A Little More of Fall....

So before the Advent season kicks into high gear, I wanted to share some more "fall" with you. I still haven't shared our whole Vermont trip with you.

I don't think I've told you before how much I loved Vermont. Oh...I have? I did?? Oh, sorry. Well I do.

So this was a day we spent at Shelburne Farms. And I use the term "farm" lightly. The farms I've spent time in England and South Dakota are farms. This was an estate that oh-by-the-way has sheep, cows and makes their own cheese.

It's 1400 acres. A Vanderbilt estate whose grounds were designed by the same guy who did Central Park. Ya, it's no ordinary farm. We hopped in a wagon for a grand tour of the estate. Check it out...

So this is the "house". The summer house for the family, when they wanted to get away to the country after being in New York. Nice, eh? It backs up to Lake Champlain and you can see the New York Adironacks on the other side of the lake. It's now a working B&B, and if I had the opportunity or the funds to stay as a guest, I would!


Here's the back....


And the view from the back....




We did decide to splurge a little bit and we all (4 adults and 4 kids under 4) had brunch in the house. This restaurant is a fine china kind of place, so we had an adult sitting on either side of a child, and we brought in our arsenal of car toys for everyone to play with. We only had one drink spill, and overall it was quite a success! We took the last reservation time, so we were practically the only guests eating, so that helped too.

It was an amazing breakfast. Everything was homemade and farm fresh. Tyson enjoyed his pancakes with real Vermont maple syrup...


Then we took a little time to let the kids play off their maple syrup and fresh orange juice high.


And then onto the "barn". No, this isn't the house. This is for the animals.



Here is our transportation. The kids LOVED it.




Tyson and Evan checking out the big tractor tires. Although I have to say, this tire has NOTHING on the South Dakota tires I've sat in.


The barn is now used for educational purposes. They host all sorts of children's programs throughout the year. This is also where the farm makes their own cheese. The whole place is geared towards children and the children's farm, so there was plenty for us to see and do.



We got to meet and pet a baby calf...


...play dress up....


...go inside the largest chicken coop I've ever seen....


....play "farm"...with John Deere of course....


....and meet and milk a cow!






Oh, and Ava and Wade learned how to identify different kind of animal poop. You never know when that life skill may come in handy!


And then back to our wagon to finish our tour back to the visitor center to taste all the homemade cheddar.

If you ever get the chance, a visit to Shelburne Farms is a must!!!!


Oh, and this is Tyson on the wagon ride. I entered my kids for the Gap casting call, and this is one of the pictures of Tyson I entered. Can't you see him hanging in Gap Kids windows nationwide???!!!


Happy Day after Thanksgiving!!

Boston

Two days was perfect. A quick weekend getaway that we ALL loved.

We decided to drive up on Saturday morning, rather than getting in late Friday night. It was a quick 3 hour drive, and we were in our hotel parking lot by 9:30am. Fantastic!

The first thing on our list was the Boston Duck Boat Tour, and the kids had been talking about it for days. Once we told them we were going on a boat ride, but the boat had wheels and drove on the road, they were hooked. "Duck boat, duck boat!" That's all I heard around the house for two days. And, "Mommy, how does a boat have wheels on it??"

It was a bit pricey, but it was worth it, and it got me off my feet for an hour and a half. Our fearless tour guide, Mario, was great, and he even let the kids drive the Duck in the water. Tyson was the first to raise his hand and volunteer, and he steered us through the Charles River like a real pro.

The most interesting fact I learned on the tour? Did you know that most of downtown Boston is actually built on top of landfill??? From Charles Street (which used to be the edge of the Charles River) down towards Newbury Street. It's all on landfill!!! He was quick to point out how flat that part of town is. Crazy. I think part of lower Manhattan is that way too.


After a fabulous lunch, we wandered down Newbury Street and enjoyed looking in all the shops and restaurants, and the kids even stopped to play instruments with a local street performer.

Tyson got very distracted at an art gallery checking out the "baseball pictures".


Then on to the Boston Public Garden, the country's oldest public garden and world's smallest suspension bridge. And yes, it was all built on top of landfill.


Ava could not wait to get to the duck statues from Make Way for Ducklings, and she along with all the other children in Boston are keeping the backs of Mrs. Mallard and Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack all nice and shiny.


After a quick Starbucks break, we wandered through one of my favorite neighborhoods (because it is nothing but eye candy), Beacon Hill. I love window boxes, and Beacon Hill didn't disappoint. Everyone had the most tasteful and beautifully filled window boxes. GORGEOUS!!!!


Cobblestone driveways, brick sidewalks and gas street lights. What more could you want in a neighborhood. No wonder you have to win the lottery to live in that neighborhood.


After a great night at our hotel, which included a free upgrade to a suite...HEAVEN, we started our morning over in Cambridge eating breakfast at Sound Bites. My friend Julie had taken my friend Angela and I there years ago, and the memory of their fresh fruit and amazing cooked breakfasts still lingered. So I talked Wade into going. He kept asking me all weekend..."Why do our days revolve around where we are eating?" And this is why. Check out this amazing spread of food.


We quickly walked off our breakfast around Harvard Square and the Harvard campus while the kids took a serious power nap, and then we ended our afternoon at Burdick Chocolates, a little chocolate store and cafe that our neighbor across the street used to manage. She told me explicitly what to order: Hot chocolate, skim milk, and milk chocolate, not dark. It did NOT disappoint. Although it was a bit hot for Tyson.



A stop at IKEA on the way home for $1 (yes, it was on sale) for meatballs, potatoes and lingonberries ended our weekend perfectly!!!

P.S. My good friend Angela (who I lived in Paris with), is coming to visit tomorrow for a girl's weekend. Today is her 40th birthday, and her husband is sending her to NYC for a few days. Keep tuned in for our adventures the next few days! She just got a cast off her foot, and with me starting to waddle, we should be quite the pair around town.

Our weekend away...

Look where we went this weekend! Boston is only 3 hours away. GREAT weekend getaway.


More of Boston later!

I am my father's daughter...

I am my father's daughter.

I look through magazines and pull out articles on places I want to go. I keep them in a 3 ring binder in plastic sheet protectors. Yes, I am my father's daughter.

The biggest difference is that I look through magazines like Country Living, Cottage Living (I cried when they stopped publishing it, but I have ALL my copies), and other such magazines. I think my Dad mostly looks at RV magazines. But at the core, we're the same.

So for our Vermont vacation, I pulled out my binder and planned pretty much our entire trip around a great article in Country Living featuring the Lake Champlain region in Vermont. Voila! I knew where we were going on vacation.

American Flatbread was one of the yummy restaurants featured in the article. If you ever find yourself in Burlington, go check it out. Local ingredients, real wood oven and homemade beer (not that I had any).

Burlington is a great town. Just don't forget your Birkenstocks.

Lake Placid

One of our favorite day trips we took while in Vermont was to Lake Placid, NY. The ferry from Vermont, across Lake Champlain to NY, was just about 10 minutes from the house. The kids were so impressed that cars could go on a boat ride too.



Here's some fall foliage on our drive to Lake Placid. Amazing! We felt like New York had more reds in their foliage than Vermont did, and some of the reds were almost pink. It was amazing.






Did you know Lake Placid is where the "miracle on ice" was? The 1980 USA hockey team winning gold? I tend to be horrible at remembering those facts (even though I saw the movie) unless I've actually been there. Can you imagine what the 1932 Olympics were like??


So for some reason, the only time Wade and I actually shop for ourselves is when we're on vacation. We hit it big at the Bass store on Main Street. BUY 1 PAIR OF LADIES BOOTS AND GET 2 FREE!!! Yes, you read that right. I got 3 pairs of boots for the price of 1!!! So here is Ava catching up with Wade to give him his wallet back. Thanks Wade. I LOVE my boots.





Pretty nice view from the golf course, eh?



Yes, those are the ski jumps.



I only made Wade "PULL OVER!!!!!" about 10 times on the way back to the ferry. But I think it was worth it, don't you??