Monday, July 7, 2008

A New York Minute...7200 of them.

Minute 1-1440:



Their was a song that one of the men in the Avonlea Village sang recalling something in his childhood as a "perfect memory". I truly enjoyed the song and the idea that their are perfect memories within my childhood that I will always remember with great happiness. I remember this day on the beach. We drove down from Montreal on Tuesday after repacking and picking up the dogs. We dropped things off at the cabin and then headed to a nearby state park on Lake Champlain in NY. I remember enjoying the sun, the sandy beach and it's warmth; however, after looking at this photo, I can see that this must be a "perfect moment" for my daughter. Look at her face - she is in heaven!

And this one...I know they love to swim and love to lay in the sand and get warm -but these photos are just so telling of just how much they love it. I think this photo is one of the funniest from our vacation - do you think they are enjoying themselves?

After a great afternoon at the beach, we took a quick spin to this covered bridge. That's Nini, Cici, and Craig in the window! We ended the day with a campfire and smores!
Minutes 1440-2880
Whiteface Mountain: Our first stop was to hit White Face Mountain and the gondola ride that takes you from the bottom of the ski area to the top. The woman running the photo booth at the top of the mountain asked us almost immediately if we had done any cross-country skiing this winter. We said that we had and she quickly said that she thought we looked familiar. She remembered us from this and last years cross-country skiing trip!





Highfalls Gorge: Right after our gondola ride to the top of Whiteface, we headed to Highfalls Gorge where a waterfall awaited us. Craig was in a rather spritey mood making this little pose in his "play" vest that matches the girls. He did not get his monogrammed - which I wish he would have - it would have been cute to get a photo with the girls and him in their vests. The waterfall was nice to look at and a fun and easy hike for old and young. They have information signs throughout the walk which he children can read and answer questions. If they get all of the questions right, they receive a small souvenir from their gift shop. It's a great idea! We drove to Lake Placid for a picnic on Mirror Lake, a promise to swim that we had to squash because it was getting late and their were just too many people wanting to swim. We hit a few stores along the way home and ended the day cooking steaks on the campfire and watching SYTYCD (or at least some of it).

Minutes 2880-4320:








July 3rd started with clouds and lots of rain. We had planned to go to the beach, but changed our minds with the new weather and headed across Lake Champlain into Sharron, Vermont the birthplace of Joseph Smith. It was pouring down rain when we arrived. I got out with Sassy, since she hadn't visited here before and was going to at least take a photo of her at the monument. I grabbed our beach umbrella and headed out with her to snap some photos. There was an Elder who was coming out with some umbrellas and when I said we were just going to take some photos and knew that Craig and the girls were in the car - headed down to our van to convince them to get out and visit! It was a really cute gesture and although the girl's faces look like they are not enjoying themselves, they loved talking to the Elder and telling them all about their adoptions story! It was quite sweet.



later that day...



We drove back up through Vermont to Knight's State Park on the VT Island stretch in Lake Champlain. The park was having a firework celebration on the 3rd and we thought we would check it out. The park is one we have visited for swimming in other posts. We were completely in a state of enjoyment as the parks planning committee did a great job of putting together a small enjoyable, community celebration. The girls had a blast running around their fields...





Sassy, apparently, could not find any other sweatshirt in all of Maine; so we ended up looking a bit like twins. I wasn't enthralled with this photo as Craig seemed to be in taking it.





The evening ended with a great display sunset and display of fireworks. We enjoyed $4.00 half rack of ribs, easy parking, and easy exiting. It was a very, very fun evening and a great ending to a day that started out with rain and cloudy skies!

Minutes 4360-5760:

July 4th started and ended with beautiful weather and perfect temperatures. We celebrated the 4th in Lake Placid, NY and arrived in town around 1:00 p.m. We parked ourselves across from the fireworks display area, which was located across the lake. I really wanted to dress the girls and myself in the same shirts and found some fun and cheap options at Walmart.


We all took turns saving our seats and viewing the activities from a concert, to shopping, to parades. Before the sun set, I took the girls swimming in Mirror Lake, we ordered a pizza, and finally enjoyed some fantastic fireworks on over the lake.


Minute 5760-7200:


Saturday we headed into Vermont again to go to Alburgh Dunes but decided on a different state park due to the large amounts of people using this beach and park. We headed back to Knight's State Park and enjoyed a day of sun and kayaking on the beach. The water wasn't as nice as I would have liked, but the girls didn't mind and the kayaking was fun. Craig took it out for most of the time while the girls, Sassy, and I enjoyed the beach. We did get a chance to take the kayak out; the girls individually with Craig and together. When I returned from my stint in the kayak, the girls were eager to help me into shore. The photo above is of Sassy attracting much attention from the children playing in the water, the were talking to her about why she was sitting out in the water, and about all the things they were collecting. It was really sweet! I like to call her photo above retirement! We headed back to the cabin to start collecting our things, washing clothes. We ended the day with a campfire, roasted hot dogs, smores, and Craig beating us at our annual canasta game.
Parting and home

The girls are dealing with some separation and attachment anxieties tonight as they had to say goodbye to Sassy. We took her to the airport in Burlington where she caught her flight home and we headed back to Montreal to end our vacation. I loved every minute of it! I hope you enjoy the photos and links and hope that if you are a regular on my site, or a lurker to please comment - I would love to hear from you!
It's almost three in the morning and I'm finally posting my last vacation post! I will have a summary and link to all our photos soon! Take care everyone and thanks for commenting :)

7 comments:

andrea said...

Your vacation seems like pure heaven, even with the rain. What a great way to spend the fourth. Your girls looked adorable in their beach pictures. I love the way you broke it down into your New York Minutes.

Jan said...

You took my dream vacation. Loved it all. I will keep this post in mind if we are ever fortunate to head that way. We might go to Maine this fall. But the Joseph Smith place of birth story, was so neat.

And the answer is YES to the question of if they look like they are having a fun. Thanks for sharing.

Lauralee said...

the girls and you look like you had a great time! looks like you had some great weather and made some great memories!

Rachel Bagley Wurtz said...

I love this approach to your recap! Clever! What an incredible way to celebrate the 4th! Thank you for always surprising me with good mail! You're amazing! I've had a rough couple of months and have been lousy in doing things for others! Thank you for reminding me to be better!

Happy 4th!

linda said...

Michelle, your vacay pictures are gorgeous! I loved the fireworks ones and let me just say there are some magnificant lakes in your part of the country. Lake Placid looks amazing...how much would a lake house cost there? Maybe I don't want to know huh?

You sound like a wonderful, wonderful daughter-in-law Michelle. Sassy is blessed by you and your family. It also sounds like Craig is a jewel of a son. You both will be blessed beyond measure for the love and kindness you show others...and what a great example you are setting for your girls!!

Nicole said...

Just can't keep up with you anymore-your summer vacation rocks! Glad your having fun! Love the fort pictures and of coarse the lighthouses. Just beautiful...

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

Sounds wonderful! Love the girls in the sand pix. The picture of Sassy in the lake in perfect, the caption SO fitting!