Greetings from Old Saybrook

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I'm still alive! =) It's been busy. I have quite a few fun things for fall coming up soon, until then hope you enjoy a little tour of our trip!

There's nothing better than taking a much needed relaxing vacation in an amazingly, gorgeous scenery. We left for a week to visit Tim's parents in Connecticut, and I can't believe how beautiful it is there! We flew into Boston and then stayed in a timeshare Tim's parents had, in Cape Cod, MA for a few days. When I first stepped outside in the daylight I was in awe at the thick patches of trees everywhere right up against the ocean. I kept repeating myself to Tim how beautiful it was.

The girls were pretty good for the flights...we had a layover in Phoenix for an hour which was kind of a pain, but they did great. The way home was a different story. =)

I was still in awe at the oodles amount of trees surrounding us as we drove around, then we ran into the ocean... even though I knew we were right on the coast I wasn't expecting it. Took my breath away...there's something so calming and peaceful about listening to the ocean.... not being ON the ocean-I find that more nerve racking-but listening to it and soaking in the beauty. It was pretty cold that day though, as you can tell by the jackets and me swaddled in a blankie. =) Tim's dad enlightened us with some interesting facts about lighthouses which I thought was neat. I didn't realize how many there are, especially in one area.

We went on about a 10-11 mile bike ride on this gorgeous trail. It's called rails-to-trails. Meaning there used to be railroad tracks there, but they paved over it and it makes a perfect bike trail all along the coast! We were all geared up and I know, we look pretty hott in our gear right? =) In the first pic I was trying to look cool...totally NOT! haha What a nerd. ;) The whole thing is about 21 miles, but since we slept the day away til noon, we were running out of daylight...and energy at that time. Bruce and Terri took the kids with them and drove to certain spots to take breaks with us. One stop was feeding the duckies, which was Faith's first time doing. She thought it was great, and funny when they flapped their wings splashing water.

I told Tim, next year I want to go when the leaves have changed already. I saw parts of the trees starting to turn.....oh how I want to see the trees completely painted with vibrant, fall colors!

This is the chawesome (yes I meant to spell it that way...it is MY word that I made up and use...and now have Tim saying it..mahah) aquarium in Mystic, CT. It was fun to see some diff animals. The ones that intrigued us the most were the octopus and the red, glowy jellyfish.(no pic) and the seals too...never seen those before. There were a lot of firsts for us on this trip! I've decided seals are pretty funny looking....especially when they walk...waddle, whatever it is they do to maneuver. Faithy and Mikkie loved looking all the many diff. fishies. There were some big and colorful and poky and grumpy lookin ones. hah

We headed out to the beach in Old Saybrook, which is where his parents live. Another fantastically gorgeous place. This was Mikkie's first time on a beach. She thought the sand was a peculiar thing. She had so much fun in it, that I decided to bury her bottom half in it...along with Faith and Tim. hah Well... I was freezing, wrapped in a blankie again so I had to do something that would warm me up. and moving around, digging and covering them with sand kept me warm And entertained.

The last 2 pics were date night when Tim and I had a night out on the town while his mom watched the girlies for us! We got take out and went to "Dock n Dine" place and found a table under a light and we were overlooking the ocean....or Connecticut river....I can't tell which is which since they're so close together. I didn't just post a black picture for nothing...that's our picture of the swan we saw! haha it was very dark and our camera isn't that beefy, but if you zoom in you can see it. =) Ever since I saw Swan Princess, I've always wanted to see a swan....about 15 years later I have.

We took the van one day by ourselves while his parents worked, to go see some other sights. Mystic Seaport, which I'm not gonna lie, was kinda a let down. It was like a ghost town...hardly anyone there, but the village looked cool and we got to see a humongo anchor. =)

Next, also in Mystic, was the Cider Mill- the last steam-powered one the US. It was neat to see how they made their yummy apple butter, sauce and juice. the apples come through that metal cylinder thingy and somehow gets mashed and oozes out into the box, and the juice gets squeezed into another container on the bottom right. I loved that area where it was located...just felt like a cute, cozy cottage in the woods with the mouth-watering aromas coming from their store next to it, of freshly baked pumpkin bread, apple cider, apple donuts, maple syrup and ooooooohh they were some of my most favorite smells and made me wanna do the happy dance! I LOVE fall time and the scents that come with it! We came out with some tasty loot: apple butter of course, raspberry peach butter, pumpkin butter (yummy with saltine crackers), Vermont maple syrup, moose droppings(which were surprisingly tasty ;), and some Hot pepper raspberry chipotle sauce which Bruce got us hooked on. Tastes amazing on a pork roast.

Two days here: first pic, grandparents helping Mikkie walk in her new shoes they got for her! She was wondering what are these big clod-hoppers doing on my feet! ha Besides wearing sandals a few times, she's never worn shoes. Faithy got some coolio shoes too that light up when she walks, she thinks they're pretty gnarly. We went to eat at a seafood joint, which you'll never find me at (Try Italian). But I decided to give it a try this time..I'm all for trying new foods. We had fish n chips and I thoroughly enjoyed it! mmmm I've been missin out all these years!

Next day we went to Rita's that has THE BEST custard italian ice! I agree with their sign...it IS happiness! =) Our first time trying it was in 2006 when we went to Florida, and so we were eager to return. I got Black Cherry with vanilla custard....oh my sweetness, it was good! I'm prayin they build one out our way cuz I'm so cravin one! After a few bites of Grampa's, Mikkie was a lean, mean eatin machine...so mean she crawled right over to me and shoved her face in mine, taking a huge chunk. hahaha it was hilarious!! Faithy shared Tim's Swedish fish italian ice, but there was no happiness in his cup..lol he can't eat the custard. (dairy issues)

After Rita's and on our way to the Boston airport, we stopped by Newport, Rhode Island. It's been so fun to see some things from history on this trip! Here, were some huge-o mansions that people built way back when, when they got an endless supply of moolah... sheesh, why can't that happen now?! Once again, the ocean view was incredible!

The bottom right pic is of a battleship we saw going over the cool bridge.

And I got some sweet pix (as good as it can be with my camera and through the airplane window that now had hand smudges on it) of the sunset on our plane ride home. usually I'm a nervous wreck on planes, but I did great....better than the kids! =) If the plane ride were any longer, Tim and I would have had some major hernias. As we were waiting to be seated, the pilot let Faith go in the cockpit and showed her all the cool glowing buttons. She felt pretty special!

This was an amazing trip and we had tons of fun every single minute we were there. But it went by way too fast, and it all feels like a dream now. If Tim's parents didn't live there, we most likely never would have made it over there. It was so kind of them to entertain us, which they are great at! The girls had an absolute blast with their grandparents. I can tell they love both sets very much. Faith had a confused look when they dropped us off at the airport and drove off. Like me, she didn't want the fun to end!