New Hampshire Vacation, pt 2

After we left Portsmouth and Heather's delightful family, we headed over to Portland, Maine, and we spent a couple of days there. We had a nice quick trip to Bowdoin College and spent a very nice afternoon wandering around downtown Portland. On Thursday, we drove back to New Hampshire to visit my friend, Brice, his (lovely, hilarious, and whip-smart) wife, Jess, and their daughter, Baylen (who is a joyful, curious, adorable woodland sprite).

While there, we stayed in their guest house (!!!), ate breakfast and lunch at the Harrisville General Store (which his family used to own and run), went to pet animals at The Friendly Farm, went for a boat ride, and lit lanterns from their dock. They let us stay with them even though it was Brice's birthday, for which they had an incredible party. Their friends, predictably, are terrific people.

On Saturday, Brice and I hiked Mt Monadnock early in the AM, and I can highly and unequivocally recommend it. We had about 50 mph winds at the top. The clouds whipped by and cooled us right off and then cleared out just in time for a picture or two.

We are incredibly grateful for the time with them. I wish we saw them much much more, and I hope that they know what great company, hosts, and friends they are. Readers are encouraged to go to Harrisville, NH at your earliest opportunity.

New England Vacation, pt 1

We recently got back from visiting friends in New Hampshire and making a quick stop off in Maine. For the first few days, we stayed with Angela's friend Heather (who's a terrific mom), her husband Geoff (an inspiration of a father), and their amazing kids, Jackson and Zoe. They could not have been more gracious hosts.

Heather managed to take some time away from her super impressive job as a public defender (has an appropriate, vaguely super hero ring to it, I think), and Violet got to spend some quality time learning from Jackson and mildly terrorizing Zoe. Vi is starting to get really possessive about whatever she (or anyone else) is playing with, and it was certainly good for her to learn a few lessons about sharing.

Violet did pretty darn well with the trip in general, but she did wake up around 5:30 most days. Angela and I pretty much took turns getting up early, and on my days with V, we went for some nice long walks. She's really good at spotting wildlife, pointing, and giving me a cautionary, "DA!" I try to respond with something that lets her know I was really listening, like "well, I don't know how you know so much about the social habits of the Oriole, but please do continue." She's got a lot of Da to say, and I've been learning a lot.

Lastly, people, let me just say this: LOBSTER ROLLS.