East Coast Review

We've been home for a few weeks and I'm just getting around to posting about our August trip to CT to see the Horton and Achmoody clans. I still find it odd that my mid-western family has been transplanted out east. It is good though -new places to explore and good excuses for travel.

On to the vacation...while I don't enjoy packing, I do feel like I've got it down to a science now. I took great pride in managing to fit everything that we needed for our family of 4 in one suitcase, plus a couple of carry-ons. Since I did not know exactly what to expect, I brought lots of new toys for the time we'd spend in the air. The most popular items were: glow in the dark mini plastic dinosaurs, blue painter's tape (it is less sticky than the other stuff and if you don't know what to do with it, give it to a 19 month old and they will show you), a matchbox airplane and tractor, a plastic ladybug, a slinky, and obscene amounts of snack food, individually wrapped for added novelty!

Ella noshing on her bagel before take off.

Hiking in Putnam Memorial State Park to burn some post flight energy. They did not make it all that far before getting distracted with sticks and pebbles.

Ella before visiting Nini and Papa's church.

Dad and Matt worked on for a couple of days at their respective offices leaving Mom and I with the kids. Here is Noah checking out the parking signs in Bethel.

Looking mischievous in the bath.

Blueberry picking --this could be Ella's new favorite hobby.

Post blueberry picking. Does it not remind you of American Gothic? Noah is holding his beloved new Go, Diego, Go ball that he found on clearance at Target. He's never seen the show but he was obsessed with that thing. Too bad we lost it.

Throwing caution (read naps) to the wind, we took the kids to Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island for a day. This was their first ocean experience and it was bliss to watch their delight.

Papa dug a massive pool with Noah and it was quite popular with a number of the other kids on the beach.

Then Matt showed them that they could carry water to their sand castles --also very captivating.

We finished the day at a new favorite spot, Bill's Seafood. Seriously yummy fresh seafood that is served at record speed (very important with toddlers, right?). I still think about the olive and jalapeno calamari...

The following day we ventured out to Holbrook Farms which is owned by friends of Mom and Dad. We were given the grand tour --we should have taken a video because both of them were obsessed with the chickens/clucking.

The vacation ended with a brief but great visit from the Achmoodys.
Thankfully, mom and dad's place is spacious --4 kids and 6 adults and 2 noisy dogs make for quite a crew. I love these boys. Graham is super easy going and Ben is one of those kids that you just want to hug all the time, even when he is being a stinker. (As an aside, he made me laugh so hard with his saying like, 'It is as easy as pie.') And Micah, he's awesome. So interested in other people and extraordinarily considerate for a kid going into kindergarten.

Graham, 10 months

Benjamin, 3

Micah, 5

My sis Leslie

Ben, Micah and Jason

For the grand finale of our vacation, Matt and I spend a night at this little spot in New York's Hudson River Valley. Long overdue, it was my first night away from the kids. So relaxing.

Here we are dining, slowly and without care of food being chucked on the floor, at the Culinary Institute of America's Cafe. Later that day we dawdled around some other river towns and then capped the day with dinner at a tiny sushi house.