Cape May, NJ. - Stormy Day - post-tornado skies, 6/21/16

Cape May, NJ. 6/21/16 - Stormy Day - post-tornado skies

Emmett and Ellery 

18 Hours in Portsmouth, NH

TH and I escaped to Portsmouth, NH last weekend for a night as a belated birthday trip for me, and just a general change of scene and night off from parenting.  Neither of us had ever been there and we really enjoyed it's salty and artistic atmosphere.  We left Emmett with some friends, and realized it was the first time we had left him and gone away together since he was about 14 months old.  I'm not quite sure how we let that long of a time period elapse.  We were, of course, totally tweaked about it, and almost bailed at the last minute, but I'm really glad we didn't.  And Emmett had a great time on his sleep over, came home full of stories, and told us he wants to do it every night. Phew!

We got there around 3:30 and checked into the Ale House Inn, which is a great little boutique hotel with iPads in every room, a little lobby with fresh fruit and snacks, and very friendly staff who are more than happy to help you find ways to fill up your time in Portsmouth.

The we walked around for a bit, looked at the water, and did some exploring and shopping.  And then we started eating, and managed to hit 3 restaurants in the remaining 15 hours.  First we went to Cava for a few small plates to refresh ourselves after our walking and shopping.

 And then we met up with a friend at the wine bar at the Black Trumpet, and then downstairs for a delicious dinner, where I had the most delicious foie gras I've had in years, which was pan seared and served over a flambeed apple slice and served with a beet and citrus relish.  SO good.

And then home to bed, because after all, we are still exhausted parents, even on our night off :)

It was truly lovely though to get out of our routine, get a chance to actually talk to each other without being interrupted, and just soak in a new atmosphere.  The really is something so rejuvenating about being in a new place, and taking in new sights and smells.  It helped me pull back a little and refocus on the big picture, and take a break from all of the little day to day demands and distractions.  And if 18 hours can do that, just imagine what a long weekend would be like! Maybe next time. . .

Togetherness

I'm sure a lot of you have spent lots of time with family this summer, maybe even big family vacations or long visits.  It is one of the best things about the slower pace of summer, being able to have a leisurely visit.  My brother and his family have been here visiting for the past ten days, and will be here for a total of two weeks, which is an amazingly long visit.  And even though it isn't really the best time for a vacation for me, due to the ever-looming pile of orders waiting for me in both studios, having them here has forced me to slow down a little bit and enjoy what summer in Vermont has to offer, for which I am grateful.  My friends up here and I often lament the fact that we never do the lovely summer things we intend to do, like hike and swim and even just sit around on the porch drinking iced tea.  So I am very glad I made myself take the time to go swimming at Buttermilk Falls, our friends' pond, the town pool, and today at Lake Rescue.  We've also been to Bromley Mountain Adventure Park, cooked hot dogs and s'mores over an open fire, the little boys caught frogs and went fishing, and we've all done some good puzzling over mysterious pond creatures.

 But with a large group of people always comes the problem of how to feed them all, and really, who is going to do all those dishes?  How does your family deal with this challenge? I'd really love to hear, so please leave some of your ideas in the comments!  Ever since I was very small my family has created a daily chart to try to evenly split up the work (and fun) of feeding a small hoard.  My mom has always said that vacations for her when we were small children was "just a change of sinks." And so as soon as we were old enough we got drafted into service.  The chart with a family of 4 was pretty simple.  But now with a combined family of 9, look what we have come to:

I mean just creating the chart is a huge challenge in itself.  Luckily I have an older brother who loves to sort things into columns. ;p  So we have a childcare column (which right now is just taking care of Emmett, which is great for us), a table setting column, cooking, clearing the table and washing the dishes, and then "Riley" is for the people "leading the life of Riley," or in other words, just relaxing and doing nothing.  And somehow I just realized this year that the only way this system works is to absolutely not feel guilty about being Riley when it is your turn, and really enjoy it, or otherwise you just feel like you are cooking and cleaning all the days long.

Of course Olivia does almost nothing except lick the occasional plate and generally be in the way.  But she looks good doing it, doesn't she?

So that's how we do it.  It's a lot of work feeding 9 people every lunch and dinner!  I don't know how those big old farm families did it on a daily basis! There must be a trick to it, and you probably don't make lobster pasta much.  But for 14 days we are going all out!

OMG the Panda Cuteness

Check out Emmett's new lunchbox. A stack-able panda face bento box with two compartments and an elastic sweatband to hold it all together.   Available in a few styles here.

Vacation Highlight Snaps

We had such a nice vacation a couple of weeks ago, visiting family in Chicago and California.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip.  We finally got Emmett a pair of headphones he will wear, and it made toddler airplane travel 150% more low-maintenance.  So to all you parents of young toddlers out there take heart, plane travel gets much much better!  And also let me tell you, the beach is absolutely the best place to go with a digger-obsessed two year old.  He was as happy as a clam pushing sand around in the world's biggest sandbox!  You might also notice that I just got a new digital photo filter application, and I'm playing around with some of the effects.  I am doing a jewelry photo shoot next week to update my website, and I have been searching for a way to give them a unique look.  I'll be sure to let you all know when it is up!