Family Vacation - Best week of my year Part 2

Tuesday - And the beautiful weather continues. Seriously, such a pretty place.

We usually had pretty relaxing, slow mornings. Played games, exercised, read, just enjoyed the company of each other. For lunch on Tuesday we decided to take the motor boat and ride to Meredith. Evan & family drove there after their girls woke up. The boat ride up there was so peaceful and pretty. The hoes we passed by on the water were also pretty incredible! We even went under this cute covered bridge

This picture was placed a little out of order, but I can't delete it because it's just too cute of Evan and little Mary.

Riley and Jace helping to navigate our trip to Meredith

Love this smile!

This sums up how I felt about the boat ride. Life's tough, right?!

Man, I wish I traveled like that to lunch every day!

In Meredith, Justin and Becca wanted to take a family picture, but Jace wasn't feeling quite up to it, so at least they got the three of them in it.

After lunch in this cute restaurant, we walked around town and stumbled across this gorgeous waterfall. Pictures in front of it were a must!

Right by the waterfall there was this very helpful sign telling us which direction to go in....

What??

Then, back at the house in the evening, the three kiddies gather in front of the TV. Little Holland loved to just snuggle in next to Jace. She had no interest in what they were watching. She just wanted to be close to her cousin! So cute!

Wednesday morning - my birthday! How great and wonderful was it that the week that worked for us to all be on vacation also happened to be MY birthday!! Love that. Woke up to this beauty in the morning. With this, I knew it was going to be a great day!

Two months prior to my birthday, I had been sidelined with an injury (from running). I kept up with swimming and elliptical, but really wanted to run. A birthday present to me was that I did!! I ran just over a mile before realizing I shouldn't push myself too quickly. It made me so happy to be reunited with my running play list!

In the morning we went out on the boat. Yet another beautiful day!

Our awesome Captain!

Evan took Holland for a spin. 

She didn't like it.

But she loved her seat and her sunglasses!

Evan loved his ride though

I flew everywhere! 

I think this is the day I even fell off as I went over a wake. 

Well, for my birthday afternoon, I booked us at Monkey Trunks for some adventure! Some were more adventurous than others (like Riley), but all were good sports!

It took a little training, but fairly easy once you got the hang of it. The whole course required a lot of trust! And faith in your skills as well :)

Attractive gear, eh? 

For my birthday dinner, I got to choose the place. I chose the only Mexican restaurant in the area :) Fortunately it got good reviews! And, really, it wasn't too bad considering Mexican isn't very popular in  New England.  We had to help my dad figure out the menu. Mexican isn't something he eats very often :) But, he did have the waiters surprise me by coming to sing to me and I got to wear this awesome hat!

Kind of matched my sweatshirt!

The next day we went all the way across the lake to the town where Mitt Romney supposedly has a place (drawing a blank on the name of the town). BUT, Riley got to be our captain for a bit and he did a great job!

This was probably the HOTTEST day of the week. 

We all had to get ice cream!

Cousins... Holland loved having someone to play with!

She also loved wearing daddies big sneakers!

On Friday it rained. That was OK though. We all needed a day to just chill in the house, relax, play games and such. Riley taught us some magic tricks too! While Justin and Evan took the boat back in the rain, Madison and I went shopping! She has such a great taste in clothes and helped me pick out a couple of outfits I could wear in the fall (and have already done so a number of times!) She also found these shoes. And, while they are a bit bright, I actually like them! Maybe a splurge... but a girl needs that every now and then, right?!

Happy Birthday to me!! This week was honestly the best ever. I LOVE my family. They bring me so much joy and happiness. I wish we could have stayed together longer, but I guess that's what also makes the times we are together so special.

Family Vacation - Best week of my year Part 1

I am SO behind on blogging. Where did the past three months go since I went on vacation with my family?! Well, I have a pretty good idea, and the time has been mostly well-spent, but I am glad to finally be able to focus on this!

Probably the BEST week of my year was spent in Lake Winnipesaukee, NH with Justin, Evan, their families and Dad & Chris. It was incredible. Pictures won't do it all justice, but at least it will help remind me in the future of everything that made that week incredible!

We all arrived on Saturday afternoon. It was the first time my GOS failed me in finding the location... only because we didn't have very good cell service! (I actually really enjoyed that during the week. I couldn't "be on my phone" because it didn't get service!) So, anyway, I drove up and down the main road a few times (even stopping to ask directions and no one could help). Finally, I found a lady who let me use her computer to get detailed directions. What did people do before computers??

Anyway - I found it and it was beautiful! Great view of the lake from my room. Just incredible all around. The first night, Evan agreed to watch Justin's boys so Becca, Justin and I could go to a Journey concert! It was outdoors and it was awesome! Such great tunes and fun to be outdoors enjoying it!

Little did we realize that the open seats we found were in the smoking section. Luckily, we were outside, but it still smelled terrible! The music on the other hand - awesome!

Here's the morning sunrise view from my room. Doesn't get much better than that for a morning wake up call! The only problem is that the sun was up around 5:30 Am and the room didn't have any curtains. So, that meant I was up at 5:30 AM!

Sunday, after church, we spent some time out on the water after Evan and Justin picked up the Motor Boat. Then, I headed with Justin, Becca and Riley to play mini-golf. It was a pretty sweet course!

I love this picture of Riley and I.

And yes, it was the beginning of August but I was cold enough for a sweatshirt!

Justin & Becca

That evening we all had dinner back at the house. Dad & Chris had brought some yummy food from RI and we had an enjoyable evening all together at the house. I am so glad we decided to all stay together and rent a real home rather than staying in a hotel. Totally made for a much better experience as we got to spend more time with each other!

Monday morning was a little cloudy, so most of us went to Wiers Beach. It had an arcade for the kids, go-carts and other fun stuff. I let Holland play on some of the rides. I don't think she liked this one very much!

And, I think I mad more fun on this one that she did!

Dad, Justin, Jace and Riley had a lot of fun go-carting. Dad was always a little behind the other two cars!

Jace just enjoyed the ride!

Then, that afternoon it had completely cleared up and we went out on the boat! The lake was so beautiful! I truly enjoyed just sitting on the boat, soaking in the sun, and watching others get tossed around on the tube!

Almost everyone tried water skiing, but I decided to stuck with tubing. Vacation is for rest and I find water skiing to be hard!!

Evan was great at everything he did. Justin too. 

That's my face after going on a WILD ride. My arms were so sore as I held on and my legs and body flew through the air as I went over bumps and waves. It was fun though!

Two of my favorite people. All smiles on the boat!

What a cute smile he has. 

Such a fun, enthusiastic, and GOOD boy!

Monday afternoon I decided to take "a little" hike on a trail close to the house. Well, the little hike turned in to over two hours and I got scared on the way up because I couldn't find the trail markers and the trail got very rocky and steep. I know I was off the trail for a while, but it led me to this site. Beautiful views! I didn't make it to the top because I lost the trail markers, but also because it was getting late and I didn't want it to get dark before I got down the mouton!

Monday night I watched the four kiddies while their parents and my dad and Chris went out to dinner.  I love being their aunt :)