to the beach

I wasn't expecting to end up playing on the beach at all this weekend.  After spending time at the Tulip Festival, we separated from the rest of the family and Grammy, me, Zack and Odin went on to drive home through Whidbey Island.

We took our time and ended up at a beautiful park on the ocean.  We played for awhile and enjoyed the sand and waves.  We were so glad to have grammy's cheery company for this little adventure.  There was just so much to see.  We'll certainly be going back sometime soon.

I forget how close I am to water here.  AND, we have a car so we can enjoy it whenever we want!  I think this summer is going to be too good to be true and I can't wait!

Vermont Country Store

The Vermont Country Store.  Ever heard of it?  Ever been?  I posted about it  a while back and I had no idea I'd get to go so soon.  This is a store with many of our old fashioned favorites; clothes, candy, toiletries, soaps, decor, pantry items, toys and much more.  It was really fun to visit again.

 

 

 The walls and counters of old school candy were awesome.  The bottles of soda were so fun.  They have dips, jams and jellies to try with yummy old classic biscuits and crackers.  The decor was all vintage and so lovely.  Some accent furniture was covet-able.  While the old fashioned toys and books were my favorite part.  I felt like a kid and I loved it!

 

 Leave it to this part of the state to be beautiful with all of the classic old touches of the era.  I really loved this little detour we took on our way home, even if it did set us back an hour or 3.  Go visit the Vermont Country Store if you have a chance or shop online for some of the classics offered in-store.

The candy was expensive, .25 cents each for one of these babies.  They look big in the pictures but they weren't.   I got a few for fun so I could know what I didn't like for future online ordering's sake.  Above are my ratings out of 5 for the 6 out of 7 candies I splurged on to try. 

 Horehound was so bad, it didn't even make the list.  I almost forgot the old fashioned chewing gum I got.  Clove, Beemans, Black Jack...  I love these chewing gums, they remind me of my grandparents!

oh, lovely New Hampshire

In case you can't tell, this trip to New Hampshire was a very good one for me.  I felt so good there.  It was so different from city life and that is what is natural and comfortable for me.  I am not a city girl!  This is my last post about this particular vacation.  I just wanted to share all of the beauty. 

I mean, just look at the green everywhere.  And, that sky!

This is my lovely Aunt Drew and Uncle Will.  They are wonderful and I am glad I have gotten to spend time with them these last years that I've lived on the East Coast.  I hope I get to visit again soon!

I'll miss this charming little country town of Cornish.  Its home of small-town patriotic folks that are as neighborly as they come and also many covered bridges.  This is the longest wooden covered bridge in the United States and the longest two-span covered bridge in the world.  Pretty awesome.  

//  I can't wait to visit NH again soon!

Saint-Gaudens

 

This is the home of the artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens which has been made into a national museum.  It hardly felt or looked like it was a museum it was just too beautiful and wide open.  His art was just worked in to the landscaping and I loved it all!

 

I would love to visit this historical place again.  It was such a beautiful place.  What made it better that I had to leave was that I live in New York City and I can see several of Saint-Gaudens sculptures.  But, there really is nothing like walking the grounds that offered inspiration for so many years to such a brilliant artist.  It was quite a lovely experience.

//  This was one occasion of many that this city girl felt like she was living in the wrong place.  Here in Cornish, NH, I felt like I was home, in my element, happy.  I really hope its not long until we move away from this cityland we call home.

living in the garden

We are back from our New Hampshire vacation.  There were so many things about it that I loved.  We were in the country!  There were trees, bugs, chickens, gardens, grass and fields, wild flowers everywhere.  These sunflowers survived the wrath of Hurricane Irene.   They were at least a foot and a half taller than me.  I'd never seen sunflowers that big before.  It was pretty cool.

You can sort of see that the house in the background is up on a hill sort of.  Well, my favorite thing that Odin got to do was roll down the hills around.  He laughed and laughed and kept coming back for more.  It was like a happy jungle there in the country.  I felt like a kid again and if it weren't for the hot humidity, I would have spent every second out side with my boys.  But it was sweltering so we mostly came out to pick veggies and roll down the hills for a while.  So fun!

 

Odin was very curious about the gardens.  (By the way, they have not just one but, two gardens!)  He would follow me in, I'd pick something and he'd want to hold it, then he'd try to put it back on the vine or in the ground.  It was sad to me that he hadn't experienced this before but I loved that he got to on this trip.  He couldn't seem to get enough of all the nature around.

I loved seeing all the food I had picked in the kitchen.  It was like when I was a kid.  I could eat all I wanted, and I did.  Every day was full of very wholesome eating.  Here is just one example of a meal we had.  That is all you can eat corn, mind you.  My favorite way this trip was corn on the cob rolled in butter, sprinkled with salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. 

This trip was full of reminiscing, introducing Odin Boy to the outdoors and relaxing a lot.  I want so much of what I experienced in New Hampshire in my near future.  I want my child to grow up at least, with a garden and a yard to run around in.  If it came with lots of trees a stream in the backyard and wild flowers all around, I'd be very happy with that too.

//  I love New Hampshire!

country living

 We stole away this weekend.  We're in New Hampshire.  My Aunt has a beautiful home with a lot of yard, pool, garden, animals and toys for the baby.  It has really been a fantastic trip already and this was the first day.  We went on a little outing to the local market where my Aunt knows all 5 vendors by name since they are all from the same small town.  We will be bringing back some lovely treasures including some NH Maple Syrup.  (a note about maple syrup: never pour heated syrup back in the container, it will crystallize.)  And my favorite part of town was that their town church is closed in the summers! 

 

This is my dream place, minus a river in back or a lake close by.  I love so much about this place.  We spent the afternoon swimming, reminiscing, playing in the yard with the baby, and picking vegetables from the garden.  I shucked a bunch of corn from the garden and we ate it tonight for dinner.  Odin rolled down a grassy hill for the first time and that was sweet, hearing his dizzy giggles the whole time.  He's been so happy exploring and wandering around in the grass.  Its been so nice to see.  I want my child to grow up in a place like this, not like the city.  How can I make this happen?  I will let you know when I find out!

//  We are so happy that we have more days of this beautiful haven ahead.