A toad-aly fun day

The strawberry festival!

Today we went here for a strawberry festival. We all had a good time. There was the eating of strawberry shortcake,

and the climbing on tires,

the feeding of the animals,

a kiss for B,

climbing at the playground

and the Bouncy House!

Stuff we made today

Freezer paper stencilled t-shirts and a tie dyed t-shirt(J made the tie dye at a friend's house).

A ring made from a dollar bill.This is the book with the ring in it. There are so many fun, creative ideas in here!Gross food. Dinner! Actually, while I was making this for the kids they were invited to a friend's house for dinner so Jeff had to eat it for dinner. Yum, yum! ;)

Stilts, golf, camp fires, Joe

This was a very dreary week. And, although I hate to complain about weather, those stratus clouds really get me down. Fortunately, the forecast for this weekend was promising (which means not a complete wash out) so I thought, let's pack up and head out of town. Our first stop was the Cabot Creamery in Cabot, VT. They were celebrating their 90th anniversary by having a dairy festival. For me, this is absolute bliss. I love all dairy products and I especially love small festivals in out-of-the-way towns. There was free Green Mountain coffee (yeah) and free Ben and Jerry's ice cream (double yeah). Music, children's games and a walking cow named Daisy. We also saw our Governor (he's everywhere) and got to say hello to our favorite Senator (Bernie Sanders). What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, there was cheese galore (but you knew that). Here is J trying out stilts for the first time. She progressed to the next level up. Next, on to Danville. Danville is a sleepy little town a few towns over from Cabot. We were camping here for the night. B's trying out the mini golf at the camp site. He got two holes in one!

J got a hole in one too.

After heading into St. Johnsbury for dinner at a diner, we went back to the camp site to toast some marshmallows. The kids like to burn theirs while I like to brown mine to perfection.

In the morning we headed into Danville for breakfast at Joe's Pond Cafe. I loved it! When you walk in, there is the store to the left and then on the right side was a counter with three local men hanging out and having breakfast. We pulled up our stools and ate alongside them. Pancakes, french toast and eggs. Yum! There was only one guy behind the counter and he did a great job. If you're ever in Danville, you should stop by! That's about all there is in Danville.

Well, there's also Joe's Pond. We hung out for a while and watched the ducks.

Then back home for a nap on the hammock. Ahhhhh.

A jazzy sort of day

Today we headed into Burlington to hear some jazz out on Church St. J took a little video with her camera. Burlington has a jazz festival every year for about a week and it was fun to get a chance to take the kids to hear some music.

B wasn't too interested in the music but he was into climbing on all the rocks on Church St.(there are about a dozen). He's been really into rocks lately!

Then there was a stop at the candy store and back home again. The afternoon consisted of playing with neighborhood friends and planning a party for Friday when school is officially out. I'm not sure exactly what they have in mind but they made their own pinata and I've agreed to get candy for it. We shall see!

Here's what we've been up to. . .

Taking a ferry ride from Charlotte, VT to Essex, NY

Playing at the playground in Essex.

Climbing rocks.

Discovering new things to do with a see-saw.

Visiting the Ethan Allen Homestead to learn some local history and play some early American games. In this game, you have to pass the bone behind your back and the other team tries to guess who has the bone when you stop.

J dressed in mid 18th century clothing. Doesn't she look sweet?!

Playing with neighborhood friends.

Celebrating birthdays. B turns 6 on Thursday and we had both sets of grandparents and my sister's family up last weekend to celebrate. My sister also turned 40 on Sunday but she lives in China and could not be with us to celebrate. Happy birthday Cathy!!!

Enjoying time with cousins. We took everyone on a root-filled walk on Saturday by the bay. My three year old niece did a great job jumping over the roots trying to keep up.Pounding on rocks. B literally spent hours doing this on Saturday. I think he was inspired by our recent trip to a quarry.

And visiting the ECHO lake aquarium in Burlington. B is shooting off a rocket here.

J and B are playing in the fog outside the aquarium. The fog is pumped out through these rocks.

Hope you're all enjoying these late spring days!

Flying over Vermont

We watched a hot air balloon fly by as we sat on our deck this evening. This was the first of the season-we are usually surprised by three or four during the summer months. Sometimes they land in our neighborhood and we run out from our house to watch them land. Always exciting to watch! Has anyone ever taken a hot air balloon ride?

Chocolate, water guns, veggies, clay

Today we visited Lake Champlain Chocolates factory. It was fun learning about chocolate production and watching them make the chocolates (and, of course, eating the samples).

When we got home J and B wanted to try out their water guns and I thought we could do some art.

I call this one of B's Scrambled eggs and fried eggs.

Then it was time to collect clay at the beach with some friends.

I think I have about 20 lbs. of clay in the car!