trip to vermont

we had hoped to leave for vt on friday, but snow over killington cancelled our plans. i was so disappointed to not be going, as i hadn't been to vt since march, and i haven't brought ella there since last july. saturday morning arrived, however, and i was determined to go. after a morning at the new park in town, ella and i got into the car and drove the 3 hours to a.'s house. i hoped she'd take a nap, but no luck. she's just too interested in looking around to take a nap in the car anymore. but she was really good.

when we first arrived, a. and her kids (noah, luke, and naomi) went for a walk with me and ella. the wonderful thing is that a.'s new home is on the same mountain we grew up on, so it feels so much like home. ella got to take her tubby with naomi (her first dual bath ever) and then both of the girls climbed into my lap for story time before bed. after elenora was asleep, i played skip-bo with the boys and mrs. r. and then just me and a. played and had a chance to chat until late at night. so lovely.

the next morning the girls played together before a. and her family headed off to church.

here they are being punks. so funny. ella's expressing her skepticism over the entire photo process, and naomi is like "eh, whatever."

so a. went to church and i went to sugar and spice to meet my college and post-college roommate and her husband for breakfast.

after breakfast, i decided to just sort of put ella in the car and drive around this part of the world that was my home for so many years. i ended up at the church i grew up at, and it was their coffee break, so i went in and saw a good handful of people who i haven't seen in years. it was so nice to catch up with them and to show them my sweet little girl. and k. was there with her 3 week old baby! i was mostly hoping to see her, and there she was. we hung out in the nursery when the rest of the congregation went off to teaching hour, and i held baby john as he slept and she told me all about her birth story. it was so nice to see her.

then i took ella back to a.'s house and put her down for a nap. when a. arrived home, she and i made cookies for the kids and started on a turkey soup for dinner. then when elenora woke up, we took the kids outside for another walk.

here is ella on naomi's pink tractor.

here's noah. i can't believe he's 9!

after dinner i put elenora in her pjs, hoping that she'd fall asleep in the car on the ride home (since we wouldn't arrive home until 9:30...but of course she stayed awake the entire trip.)

here are some photos of the kids, all together. so precious.