Vermont

I'm behind on posting again as I plow through the 1500 photos I took in August.  That's what happens when we go on vacation twice in one month!  But I'm getting caught up and enjoying reliving all the excitement of summer travels.

Our very dear friends moved to Vermont two years ago.  We'd been saying we should go up for a visit for two years.  We missed our friends, plus Vermont was one of only three states I hadn't been to.  So when I was looking at the calendar and the map to figure out which state we could hit for our anniversary weekend, we invited ourselves for a visit.

The drive took 7.5 hours and the kids were beyond awesome in the car.  This was our maiden road trip with two kids in the van, and I would say it was a resounding success.  Karl sat in the back with them to keep the movies and snacks flowing.  There was practically no screaming and I drove in peace almost the entire time.  We stayed overnight in a hotel on the way up, which was possibly the highlight of the children's lives.  There aren't any bouncy mattresses in our house, but Henry walked into the hotel room and saw those two double beds, and it was like the code for bed-jumping was written on his childish DNA.

Other than locking ourselves out of that hotel room, we had an uneventful trip and made great time getting to Mt. Holly, where our friends were waiting for us with sunny weather and lots of food grown on their friends' sort-of-hippie organic homestead.  Vermont!  They have a big yard with woods and a meadow, plus two girls ages 7 and 9.  Henry wants absolutely nothing more out of life.  He was barefoot and chasing Olivia through the field as soon as the van door slid open.

We only had three days there, but managed to have a very thorough Vermont experience.

Romping in the woods.

Raspbery picking.

Horseback riding.

A lot of tackling Karl (while Jamie chainsawed things).

A LOT of leaping off the new deck.

Archery practice.

Plus (not pictured) visiting a cheese factory, eating ice cream, swimming in a freezing cold lake, and shopping at Rockwell-esque general stores.

But mostly, it was great to see our friends and have all of the kids together.  They mostly paired off, Olivia with Henry and Keira with Ingrid.  The big girls (and they are SO BIG now!) were so sweet and solicitous of our little kids.  I figured they would get bored with the tiny tots pretty quickly, but they entertained them and took care of them all weekend.  Keira would disappear with Ingrid for hours to show her how to dress up and play tea party and other girl activities that are somewhat lacking in Henry's house.

I can't even count the number of time Karl or I read bedtime stories to toddler Olivia and Keira, and now here they are reading stories to our toddlers.  Such sweet girls!  It makes my heart happy.

Karen has a few more pictures on her Facebook page, including some priceless ones of Ingrid naked in the meadow.

It was a great trip all around -- I hope we can make this an annual tradition!