October 12th

We checked out of the Burlington Hotel this morning and are making our way toward New Hampshire again. Our first stop along the way was the Browns River in Jericho, VT.

Takin' it easy.

Todd spent many a summer day here in high school. We could see why, it was a fun place to play.

We stopped at Snowflake Chocolates and picked up a few treats for the day. Then we made our way toward the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Today is going to be a day of eating and indulgence.

So we are sitting at Cold Hollow Cider and enjoying some hot cider and fresh cider doughnuts and Todd says to the kids, "Isn't there lots of good food in Vermont?" Lauren was about to answer, when I said, "Mom would be fat if we lived here." "You can say that again," was Lauren's reply. I am hoping that it was in response to Todd and not me, but either way it's true.

Mmmmm, cider doughnuts. Yes, Jonah grabbed a handful of someone's doughnut and we didn't stop him. Babies need to enjoy the goodness too, right?

The next installment in our series of "insert your head photos".

After we had some cider we headed about 1 mile down the road to feed our faces again. But first some education. One can't go to Vermont and not learn how ice cream is made. So on to the Ben and Jerry's factory. We did the tour and then of course had some icy cold goodness after.

Ohhhh, it's my theme ice cream--made just for me (Jonah is going to be a monkey for Halloween).

Just gettin' in good with the source of my food.

We are a happy family. Who wouldn't be happy whilst stuffing one's face with ice cream...

As Jimmy Buffet says, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere. And it was 5 o'clock at the B&J's factory.

Cut a hole in something and our kids will stick their head through for a photo :-)

In between the Snowflake Chocolates and Cold Hollow Cider Mill we stopped for gas and outside the gas station was an extremely large pumpkin. Lauren looked out the window and said, "Holy Spices, that pumpkin's big."

Also, the other day when we were about to go pick apples I paused at the back of the Secret Service Vehicle to change Jonah's diaper. Todd, Dallin, and Lauren went in to get the scoop on the apple picking and to wait for me to catch up. Apparently while they were waiting Lauren said to Todd, "Isn't it ironic that Mom's missing all the fun." (Apparently I miss a lot of fun)

Out of the mouths of babes.

On to NH and our last night of the vacation. The kids are pretty excited for this hotel because it has a pool so they can swim tonight. Somewhere we'll have to fit in some real food, because I am getting a little sick. Too many treats!!!

October 11th

Ahhhh, the vacation is winding down. We saved the itinerary for last. Today and tomorrow are full days. Here we go.....

Shelburne Museum is so much fun. It is acres of Americana and History. There was some cool exibits on while we were there too, Ansel Adams, need I say more. All these things to see and I honestly think things like jumping off a bench were some of the kids favorite moments.

Sign over the entrance to the covered bridge that is now a part of the museum.

Old School House in the museum.

Todd's nature photography.

Can you imagine school like this? They were so fascinated that school used to be held all in one room and was heated by a stove, etc.

Our little Oompah Loompah.

Another highlight for the kids. The very old but well maintained carousel. This was what Dallin asked about all day long. After this though we went into a looonnnnggg building that housed an entire circus parade of miniature figures. It was really cool.

Beautiful Stop on the road.

Then on to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. We were so excited to learn about making Teddy Bears and of course, get one of our own. Dad used to be a "Bear Counselor." What a fun place to work.

Here we are on the tour.

The first in a series of "put your head in the hole" photos. Keep your eyes open for more.

After leaving the Teddy Bear Factory we suddenly decided to hop onto the ferry across Lake Champlain to New York. So we drove to the ferry dock and drove onto the next ferry that left in 5 minutes.....

A view of Vermont from the ferry.

Fun times on the ferry.

Arriving in New York. As we drove onto the dock in New York, Lauren loudly called out from the backseat, "Welcome to Yew Nork!!!!"

We started driving along the road in NY and saw this little open lawn with a beautiful tree and fallen leaves. We pulled over and took pictures and played for a while. I'm sure we were on someone's property but we didn't get shot at so we figured we were okay. It was fun.

So we wended our way along the Adirondaks and then to a different ferry crossing where we managed to make the last ferry of the day from that crossing back to Vermont. We were outside of the car for a few minutes, but it was really cold with the wind on the water so the kids spent most of the ride in the Secret Service car playing with their bears.

Jonah was asleep so we left him in the car. We were only like 6 feet away from him so he was safe. Yes, we can be responsible parents :-)

When we got off the ferry we were starving. We happened to find an amazingly good Churrasqueria, in Burlington of all places. We talked to the kids about the fact that we were taking them to a grown up restaurant and that they needed to behave. I don't know exactly what we said our how we said it (I wish I would have recorded it for future use) but they were so well behaved. We were so impressed with their behavior!! They were calm and pleasant and polite and ate lots of food and lasted for about 3 hours!!!

Hi guys!!! Now that it is time to sleep I am totally awake. Let's play.

October 10th

A nice thing about long vacations is that you can wander and not always be on a schedule. We set out on a day of wandering about the countryside and stopped at the Round Church in Richmond, VT.

We happened upon the Moulton Family Farm along the road. They had all manner of vegetables for sale, along with berries, maple syrup, etc. We were sad that we couldn't buy any squash or large pumpkins, but the kids were able to buy a few gourds. We spent quite a while hanging out with Farmer Moulton. He took the kids to see his pigs, taught us about how they harvest and make their maple syrup, let the kids pick through his cart load of gourds for their favorites (and gave them a few freebies beyond what we had already paid for), and chatted with us about his family (all his sons are involved in the farm and live within a short distance). We bought some maple syrup from him as well.

Holy Pumpkins!!!!

We went for a walk around Indian Brook Reservoir. There wasn't an official distance posted but we figure it was about 3 miles (???). The kids great until the end. Dallin was a machine and had a blast the entire way. Lauren on the other hand did well until she told us for the 2oth time that she was thirsty and informed us that if we didn't get her something to drink she was going to scream. This picture was pretty cool with the clouds reflecting in the water. You couldn't see it in person, but it showed up in the photos.

Here we are with the requisite sticks and mushrooms. We found all kinds of interesting mushrooms and lichen. Lauren wanted to make houses out of them, but the best we could do was to carry them around on our sticks. It was fun to explore the forrest for new things.

Two handsome guys.

Todd was showing the kids how cool he is by running up the tree. I'm sure you can picture how the landing was. The second time, was better and he landed it with a little more grace. After this we went to a beverage and got a drink (before Lauren screamed :-)) and homemade cake slices, yum! (What a great dinner, we had to find some better dinner later.)