Elissa's third weekend was a long one for the 4th of July! Eliot and I both had Friday off. Thursday night, we drove up to Bar Harbor for the weekend. I love Bar Harbor on the 4th of July. Growing up there, it's sort of a tradition. Recently, it's been getting publicity as one of America's best small towns for Independence Day. It was packed.
After the parade, we enjoyed lunch with my family at Epi, another Bar Harbor 4th of July tradition! It was also on Elissa's food list, so it worked out great. Next, we all enjoyed relaxing in the park overlooking the water. I was surprised at how many people were already staking out their spots for the fireworks!
We decided to spend the afternoon elsewhere since town was so crowded. I've been wanting to take Eliot to the Bass Harbor Headlight for a while now. (I haven't been since I was in middle school.) So Eliot, Elissa, Jeremy and I drove out there. It's on the other side of the island, but it's well worth the trip. It was beautiful. We relaxed by the lighthouse, sat on the rocks overlooking the ocean, and soaked in the natural beauty of Acadia National Park and the Maine coastline.
That night, we headed back into town for the fireworks. Dad, Eliot, Elissa, Jeremy and I ate dinner at the Epi. (What can I say? The food is great!) We made it to our no longer secret spot just in time for the fireworks! They were awesome. For a small town, Bar Harbor sure puts on one heck of a show. The area surrounding the pier was packed full of people. According to the news, it was Bar Harbor's busiest 4th of July yet! I'm really not surprised!
The next morning, we got up early for Papa's Memorial BBQ. My uncle, aunt and cousins were all visiting from California so we planned to have a memorial type "celebration of Papa's life" that weekend. We had a short service at my aunt's house where we shared memories of Papa. My cousin Matt made a beautiful video which had a voice over of Papa telling a story to him. It was so nice to hear his voice. After, the family released red and blue balloons, Papa's favorite colors. Then, we had food and visited with family and friends. My family wore Disney shirts since we shared so many fun times there with Papa. Eliot and Elissa wore their Main Street Electricity shirts. It was Papa's favorite. It was a hard day, but a nice way to celebrate Papa.
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| Photos taken by Chelsea Ellis Photography |
The next week was pretty similar to the others- Elissa hung out while Eliot and I worked. We watched a few more movies, went shopping, the usual. Elissa decided she wanted to make some ear headbands for two of her girl friends for their upcoming Disneyland trip at the end of July. She and I bought supplies and I helped her get working on those. She's so creative and she came up with the ideas all on her own.
Elissa also came up with a design for herself. She loved Bing Bong in Inside Out and she really wanted to make an ear hat. She created the design, and then I helped her put it together. Well, actually all I did was attach the pink fabric and help her with the cotton candy part; she did the rest! The ears came out really cute. I'm so proud of her and how hard she worked on all of them!
On Thursday, we went back to Old Orchard Beach to watch the fireworks again. We got there early so we'd have plenty of time to enjoy the beach before it got dark. Eliot and Elissa got Pier Fries and I got fried dough. We played toss on the beach with a little Nerf football. Elissa enjoyed playing in the water while Eliot and I relaxed. Then, she and I covered Eliot in sand. Before we knew it, it was time for the fireworks.
The following weekend, we went back up to Bar Harbor. Saturday, we went to the Jordan Pond House for popovers. My entire family came with us and it was a lot of fun. The popovers were delicious. After, Elissa, Eliot and I went down to the lake to take a few photos. It's so beautiful down there. I also wanted to show Eliot and Elissa the Bubbles off in the distance at the other end of the lake.
Eliot, Elissa and I returned home and went for the swim at the campground pool. It was nice to cool off after being in the sun at the Jordan Pond House. The pool was pretty busy, but we didn't mind. It was nice to enjoy the water.
Around dinner time, Jeremy joined us to go mini golfing at Pirates Cove. We had a blast golfing. We always have a ton of fun at Pirates Cove. Jeremy kept playing around and annoying Elissa and it was hilarious. She kept trying to shoot the water cannon and he kept beating her to it. Needless to say, there was a lot of laughter.
After, we went into town quickly to get Rosalie's pizza. We were meeting Mom, Dad and Nana at the campground for a campfire but we were starving. We shared the pizza around the campfire and talked and laughed. We also had to bring back campfire cones and s'mores since they were such a big hit last year. However, this year, the campfire cones came out a lot better. They were delicious.
The next day, Eliot and Elissa were meeting Katie around noon to go hiking. We went into town and did a little shopping while waiting for Katie. Then I drove all three of them over to the hiking trail at the Bubble Mountains we saw from the Jordan Pond House. The two peak trail isn't too long or strenuous and it's a gorgeous view from the top. While they went hiking, I went to the pool with Mom and Dad. Then, Mom and Dad went to get me, Jeremy and Nana milkshakes.
Eliot and Elissa returned from their hike exhausted and sticky. (It was over 80 degrees and humid that day.) They weren't too amused that I went to the pool and had ice cream... ha ha. They told us about the hike and the beautiful view then took showers to cool off. Eliot and I took an afternoon nap to rest up for the ride home. Then, we went back into Bar Harbor to do a little bit more shopping. Elissa had a few presents to get for her friends. We didn't leave Bar Harbor until late and we got home past 2:00 am, but it was worth it. We had a great weekend.
The next morning, Elissa and I had another campus tour at the University of New England. The school isn't far from our house, so thankfully we could sleep in. The tour was great and I was really impressed with the campus and school. It's right on the water; they have an incredible sports center. It was great. Elissa liked it too.
The next day came before we knew it: her last full day in Maine. That night, Eliot and I took Elissa out to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. It's her favorite restaurant out here so we tried to take her a few times. Afterwards, we met up with my cousin Lucas and his wife Rachel. Elissa really wanted to go candlepin bowling last summer and we ran out of time. We made sure we did it this trip. We have a place locally that has glow bowling. It was a lot of fun. Rachel and Elissa had never been candle pin bowling with the smaller balls and they did really well. We had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun. After, we played around in the arcade for a little bit before returning home to pack.
