first family camp out

oh...can you beat that?  it's Heaven.  All of these photos were taken by my talented father in law.

There is nothing like a beautiful weekend in Vermont...add a tent, some s'mores and fine family campfire company and you've got the recipe for a perfect camp out.

 It was the first time Tommy and I have really been able to bust out our camping gear since getting married - intern year and then having an itty bitty baby kept getting in the way!  It was AMAZING to get out of the clutches of my TV (which I had become addicted to thanks to the Olympics), and cell phone service...and breath in the freshest air...stare at the landscape created by God...and just be.

she apparently outgrew this...her feet LITERALLY busted out of the seems at the feet!!

It was a family reunion style camp experience...complete with Tommy's aunts and mother who go above and beyond the hotdogs and foil dinners that I am used to.    There were multiple camp stoves going at once, and crazy good gourmet meals just like a festive Saturday supper at their home would be.  It was insane...and amazing. 

We scored the perfect mix of camping and exploring charming Vermont.  The tiny villages surrounding the campgrounds were full of picturesque store fronts and quaint little restaurants.  (It reminded me a lot of Stars Hallow....if you know that reference.)  I was enchanted.  And wanted to move there immediately. 

Though you will remember that I am easily enchanted and find myself wanting to move anywhere that I find particularly charming and greeeeeeen.

at Harpoon Brewery...she and I didn't sample any of their brews...but I found their New England Clam Chowder yummy!

watching the sheep...Clara was enamored.

Clara did so well....she had so much fun splashing in the mud, digging in the dirt, running after bugs and playing with the dog, Olive.  She was SUCH a trooper!  I loved watching her explore in this setting...and it made me want to move immediately out of the concrete appartment box we live in so she can grow up with the trees and the bugs and flowers.  Eh, maybe not the bugs.

We fell in love with camping as a family.  This will be a staple in our lives together.  We will seek out the forest whenever we can!

at Calvin Coolidge Memorial Site (all historic and fascinating...WITH an artisan cheese factory!)

Couple things of note:  being a pregnant woman isn't easy for me.  I am not particularly graceful at it.  I'm queasy a lot...and have to pee a lot...which is annoying when all I want to do is run around and play, or canoe, or hike and yet all I had energy to do is sit in a fold out chair and watch all the action...and get exhausted.  I had to get up in the black of night multiple times to go to the bathroom...which pretty much sucks...and I was worthless when it came to driving as the roads make me want to wretch.  Other than that I was a real peach :-)