Vermont trip

Wow, seriously a week ago we were in Vermont visiting my brother and his wife......it was wonderful! The weather was beautiful, we actually forgot it was summer, highs in the 70's during the day and lows so low at night, we closed the windows before bed! I was unable to check my e-mail, no cell phone service and only turned on the weather channel in the morning to view the weather for the day~that means the children went all week with NO TV or video games either! A dream of mine come true!



Of course, knitting was the first thing I packed! Almost finished my whisper cardigan......currently working the bottom half. The drive up was not at all that bad. The children faired very well in the van. We drove up through New York and stopped Fort Ticonderoga, a trip my family made in my younger years and wanted to share with my children. They enjoyed running around and seeing all the views from the fort. It seemed alot smaller than I remember, but then I remembered how little I was and how things have not changed, just my size has.

The Wagon Wheel~a restaurant my family ate at 20 some years ago...the food portions were too big for young children and we dreaded it, for back then in those days, you finished all your food, whether you were hungry or not. They definitely have gotten better, as the kids ate and their bellies were just fine, not too full not too empty.

We crossed a bridge from New York to Vermont, we were planning a ferry ride, but I really do not like ferries and begged Jamie not to go this route. Besides, the bridge was faster and we drove on 17 {I believe} through Vermont and it was crazy wicked curvy! Buck said they close it during the winter, cannot even plow it!

Of course made a stop at Ben and Jerry's. Kids enjoyed it, but even more so they enjoyed the next night at a friend of Buck and Dems soft serve ice cream shop.....they let them make their own sundays and the consensus was, that was far better than Ben and Jerry's by far! I however failed to snap some shots of that trip.....darn me!

The house we stayed at was surrounded by beautiful fields, and in them many snakes the children would see on their way over to Bucks house in the morning. Ryder even held one, I passed on that adventure. So the girls one night made daisy crowns. Quite beautiful they were and such a wonderful hands project, time consuming project.

Being the avid nature boy he is, my brother took us out to Smugglers Notch. It was quite an adventure, with breath taking views, we only got a sample of what could have been an all week adventure of camping and hiking. He took up up some stone steps and at one point my mom and sister stopped, then I stopped with Sawyer{injured knee from earlier} and I was glad, for it was STEEP, too steep for a mom and her younglings {my thought}. But Jamie and Buck took the oldest five up further as I sat and cringed at all the worst scenarios in my over imaginative mothers mind. They came back down safe and sound, but I was told later that Leif was a natural and wanted more....I foresee trouble in the sense of a daredevil like his father was and still is.

This was one of the nicest stops on our trip....Morse Farm maple sugarworks. Jamie and I chose the Grade A Dark Amber and brought some home. I would have LOVED to see it during the true maple syrup season...maybe another trip in the spring sometime?

The top picture was from our balcony, the bottom is of my brothers house. Cute isn't it?

Happy faces, happily at home! The drive home was a bit long and hard for the children, but we made it! On the way home, I got stung by a bee who somehow manged to fly into the bottom leg of my jeans and stung the side of my foot, that is how he told me he wanted out! Jamie also spotted the billboard sign for Webs just before the exit, which I begged for him to stop and let me visit, which he did and it was heavenly!{again, forgot to snap a shot!} I also stopped at Kaleidoscope Yarns, picked me up this bag in saddle~LOVE the size of it, not too mention the color is drop dead gorgeous in real life, never gave it a thought till I saw it in person. One last store I visited was The Knitting Studio, where I picked up the buttons to finish Apens Sweater, pattern from here. Will post picture when buttons have been sewn on......hopefully later this week!