Vermont 2015: Day 2

We actually left Vermont on our second day of vacation to visit Fort Ticonderoga in New York. The fort, originally constructed by the French in 1755, was at the center of two wars (the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution) and five battles. Fort Ticonderoga stands at a strategic point overlooking Lake Champlain and the La Chute River. Though the fort was built by the French, it was held at times by the British and the Americans.

 Lake Champlain

Each summer, the fort chooses a different year to represent. We visited during 1756, when the French soldiers found themselves trying to defend New France against a looming British attack.

Fort Ticonderoga also offers a fantastic family program that took us through different parts of the fort. We met the tailor and received a red sash and then created a leather slit pouch.

At the outdoor kitchen, the boys learned about cooking for the soldiers and received a ration of split peas.

The boys learned how to clean and load a musket and then we watched the musket demonstration.

Henry joined in marching behind the soldiers.

Musket demonstration

Fife and drum corps

After lunch, Henry's tooth was considerably more wiggly than it had been just a few hours earlier, so he was jiggling it and out it came, right in the gift shop of Fort Ticonderoga! Fortunately, the Tooth Fairy is good at finding us no matter what state we're in.  

 After lunch, we toured some of the museum exhibits with Gramma and Grampa.

Bread from the kitchen.

The boys learned about carpentry outside these newly constructed huts. They would have housed about 18-20 soldiers and would have been coveted as most of the soldiers would be sleeping in tents or lean-tos.

The King's Garden

For the last activity in the family program, the boys helped weed in the vegetable garden.

Their reward for their hard work was a freshly picked carrot!

Gene and I talked quite a bit with the gardener. He was a wealth of information and just added to the whole Fort Ticonderoga experience.

We hiked back up the hill, carrots in tow, after a fantastic day at the fort.

Our final stop was back in the quarters of the officer of the day.

For completing all six activities in the family program, the boys earned a cockade button for their hats, fatigue pay in Canadian paper script and the right to sign the fatigue roster to be counted as a skilled artificer.

After visiting the fort, we drove up to Mount Defiance, located 758 feet above Lake Champlain. This mount was used to threaten the Americans at Fort Ticonderoga in 1777. The British hauled two 12-pound cannons to the top of the mount, causing the American army to abandon the fort.

There was so much to do at Fort Ticonderoga and we had such a fantastic experience that it is a place we would all love to visit again.

That night, we all gathered back at Amber and Tom's house for a delicious dinner and birthday celebration. Amber made her famous chocolate cake (Ina Garten recipe) and everyone sang to Will and me. Amber sure knows how to make a birthday special!

Amber had number candles in the middle for me and nine individual candles along the outside for my almost-nine-year-old.  

Our birthdays are just three weeks apart and I love celebrating with my big boy.

Savoring birthday cake with my whole family was the perfect end to a busy day!

Vermont 2015: Day 1

We just returned from a ten-day vacation in Vermont and Maine. We spent time with family, enjoyed mostly good weather, ate well, and saw much.

Our first day was a travel day. We had a very early flight from Houston and we arrived in Vermont to some crazy weather! It was 92 and hot when we landed and a few hours later, a huge storm came in, cooling things down but knocking out power to half the town of Shelburne. We managed to eat dinner before "shopping" in my sister's fridge and pantry for staples because the local grocery store had to close due to lack of power!

We rented a house about 10 minutes away from my sister and this is the view that I enjoyed with my coffee each morning. Just glorious!

Our first outing was to Adam's Berry Farm to pick blueberries and raspberries.

Berries for your belly.

The cousins came along too!

We found some huge berries.

After picking pints and pints of blueberries, we moved over to the raspberries, which were nearing the end of the season.

We found some dandelions and made some wishes.

 Our haul.

We also got a dozen eggs from these gals.

After berry picking, Aunt Amber and the cousins came over to play at our house. It had been two years since we were all together and the cousins played really well and laughed a lot. They put on several shows for us.

Gramma and Grampa drove in from Maine and arrived in the late afternoon. The adults sat out on the porch, chatting and watching the bees and other insects buzz around the garden. We spent a long time studying this large insect, trying to figure out if it was a moth or a hummingbird. It turns out it's a hummingbird moth, with fast beating wings that make it look like a small hummingbird. No wonder we were confused!

Gene took the boys on a short adventure on the property. This is our house, from the back.

We ended the day with a delicious home-cooked dinner with Gramma and Grampa and more Vermont adventures to come!

A Birthday Boomerang

My birthday was a couple weeks ago and it was a very low-key affair as we were getting ready to head out on summer vacation number two. After Gene wrapped up my birthday gifts the night before my big day, the boys planned a surprise scavenger hunt for me -- and to keep it a surprise, they came up with a code word for it: boomerang. The boys worked on the birthday boomerang for a long time, coming up with five clues that eventually led me to my birthday presents.

Henry and Will decorated an envelope that held the first clue.

I love the idea of a birthday boomerang and think this may become a new birthday tradition at our house!

We celebrated again at the end of the day with our traditional birthday cupcakes from Crave and another birthday gift (chocolate -- Gene knows me so well!).

And then a dragonfly surprised us by hanging out in the front yard for about 20 minutes, giving me plenty of time to grab my camera and snap a bunch of pictures.

T

The birthday dragonfly. 

A new birthday tradition and time with my three favorite guys? Birthday perfection.