazing how entertaining miles of sand and water can be. On our second beach day we stayed from 10am until 5pm! They just dug deep holes, built castles, rode the waves, carried buckets of water to fill their holes, made sand bridges, tunnels, and ate snacks all day long which gave mom and dad a little time to do this…. 🙂

Sit.
Just sit and read books and magazines that haven’t been cracked in a while…and talk…and drink iced coffee…and watch the kids enjoy themselves. Wonderful. We did, of course, get talked into going into the water a couple of times and it wasn’t actually that bad. The northeast coast Atlantic doesn’t ever seem to be anything but frigid, and usually I can only get in to my ankles, but it was nice and warm that day and so I made it to my knees. I think Robert made it much further than me.

Another fun spot in town is the Marginal Way…a mile long narrow walkway along the rocky shore which is absolutely beautiful. And we always take a detour from the path to climb all over the rocks as far down to the water as we can get. You just have to be careful not to stay out too long when the tide is coming in which can cause your original path to be covered in icy water for the return trip!

We look forward to this trip every year…a great way to end the summer!