After the Newport extravaganza, we drove up to New Hampshire to my mom's farm. When my mom got home from work that first night, we took a little hike in the woods up Honey Hill, which has one of their trails starting behind the fields at the farm. I hadn't been up there in a few years, and last time I was, it was this great lookout of Mt. Monadnock. When we got up there this time, the trees were overgrown and there wasn't much a view anymore. It was still a good little hike though, and we found these really neat mushrooms along the way:
The next day, Tuesday, we went to see my brother, Nick, for a few minutes. It was awesome to have him see Lochlan again and they would definitely be good homies if we lived closer to Nick.
After we left Nick's place, we headed to Joannie's to see her, Les, Rob, Liam, Taylor & Mackenzie (and Oliver, too). It's always such a good time there, and though Joannie said she was making an easy dinner, she happened to make one of my favorite dishes: manicotti! Yum! Joannie also had a great birthday cake and some wicked nice earrings for me. I wore the earrings to the second wedding we went to while we were out there and I love them. Thank you! Les had picked up some great books for Lochlan & Gavin and given them to us. Those books are now a big hit at home, so thank you Les!!! I think you all should come visit us here in Colorado in 2011. Forget Disney; Colorado is way more fun! Joannie-I've been here on & off since 1998, so you're about due for a trip to see your Lil and her family! :)
The next day, Wednesday, we were on our way to to Fitchburg, MA, to see Kristen, Chris & Aidan Garvey (my best friend, her husband and their son/my Godson). Along the way, we decided to stop in at Camp Toah Nipi, which is the camp where Matt & I met back in 1994. Unfortunately, we realized our camera battery had died, when we wanted to take a 2010 update photo of the photo of us from 1995. We walked down to the lake and told Lochlan that this is where his Mama & Papa had met (and the woods there where we first kissed-haha), but he really just wanted to go swimming. The foliage of the trees around the lake was so pretty and I'm really bummed we weren't able to get any photos. After the stop at camp, we headed to the Garvey's house, and I was even more bummed that the camera battery was dead. We took the wagon with us on a little loop from their house, to their local playground and then back on the Special Trail, back to their house. Chris brought pizza home and we had such a good time catching up with them. I love that family so much and though Kristen and I only see each other a couple of times a year, we always pick up where we left off and I can't ever imagine my life without her. We've been friends since we were 2, which is 31 years in the making now. Wow! I love you, Chi-chin!
On Thursday, we went for a drive up Hogback Mountain in Vermont, in search of maple syrup. We wanted to get some nice photos of the foliage and at 3,228 ft in altitude, we figured this would be a good place in the northeast to get those photos and some tasty syrup. Along the way, we saw a farm that had signs for maple syrup, stating "buy from the producer". Perfect! We ended up going to Whetstone Farms and the farmer stopped in to his little honor-system stand to give us some history of the farm and sugaring. We picked up some syrup for ourselves and our friends here, the Conlins, for their son Ryder's first birthday party this past weekend.
After we got done talking to the farmer, we were deciding what to do. Matt made a good point that we were out here on vacation, so let's keep acting like we were on vacation. We decided to drive two hours north to the capital of Vermont, Montpelier. It was about time for Lochlan's nap, so we knew it was now or ever. Talk about good timing! Lochlan slept the whole way, and we got out and walked around and checked out the menus for pretty much every single restaurant in town. We were determined to eat somewhere that the New England Culinary Institute students worked/interned. I had been up there about six years ago and remembered that the students interned in local restaurants, so I was excited to check it out again. We had a good lunch at an Irish pub, then walked down the street and got some great desserts at a little bakery where we could watch the students making the goods. Lochlan napped most of the way back to my mom's farm, too, which was a good ending to our day trip. If we ever had to leave Colorado, Matt & I both agree that Vermont would be a nice little place to land.
That evening, my cousin Erik's most amazing wife, Marguerite, and their son, Solis stopped by for a quick visit. Marguerite and I have very similar parenting styles, so it's always a huge relief hanging out with her and just knowing we're on the same page. Soli is such a sweet little boy and every time we're back east, I always think how Marguerite & I would be so close and hang out all of the time with the boys.
While we were at the farm, mom designated Matt & Lochlan to opening the chicken coop and feeding the chickens every morning. Matt was more than happy to do this, and he was like the pied piper with those chickens lining up behind him every morning, ready to eat and roam the farm. Lochlan couldn't stop giggling and watching all of this happening. He's been saying "cockle-doodle-doo" since we got home, and it's so great to know that he was able to associate it with seeing actual chickens everyday. Our major project this winter is to start building our chicken coop, and Lochlan's job everyday can be collecting the eggs from the chicken coop in the mornings.
On Friday, we drove to Nashua for our friends' Ben Berube & Annie Timson's wedding. Their ceremony was at the Alvirne Chapel in Hudson and the reception was at the Nashua Country Club. It was such a great wedding and I was stoked to once again spend time with old friends, like Patrick Powers, Conan Valente, Austin Kelly, Jarrod Poliquin. The Chapel where they got married was beautiful and they threw some fun and hilarious twists into what would have otherwise been a traditional reception. Ben had been telling me for weeks how nervous he was to be standing up in front of a bunch of people, but I think once he saw his beautiful bride come strolling through that Chapel, he immediately forgot everyone else and focused on her. Annie looked so amazing in her wedding gown and Ben looked so handsome in his tux. I had a huge smile on my face through the entire ceremony, as I was so excited for them and so glad to share such a big part of their lives with them.
I do have to ruin the nice paragraph here and tell everyone that right after their wedding ceremony, I was walking back to the rental car with Patrick & Kristin Powers. It was raining, so Matt had already left the Chapel and gone back to the rental car with Lochlan, so I was to meet them out there. I'm talking with my friends, and all of a sudden, Matt starts yelling to me and pointing at the car. We go running over to him, and he said that Lochlan was locked inside the rental car, with the car running and he was afraid Lochlan was going to shift the car into drive. Matt had put Lochlan in the car to play in the front seat while they were waiting for me to get outside. As Matt went to walk around to the other side of the car, Lochlan had hit the lock button inside the car and locked Matt out. Matt's phone was also locked inside the car, so he wasn't able to call for help to the rental car company or anything. Kristin was a rockstar and kept singing and dancing at the window, so that she kept Lochlan distracted from going for the shifter. I was a freaking out disaster and pulled a total deer in headlights and couldn't do anything but run around the car in the pouring rain. Patrick meanwhile called 911 and gave the dispatcher all of the information and then we waited, all huddling underneath Patrick & Kristin's umbrella. The Hudson policeman was there in less than 10 minutes, which was super fast, but felt like a lifetime to us. He slim-jimmed the car door open and we were able to rescue our little monster!
After this fiasco, the rest of the night was really fun and enjoyable. We had to leave the reception about an hour or so before it ended, as Lochlan was falling asleep there. We went back to the hotel, and stayed on the same floor as the bride & groom, and a bunch of their family and friends. Unfortunately, by the time they all made it back to the hotel to party some more, we were crashed out for the night. We had to catch an early flight out of Boston the next morning, so we left the hotel at 6:30am and enjoyed a nice and easy sunrise drive to Boston.
I didn't mention earlier that a couple of the nights during the trip, my mom and Mike (aka Nonnie & Beba) unvoluntarily volunteered for staying at the farm once Lochlan was asleep for the night, while Matt & I went out in Keene for dinner. It was so nice & relaxing to spend two nights out on the town with my husband for dinner dates. We would put Lochlan to bed, make quick conversation with mom & Mike, then bolt out the door to spend time together. We were more than willing not to take it for granted, and we definitely did not! We thank them SOOOOO very much for giving up spending time with us, so that we could spend time with each other. We rarely ever get those chances at home, so we jumped on the opportunities without thinking twice. We would love to have our family and friends close by and therefore, everyone should move to Colorado! :) We love you all and thank you for the great memories and an awesome vacation!
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