Several months ago my sister Becca and I were talking on the phone or on Skype or something and we were bemoaning the fact that I have never been to visit her in Vermont. With Greg's family in Indiana I always feel like we need to use our PTO to visit them, plus Vermont is so far away and with three kids flying is way out of our budget and driving would probably take three days one way with all our frequent stops. That doesn't even take into consideration the fact that there wouldn't be enough room for all of us in her house so we would need to get a hotel... Then suddenly it dawned on me. I could go without taking the entire family. Only paying for one plane ticket would make it much cheaper and faster and if I traded some of my days around I wouldn't have to take any PTO. I never know what to ask for my birthday so I thought this could be my birthday and Christmas present!
Becca and I planned and I made lots of trades with coworkers so that they would be willing to help me out too and finally it was time!!! Sarah and I were ready to go!
Sarah did great on both planes (we had a stop over in Chicago) and we really had a lovely trip.
I took a few airplane pics to show Aaron, my airplane enthusiast, as we came into Boston, and more on the flights home.
So really right here should be a pic of Becca meeting us at the airport but we were too busy hugging to think about it. (-: We got turned around just a bit but we made it through rush hour trafic to my cousins, Rachel and Chris' house! Rachel made us a really delicious supper of grilled salmon, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob and fresh green beans from the farmer's market. Chris even gave babysitting a shot so I could eat!
There was desert offered but we had to go, poor Mosely was waiting at home for us and it was after 8pm with a 2 hour drive home. We talked the whole way and ate some chocolates Becca had made earlier that day! Mosely was very happy to see us but he settled down ok and eventually Sarah and I went upstairs to sleep and Becca and Mosely slept on the couch since she wasn't sure if he could keep it together already our first night there if we all slept upstairs.
............................................................
Becca's house!
This is her record player that a friend of hers found by the side of the road when he was still a teenager. He got a better one eventually and she got to have this one! She has a nice little collection started.
Becca's dining room table as seen from her front door.
The front door. The table directly behind me, to the right of the door is the kitchen and to the right of the table is the living room. They are seperated by the stairs to the bedroom loft and the bathroom is at the back of the house behind the kitchen with the door coming out behind the stairs.
Looking out the front door at the sweet little porch.
The porch from the outside.
Mosely! Such a handsome little fellow!
The pass through to the kitchen.
The little white cabinet is the one piece of furnature that Becca brought to VT from KS. Grandma Regier found it for her at Etc. Shop! It sits against the wall next to the table and houses her pretty little dishes!
The kitchen. It works but it has almost no usable storage. The cabinets under the sink are not usable for much because of the plumbing so really there are the cabinets above the sink and the drawers beside it.
Next to the drawers in the above pics there is this little white cabinet in the pic below that has one shelf and the bottom shelf is actually the floor. Because of that she is only really able to keep her pots and pans there. Thankfully she had a little pantry she brought with her that is three cabinets high and is just to the left of the white cabinet in this picture.
The stairs and living room. There is a tiny washer and dryer under the stairs and then the bathroom door is just beyond them at the back of the house.
This is the window at the top of the stairs, such beautiful color!
Kind of a washed out pic and the mess is totally my fault, but it is a pretty big space for the bedroom. The closet is just on the other side of the stairs to the right in this picture.
In the morning Mosely came up to see us while Becca showered and he was such a sweetie! Sarah just loved him and he was able to stay calm enough most of the time that it worked out great!
Becca taught Sarah to pull hair! Now she is always grabbing my hair! Naughty Auntie!
When I got done getting ready I came out to find this!
We had beautiful weather the whole time I was there!
Such a beautiful day!!!
Our first day Becca took me to Montpellier, the capitol of VT. We took all back roads and the countryside was amazing, just blazing with color and New England charm. The pics don't begin to do it justice. We kept screaming, "It's so beautiful!!!!"
This is the capitol building! It looks like it's in the country but Montpellier is a sweet little town with tons of charm. I actually took this pic because there is a mom with two girls playing on the steps and their two pink bikes are down at the bottom on the right hand side.
After taking care of a few errands Becca needed to do we stopped for a light lunch at a sweet place called The Skinny Pancake! It has both sweet and savory crepes. We got a savory crepe with winter squash, some kind of cheese, fresh spinach and fresh pieces of a tart green apple in it. It was amazing!
We also got water and a beer to share, not just any beer but Heady Topper. Greg has been trying lots of different specialty beers and one of his friends told him that this is one of the top beers in the nation and is very hard to find. It is made right there in VT and sells out in minutes. The restaurant happened to still have a few but had to open them before giving them to us so I couldn't buy one to take back to Greg unfortunately. They did tell us of a place that had gotten some that morning but when we got there they told us that they had sold out in 30 minutes of opening that morning, long before we got there. We did get another beer that Greg said was really good too, but he was definitely disappointed not to get some Heady Topper.
While in Montpellier we also went to a bookstore and I bought books for all three kids, three each. Francis books for Sarah, Frog and Toad books for Aaron, and Flat Stanley books for Luke! On one of our hikes later on we collected leaves to put in the pages for the boys to find after I got home, and on the drives we took after this I read most of them out loud to Becca. Love those books!
................................
For supper we stopped and one of Becca's favorite places called Worthy Burger that was pretty packed but definitely worth it, amazing food! Then we headed home, got cozy and hung out until late talking again. I loved how at home I felt in Becca's little cabin and how Mosely just loved Sarah and she loved him. Basically whoever was holding Sarah got to snuggle with Mosely too!
Tea and water for a thirsty mamma! Such a perfect way to spend the evening together!
Next morning we got ready and headed over to King Arthur Bakery where Becca works. Of course Becca and Sarah needed to be matching.
Even Sarah put on a hair net as we toured the bakery and met all of Becca's coworkers.
Yummy, yummy, yummy!!!
Sarah is a bag of flower!
After eating at the bakery (breakfast and sort of lunch? does that make it brunch?) we went to an orchard to pick some apples, blueberries and raspberries! Two of Becca's friends were going to meet us there but we got there early so while we waited we gave Sarah a Mohawk and took some cute pics!
Becca's friend Kelsey.
Becca's friend Laura was on her way to meet us so once we got done picking blueberries we found some shade to sit and wait.
Becca and Kelsey trying to be like Sarah.
After Laura got there she and the girls went to pick raspberries while Sarah and I stayed in the shade and Sarah got a little snack. The views were so pretty!
This is Becca's "little sister" Laura.
Apples are so much bigger it took us about two seconds to pick more than enough! Honey Crisps, my favorite!
They also had a corm maze there that we didn't do but the corn was so high I had to take a few pics to show Greg how tall it was!
Back at the cabin!
She looks like such a big girl!
Fixings for apple pie and below that our supper!
Becca's bestie, Amanda Anne, came over for supper. It wasn't the best lighting so my pics are all blurry but I think Amanda Anne is SO cute and my immediate feeling is that she and Becca just fit like family. I just love this girl and knowing that she is there for my sister.
supper!
And pie!
After Amanda Anne went home we got cozy again and stayed up talking a while and snuggling with Mosely.
These two just love each other!
No comments:
Post a Comment