Fishing, fairs and fun!

Felt the need to share some more Vermont stories with y'all.

The kids were kept very busy indeed, what with the evening walks with Tux the family dog, and some interesting Peanut Butter Play dough!!

And one morning they went fishing at one of the scenic lakes there. Of course the two Mom's were the ones who ended up hooking the slimy, humongous night crawler worms onto the hooks....not for the fainthearted I can assure you. Right there and then I discovered that I could never do the whole 'Survivor'-eating-gross-bugs thing!! Never, I tell you!!

The fish prevailed however, and had a good meal on us...... managing to chomp down those night-crawlers like nobodies business! We walked away empty handed, but at peace nonetheless.

Vergennes was holding a fair celebrating 400 years, and an assortment of interesting characters were there. Local townsfolk who dressed up in character and knew all about the person they were 'playing', you can basically ask them anything about their character, and they will be able to answer you. Fascinating.

Here are a few of them.....

And then, the kids played of course! Slides and swings and tyres, you name it! There was a wonderful park nearby, where we let them all loose for an hour or so. I had great fun just taking photos of them all.

Thank you Atherton Family for a memorable trip!!

To the Green Mountain State...and back!!

Hello again friends.

We are back from our trip to Vermont with happy smiles, overweight luggage and fond memories! It was a great trip, and was wonderful catching up with my friend, who is now a contented wife with a husband and 3 sweet children.



She really went out of her way taking us to all the sights and helped us to taste (literally) the wonders in Vermont. Strawberry picking on Friday.....I have never seen so many strawberries in one kitchen when we arrived back home!! And thus the need for strawberry jam making on Saturday!!



Then it was off to the maple syrup farm, for some yummy maple syrup creemies (aka ice creams), and we topped the evening off with our first baseball game. We all enjoyed that, the kids especially loved the local teams mascot, "Skip". It was really a wonderful way to experience a piece of America!



So, it was indeed a busy time. And there are many photos of the trip, so I have made a slide show next to this on the right with some more of the photos for you all to check out. You can click on the photos to enlarge.

Vermont is a beautiful state, very green and lush in the summer months, although I have learnt there are 5 seasons there. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter & Mud season!! I would love to see it in Winter, and even Fall with the glorious reds, browns and rusts. Hopefully, we will be back there soon.

I will keep this post short, and add some more for y'all tomorrow....enjoy the pics of the scenery around Northfield, where we were staying!

Off to Vermont....see you on the 21st July!!!

Yeah, that's right....the kids and I are on our way to Vermont tomorrow.......so excited!!
So I just wanted to let y'all know that I might not be able to post on my blog until the 21st July. If I can I will, but don't all hide away, and not come back, thinking I have deserted you for ever!

Do come back and check now and then to see if there is any latest news!

In the meantime, I will love and leave you with a really cute video, my friends Lee n' Jackie, waaaaay down in New Zealand sent it to me a few days ago, and it's really fun, and sums up how the kids and I are feeling right now............we're going to Vermont......woohoo!!

We'll be back!!!!!

The 411 on Vermont

Well, the kids and I are off to Vermont on Thursday for 12 days...woohoo!! Andy is in Germany during that time, on business, and yes...he would much rather be with us!

In honour of our upcoming trip I have decided to give y'all the 411 on Vermont (had to do some research myself anyway...)
As those of you who have been following this blog know, I am a fan of interesting facts, and useless snippets of information about places. Therefore, I didn't want to disappoint you all, by not giving you some more of these nuggets of information. Which I know you all can't wait to read, and are sitting on the edge of your computer chair in anticipation , *wink*

So here goes.....

1. Vermont is 160 miles long and 80 miles wide.
2. Vermont is the second smallest state in population.
3. Vermont has the least amount of violent crimes out of all 50 states.
4. The capital of Vermont is Montpelier.
5. Montpelier is the smallest state capital in the U.S.
6. Montpelier is the only state capital without a McDonalds.
7. More people live in a rural setting in Vermont than in an urban setting.
8. Rudyard Kipling, living in Vermont in the 1890's invented the game of snow golf.
9. In 1846, the first postage stamp in America is printed in Brattleboro, Vermont.
10. The Green Mountains, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, run up the center of the state. In fact, the state’s name is derived from it: Ver, from the French word for green, vert; and -mont from mountain.
11. Ben & Jerry's Ice cream gives their ice cream waste to local farmers who feed it to their hogs. The hogs seem to like every flavor except Mint Oreo!
12. In 1886, Ebenezer J. Ormsbee and Levi K. Fuller ran for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. Each were one-armed amputees. Their campaign slogan was "two good arms between the two of us."
13. Until 1996, VT was the only state without a Wal-Mart.
14. Three quarters of Vermont is covered with forest, including ash, beech, birch, maple, hickory, oak, pine and spruce trees.
15. Champ is a legendary sea creature believed to live in Lake Champlain. Champ might be a reptile, fish, or mammal, or just an old myth or story passed down through the centuries. There have been over 300 Champ sightings recorded: the first as early as 1819, and most recently in 1995.

Well, there you have it, my expounded list of all things Vermont!! Or "The Green Mountain State", as it is also called.

Never let it be said you learn nothing from reading this blog!!