August New Hampshire Trip

While everyone was coming up with questions for our Open Book Challenge we were in New Hampshire for our annual summer trip. Today I heard Kyle explain it to someone as our "trip to MorMor and MorFar's House and Cottage." Precisely. My parents still live in the home where I grew up in the Mount Washington Valley. My parents built their house and it is absolutely beautiful. My mom's side of the family also has a summer cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee. My great grandfather built it and Kyle and Owen are the 5th generation to love it. And man oh man, love it they do. I didn't think anyone could love "the cottage" (as we call it) more than my mother or I (my mother grew up spending summers there and she adores the place immensely; I have a special love for the place too -- amongst other things, Braydon proposed to me on the dock there). I now realize, however, after seeing my boys there for their third annual summer visit, that it is very possible that my boys love it even more than any generation before them. I am so happy about that. We had a wonderful 6-day vacation, we took tons of photos, and I'm going to post a lot of them here. Hopefully the pictures will do justice to how special this annual pilgrimage is for us!

* * *

Highlights this year were~~ the airplane rides to-and-from (I can't even explain how much K & O love everything about air travel -- including the chance to get a rental car); swimming in Loon Lake; MorFar's tractor; homemade pizza cooked in my parents' new earth oven; K & O's second annual trip to Story Land with their cousin Sadie (Kyle's favorite ride: the Flying Fish, Owen's favorite ride: the Bamboo Chutes); lobster & steamers on the picnic table at the cottage Friday night; many, many rides in "MorFar's Boat!"; K & O "driving" the motorboat with MorFar (Kyle was completely obsessed); spending time with Stina, Tim, and Sadie (Auntie Stina is always a huge highlight for K & O!!!); being in NH for my Aunt and Uncle's 40th Wedding Anniversary party on Sunday; fresh veggies from my mom's gardens; lots of swimming and playing in the water; kayaking; walks along the dirt roads; K & O throwing rocks -- still their favorite pastime anytime they are anywhere near a body of water; a special motorboat ride to Wolfeboro for ice cream; beautiful sunsets; fried clams, etc. from Sawyers Dairy Bar on Monday night; coffee by the water every morning and every afternoon; K & O's first time fishing; a lot more sleep than usual for Braydon and I (thanks to my parents for taking the early morning shifts with K & O!); a special visit from Mrs. Peterson on Friday night and a special visit from Ed & Andrea (and Morgan) on Tuesday; lots of laughs with/at K & O; lots of quality time with MorMor and MorFar.

* * *

Our family loves to travel. Being able to go to such a special place (my home, our family cottage) is especially awesome for us. It is crazy, crazy, crazy to travel with two rambunctious three-year-old boys. And it definitely has its 'moments' -- Kyle got sick from eating too many pepperonis on pizza night; Owen threw some seriously nasty tantrums each day; Kyle fell off the dock (fully clothed) and almost drowned (literally) and I (Heather) had to jump in (fully clothed) to save him (literally); our flight back to Philadelphia was delayed for two hours; both boys came home coming down with cold/flu bugs; the packing and unpacking is a drag, etc, etc, etc... but... all in all -- the bottom line is that we love it. All four of us. We just love going on family trips. Wouldn't trade it for the world. Don't get me wrong, we love to come home too. But there is nothing that cements our family more than a little vaca. Hope you enjoy the photos!~~