Vermont

What fun we had in Vermont!  We spent a long weekend in early August at Mimi's house and had such a good time.  This was the first time the boys had been to her house when the weather was actually nice enough to play outside (and boy, was the weather nice!)  The last couple of years we have spent Christmas up there when there is tons of snow on the ground and freezing temps.  This summer, however, I was searching for any destination that would take me out of Philadelphia's humidity.  Vermont was an excellent choice.  I think that we will make this an annual trip and stay longer in the future (if that plan is okay with Mimi...).

Sam and Aunt Joey making silly faces...

Hey, hey, hey, Hollywood!!  (a song we sing whenever the boys wear our sunglasses)...


We got to see quite a bit of family and friends during our short trip.  Uncle Chuck and Aunt Lisa drove over from New Hampshire on our first full day in Vermont.  We had lunch and a nice visit with the two of them as well as Stan and Arlene Ramsden--good friends of Paul's family.  Paul's cousin David, along with his wife Lori and their two beautiful kids--Alex and Kate, drove down from northern Vermont the following day for lunch and a swim.  And of course no trip to Vermont would be complete without spending oodles of time with Koa, Joey and Neki.

Paul with Uncle Chuck and Stan  Ramsden

Star Lake

This lake is right through Mimi's backyard.  It is so pretty and peaceful, and the kids had a ton of fun splashing and swimming.

Max with Alex, Kate and Koa

Kate and Sam

Once Sam found that David would help him keep his squirt gun loaded with water they became fast friends...

Sam with David

My boys definitely take after my side of the family when it comes to salt.  I am sure these pictures make my mom (and all of her side of the family) very proud!



The boys had so much fun playing in Mimi's driveway.  She had quite the selection of toys--tricycles, tractors, bikes, strollers.

Max's favorite toy at Mimi's house...



Until Koa inspired him to learn how to ride a two-wheeler...




Koa was so nice to share his bike with Max, and Max was very motivated by Koa's ability to ride a bike without training wheels--so much so that he learned himself before our trip was over!

We knew that given our crazy lives at the moment (broken foot, pregnancy, never-ending to-do-list,  etc...) we wouldn't be having a birthday party for Sam this year.  So,we decided that since we would be in the company of family we should do some celebrating a little early for our favorite almost-two-year old.

Sam's birthday dinner celebration

Birthday Cupcakes!

Best Buddies!

All in all, the trip was a blast! The pics don't even begin to do justice to all the fun that was had.  I guess that right now, since I am so immobile with the big belly and broken foot and all, I don't get very good or as many pics as I would like.  Also, the commentary is a little weak compared to blog entries past.  Let's just say I have a LOT to do before this baby comes, and if I don't get these last entries in fast they are never going to make it... (don't be surprised if another update to the blog comes within the next day or so!)