Did ya miss us?

UH MAY ZING vacay!  3 weeks and one day of food stuffin, pop guzzling, Momma huggin, travel lovin goodness!


First morning with Momma.....



and she treated us to a yummy breakfast.


Vermont is so beautiful!


One of the highlights...Almanzo Wilder's childhood home.  Read Farmer Boy?


Ya gotta love a company with a sense of humor!


Lake Champlain


The Vermont Teddy Bear Company- their bears are guaranteed for life! This one needed some help!


And we're off on our adventure!


Always dreamed of coming here! So excited to do it with my Momma.


Walker's Point- and they said George was in!


Off to whale watch with the kiddos!


Thaaaaaar she blows!!!!!


Paul Revere's home


Abby got a violin- it changed our lives! (For the better!)

Ok, so I know that was quite a few pics- but let me tell ya.......that was just a drop in the bucket!  The highlight reel, if you will!

New England is amazing and if Andy were offered a job there tomorrow, I'd be ready to move by Wednesday! I love the history that swallows you up- to the point that you suddenly don't even realize that you're standing on a dock that is 400 years old!  I was in a boat in the same waters that the Pilgrims parted as they landed in our brand new baby country! The very beginning!

Astounding.

Anyway....back to reality now!  I took the rest of this past week- after getting home- to unpack, tidy up a smidge, and get my bearings back.  Yesterday I gave my first presentation on my trip to Africa and it was exhilarating to talk about it.  Lots of laughing.  Lots of weeping.  Hopefully very effective.  Tomorrow I have committed the day to working on my quilt that I began 2 years ago!  Momma took me to the Vermont Quilt Festival and it was very inspiring!  Laundry and quiltmaking.....that's ALL that's happening here tomorrow!

NEXT weekend is our yearly trip to Atlanta for the Southeast Homeschool Expo.  It's the one day Andy devotes to talking to me about curriculum as long as I want!  We don't do workshops- only the vendor hall- and I feel like a kid in a candy store!  This year I have completed 95% of my curriculum shopping- so I'll be looking at French curriculum and fun stuff like Jim Weiss and Miller Pad & Paper!  Next post I will fill you in on what my homeschooling plan for next year is!  Middle school.....sheesh.  Oh, and a trip to Six Flags on Sunday!  Then.........

Good-bye, Summer!

Second guessing....

I have always loved being from "Momma South"- the porches, the sweet tea, gentlemen holding doors for ladies......

but I gotta tell ya, from the bottom of my heart, I think I was meant to live in New England!  I've been in Vermont for a little over a week and, though I miss Andy terribly, I just don't want to ever leave!



Now I know some of you nay-sayers are thinking, "Just wait until winter hits!  She'll change her mind!"  But I was here last winter and it might have been a bit different but it was certainly not enough to deter my thinking.  I HATE hot weather.  HATE it!!!  I'm the person that schedules vacation for the end of October in Nova Scotia so that it will be cold and we can have a fire!

Having said ALL of that, I miss my bed.  And my pillow.  And my dog.  And my cats.  And my garden.  And my chair.................