A weekend in Vermont

Sounds almost romantic, doesn't it? The romance comes to a screeching halt when you throw in 4 boys, however, the boys did make for some great family fun. Yesterday we left our house at 6:40am to do a day's worth of site seeing in Vermont. Two and a half hours later we arrived at our first destination - The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial in Sharon, VT. Now, I shamefully must admit that I got all nostalgic when we arrived. I spent many a Girls' Camp in this place and it was weird and really fun to be back. The whole place has changed - things that were once there are gone, but mostly they've made HUGE improvements. What can I say, progress in the right direction is always good.

Oh - did I mention that it rained - a lot? However, we didn't let it spoil our fun and thanks to some good advice from Grandma we packed our rain gear.

Alright, so this exceptionally unflattering picture has a purpose. It's to point out that this hat and rain coat have lived for 17 years. I wore both when I was 16 for Girls' Camp in this very spot. Adam thought it was picture worthy if for no other reason than to document the survival of the rain gear. I must admit, the coat fit MUCH looser back then. We're working on that.

Heading into the Visitor's Center. A family from our ward were actually the inspiration for this whole thing. They had already had it all planned and Jill just mentioned it to me on Thursday. They were nice enough to let us crash their party and we are so thankful.

The Visitor's Center

These are sculptures by a woman names Angela Johnson. Her exhibit is on display in the Visitor's Center and we were blown away. Pictures don't do them justice. However, if you are interested in looking at more of her work her website is ajsculptures.com (of course, it's the kind of thing we will have to admire when on display, but they truly are beautiful).

Ben and Jerry's!!!!

So, while the Joseph Smith Memorial was fantastic, let's be totally honest. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory was a highlight. After a quick lunch we went on the tour, which is very interesting. However, the ice cream sample at the end was even more interesting.

Of course, the sample was just enough to wet our appetite. We got some more at the scoop shop just outside.

Did you get it all, Joshua?

This cracked us up. They have a literal graveyard for all their retired flavors. They have on the tombstone how long each flavor lived and why it "died." Jacob was disappointed this particular flavor didn't live long enough for him to try it.

This is my attempt at getting a fun picture of all 4 boys. Samuel had other ideas.

However, he did allow me to snap him solo - so generous of him.

After Ben and Jerry's we went to the Cabot Creamery. They have a little informational tour about how things are done, but mostly it was enjoyable for the samples provided afterwards. We all enjoyed tasting all the different cheddars they make at this particular facility. One could spend lots of money in a place like that.

Jacob was kind enough to provide his shoulders for better tour viewing for Sam. Right now they are watching the pallet stacker in motion.

After a dinner that was less than stellar dinner, Sam and I went outside while everyone else finished. He found this watering can and the owner of the establishment offered to fill it with water and let Sam water his flowers. I thought that was very generous as it had been raining all day already. The man said he was never one to turn down work. Samuel was in heaven and I was grateful for the useful distraction.

Yes, this picture is really as pathetic as it looks. We got home around 9pm only to find that we were locked out of our house. Andrew was soooo tired that it was all he could do to lay down on the steps in our garage, with the screen door half closed on him and moan. In the end we figured out a solution and everyone got to sleep in their beds.