A Ferry and a Friend

Thursday was quite a day. We decided we'd take the kids on a bit of an outing by driving to Essex, New York, which is about 45 minutes away and then take the ferry across Lake Champlain to Vermont. It's only a 20 minute ferry ride and we thought the older boys especially would think it was kind of neat to drive onto the boat and then be able to get out and take a boat ride on the big ferry. Plus, it's just cool that you can take a boat for only 20 minutes and be in a new state.

As an added bonus, once we were on the other side in Vermont, we drove 15 more minutes to Burlington and went to lunch at a place called Friendly's, which is a yummy restaurant chain that they have up north. It is kind of like Chili's, but not only is it known for it's good/comfort food, it's also know for it's good ice cream and ice cream desserts like sundaes. My favorite sundae in the whole wide world is the peanut butter cup sundae at Friendly's. I got to have that amazing sundae yesterday and it was yummy.

After lunch, we headed back to the ferry crossing and this time it was fun, because we were going into the wind, so the waves crashed against the back of the boat. Winnie had conked out in the car, but Martin and Libby got a huge kick out of the waves and the wind. The whole trip really was a great success.

As you may have noticed, I haven't mentioned Mr. Connor in any of this. That's because we did decide to leave him at home, because he really wouldn't get much out of it, and this way, we could just take one car and then I could help out Erin with her three kiddos. I got a full report though and he did great with Grandma and Grandpa. I kind of figured that though, since most of the time was spent napping. It's hard to mess that up. Good boy.

We all got home around 3pm and then it was time to hang at the house and then go down to the lake to swim and hang out. We had to come up a little early though, because I had a special treat. My friend Tara was coming to meet Connor for the first time.

Tara and I have been friends since we were 5 years old and even after I moved from New Jersey, we managed to stay in touch. She and her family had come and stayed at Loon Lake too, so for her to come see the place all grown up, was really cool. My parents were really happy to see her too. Like many old friends, no matter how long it's been since your last phone call or last face to face encounter, whenever you get together it's like no time has past at all.

She is now an attorney at a law firm in New York City and happened to have a deposition in Schenectady, NY, which is only an hour and 15 minutes from Loon Lake, so she was able to come up for the night. It worked out great. When she arrived around 6pm, we hung out and she got to help us with Connor's dinner and then hold him, help us with bath time and stories, and then play with him a bit more and then say goodnight.

After he was in bed, my sister was home with her boys, so she said we could go out to dinner and catch up. It was great. We chatted and chatted and chatted some more. When the night ended I was so bummed.

The next morning, she got up really early and took a shower and by the time she was out, Connor was up and ready to give her one last hug goodbye. I am really glad they got to meet and I'm really glad we've stayed friends all these years.

The drive to the ferry boat in Essex was really pretty. There were rolling hills and high peaks on either side. There were also lots of farms and meadows.

We're almost there.

The boys were captivated.

Riding on the ferry. It was about a 20 minute ride and the view was nice.

The D'Andreas on the ferry.

After the ferry, and now in Vermont, we stopped at my favorite place...Friendly's.

Libby is happy with a mouthful of food.

I am loving the peanut butter cup sundae! Yay!

Martin is loving his make your own sundae. What a special treat.

Pretty sailboats anchored in the harbor.

The "Adirondack" ferry.

On the way back, the waves were crashing on the back of the boat. It felt like the ocean.

Libby thought it was awesome. The wind was blowing her feathery hair in the breeze.

Don't float away Libby.

Tara meeting Connor for the first time.

Checking each other out.

Friends for almost 25 years!

Now here is just a random pic of another walk we took where Connor didn't fall asleep but Libby did. Connor had this huge grin on his face when I came around the corner to check if he was awake. It was sooo cute.

I wanted to take a picture of my Mom's 4 sisters. They are all here right now. From left you have my Aunt Joan, my Aunt Linda, my Aunt Jean, and my Aunt Karen.

I haven't discussed this on other blogs, but Connor's cousins are waaaayyy into toads and frogs right now, so Loon Lake is definitely a great place to be. They have caught a few and have especially fallen in love with one really big one that they literally hug and kiss and hold all the time. They keep them in this cooler and have built a home for their frogs. In this picture, Martin has the frog resting on his shoulder. Yes, it is gross to me, but they seem to love it. I guess I better get used to it, if I am going to be raising a boy myself.

Martin with his new best friend, the toad. (It's a toad, because as I have been told many times, toads live on land and frogs live in the water. This guy was found on land, so he's a toad.)

Winnie with the toad.

Just a video of Connor doing what he does best...cruising.

Attempting to Wave and Some Loon Lake Fun

We've definitely been having fun this week. Check it out.

A group happy hour down at the lake.

Connor looking ready for another boat ride.

Martin showing off his best vacuuming skills. He actually really likes to sweep and vacuum.

Winnie and Grandpa putting their heads together on a project.

Connor still really likes Aunt Erin.

Grandpa reading with Connor and Libby.

A fun campfire.

One of our caterpillars was starting to build his cocoon. You can't really tell, but in this first one, he is putting out the webbing, almost like a spider.

We woke up this morning and sure enough, there was a cocoon. See the green thing hanging.

In less than a week, it will turn transparent and then we'll know it's ready to hatch and turn into a beautiful monarch butterfly.

I took both Connor and Libby on a walk this morning. It was hard to push both of them, but at least Libby is light as a feather. She is a good stroller rider too.

Martin helped clip bushes in one part of our trail in the beginning of our walk so we could get through with the big stroller. It was very nice of him. He did a great job.

I looked down towards the end of our walk and both babies had fallen asleep. It was super cute.

We have been teaching Connor how to wave. Here he is trying to show off his new trick. He actually does it pretty well now, but this video doesn't do it justice. It's just kind of funny. He looks like a weirdo baby. Ha! Enjoy.

The Place

The whole gang went to The Place for dinner last night and it actually went very well. Of course we zoomed through the meal as fast as we could, since we didn't want to play with fire, but we all still had a great time. From the adults to the youngest of kiddos. Here are some shots to prove it.

Libby and Connor got to sit at the head of the table together. Check out the video at the end that shows what fun they had together. It was very cute watching them.

Enjoying our yummy meal.

The whole group.

I don't know if you can see it, but poor Arthur ended up with a piece of spaghetti on his shirt. It was pretty funny looking. All in a days work with kids.

Cute Connor and Libby were communicating in their own way.

The D'Andreas Arrive

The D'Andreas made it driving all the way from Austin, Texas in one piece. In fact they actually said it was like a happy family road trip. Who would have thought?

Anyway, we were so happy to have them here and join the fun. With the kids soooo ready to get out the car and explore the woods and the lake, we were not short on things to do. We went swimming, we went for a boat ride, we dug holes, we picked berries, we played in the sand box, we made a camp fire, we roasted marshmallows, and of course we collected toads and other bugs. Talk about a perfect place for kids.

Today has been more of the same and we're all enjoying it. It's been so cute watching Connor mesmerized by his older cousins and actually start to play with his cousin Libby. The older cousins are a bit big, but Libby and him like the same things, so they sort of cruise around together or follow each other crawling. Libby is just learning to walk, but she mostly crawls, so they are very well matched (despite Connor towering over her of course). With his older cousins though, every once and a while, Connor will just look at them and let out a laugh. Who knows what it was that they did, but it's really sweet. You can just tell they are all going to be really close.

Well enjoy our first day together at the Nest.

My Mom and I made them a welcome sign. Aren't we crafty. Ok, maybe not.

After a 30 hour road trip, my brother-in-law Arthur and my sister Erin were very ready to relax with a beer. Welcome!

Libby and Connor in their swimsuits, ready to go down to the lake.

Cousins Martin and Winnie loving the lake. They even jumped off the dock.

Connor in his kayak with Grandma (he was a little scared with all the splashing and stuff), Libby in a baby float with Mommy Erin and Martin and Winnie in tubes. It was a wild lake party.

We put our boat in yesterday morning, so we took our first boat ride of the season. As you can tell, Connor wasn't so sure about the life jacket at first. It's a little constrictive.

We had a nice group in the boat, and with Grandma's help, Martin even got to drive. He did great.

I took a picture of a pretty little sailboat as we were driving around.

Ahh, that's better. Connor looks a true sailor now.

This was so cute, we picked blackberries and raspberries on the walk up from the lake and Martin sat down and shared them with Winnie and Connor.

Check out how many marshmallows Winnie has on his marshmallow stick. Amazing! It was really nice though, he said, "I will share these with everyone."

We had a lively campfire.

As is tradition, we found a monarch caterpillar and plan to feed him until he makes a cocoon and then he'll hatch and turn into a beautiful butterfly. The process usually takes about two weeks.

What's really neat is that he'll hatch in this jar and then for the first few minutes as he's getting used to his wings, he'll let you hold him. You don't get many opportunities to hold a butterfly, so it's pretty fun. I'll admit, even at my age, I think it's pretty cool.

This morning, the boys went down to fish, so my Mom and I watched Connor and Libby. In this picture you can see that Connor was opening and shutting the door and smiling when he saw Libby on the other side.

Connor and Libby getting into mischief together. What happy little cousins.

Oh and this is a short little video so that Aunt Julie and Uncle Jeff can see Libby's attempts at walking. Enjoy! She doesn't do it a lot, but she does sometimes and I think with a little more encouragement, she'd be on the move.