September 18 - Last Day on the Lake

The girls had a very nice last day on the lake. Katie and Mommy took Danny Boy for a good walk, Maggie joined us for another walk, they spent quite a bit of time outside enjoying the good weather, and had a nice moment on Grammy's wooden bench, captured with an iPhone.

After we left, we drove a few hours to visit Daddy's friends Cory and Amy Healy in Cornish, NH. It was an amazing drive, as we drove through some areas heavily damanged by flooding. It was kind of depressing and upsetting to see-- one stretch of HWY 4 (which just re-opened on Friday) was missing a bridge-- we saw it crumbled down river! Several buildings were crumpled, had mud "up to here", and there were cars sitting in the river. Kevin said sections were trying to be re-routed back to the original river path because the flooding changed the course of sections of the river. Wow!

We had an awesome time with Cory/Amy/Ben/Emma. Ben is 11 and was really good about playing with Katie. Katie caught a cricket and at one point was eating some of their mowed grass (belch!) She's a country girl at heart, I guess!

Now we're in the hotel room waiting to go to bed. We have an O'Dark Early flight home and while I dread the thought of a 6:30 am flight, I'm looking forward to a 10:55 landing!!

It's been a wonderful trip. I hope for Grammy that this is our last visit to 214 Columbia Drive and the next time we visit we will be visiting her in her new sought after place! I am glad we were able to spend 1 more visit at the lake. We had such a wonderful time seeing her friends on the lake, taking Danny for walks, playing fetch in the water, fishing, and doing activities close to Beebe Pond. One of the most enjoyable parts of the vacation was taking the girls to things we hadn't done before.

September 17 - Cousins at the Park

Aunt Amy took Morgan and Katie to an elemtary school in Castleton to play. They look like they had a GREAT time!

September 17 - Turner Girls!

We herded the cats together and did our best to take a picture. I think we should've tried pictures both days! :-) They all looked cute in any one picture, but it was tough to get a picture where everyone was looking at the camera, smiling, eyes open, holding still, etc. Thank goodess for digital cameras!

September 16-17-- Fish On!

Uncle Mike, Aunt Amy, Morgan and Ally came yesterday. Oh what a great day we had! Mommy and Grammy made bread and the mommies and Grammy made two apple pies. We had an excellent dinner with some of the best corn I've ever had (apparently there are a lot of "best of"'s for food this week.)

Morgan and Katie played and played and played and played. You'd think they'd been good friends for years! It was so cute to see.

The girls had a great time fishing this morning. Morgn and Katie both caught fish! Uncle Mike caught a ocuple of good sized fish as well.

September 15 - ECHO and Boves

We had a lovely day today! We drove up to Burlington and went to the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. We had lots of fun looking at the exhibits. They have a large water display in the foyer, and Maggie leaned into it and got soaked. This is why she's in long-sleeve shirt / shirt instead of her cute dress :-)

After lunch, we went to Bove's Cave (http://boves.com/restaurant). 4 years ago, it was featured on Bobby Flay Throwdown. Bobby's lasagna was pitted against Bove's lasagna, and the Bove's lasagna won the throw down. I've been wanting to try the lasagna ever since I saw that episode. We tried to visit Bove's during our last trip to Vermont. We showed up on our last day (a Monday) and they were closed on Mondays! Today was much more successful. And, no offense to my momma, that was the best lasagna I have ever had. Perhaps it's the hype, but it definitely lived up to the hype!

After, we drove through a neighborhood Grammy is looking to buy a townhouse in once her house sells. We drove past a place Grampa/Grammy/Mike lived in, and then we drove past the first house Kevin lived in. Finally, we stopped at the 1850's house Kevin and his family lived in. When we last visited, 4 years ago, the old flower shop was a cafe and the house was empty. Now, it's a restaurant and bistro/cafe (http://carolinesvt.com/). We were able to check out the restaurant. Kevin and his mom told me about the layout prior to this renovation. I had a hard time seeing it. I'll have to ask to see if they have pictures from when they lived there.

The coffee shop was quite lovely (different from the last time we were there). They have a wine bar inside and the renovation is lovely. Judy says they really pack people in for brunch on the weekend.

September 14 - Curls!

September 14 - Hathaway Farm and Fish!

Today we went to a farm that has 2 wonderful corn mazes and a little petting area. We had a great time. Katie was a good girl and we were able buy some worms so she could go fishing. You can see her success at the end of the post (mom, don't say anything because Katie will want to tell you herself!)