Of course, Columbus Day has always been one of my favorite holidays (love that Nina-Pinta song). Since moving to New England, though, it has become even more significant -- only because, according to Ben & Jenn's personal almanac, Columbus Day marks the beginning of peak "Leaf Season" here. Hooray! We decided to go big in our celebrations this year, thanks to some encouragement from our friends, the Sorensens. We drove to New Hampshire and stayed here:
Cozy little chalet in a Swiss village -- perfect place to hang out and play!
The view from the chalet
Getting ready for the train ride of their lives
Here's our train on the Conway Scenic Railroad.
Fully-equipped with a window seat, a hot chocolate, and a buddy
Lovely views from the train
Let's top it off with a rainbow to wow the kiddies!
STORYLAND!!! Storyland is such an adorable little theme park based on fairy tales and nursery rhymes -- PERFECT for the 7 & under set. Our boys loved it! Ellis' favorite part was actually this Humpty Dumpty statue. He's been waiting a long time to meet "Humpdee-dee-a-wall."
I opted out of the teacup ride :)
Look how adorable - a pumpkin coach that takes you on a ride to Cinderella's castle!
And our dear friends, the Sorensens, with us inside the pumpkin!
Meeting Cinderella herself
And meeting "Grandpa Dave" shortly thereafter
Isn't this just a dreamy little place?
Next, we drove to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, Vermont (which is the most beautiful middle of nowhere I have EVER seen) and stayed with "The Other Ben and Jen." Ben Allred is my wonderful cousin who has an amazing wife and a beautiful house filled with 4 strapping boys. The littlest of those boys is named Henry, which makes our friendship with them even more fun. It actually took Ellis some getting used to, and by the end of our time there he decided his name was Henry too :)
We had a lot of fun family time with our closest-living relatives! Henry and Weston bonded and played together mostly the whole time. We are so glad Weston is not too cool for Henry, even though he's almost 5 years older.
Next, a bike ride in Stowe, VT
The start of the trail
The view along the way.
The town center, where we had a nice little lunch.
In other words, the PERFECT weekend!
3 comments:
You weren't kidding with the going all out comment! That looks like a lot of fun and the leaves would have been hard to beat. Well, except with a train ride and hot chocolate. And bikes too. That place must be close to Heaven. Cool. I really liked the Grandpa Dave statue too. :-)
A chalet with a view, a train ride, storyland, time with family, a bike ride...what a fabulous Columbus Day weekend!
Okay, this is definitely the trip for us! I've wanted to see Vermont for so many years in the fall and it sounds like it was perfect! Beautiful!
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