our journey, part four: the beach!

sadly, due to a miscalculation on my part, we had to cancel the maine portion of our trip. we would have driven 14 hours out of the way to spend two nights and one day. after spending so much time in the car, i just couldn't justify doing that to the girls. so, instead we spent an extra night in stowe and then headed down to jersey. my new jersey post will be in two parts; this part is the beach portion of our visit. on the 4th of july, we went to island beach state park with glenn's parents, glenn's sister, kerry, and her family, and glenn's brother, scott.

we watched an incredible fireworks display on the beach

after playing around with many different settings on my camera, i opted for a long exposure time in order to get these photos

then, when it was all said and done, i discovered the "fireworks" setting...

on our first morning at the beach, some dolphins came to visit, since we had come all the way from colorado.

eddie, poppy, hazel, and kendra working on a sand castle

all of the smith grandchildren: june, hazel, heather (holding sweet baby nora), eddie, kendra

we watched a glorious sunset on the pier

many folks on the pier were crabbing. this bucket belonged to a girl and her father. i pitied the poor crabs. had the girl not been so excited, running around saying "fourteen! fourteen! we got fourteen!", i probably would have gently knocked the basket over, liberating them back into the sea where they belonged.

hunting for seashells was a serious full-time job for these guys.

you might think that glenn is never without someone on his back. you might be right.

these sweet little ocean ducks were all over; they made me think of penguins.

this is a standard size coffee table, just to give you an idea of how many shells were collected. the girls had to pick only a few of their favorites and the rest got returned to the beach.

hazel and her uncle scott

on our last morning there, hazel and i got up very early to watch the sun rise over the ocean.

it was very spectacular.

we have had a very amazing time so far. however, it has been three weeks since we left home and i am starting to feel a bit homesick. we are reconsidering the last portion of our trip, trying to decide what's best. and, i spoke to trevor yesterday. he said all was well back home, and that isobel was so big i may not recognize her when i get back. i miss her so very much. and molly, and simon, and jasper. and, drum roll here, he said that my shop was so beautiful he doesn't think i should work in there because i will get it dirty... i simply CANNOT WAIT to see it!

our journey, part three: cleveland~stowe

from cleveland we headed north to buffalo, new york to visit my amazing grandmother, dommie, a.k.a gigi. she is the most incredible 93-year old woman i have ever known!

we stayed with her in her "retirement community" apartment. while we were there, we took a trip up to niagara falls. have you ever been? they are quite incredible.

the river just above the falls is a raging torrent.

despite the huge crowds, the power and the majesty of the falls was almost overwhelming.

according to dommie, they are much more beautiful from the canadian side, but we did not have our passports. i was quite impressed with the american side.

dommie wanted to take the girls to the park that she used to take me to when i was little. it was very sweet.

i used to spend a week with dommie every summer; i would actually fly there on the plane by myself. right around the corner from her house, was an honest-to-goodness castle. (you know it, right, cinder?) it was so alluring and mysterious. traci and i, and sometimes the cousins, would sneak past the "no trespassing" signs to go to the gate and peer in. we so badly wanted to go in.

dommie insisted that we drive past the "no trespassing" signs so that i could show the girls. i was climbing out of the car to get a quick picture through the gate when i saw a woman walking out. i was about to jump back in the car and make a quick escape. dommie said, "go introduce yourself; tell her you are my grand-daughter." so i did. she told me her name was "silly milly" and invited me in to look around!

she even offered to take us on a tour through the inside, something i always dreamed of as a small girl, but i was afraid to take the girls inside; i imagined priceless heirlooms crashing to the floor. and maybe a small part of me really wanted the mystery to remain.

we did walk around the grounds though and it was magnificent!

did i ever tell you that junebug loves salad?

from buffalo, we headed to stowe, vermont to visit my dear aunt kandy. she has the most beautiful home! it is so comfortable and cozy and there are wonderful antiques everywhere you look. she treated us like royalty, and cooked us the most delicious meals.

fresh flowers from the garden all throughout the house

and, joy of joys, she offered to take the girls for the day so glenn and i could have a date! we went for a beautiful hike and then to a local brewery.

the woods were deep and thick and almost dark.

i couldn't help but perceive my surroundings in contrast to my southwestern home. everything was so lush and green and WET.

words like fecund, fertile, prolific come to mind in this beautiful old forest

it was so refreshing. just before we reached the car, we were blessed with a fabulous downpour, and were soaked to the bone.

we got back to kandy's in time for a glorious sunset.

thank you so very much, aunt kandy, for everything!

i lovermont.