Maine Part 2!

After our bike adventure we stopped for lunch at this cute place and I fell in love with this hut and wall.

 

I made Matt check out one of the many antique stores before we left...this one was featured in a magazine article my mom sent to me. We found a treasure for above the mantle - I'll share pics of it at some point!  This type of store isn't Matt's favorite but he was a good sport because he knows just how much I love them...

I mean - how cool?!

I didn't get any pics of Matt's family birthday dessert night...but did get a few of his mini-birthday celebration with our friends!  Thanks to Sarah and Joe for the Ben and Jerry's cake - yum.

That night Willow got some practice using her big sister skills :)  Jackson didn't mind at all!  I think it's because he has a big brother who looks very similar at home!

Happy Wednesday!

 

xo!

Maine!

Matt celebrated his 30th birthday for an entire week - a trip to Maine followed by a present a day, birthday desert with family, and a birthday dinner with friends. I'm worn out! To say his 30th was celebrated is an understatement :)

Let's talk about Maine!

Matt and I have started a tradition of taking a mini-vacay for his birthday. 2 years ago we went to Montreal and last year we headed to Lake Placid. This year he decided he'd like to go to Maine. We didn't have a lot of time to take off work so we headed to Kennebunkport for the weekend (only about 4 hours from Burlington).

On our way to Maine we stopped through Meg's future town to check it out - only 1 1/2 hours from us!

We stayed at the Kennebunkport Inn - it was great - right downtown and we could easily walk anywhere we wanted to go.

The Inn was recently renovated and reopened April 1 so things were fresh and new!

We spent the first afternoon walking around and checking out the town...

The second day we took advantage of the beach cruisers to do some more exploring!

Watch out - pregnant lady on a bike :)

Lots of beautiful houses....

And hotels!

We checked out the beach views too...

Former President Bush has a compound in Kennebunkport - Walker's Point. It's highly visible from Ocean Drive in Kennebunkport. Check it out!

At one point we lost our way but a quick check of the tourist map and we were on the right track again...

We rode almost 14 miles! That's harder than it sounds when you're pregnant and on a bike with only one gear :) We went all the way out to Porpoise Point to check out the view.

Then rode our bikes on the beach before heading back.

Be back soon with more!

xo!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Happy 30th Birthday to Matt!!!

I can't believe my husband is turning 30...we met when we were 17! How has time passed so quickly? Lucky me to have snagged him so early :)

I could go on and on listing all of his positive attributes - always in a good mood, helpful, supportive, kind, up for any adventure - but I don't want it to go to his head. One thing I can't wait to add come June is amazing dad to our Baby T. I already know he's going to be an incredible one!

Noodle, Baby T and myself have been celebrating with birthday festivities all week! Our house has turned into a party zone...

We also celebrated early with a trip this past weekend to Maine - pics to come! Here is an advance shot for you from the bike ride we took (yes pregnant lady on a bike!)....

We love you Matt!!!

xoxo

Baby Bump Weeks 25-27

These weeks were the last of the 2nd trimester! Wow...I'm almost 29 weeks now and it's hard to believe there are only about 11 to go.

Some recent pregnancy things...

- When you are late in your 2nd trimester you have to be screened for gestational diabetes. I failed my screening :( which means that I had to go in to the lab for a 3 hour glucose tolerance test. It's not a fun experience as you have to fast for 12 hours, drink a super sugary drink, and then sit for 3 hours as they take your blood 4 different times. The good news is I passed!

- I'm so thankful I don't have gestational diabetes because I'm craving chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate (although I don't turn down any other sweets like peeps either). I'm calling this a craving but maybe it's just an excuse for my lack of willpower....

- Still running. Is there an animal slower than a snail? I would compare my pace to whatever that is. Still love yoga and hiking too :)

- The nursery is coming along. We had an electrical outlet put in a few days ago and by the time it was in we also had 3 holes in the recently painted walls. Ug. They are in the process of fixing it so I will share soon.

- The baby is moving, moving, moving. It has grown from the size of a poppy seed to a butternut squash (15 inches long head to heel and 2 1/2 pounds). It's hard to believe it's supposed to grow to the size of a small pumpkin by 40 weeks!

Happy Thursday!

xo!

Sugar on Snow

So a few weeks ago when it was beautiful and warm outside, I decided to finally try sugar on snow with my cousins :) Never heard of it? Check out this description.

After a nice walk down at the lake, we stopped here to try our Sugar on Snow.

Check out the temp! What a strange day to have Sugar on Snow. You may wonder how they make it when there's no snow around. I found out that they use a snow making machine (like they use for snow cones) and drizzle the maple syrup onto that shaved ice rather than real snow. I think we were cheated a bit but I suppose this is also more sanitary :)

When you go to a sugar house you really get to see how maple sugar is made. I can't give a good explanation, but I'll try to explain it as I understand it and you can google if you're really interested. Maple trees are "tapped" in the late winter (it all depends on temperature I think) and the syrup runs out of them through an elaborate network of tubing. The tubes all end up running into the sugar house. Inside the sugar house there is this cool steam tent you see below.

The sap runs through metal troughs and is boiled down until it turns into syrup.

It doesn't have to be this precise, we have friends/family that have made their own by boiling a huge pot over a campfire too! It's more efficient to do it this way as it take about 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of syrup. Here is a guy pouring the finished syrup into a jug. When you buy "real pure Vermont syrup" this is how it's made :)

The sales counter....I was informed by the women that I was allowed to taste the syrup as it's heated. They told me you aren't supposed to have honey while pregnant because it isn't pasteurized or heated to get rid of bacteria. I love honey and have been eating it throughout my pregnancy. OOPS.

Sugar on snow served with a pickle and donut. YUM.

We found some friends outside :)

That's all for now! Hope you're having a good week. It's almost Wednesday...

xo!