later summer getaways

This summer we didn't go away on a vacation as a family, but we did take a few day trips in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The Montshire Museum of Science is worth a trip, even with older children.  There are tons of fun indoor exhibits with math challenges, giant bubbles, magnets, ant and bee colonies, but there is also an outdoor water park and fun walking trails.

If you ask the children about their favorite part, they would probably say that they loved to play in the water. But my favorite was walking the trails to the Connecticut River, picking up acorns, listening to the bird calls and telling stories.  It seems that in our family we like to make up stories.  If we see something along the trail that we wonder about, we all make up a story of what might have happened.  Often these little tales turn out to be a lot more interesting and fun than the actual facts behind the phenomena.  We get silly with the stories, and making them up connects us in so many different ways.  I also love how each one of us comes to it differently.  Often one of us will ask a question, then a hypothesis is added by Zany.  Usually Elvin will add details about a similar occurrence in a novel she's read, and from there the story takes off, among many giggles and occasional disagreements over details.  To this day my children recall a walk around a lake many years ago where we found a mushroom covered log and turned it into a restaurant, with fairies flitting around serving sorrel salad and dewdrop tea.  The children may not have learned anything about the mushrooms or the forest that day, but they deeply care about wild places where magical things just may occur.

Of course summer break is not complete unless we go to the beach.  And as always, we left that day thinking we should have done it sooner and more often.  As someone who really struggles to let everything go, it was so therapeutic to sit under an umbrella to read and nap, watch the children play in the (way too cold) water, go for walks, watch the wildlife and eat yummy sandwiches brought from home.  Oh, yes, we will be doing that again next summer, and more than once!  There's nothing more restorative than feeling the sand between your toes, watching and listening to the seabirds, seals and boats, walking among the sea grass and hopping over waves. Then at the end of the day, we all piled into the car tired and happy, and someone remarked how we would be coming back next year.  And in that promise lay all the acceptance that summer must come to an end and we are just a few short weeks away from short days, fires in the stove and lots of warm layers.

a short get away

A little while ago, The Man and I unexpectedly found ourselves without children.  The dog was taken care of as well, so we put our bikes on his car and a few odds and ends in the trunk, and off we went.  Luckily we forgot a lot of things, so we traveled lightly.

As we were getting close to the Inn in southern Vermont, we heard music on a village green, so we pulled over, sat on the grass a while and watched the sun set beautifully to the sound of Irish and New England dance tunes.

The next morning we woke early and set out for a walk before breakfast.  It was one of those magical times when the light is just right, the air feels refreshing and your sleepy head wonders how on a sunny summer morning, the smallest things can take your breath away with their beauty.

Later that morning we rented a kayak and explored the shores of a nearby lakes.  With the drought, the water levels in the lakes are so low that the shallows are just covered in beautiful lily pads and blossoms.  I learned that if you accidentally kayak over one of these beauties, they will just pop right back up, unharmed. What a relief!

On our second day, we hiked a small portion of the Appalachian Trail.  If you are hiking in New England, your chances of seeing lakes and water birds are excellent.  We followed the northern section of the trail for about an hour before thunder and relentless mosquitos drove us back to the car.  Our shortened hike allowed us to stop at a brewery for lunch which made The Man very happy (I no longer drink beer because of its gluten content).

Vermont is so beautiful with its dense forests, pretty lakes and lovely green mountains.  But we also came across reminders of last year's Hurricane Irene, which devastated so many people's livelihoods.  The amount of debris that flooded out of the now dry creeks and rivers is astonishing to see among all this lovely green.  It made me so glad we chose to spend our money here, where it is so much needed to help with ongoing recovery efforts.

We never did take our bikes of the car as it rained the second afternoon.  Instead we explored antique and
furniture stores, ate really good food, napped and discovered that even without the distraction of family and home (and car shopping), we still enjoy each other's company a whole lot.