Trip to New Hampshire

Eric and I took the kids up to New Hampshire for our first official family vacation.  We had such a great time and the weather was beautiful.  Here is a rundown of what we did:

Here is a picture of me and the kids all ready to go.  Notice how full the car is with stuff.  It is amazing how much stuff you end up bringing for a 5 day trip!

Along the way we stopped in Concord New Hampshire for some lunch and a walk around town.  We had a great meal at a restaurant called "Cheers".  We sat out on the patio and enjoyed some fabulous food.  Then we got back in the car for the rest of our drive.

Here I am with the kids at the condo enjoying a glass of wine.  The condo was great.  It had 2 bedrooms so Cate had her own room and Ashton slept in one of the bathrooms in a pack n play.  The condo had a full kitchen and a grill out on the patio.  It was a perfect place to stay with kids.

Here we all are on the deck of the condo.

My friend Lindsey was getting married at Mount Washington so that is why we decided to go on vacation to this area.  The first night that we were there they had a "welcome dinner" for people attending the wedding.  Here is a picture of the Mount Washington Hotel where the dinner was and where she got married.  The dinner was wonderful.  They had full lobsters and clams for everyone.  

Here are the kids all dressed up and ready to go.  I especially loved seeing Ashton all dressed up!

The next day we took the kids to a park that was next to a small pond.  They had all sorts of play equipment and swings.  Cate was so excited because they had a "Clifford the Big Red Dog" swing.

Here we are down by the pond that was next to the playground.  Eric and Cate ended up playing in the pond for a while even though the water was pretty cold.  

After we went to the pond, we took the kids over to the ski resort to look around.  They had another wonderful park there that Cate loved.  The park had a pretend gondola, a zip line, lots of slides, swings and a tire swing.

Here is a picture of Cate on the zip line.  She LOVED going on the zip line.

Eric and I got our exercise running back and forth with her on the zip line!

Of course Eric and I did the zip line too.

On Saturday I took Cate to Lindsey's wedding.  It was during Ashton's nap time so we decided that the girls would go to the wedding.  Cate was so excited to see Lindsey's wedding dress.  Cate and I had a really nice time at the wedding and it was great to be there to see my friend get married.

Cate looked so beautiful in her dress

After the wedding we took the kids out to dinner (kids weren't allowed to go to the reception after the wedding).  We went to a restaurant right by our condo.

On Sunday we took the kids to "Storyland".  It is a giant park for kids that is based off of nursery rhymes and children's stories.  There are rides, games, activities, and interactive stories for the kids.  Cate loved it and we really had a great time there.  In this picture Cate and I are flying in a shoe.  Cate held the control which made the shoe go up and down.

Next we took the kids on a swan boat ride.  Once again Cate was able to steer the boat around the pond.  The operators of the ride said that Ashton was the first baby his age that they had seen that didn't cry when we put on his life vest.

Next we went up to Cinderella's Castle.  I went in first to see what it was all about.  When I went in I saw that "Cinderella" was in there and no one else.  So I went out and got Cate and asked her if she wanted to meet someone.  When we walked into the room Cinderella came down to meet Cate and asked her if she wanted to hold hands and walk to her throne.  Cate looked at her in complete amazement.  It was such a special moment that Eric and I will never forget.  Cate instantly trusted her and went with her up to her throne.  When we left the castle Cate said "I met Cinderella!".   

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They had a giant ball pit for kids to play in.  It took Cate a while to open up to it but then she started to have a lot of fun.  

Here is Ashton!  He was pretty much just a long for the ride at Storyland.

Next we went to the giant shoe.  It is from the story "The little old woman who lived in a shoe".  If you look through the door you can see that there really was an old woman in the shoe.  Cate asked us if it was going to be a stinky shoe.  That would be good to know before you went in.

There was a giant ball room that had air guns and launchers for the balls.  I think that this had to be Eric's favorite part.  If you looked around the room you could see a lot of Dads getting really into it. 

 

Eric took Cate on a flying whale ride.  I am glad I didn't do this one because I think that he got pretty dizzy.

The next day we went to Littleton, NH.  We walked around the town and found a local park.  Here is a picture of Cate doing the monkey bars.

Here I am swinging with the kids.

In Littleton there is a candy store that holds the world record for the longest wall of candy.  Also they had local fudge there and it was one of the best things that I have ever eaten in my life.  It was a great stop.

After the candy store we walked across a bridge to the other side of the river.  Cate and Eric threw rocks in to the river.

Here is a picture of Ashton and Eric down by the river.

Ashton had a great time playing by the river.  He thought that the tire on the stroller was very entertaining. 

The next day I took Cate back to her favorite park while Ashton took a nap.  She fell in love with this park and never wanted to leave.

When Ashton got up from his nap we packed up the kids to take them for a hike up to a waterfall.  Cate was a "back seat driver" while hiking.  She kept telling Eric to look out for rocks and branches.  It was very cute.

We made it up to the waterfall.  It was a beautiful hike and it was nice to have a reward at the end of the hike.  When we got there Cate said that she was pretty tired from all the hiking.  

That night we took the kids to dinner at the Mount Washington resort.  We sat out on the deck and ordered appetizers for dinner.  It was a beautiful night and we had a great time.

Eric and I decided to celebrate our anniversary on our vacation and this was the night that we decided to officially celebrate it.  It couldn't have been a more perfect evening.  

The next day it was a little rainy so we took the kids to the rec center to go swimming.  Cate loved playing in the pool.  Ashton was a little hesitant at first but really started enjoying the pool after a few minutes.

  

On our drive home we took a different route home and stopped in Portsmouth NH for lunch.  It is a very cute town on the water and it was fun to walk around.  We ate at a local pub.  Lunch was very tasty.  After lunch we packed up and drove back home to Rhode Island.  

We had such a wonderful trip with the kids.  Eric and I were talking about all of the great family vacations that we took as kids and how fun it was to carry on the tradition with our kids.