They Grow Up So Fast: East Coast Trip 2015

Oh my gosh! We had such a fun and neat time in Vermont. I was especially looking forward to that part of the trip and it did not disappoint! We stayed at a farm in a 1791 farmhouse. What made it even better are the people who live at the farm, Meghan and Steve. They were so welcoming and showed us such neat things around the farm from the moment we arrived. We got quite an education on so many things, from cattle breeds to how to harvest various veggies.

We left the lovely home we enjoyed in Somerset, Massachusetts in the morning and made our way to Brattleboro, Vermont. We decided that our "on the way" stop would be for the Brimfield Antique Show. It is a HUGE antique show that happens for like 6 days three times a year. It is even listed in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, so we totally had to do it.

The place is huge! We only saw a fraction of it and were there for a few hours. Some stuff looked strange and interesting, some was junk (in my eyes) and some was neat but we just live too far away to make the transportation worth it.

I read that there are fields of vendors that stretch a mile along the main road. I believe it!

I joked that we needed this crawfish (or whatever it was), but it was the cost of a down payment on a car, so we had to pass on it. ;)

We reached the farm in Vermont and were charmed immediately by the 1791 farmhouse where we got to stay. The host, Meghan, took us on a tour of the farm and pretty much said we are welcome to explore freely. We met the chickens while Meghan collected eggs for the incubator.

We met the cows, including this sweet one, Lorraine.

We found the cold pond, next to the sauna.

They even have a swing set.

We headed into Brattleboro for dinner on the first night. We opted for yet another hamburger place, a place named Brattle Burger (get it? Brattle Burger in Brattleboro!). It was actually pretty tasty.

We found this old mural on our way back to the car. Carter was rather delighted.

While it rained hard that night, we awoke to the view of cows grazing on misty hills. Magical.

Carter came in to enjoy the view with us (both kids got to have their own rooms, which was a nice break).

Time for breakfast of homemade granola and farm raised scrambled eggs.

Ashlynn helped make the eggs.

After breakfast, we got dressed and went hiking on the 130+ acres that are a part of the farm. The owners actually had a bunch of pairs of rain boots, so we borrowed those (and they came in handy, especially after the rain storm!).

There are relaxing spots all over the property.

We were in a magical looking misty forest in no time. It was cool to think that it was private property, so only the owners and us might be exploring.

The kids loved going ahead of us to explore.

We found the sap lines they use for collecting sap for maple syrup.

The meadows (where cows don't graze) had pretty wildflowers.

We visited the cows.

We reached one of the two ponds on the property.

The kids were delighted and wanted to go in immediately.

Carter "accidentally" went in too deep and needed to pour water out of his boots a few times.

"This is the best day ever!"

Cute boy on the farm

We visited with the cows again. One mooed at us so I mooed back.

I even got a selfie with Lorraine! We look like buddies, huh?

After the hike, we hoped into the car and drove over to a local farm for blueberry picking. The host said the drive was scenic, and it sure was. The photo below is out our from window as we drove along "Cow Path Forty".

After a drive that was scenic and off the grid (aka off GPS), we arrived at the pick-your-own farm. The owner happened to be there, which was fortunate because the blueberries were technically not open for picking for a few more days, but he let us anyway. He also encouraged us to do lots of tasting along the way to make sure the berries were ripe and tasty. Okay! We picked both blueberries and raspberries.

Aren't they pretty?

Eric even picked one or two and ate one. How can a person not love fresh picked blueberries?

Ashlynn is not a big fruit kid but even she liked the blueberries fresh off the bush.

Then onto raspberries, which were really ripe.

Our next stop was the Brattleboro Farmers Market. It is only open on Saturdays from 9-2, and we just happened to be in town that day!

Um, you know you're at a Vermont farmers market when..... 5 out of 7 cars in one row are Subarus. We had fun pointing out Subarus this trip. We've been looking for a Subaru Yatzee (5 in a row) but haven't yet spotted one.

It was a neat, authentic farmers market.

We picked up Thai food from the stand with the longest line (because that means it's good, right?). It was good!

When we arrived back at the farm the kids were super excited to go swim at the swimming pond. So, we got on our suits and boots and headed out.

The kids were delighted to use the inner tubes and rafts.

Back to the house from the pond

After showers, the owner, Meghan, took the kids along for collecting eggs and for picking some produce for our dinner. They ended up with carrots, garlic, zucchini, two types of lettuce, and new red potatoes (which I think was their favorite to harvest because they got to dig around in the rich, soft soil.

Ashlynn like poking around in the garden and digging for potatoes, but Carter really seemed to find joy in the process and wanted to do every helping job.

Dinner was on the farm with ingredients almost entirely from the farm. We had shopped from their farm store to get our beef (people just drive up and buy what they want. There's a cash box for change and it's done on the honor system), so with the produce, we did pretty well! Eric pointed out that it was probably the most organic meal he's ever eaten.

The next morning we needed to pack up and be on our way to Boston. I know we all wish we could have stayed longer.

There were some old farmhouse qualities that I wanted to remember, like the old door latches and wide plank floors, so, of course, I took some photos.

A drawing of the farmhouse

Carter and I decided to walk around one last time.

The boy has always liked sticks.

Bye, cows!

On our way through Brattleboro we stopped at a covered bridge. I had some plans for Vermont that just didn't work out but wanted to make sure we at least saw a covered bridge (we saw one in Pennsylvania, but that didn't feel the same).