Saranac Lake- 2nd half (Vermont)

After visiting the top of Whiteface Mountain (see previous post) we picked Kim up from work and headed to Vermont. Add another to the list of states I've visited :) There's a farm there called Shelbourne Farms that does tours and has a petting zoo area for the kids. We had to take a ferry to get there, which was a first for both me and Phil. On the way over, our car was at the front of the boat, and we got out and took a few "windblown" pictures:

(I'm tellin' ya- Caleb is ALWAYS happy!) :

Once we got to the farm, we walked about a half mile to the barn, which was HUGE:

The Henry family, one of my favorite pictures of the trip:

In the petting area, they had 2-day old baby goats, which were precious!!! Noelle was a little afraid of most all the animals, but Madison eventually warmed up enough to hold the baby!! (And you KNOW I couldn't resist it, either!!)

Oddly enough, though she was afraid of all the cute, fluffy things, Noelle was pretty enamored with the baby turkeys! :)

I had seen a horse from afar, so even with the baby goat distraction, I eventually had to find it :) And love on it :)

Phil and Kim took a walk up the hill behind the barn, while Nate and I took the girls to find some candy. The view of Lake Champlain was gorgeous from up there!

Parting shot of the really cool barn:

Saranac Lake- 1st half

PREPARE FOR LOTS OF PICTURES :)

I had to break our trip into several posts, because I have so many pics. And believe me, this is still a small selection of what we actually took!

After Hershey, we drove the rest of the way to upstate NY, to visit Phil's brother Nathan in Saranac Lake. We hadn't seen Nathan, Kim and their family in about a year and half, so it was WONDERFUL to finally see them! We even had a new nephew, Caleb, to meet :)

Our first afternoon, we took the kids to a horse show in Lake Placid. Obviously Aunt Erin was pleased with this activity ;) Here are just a couple of horse pictures, because I can't NOT take pictures of horses!

I wanted this guy to be my trip souvenier, but he wouldn't fit in the car. He was quite gorgeous, though- and huge, just like I like my horses :) He was a nuzzler, too- very cute :)

Caleb, chilling in the backpack at the horse show:

We went to get ice cream afterwards- here's Madison:

Aunt Erin and Caleb (such a happy baby!):

The show tired out Miss Noelle:

When we got back from the dinner that night, Phil and I gave the kids some long overdue presents, to cover missed birthdays. The girls got dress-up princess shoes and dress-up hair (Phil and I joined in the play with the hair, as you'll notice below). Caleb got a truck to help him learn how to walk (the girls liked riding on it, too). Lots of fun play time ensued:

The next day, we drove to the top of Whiteface Mountain, one of the tallest in the area. We had a beautiful view going up, and stopped at an overlook of Saranac Lake. Unfortunately, the summit was in a cloud, so we didn't see anything from there!

This is a tad out of order, but after dinner that night, we took the girls to a playground for a quick release of energy :)

Here's super-happy-baby Caleb, hanging out with Uncle Phil:

The morning we left, Phil and I stayed with the kids for a few minutes while Nathan and Kim ran an errand. It took no time flat for the house to be turned into a tent-fort. It was pretty impressive (even more impressive was Aunt Erin crawling into one of the tents with both Madison and Noelle- talk about tight quarters!!) :)

I must have been upstairs packing when this picture was taken, because I have no idea what Noelle was doing, but I certainly think it's pretty funny :) Sure to embarass her when she's older :)

The Sweetest Place on Earth

We took a week long vacation and drove up to see Phil's family in NY over the Fourth of July. On the way up, we stopped in Hershey, PA to break up our trip. I have to admit that I was pretty disappointed the whole town didn't smell like chocolate, as I've heard. Otherwise, it was a fun stop :) The streetlights are shaped like kisses (see below). We took a tour through Chocolate World, complete with singing cows, and conveyor belts covered with Hersheys Kisses. Then we watched a 3-D movie, and got some massive cupcakes to take on the road with us. Next time, I want to spend a few hours at the spa, getting a chocolate massage and soaking in the chocolate milk bath :)

Quick Visit

We had a quick, one-day visit with Emma, Jason and Becky when they were in NC for a friend's baby shower. She's getting SO big, and getting pretty good at walking. She's trying some running, hence the skinned knee that won't heal :) Here are some pictures from our visit:

Long Weekend in VA

This past weekend, we headed up to Dublin, VA, for the wedding of our friends Holly and Drew. We were blessed with gorgeous weather, and it made their outdoor ceremony and reception perfect! Everything was held at Rockwood Manor, which was awesome. I can't wait to see the pictures from the professional photographer (our friend, Cheyenne Schultz)!

Below is a picture of the tree near the entrance to Rockwood (I thought it was a cool tree and took about ten pictures of it!), as well as a picture of the house itself. Holly and Drew were married on the front steps, and the reception was in the side yard. It was truly beautiful, and we are SO happy for them!!

Phil, David and Erick decided it would fit the farm setting, if they had some hay to munch on. Silly boys. It ended up in their lapels, instead ;)

The beautiful happy couple :) Mr. & Mrs. Crawford:

Of course, since it was a farm, Phil and I took lots of pictures of the surrounding buildings and scenery:

Phil and I decided we would take Monday off of work, and turn our trip into a long weekend. We drove around the area, visited a winery, checked out the New River Trail, and enjoyed the mountain views. I'm not sure if either of us will ever get tired of spending time in the mountains, but I don't think so :) It was a much needed mini-vacation, and I can't wait for our longer trip to visit family in NY at the end of the month!! (In other words, prepare for some cute pics of nieces and our new nephew!)

My cute little puppy...

This is where Tucker thinks he should sleep every night.