Raspberry Picking

July 5 – One of our good memories of our last trip to Montreal is raspberry picking with Sacha and Valerie’s family. When we drove to their house yesterday the sign said “closing soon” so we tried our luck today and found out we were likely picking on the last day of the season. It was perfect since it actually took some work to fill our basket. As I sit here I plan to go eat a few berries while I clean up the last of our stuff in the kitchen – the house is quite. I am the only one awake. Would anyone miss the berries if I eat them all?

Playing Soccer

August 5 – Gabe spent the morning playing with Laurier – the youngest son of our friends Valerie and Sacha. We are spending our last 2 nights crashing at their place. Sacha is the one Dave went on the trip with earlier in July. Gabe told me, “It is fun to hang out and play with a friend all day.” I imagine he will enjoy being with cousins in Long Beach after we fly tomorrow.

This is the AFTER photo

August 3 – This is Gabe after he’d eaten most of his ice cream cone. The face and the shirt are both significantly chocolate-ier. He really wanted me to take this picture with the fake milk coming out of the jug???

The Almost BEFORE Picture

August 3 – So we made it to Ben & Jerry’s. This is the photo when Gabe just started eating his ice cream cone.

Love the View From Here

August 3 – I always love suspension bridges because they have such a neat view you can never get any other way.

Suspension Bridge

August 3 – No fear of suspension bridges in this family. Gabe ran/bounced across the thing like he was at the playground.

One More Stop in Rutland

August 3 – Hit just a few steps of the Appalachian Trail before we left Rutland.

Time to Kill, Mystery to Solve, Nature to Save, Ice Cream to Eat…

August 2 – After nap we headed outside to the outside lounge area to hang out, run around, drink a beer or two. Gabe and I were “detectives” and detected that the hotel uses the grounds for weddings. It was not hard to tell by all the fake flower petals littering the lawn, the bushes, and the reeds on the way to the near by stream. We made a game out of picking up as many of them as we could find – which turned out to be LOTS. We picked up flower petals for about an hour. When we were nearly done the grounds keeper/janitor came out and thanked us then brought us ice cream and took our photo (Dave has no ice cream because he wasn’t on our detective team). Other clues we found were a party favor shaped like a cake that had bubbles in it, a white ribbon tied in a bow, and candle holders.

Buttermilk Falls

August 2 – Spent the afternoon swimmin’ and picnicin’ at Buttermilk Falls. Our photos don’t do it justice. I planned to go swimming with Gabe but Dave “fell” in so he saved me the chilly full body experience. If we’d had more time I am sure I would have gotten up the nerve to jump off one of the rocks into the pool – the only way to go in ALL IN. Gabe has decided they are called swim-in holes NOT swimmin’ holes. 🙂

Rutland Day’s Farmers’ Market

August 3 – We spent the night of the 2nd in Rutland, VT a place we’d never been before. We attempted to visit Long Trail brewery on our way to town but missed their “lunch” hours (11-6) by a few hours so ended up eating at a great pizza place for dinner – had to drag Gabe away from the game room to get him to eat pizza. He is really looking forward to seeing his friends again. At the farmers’ market we bought some great cheese and a piece of slate that we plan to use as a cheese board and trivet/hot-pad when we get home.