A Day of Play - New Hampshire Trip - Day 13

Today we did a lot of playing at Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harry's house. This morning we went to prayer meeting at their church. After church, we went to lunch and then came home for naps. The girls took a 3 hour nap! They are so tired from playing so much! Cousin Lucas was here all day to play with us again. He loves to catch bugs, so Elaina got to do that with him today. Emily was our little adventurer today and again decided to do a face plant right into the concrete step. She's our little climber. She has no fear and insists on being independent. She has the bruises and scrapes to show for it today. We enjoyed a yummy dinner with Cousins Robin and Donny (Lucas' parents) tonight as well.

Emily relaxing in a chair that Uncle Harry fixed up for his great nieces to lounge in while they visited.

Elaina in Uncle Harry's chair

The hill was a big hit again today!

Catching bugs with Cousin Lucas and Daddy

Emily had fun playing with Cousin Robin tonight.

More fun on the hill

Emily's scratched and bruised up face that she got from being a big explorer today!

Aunt Audrey's Toilet Paper Head - New Hampshire Trip - Day 12

My Aunt Audrey has been getting her hair done every Friday morning for as long as I can remember. Jeff always gives her a hard time because she wraps her hair in toilet paper right before she goes to bed each night to keep it from getting messy. Jeff teases her about this constantly and even sent her a quality roll of toilet paper for her birthday one year. None of us have ever seen Aunt Audrey's toilet paper head because she makes sure she does it once everybody has gone to bed.

Last night, I was down in the basement office working on our family blog, and Aunt Audrey knew that I would be down there for a long time. She wasn't worried about me catching her in her toilet paper head dress because by the time I came upstairs she would be fast asleep in bed.

Well, Jeff was bound and determined to snap her picture in her toilet paper head dress. Jeff waited in the dark hallway for what Aunt Audrey says was almost an hour. Finally, Aunt Audrey didn't hear any noise in the house, other than me in the basement, so she figured it was safe to head out of the bathroom and head to bead. She was wrong! Jeff was waiting for her just around the corner and snapped a picture of her! From the basement I heard shrieking screams and loud laughter! It was hysterical!

A Day at the Ocean - New Haven, Connecticut - New Hampshire Trip - Day 12

On Tuesday, we went to New Haven, Connecticut to the New Haven Bay/Long Island Sound which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. It was absolutely beautiful, and we had a great time! We were going to go to the coast in Portland, Maine last week, but the day we were going to go was the day that they had the bad storms and tornadoes, so we weren't able to go.

The Northern Atlantic Coast is nothing like you see in Florida. I had forgotten the big difference until I was reminded yesterday. The Northern Atlantic Coast is very rocky. The beaches are rocky as well, and the water smells really fishy. The water is extremely cold as well. The coast up here is very beautiful, just very different than the coast in Florida.

We got in the ocean water for a little while, but it was so cold that we didn't get out very far. This area of the beach also had a small water sprinkler park, so we spent quite a bit of time in that. Cousin Lucas came along with us too, and we all had a lot of fun. We had a picnic, fed the seagulls, and we also visited an old lighthouse as well.

Elaina loved seeing "big water" again! I don't know what we're going to do when we get back to Indiana and she asks to see "big water" and "big mountains!"

Our family at the ocean

Emily and MeMe playing in the ocean

Daddy and Elaina in the ocean

Elaina, Daddy, Emily, and Cousin Lucas at the water sprinkler park

Mommy and Emily shivering after playing in the water sprinkler park

Uncle Harry and Poppy sitting in the shade

Elaina throwing shells and rocks back into the ocean

Elaina, Emily, and Cousin Lucas at the lighthouse

Jeff and I love this picture because we finally caught Emily doing her frantic wave on camera!

Sisters

Our family at the beach

New Haven, Connecticut Lighthouse

So thirsty after a hot day in the sun!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling . . . Right into the Sink for a Bath! - New Hampshire Trip - Day 11

My Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harry live on a hill and have a hill in their backyard. Obviously, the younger you are, the bigger the hill seems. As kids, my brothers and I would roll and run down this hill every year when we visited.

On Monday, I got to watch our girls roll and run down the same hill. Although, now my Uncle Harry has added a patio, sidewalk, and lights to the backyard, so it's not as safe (not that it was ever safe) as it used to be. Emily and Elaina had a ball!

Our little explorer, Emily, found a nasty slug. Apparently, these types of slugs are everywhere around here. We saw her playing with something at the top of the hill, but we thought it was either grass or rocks. After a while, we decided we better go see what she was so intrigued by. YUCK!! It was one of those nasty slugs. It slimmed her with this thick, sticky, orange goo. We had to scrub and scrub and scrub her little hands to get them clean. It was so hard to get the gooey stuff off!

By the time the girls where done outside for the day, they were a mess! Down to the basement we went for baths. My Aunt Audrey has a huge double laundry sink in her basement that my brothers and I used to take baths in as kids. Now, it was the girls' turn. My Aunt Audrey enjoyed seeing her great nieces doing the same thing that I did as a little girl.

An afternoon of running up and down the hill in Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harry's backyard over and over and over again.

Emily worked hard each time to make it to the top by the shed. She was so tired when they eventually decided to go inside for the night.

"You ready?!"

Emily playing in the rocks

Emily just got slimmed! She was having so much fun until Daddy took her little friend, Mr. Nasty Slug, away.

Emily's friend, Mr. Nasty Slug

Bath time in Aunt Audrey's double laundry sink

Arriving in Connecticut - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

We arrived in Seymour, Connecticut on Sunday evening. We are staying here with my Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harry until Friday morning. We have already had so much fun this week, and I have many stories and pictures to share. It is a nut house here! I will post more soon. Right now, it is late, and I'm going to bed.

Lake Winnipesaukee - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

Our last stop in New Hampshire was in Meredith at Lake Winnipesaukee. This is a beautiful lake just outside of the White Mountains. The movie, "What About Bob," was filmed on this lake. Emily had already fallen asleep, but Elaina was awake. We got Elaina out of the van just long enough for her to see more "big water." We walked up and down the dock and looked at the boats. My friend who I used to teach with, Trina Lake, and her family have family that live near Lake Winnipesaukee, so it's always fun to talk about it with her.

Elaina and Mommy at Lake Winnipesaukee

Elaina and Daddy at Lake Winnipesaukee

Lake Chocorua - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

Jeff wanted to get a different view of the mountain that we climbed earlier in the week, so we stopped at Lake Chocorua on the way out of town. The girls loved throwing rocks in the lake. Elaina was teaching Emily step by step instructions on how to throw rocks in the lake. It was a beautiful Sunday morning.

The summit of Mt. Chocorua on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Elaina throwing rocks in Lake Chocorua.

Elaina teaching Emily how to throw rocks into the lake.

Elaina lining up her rocks to get ready to throw.

Daddy and Elaina

MeMe and Emily

The Kissing Bridge - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

There are many beautiful covered bridges in New England. I have a personal favorite that I got to share with my family during our trip. As a kid, my dad always drove us across "The Kissing Bridge." He would honk as we drove across and kiss my mom in the front seat. I always believed that it was truly called "The Kissing Bridge." Now that I'm 28 years old, I find out the truth. Apparently, it's just called "The Kissing Bridge" to the teenagers in Conway. Dad enjoyed this bridge as a teenager himself. ;)

We drove across "The Kissing Bridge" (more commonly known as "The Saco River Bridge") many times during our week in New Hampshire. Elaina got a kick out of it. She loved driving across the bridge, having Daddy honk, and blowing a lot of kisses to everyone in the van. She asked to go across "The Kisses Bridge," as she called it, several times a day.

Sunday we made our last trip over "The Kissing Bridge" and even decided to get out and walk across the bridge for a few pictures.

"The Kissing Bridge"

A view of the Saco River from "The Kissing Bridge"

Kisses on "The Kissing Bridge"

"The Kissing Bridge"

Saying Goodbye - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

Sunday was the day that our stay ended in New Hampshire. We had to say goodbye to family, and that was sad. We had breakfast one last time on this trip at Bea's before we headed out. It was so wonderful to see everyone again, and we had such a wonderful time. We really enjoyed the place that we stayed as well. There are so many places to stay, but if you're ever in the area, we really enjoyed the Saco River Motor Lodge http://www.sacorivermotorlodge.com/. I can't explain how special it was to share all of the fun things that I did as a little girl with Jeff and our girls. Having my parents with us made the trip even more special. I am so thankful that we were able to make the trip. I love my family so much. Even though we live so far away and don't get to see each other that often, I am thankful that I have been able to have wonderful memories of them. We look forward to visiting our family again in New Hampshire. It is truly a beautiful place!

Elaina, Aunt Penny, and Emily

Stephanie, Elaina, Uncle Ernie, Aunt Donna, and Emily

Aunt Donna and Emily

Breakfast at Bea's is so yummy!

This is Emily and her special cabinet at the place where we stayed. She played in this cabinet ALL week. We called it her little "treasure chest." If we were missing something, we finally started realizing that this cabinet is where we should look first. Sure enough, Emily usually had snatched our belongings, her toys, sippy cup, shoes, etc . . . and put them in "her cabinet." She loved to open the door to see what was inside and slam it shut again. This would keep her entertained for long periods of time. It was so much fun to watch her play!

Our family outside our little apartment for the week.