Mini Summer Vacay

On Saturday morning we got up SUPER early to head back to New Hampshire to pick up our sweet girly. We were SO excited to see her and both her Daddy and I got a little teary-eyed when we hugged her!

Since we were already up north and so close to the mountains we love, we decided to make a little mini-vacation out of it. We drove a little farther north to the White Mountains and had a fantastic couple of days together!

It's kinda cool when your kids have been apart for a week .... because when they get back together again they actually GET ALONG for a few days! They missed each other and had a really nice time playing together again!

We did a whole lotta relaxing and having fun together. We found a couple neat rivers where we could just float in our tubes and swim and explore. The first one we went to had a neat sandy beach and a beautiful old covered bridge over head. There was a decent current and we would walk up the river to a part with a small rapid, put our tubes in and float down a while, then jump out and do it all over again.

The hotel we stayed at is awesome ... one of our faves for sure. When we walked out our room, this was our view! Long, rolling hills, the outdoor pool area, and the gorgeous mountains in the distance! They have both outdoor and indoor pools, a small mini golf course and activities for kids and families during the summer. They give the kids free popsicles at the pool, a campfire with smores at night, family movie nights, horse-drawn carriage rides, etc... They also have a HUGE free breakfast buffet. We had a great time!

Another day we went to a different river that has all kinds of waterfalls and rocks and pools of water. It's a really neat place {although when the kids were little it used to scare me cause it can be dangerous too, the rocks get really slippery!}. We did more floating there, and my brave girls followed Daddy doing all sorts of {scary!} things like jumping off rocks and sliding down a natural waterslide ...

We spent the late afternoons lounging by the pool while the girls swam and played. Later that night we headed out to dinner {The Margarita Grill - delish!} and took a drive up to the top of a really awesome cliff. I love the mountain views from up there, simply breathtaking!

We were supposed to head home the following morning, but made a spontaneous decision to stay an extra day. And for our last day we surprised the girls by taking them to a really cool waterpark. We were lucky to go on a day when the park was very empty and we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We rarely waited in any lines and all four of us had a BLAST!

By the end of the day we were fully waterlogged, sunburned and absolutely EXHAUSTED! We went back to our hotel, had some pizza for dinner and all fell asleep early!

The last morning, as we headed out of town, we drove past Clark's Trading Post where they have these amazing bears. I think they do shows with the bears, but we just stood outside the gates and took some neat pictures.

We had such a great time. It was so fun to reconnect with our oldest daughter and hear all her stories about camp. It was wonderful to 'disconnect' from regular life, electronics and all that stuff for a few days. Sorta makes me wanna do it for the rest of summer!

I sent my girl off to camp and I survived ... so far!

Yesterday my friend and I drove our girls up north to attend a Christian summer camp for the week. My daughter went last year, all by herself and had a wonderful time. This year it was great because 2 of her closest friends were able to go with her!

Last year I had a terrible time just missing her so much, I think I cried almost every day when she was gone last year! This year I'm doing OK ... but it's only MONDAY! LOL

When we got there we helped the girls get all settled in their cabin. There are 7 girls and 2 counselors in their cabin which I think is a great ratio. One of their counselors is a teen girl who GOES TO OUR CHURCH! I was so excited to see a familiar face when we stepped into the cabin! The other counselor has a daughter the SAME AGE as our girls ... so she's a Mom who WELL understands these girls and their age - again, so very thankful for that. So I'm super confident that they are well cared for this week, now I just need to keep busy so I won't miss her too much.

This was a sweet sign their counselors made...

One side of the cabin ... my daughter and her friend 'K' are on the bottom right bunks, and her other friend 'A' is on the top left bunk. All the parents helped get them set up and settled in.

Her Daddy always likes to play tricks on her ... last year he put sardines in her suitcase ... this year it was hot sauce! She found it right away!

All set up ... nice and cozy spot!

All 3 girls in front of their cabin ...

Their cabin is waaaay at the top of the hill, so here we are walking down the hill ... you can see the lake in the background...

It is a BEAUTIFUL location on a crystal clear lake with mountains all around.

They took their swim test while we were still there ...

And then we took one last photo before saying goodbye ... my daughter kept giving me another hug and another hug and another hug ... she was killing me! I was trying to hold the tears in and it was a good thing I had sunglasses on so she couldn't see me tearing up!

And then we got in our car and headed back home ... and so far we're all doing good. I sure miss her but I know she's having a fabulous time and I will just keep her sister and I busy all week so we don't have too much time to be sad.

Summer Days Part 2

We have had a GREAT week! The girls had MUCH better attitudes this week {compared to last week} and we did a lot of fun, fun, fun things. The weather has been SUPER duper icky sticky hot the past 3 days ... but honestly, I'm just so glad it finally feels like SUMMER around here!

{And it doesn't hurt that we are super blessed with a pool AND central air conditioning! We have made a ton of updates to our home since we bought it 11 years ago, but those 2 things just might be my very favorite things we've added!}

Anyhow ... on to summer fun. Tuesday my friend graciously took my oldest swimsuit shopping with her and her daughter {one of H's BFFs}. We had already been to every local store and had one too many battles so I was so thankful that my friend took her. And they were successful in picking out a great suit - hooray!! She spent the night at her friend's house that night, and my other girl spent the night at a different friend's that night ... so I had no kids home on Tuesday night!

Wednesday morning I met my friends, my girls and their friends at the Strawberry Fields nice and early. We picked for awhile until the heat was just too much and decided we had enough berries.

Then we came home, made a quick lunch and spent most of the day out on the deck / in the pool. On Wednesday the pool water was still 70 degrees {a bit chilly for me} ... by Thursday afternoon it was over 80! That's how hot the air was ... it heated the water over 10 degrees in ONE day! We had a fun day, the girls swam a lot, I sunbathed and watched them and would jump in the water when I got too hot. We enjoyed some yummy popsicles on the deck ... this is what summer is ALL about!

Later that day the girls had dentist appointments and then we came home and had a quick and simple dinner. I made some freezer jam from our berries and then we had berries and cream for dessert - yummo!

On Thursday hubby took the day off to spend with us. I love that I have a hubby who works hard, but also knows the value of time with his family. He often takes random days off to do fun things with us. We went with some friends out to a beach in Rhode Island that has MUCH bigger waves than we do in CT. Our kids and their kids always play so well together and we ALL had a fabulous time ...

I love how you see the feet disappearing under the waves!

This is Hope with her swimsuit she picked out with my friend - I LOVE it!!

My friend Lynn {the one who took Hope shopping}, myself and little R who we babysit and had for the day. She was too cute and ran up and down the beach all day - she was so worn out she promptly feel asleep as soon as we got in the car to head home!

No beach trip is complete without a stop for ice cream on the way home .... this was oh so delicious! I have been doing well eating healthy all week and I made sure I 'saved up' my calories so I could enjoy this splurge guilt free ... I simply can't live my whole summer without a few special treats!

Happy girls!

We were all so tired and so fried that night ... we all went to bed early!

On Friday the girls spent the day with my in laws and I worked on housecleaning all day. Friday night I hosted a fun jewelry party for my friend who sells Premier Designs.

And today we are packing and prepping my oldest for summer camp ... she leaves tomorrow for a whole week and we are going to MISS HER so much!

And that wraps up our week full of summer fun! Hope you're having a great summer so far too!

Summer Days Part 1

This week I determined that the girls and I were going to get outside and have some fun. My other goal for the week was that we would get moving more and incorporate some exercise into our days. I know they are kids and they move a lot and they swim A LOT ... but I still feel like we need to be doing more ...

So Monday morning rolled around and I had a PLAN for the day! First, the girls and I went to pick up our groceries ... more often than not I order them online and pick up curbside on Monday mornings. It makes my life SO much easier to not have to walk through the store with the kids!

We got home, put away the groceries, packed up a snack and headed out to a local park. I wanted to walk for 2 miles ... and this park is a nice place to do it because there is plenty to see. A lake with fountains, ducks, fish, paths winding through the woods, playgrounds, a huge fountain, etc. I hoped all those fun distractions would keep the girls from complaining about having to walk ... no such luck. How do you get your kids to exercise without complaining?? Mine moaned and groaned much of the way but they still did it - all 2 miles - because I wouldn't let them quit! {I'm such a mean Mom, aren't I?!}

After walking the reward was the playground, an ice cold water and a snack. They had fun on the swings but are realizing that they're getting a bit too big for most of the playground equipment ... sad to think that pretty soon they'll have outgrown the playground stage!

We took some fun pics ... I'm determined this summer to bring my camera everywhere with me and capture as many memories as possible!

When we came home we made lunch, had a little downtime, then got everything prepped for doing some tie-dying! We bought some plain, white pillowcases a while back and wanted to tie dye them so the girls would each have a fun, unique pillowcase of their own. We had a good time coming up with our own creations ... later today we'll wash them out and see how they turned out!

It's not summer fun if your hands don't get dirty!!

After we cleaned up they went swimming in the pool while I lounged on the deck .... then I got dinner ready and we grilled chicken for dinner. As we sat on the deck eating dinner, the girls still in their wet swimsuits and towels, the smell of grilled chicken in the air and us enjoying our dinner - I got to thinking ... WOW, I just LOVE summer!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous the past few days, we've slept with windows open, it's been warm enough for shorts and tees but cool enough that you're not sweating, we haven't needed our A/C on in the house which means open windows ... it's just been awesome. It was a great, great day and I am thankful!