Vacation 2012 - Farm Life

While we were on vacation up north (the Mama portion), we made sure to hit up as many outdoorsy locales as possible.  We really wanted Nash to experience nature and animals and fresh food and all the other things that go hand-in-hand with life in the Northeast (at least when you are comparing it to sweltering hot Florida where outside = death).

One of our must-sees was this sweet little farm where you can meet all the animals, take a trip through the corn field maze (who knew they had corn in NH), and then finish it up with some fresh ice cream right off the farm.

They even had this awesome sandbox area filled with trucks and shovels and all kinds of stuff for the kiddos.  Nash was in heaven and threw a complete fit when we had to pull him away to go get ice cream.  Too bad he doesn't really know that the words "ice cream" mean yummy, sugary goodness or else it might have gone better for us.

We also took a ride up the road a few minutes to the stable where my Dad's girlfriend, Natalie, keeps her horse.  He was really beautiful...and really big.  I'm not the most comfortable around horses and Nash seemed a bit nervous around him too, but it was awesome to get up close and let him pet the horse.  There were a bunch of other horses there too just clamoring to come out of their stalls and say hi.
 

You can totally see his nerves in the photo below...and that was the pony we so wanted to get a picture of him riding!  Not a chance, Mama...

Vacation Part Two - Home in New Hampshire

No, I'm not really from New Hampshire, but it sure does feel nice to visit.  My whole family on my dad's side lives there, so it makes it a nice one-stop shop to see everyone.    It's incredibly beautiful there, and I always begin to question my love of suburban/urban life after spending a few days there in the summer.  We went once in the winter...never again.

My dad's house is surrounded by this amazing nature.  Woods, lakes, paths, animals, berries.  So much to see and experience, and we were super excited for Nash to take it all in now that he's finally old enough to really appreciate it.  We took walks, picked berries from my dad's bushes and made it a habit to spend as much time outside as possible.

Fresh Blueberry Milk!

My dad is renovating this old house in the next town over from where he and his family lives right now. Let me tell you, when we saw the house for the first time last year, I was like, whoa. I couldn't really understand why my dad had bought a house that needed so much work. Like it needed everything...

And after one year, he says he still has quite a bit of work left to do. But things are coming along...and I can tell he's really enjoying the process of redoing this place. And I can't wait to see it when it's done.