Massachussets, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont weekend

I had a trip all planned for labor day weekend but never convinced Brent. Last week we were approaching the Yom Kippur 3 day weekend and once again I was pressuring him that the best way to spend it was on a road trip with his family. Finally Friday morning, literally as he walked out the door, he said, "If you can make all the arrangements and have the car packed, I'll go."

So I called my old Rick's roommate Becky who lives in Rhode Island, apologized about the very short notice, and warned her that we were coming her way. We left 20 minutes after Brent got home that evening and began an 8 hour drive around 7 p.m.

The kids slept most of the way while Brent drove and I talked to him. That is the only way we can travel unfortunately. It would make sense to take shifts, right so we could both get a little sleep? But, I have inherited a serious case of narcolepsy from my father and once the conversation dies down I have no warning and can fall asleep with a couple minutes at the wheel. And the last thing Brent wants to do when he gets a break from the wheel is talk to me. And I feel really bad about my problem so I stay awake and talk to him because I think it's only fair if I am going to make him drive. So we talked and talked until we pulled into Newport, RI at 3:30 a.m., quietly let ourselves in and crawled into bed.

After at least a couple hours of sleep everyone was up and we had a great day hanging out with all ten of our kids. The kids rode horses in true New England style complete with riding helmets and gloves.

We all took a turn on their backyard zip line (Brent really got this kid going. I stood on the other end and it was all I could do to stop him every time before he slammed into the tree. He was all giggles on the zip line. We need one of these so we can zip out of the tree house.)
In the afternoon we drove to the beach and our the kids got to dip their toes in the Atlantic Ocean. Then we walked the cliff walk along all the summer mansions. Becky has both a 12 year old AND a 10 year old daughter - how much better could two best friend roommates have planned that? Savannah and Kennon both had their friend for the first time in history we had no sibling/friend rivalry. We need to find out where the military is sending this family next and go with them and set up the dental office there. My children would be thrilled.

Savannah had Sarah all to herself

Unfortunately the camera charger was forgotten at home and we only had about 10 shots and it died. And they weren't too great since I was turning it on and off so fast to save the battery and had no time to get the perfect shot. The camera was sorely missed the rest of the trip. Rhode Island was nice but there was so much fall glory once we got farther north and I got nothing.

I felt like I was going on a family trip fielding style. My family once went on a grand back east adventure to all the sights and I swear never took a single picture.

It was wonderful to hang out with another mother of five. Like me she is a supermom. Around here if you have five kids and you don't swear at them constantly you are amazing. Our families were so similar . . close in age, and LOUD.

And Becky is inspiring in other ways. She is preparing for her 4th marathon. I am still trying to work back up to the mile they used to make us run everyday in Junior High.

We left Sunday morning and before you worry, yes we did make it to church. But before then we went to Plymouth Rock and had a quick driving tour of Boston, enough to see the Boston Harbor and Fenway Park. And enough just to make the girls all mad that we had come all the way to Boston and were now leaving without seeing the Paul Revere house or the graveyard. Their grade school teachers are doing a great job.

Church was in Nashua, NH at 1 p.m. a beautiful town 45 minutes north of Boston.
I was so happy to be in New England for autumn. It was all the perfect setting at the perfect time of year if you ask me.

AND NO CAMERA! (So these are all images from online of things that I saw)
After church we just kept driving and visited many little New England towns. Keene, NH was a nice place. Maybe I could even live there. Then onto Brattleboro, VT. I don't think I could live there. Lots of dreadlocks and I saw grown women kiss for the first time ever 1 minute after we pulled into town. We found a hotel in Brattleboro, after about an hour cooped up in the van while it rained, the kids complained and Brent found a room on Priceline.

The next day was another beautiful drive. We stopped off at Bennington, VT to visit the Revolutionary War Monument. If you thought Saratoga was the turning point of the war you are wrong. It was Bennington. For a couple bucks you can ride the elevator to the top of the obelisk erected in the 1880's and see New Hampshire on the left and New York on the right, so it is pretty tall. And the valley is just perfect. I am in love with New England autumn.

The kids were typical. Good on the way there since they were excited. Bad on the way home because they were back to normal.

Caroline of course was car sick. But, she is the best car sick girl ever. I always keep a large bowl with a lid in our car. We had just started into the hills on the way home and Caroline hollered out, "Throw up bowl, please!" She is always super polite when she is sick. I threw it back and she filled it within 10 seconds of receiving it. Then she was all back to normal. I think the rest of us are more bothered by her vomiting then she is.

Thanks to Brent for going along with my road trip. He always wants to know why I don't just take off of on my own when I want to go somewhere. Then he goes with me and remembers why. I would kill us all.

The only thing I felt bad about is missing a big chunk of New England and by not making it to Maine. The lighthouses, the beautiful beaches, fresh seafood. . .

We drove past some fresh lobster advertised near Plymouth Rock, MA for $6 a lb . . . and we had the cooler space? . . . Then we remembered a really bad experience we once had transporting meat across the country. . . So we just kept right on a'driving.