Day 4 - Leaving Vermont

On Tuesday, we were to began our trip back towards Ohio. Before we left the area, we headed back to the lake for a morning walk along the water - Lake Champlain. We had wanted to do this the prior day, but we had done so many other things and everyone was tired, so we just figured we would do it in the morning before we left.


The kids had fun walking along the rocks near the water; they were very careful and the girls assisted Conor from rock to rock when there was a gap bigger than what his legs could handle.
Here's Mom sitting and enjoying the scenery. There were several bench swings along the path.
As you can see by the look on his face, Conor was having lots of fun. :)



Conor wanted to try to pet the birds, so he walked very quietly up to them, but they got away before he reached them.

Of course I made everyone pose for a picture opp on the swings! :) Right after this picture we loaded back into the van to begin the trip to Niagara Falls. Below are some pictures I took of the scenery as we were driving.

The route Jeff chose looked like it had a road to New York, but when we reached the end of Vermont we found that there was no road, but a ferry that takes both passengers and vehicles across the water to the opposite side. It was really cool, the kids were all excited that we got to ride to the other side, and that the van got to go, too. We were also lucky because the ferry only operated during certain times of the year, and they were getting ready to close it down for the winter season.

Above is the car that was coming from New York to Vermont while we waited. We were the first in line to get on the ferry when it came. Below are pictures from onboard the ferry - I do not know why the 2 directly below decided to change formatting and go side-to-side, but with all the problems I have had loading pictures I decided to just leave them.


Above is the line of cars on the ferry - we drove the blue van that is in the front. Below is the dock on Vermont's side that we had just left.

When we got close to the dock, we all piled back into the van to prepare to drive off of the ferry. I had driven the van onto the ferry, and Jeff was driving it off. Funny thing about the van is that the sliding doors in the back will not operate if the vehicle is in drive. What makes that funny (strange) is that when the doors are OPEN and you put the van in drive, they will not CLOSE. Thus the reason we held up all the other people who were trying to exit the ferry - Conor opened the sliding door right before Jeff put the van in drive and we were all trying to close the door but it would not go. We finally got the door closed, and even though only a short time had passed, it felt like forever - the ferry people came to the window to see why we were not driving off. So, when we came to the welcome sign, Jeff did not want to go slow - he didn't want to irritate all the people behind us again, but I managed to get the picture anyway. :)

Below are some pictures I took as we were driving through the Adirondack Mountains in New York.







We stopped for lunch at a McDonald's, because we didn't want to take too much time. We got somewhere near Niagara Falls and it was close to 6:30 PM so we decided to stop and get hotel rooms for the night and go to the falls the next morning. We checked in and got the van unloaded and since everyone was hungry, they decided to walk to the nearby Bob Evans and get dinner. I chose to just stay in the hotel room and Jeff brought me back some food. We all went to bed relatively early to get a good nights sleep for our final day of Niagara Falls and the trip home.

Vermont Day 3

Day 3 began with the continental breakfast at the hotel - not nearly as good as the one the previous day, but still good. They had Belgian waffles that you make yourself - they supplied the correct amount of batter and you had to just pour it on and and wait for it to cook. Those were pretty good. Other than that, it was the usual stuff you find - fruit, bagels, stale cereal... that sort of stuff.

We began the morning with a trip to Ben & Jerry's for a tour of the production, as well as a sample of their flavor of the day. Mom kept calling it Tom and Jerry's - much to our amusement. We had a lot of laughs over that.


Above is Allie and Ceara at the outdoor patio - the tables and benches were wet, but Allie cleared herself a spot. The tour was very well put together - first you see a short film about how Ben & Jerry's came to be - and how it grew. The film was entertaining as well as informative, with lots of things to laugh at.

After the film was over, our tour guide (who was 7 feet tall and very funny to boot) took us through a hall to see the production area. They only make pints, and they only are able to make 2 flavors per day. It was a very small area compared to what other factories look like, and they only produced ice cream on 2 shifts. The 3rd shift was reserved for cleaning the area, cleaning out the huge bins, and preparing for the next day's flavors.

We were then lead to another room where we would get samples of the ice cream. On our way there, in the wall was a little window with a sign that said, "Back up generator" - inside the window was a gerbil running in a wheel.

Above, Jeff and Conor are enjoying their sample of American Pie Ice Cream. Oh, it was excellent! Apple pie blended into vanilla ice cream, crust and all. Mmmmmm, very good. If you look closely at the people pictures I took, you will see that I had a knack for getting people with their eyes closed.

Below is the just the counter area with the people who worked there supplying the samples to the people in the tour group. I do not know anyone in this picture, it was just a general one, so if you recognize anyone - don't ask me who it is!

Conor enjoying his sample above - see the chunks of apple pie? And below are all three kids resting while we finished our ice cream. Allie was apparently done and waiting for us, and Conor is looking a bit suspicious at his...
Everyone had the option of exiting the room through the door, or through the milkshake tunnel. Conor choose the tunnel, while the rest of us walked through the door. Jeff was going to go out via the tunnel also, but the next tour group had arrived and we were trying to exit quickly.
Outside we all got to be Ben and Jerry on the giant lid of some Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. And, look closely - you will see that a lot of eyes are closed... :)

After our fill of ice cream - we got some full sized servings of various other kinds at the store - we headed to Jeff's college campus - Champlain College. If you click the link, their pictures have more color since they were taken when the sun was shining! :)


This was the best picture I took - not as dark as the others - while taking a tour of the campus. One of the students there was giving a tour to prospective students and... us. It is a beautiful campus, and they have several choices for dining - from simple to fancy. We toured all the buildings - class rooms, teacher's offices, library, dining halls, the book store, and passed by some of the "dorms" - these were actually houses that were used for student housing. It is a very nice community - several blocks of houses that surround the actual campus.
While there, Jeff was able to meet (purely by accident, as we just ran into them during the tour) his advisor, Mark Milne and his favorite teacher (so far), Ken Wade. We didn't think to take a picture with Mark, the picture above is with Ken Wade. They were both so happy to meet Jeff as neither of them have the opportunity to meet with the students they work with because most of them are online students.
Conor and Ceara above - see? Eyes closed! Isn't it amazing how well I can time the pictures? lol
We went into the bookstore and Jeff, Allie, Ceara, and Conor all got "hoodies" with Champlain College on them. By this time we had all worked up quite an appetite and we were told that there were several places to eat down by the water - in the pedestrian mall. This consisted of several blocks of brick streets, blocked off from cars, where you could shop and/or eat.
We chose to eat at RiRa's - and Irish Pub. It was wonderful. They had a picture on the wall of James Joyce - one of Jeff's favorite authors - so he wanted a picture of him sitting below it, reading... a menu because that was all we had. :)
And of course, Conor had to have his picture taken just like his Daddy's.

Along the way, there were several large rocks so we thought we would get a picture of the kids and Mom on one of them.
Conor, on the other hand, wanted his picture on all of them. :) Every one we approached he ran up to - climbing up on top and saying, "Take my picture, Mommy!" Sometimes with others, sometimes by himself.

We all had a lot of fun in all the places we went - it is a beautiful college town. We were all also very tired at the end of the day. We piled back into the van and returned to the hotel. Allie had decided that she wanted to get her hair cut, so later that night, we walked across the street to a place we had seen when we were leaving that morning. They happened to have an opening for her and she got a new look for the return to school. We all went to bed early again to prepare for check out the next day and the trip home, stopping at Niagara Falls along the way.

More to come... Days 4 and 5 :)

Thanks to....

"work bud" - for making comments on some of my posts!! :) It lets me know that someone is reading my blog. That I'm not writing all of this for just my own amusement and that someone else finds it worthwhile to read!

Other people tell me that they read it, but I never really know for sure, and I like getting comments.

Yeah, people - this is a big HINT!

Vermont Day 2

The breakfast at the Bed and Breakfast was great! A lot of different choices to choose from - pancakes, omelets prepared to order, eggs to order, French toast, oatmeal, fruits, juices, coffee, tea, and milk. Oh, and I shouldn't forget the fresh Maple Syrup that was served with the pancakes and French toast. We also were served fresh baked bread - orange cranberry was the flavor of that day, if I remember correctly. It, too, was excellent. If you click on the link, you can see the breakfast menu as well as some of the other areas of the Inn.

While seated at the table, every time the server passed us Conor would say, "Ummmm" and the server would stop to see if he wanted something. He never wanted anything more than to just tell her whatever had popped into his head at the moment. He told her about Carley (his little girlfriend at his babysitter's house) and about various odd things. She was always nice and listened, but she was also busy. The owner (the husband) stopped by and offered to take Conor on a tour of the kitchen.

We all left the dining area full. We packed up the van with all of our things and headed back to the Vermont Country Store to shop. We were among the first ones there, but it got crowded rather quick. We spent a very long time looking at all they had for sale. They had a lot of old fashioned toys that Conor enjoyed looking at. They had food to sample - cheese, meats, candy, and lots of other things. Allie and Ceara both got two huge jaw-breakers, which, as you can see below, Allie got all over her face and nose.
After our shopping spree, we were back to the van for another few hours of driving. We went from Weston to Burlington, where we actually had reservations, so we could visit Jeff's college campus. They do have an actual campus, as well as the online courses that Jeff takes.

This time the drive wasn't so bad - I think it took maybe 4 hours. OK, maybe that isn't such a short little drive, but compared to the day before, it was a piece of cake!

Check in time at the hotel was not until 2 PM - just a normal run of the mill chain hotel this time - and we arrived a bit too early. We were able to get our keys, but they said the room was not ready, so we went across the street for lunch. There was a neat little diner next door called Al's French Frys where we got some burgers and fries, what else? :) Below is a picture of Mom, Allie and Ceara sitting in their booth at Al's.

We got into the hotel and pretty much just hung out there the rest of the day. Everyone had homework to work on, the teachers at the girls' schools had sent them some work to do and Jeff had some due too. Our room was on the 2nd floor, and the window was directly over the entrance to the hotel. So, Conor spent a lot of time at the window talking to the people walking in below. He would yell down to them, "Hey, what's your name?" and most would stop and have a short conversation with him.

We all took naps, everyone was tired. We walked to a nearby grocery store and got a few snacks and drinks for the room and walked back over to Al's to get dinner, too. It was raining and we knew we had a lot of plans for the next day, so we were all content not to try to fit anything in that night.

It was rainy and dreary most of the time we were in Vermont. Although it was still beautiful, it was hard to get pictures of any of the scenery - most of my pictures are through the window of the van while Jeff was driving. There were a few showings of the sun, but not many. The below pictures were taken from the van on the drive from Weston to Burlington.

Oh, OK - I guess you can see by the date of the last picture that this one was taken the day before, but it was still taken from the van during a drive! :)

I have a TON of pictures for Monday. Monday was a very busy day for us. So, stay tuned for Day 3...

Technical Difficulties

OK, I am having technical difficulties uploading pictures to my blog, so stay tuned for more Vermont pictures, Halloween Pictures, and various other pictures I have been wanting to put on here.

On another note, they finally did it! Snickers - they finally produced a candy bar with just the best part - the caramel and nuts! :) Joy! I have always felt that the Snickers would be much better without that nougat crap on the bottom of it - and someone finally got smart! I found them much by accident and they are the mini ones in a bag, so they are probably a temporary item, but I was right - it is much better with just the caramel and nuts, covered with chocolate. :)

Hmmmm, what else could I tell you? Jeff's BWC claim was finally approved and his employer seems to have given up fighting it after this 2nd approval. They had 14 days to appeal the decision again, but I guess they waived that right because he got a check in the mail last week. Now we just have to get all of the claim info to all the doctors and hospitals who have been sending us bills. Fun, fun. But so much better than having to pay them!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and then Christmas... I love both holidays, but I am always a last minute shopper. And the day after Thanksgiving shopping day? I have done that ONE TIME. Not my cup of tea. I cannot stand rude people - it is Christmas, for goodness sake! A time for joy and giving. Kindness, sharing. All kinds of warm and fuzzy emotions. That is not what you get when you go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. People fighting over who gets that certain toy for their kid, or who gets that last sweater that is marked down 80%. Waiting in line hours before a store opens in the dark, cold hours of the morning - then pushing and shoving the people next to you to make sure you are one of the "first 20 people" in the store for that "special" gift. Isn't that just the perfect start to the Christmas Holiday? Not for me.

Jeff has always had the mind-set of, "Why go to the store and shop when I can get it all right here on line and have it delivered to my door by the brown elves?" While I like online shopping sometimes, you have to really know what you are looking for to shop online, and I like browsing in the stores - being able to physically touch the item I am thinking about buying when I find it. I do like catalogue shopping, too, though.

I have never been able to go out and just buy something for someone; I always try to make it something that they want or need, or something that they will love. My sister called me yesterday asking me what my kids wanted for Christmas - um, hello? I have no clue. It is just the beginning of November, I haven't thought about it too much! And she could have called me a couple of days ago to tell me that she was planning to do her Christmas shopping on Tuesday and would like to know what everyone wants. At least then I would have time to think about it. So I was really no help to her what-so-ever.

Anyway, who does their Christmas shopping at the beginning of November?? LOL I know- lots of people do. One of my co-workers is usually done in July. She is done now, and has even begun thinking of things for next Christmas. Wow, I will never be that organized! I am usually still shopping on Christmas Eve!

I have actually started early this year, shocking even myself. It sometimes helps to have Jean (Mrs. I'm done in July) sitting in the cubicle next to mine. At least once a week she tells us how many more days until Christmas - this announcement is usually met by responses of "What?? We don't want to know that! Please keep information such as that to yourself!" in a kind, joking way, of course. But sometimes when she says it, if I am not super busy, I will start looking at some online stuff. I have ordered a few things online, and have even received a few of them via our little brown elf, Stevie Brown. (For those of you unaware, he is our UPS guy at the office - and that's not his real name... but you will have to read one of my previous posts to find out about that! Here is the post.)

I actually bought some things with the thought that they would make great gifts, but I'm not sure for who yet. I have hidden some things, and that now that I am thinking about it, I don't remember where I hid them! I need to wrap them and find a place to put them all together so I don't forget about them.

Conor's birthday is also coming up in December; he is going to be 4! WOW! It's hard to believe he is going to be 4. He is very excited; he keeps asking me how many more years until he's grown-up, like me. He says, "This birthday I'm going to be 4, next birthday I will be 5, then will I be grown up like you, Mommy?"

"No, honey, it will be a lot of birthdays until you are grown up like me." (yeah, I feel so grown up - NOT)

OK, so, that is a long enough post for now, huh? A few of you didn't even finish reading it - I know who you are - because it was too long and you start getting fidgety half way through. :) I will get the remaining Vermont pictures up as soon as I can.