Day 5 &6- Burlington, VT to Lake Placid to Lake George to Home

First stop on our way to the mountains was Burlington, VT. Daddy had to stop in at the Magic Hat Brewery for some tastings. Who turned on the AC? It is cold up here in VT!

I got to take my first ferry ride from Vermont to New York. It was freezing outside, so mommy and I hung out in the car as the boat took us over Lake Champlain. 

Check out the view from our room! There were two lakes in view, the one in the background was Mirror Lake and Lake Placid was just to the left. We are way up on the Adirondack Mountain range in New York state. It was beautiful up here, but a little secluded. I thought I was going to get to swim in a lake, but it was WAY too cold for that! 

I was asleep in the car when Mom and Dad decided to get this shot of the water. 

Our last stop was Lake George! Again, way to cold for swimming, but still just as beautiful. We just did a pass through Lake George on our way back to Irvington. We had such a great time and I was a little trooper on our first road trip. Since, none of the legs of our trip were no more than 3.5 hours, I slept in between cities. I wonder where our next adventure will take us?....

Day 4- More Boston

After walking the Freedom trail a little bit more we signed up for a tour of Fenway park. Since the Red Sox were away this weekend, they do tours of Fenway. As part of our tour we got to eat on the Green Monster. This is a shot from the press box. They make the reporters from the NY Yankees sit on the fourth level where they can't see the field. They have to watch the game on TV monitors. Haha!

Oh, will I get to see the green monster now?!?!......

Oh, you mean that there isn't really a green monster and it is just a green wall with green seats. Well, this is kind of a let down! Oh well, Dad thought it was awesome and the hot dogs were GREAT!

We passed by the Boston Fire Dept. while waking the Freedom trail, so, of course, mom wanted to take a pic. 

Mom's cousin, Angela, just moved from AL to Boston and so we had to go and see her at work. She is working at the new Apple store that is three stories high- the largest store in America. She was hard at work, but we got to visit for a little while. Maybe she will come and visit us in NY sometime soon. Next stop, Lake Placid.......

Day 3- Boston

The only way that I will wear a hat is when I am sleeping. Otherwise it is off with the hats!!!

This weekend there were all kinds of street performers and loads of crowds in Quincy Market. The shops were fun and Mom found her a Boston Christmas Ornament. Thank goodness!

We took a tour of the city and one of the stops was the USS Constitution aka. Old Ironsides. It was really cool and I even got to hang out on one of the cannons below deck.

It was so much fun to see the "Make way for the Ducklins" statues. For those of you who do not know this book by Robert McCloskey it is a true story about Boston and a MUST read!

Day 2- More Mystic

We ended up finding the cutest Inn to stay in since we changed our original itinerary last minute. We stayed at the Taber Inn which was owned by an Irish family and the rooms were just like Grandma's. The grounds were beautiful. I loved playing in the grass. 

I had so much fun at the Mystic Aquarium. My favorites were the penguins. It was so much fun to watch them swim. At one point, one of them stopped right in front of me so I could get a good look at him. 

Another cool animal that I got to see was the Beluga whales. They were HUGE. I wanted to get in and swim with them. 

Mom just HAD to eat at Mystic Pizza. Yes, this is the same Mystic Pizza in the movie Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts. Dad and I thought the pizza was just OK, but mom liked it a lot. Next stop....Boston!

New England Road Trip- Day 1- Mystic, CT

Oh yeah, we are headed out for our first Payne Family road trip. Notice the Garmin in mommy's lap. It was a life saver!!! Thanks Dave and Annie for letting us borrow it. Our first stop- Mystic, CT.....

Mystic was so cool. It is right on Mystic River and there were all kinds of boats on the water. Our original plan was to get all the way to Maine, but since it was Memorial Day weekend, we didn't factor in the crazy traffic. So, we decided to save Maine for another time and stay in CT for the night. 

Main street was so cool. There was a working draw bridge and all kinds of neat shops. Of course, top on Mommy's list was to find a Christmas ornament for our Christmas tree. 

"Sharing" a Sucker with Dad

Luke is getting much more interested in what we are eating. It is SO funny when Jeremy has a sucker because Luke wants it!... Rather he TAKES it for his own. TOO FUNNY!!!

Mother's Day Flower

For those of you who do not know, I do NOT have a green thumb. I don't even had a green fingernail. So the fact I have kept this flower alive since mother's day is a miracle! All of the children in our church gave their mother's a flower and it was so sweet, but I just knew I would kill it within a few days. Lo and behold, it is still thriving. (Maybe Poppa Payne's and Poppa Jack's gift of growing plants is rubbing off on me ; )

I love to Fly!!!

This was the first time out of all of the flights we have taken that Luke was so interested in looking out the window. He loved looking at the planes and the workers putting the luggage on the conveyor belt and filling the plane with fuel. It was so cute and kept him occupied at least for a little while :)

Stair Climbing!

My new found love is climbing stairs!  It doesn't matter that I don't have stairs at home or that some stairs are wide and curved. I LOVE to climb stairs! As soon as I got to Mimi and Popi I took one look at the stairs in the front foyer and away I went. It was like I had been doing this my whole life. Here I am at the Club climbing their stairs. You mean they have these everywhere?!?!I am so proud of myself when I finally make it to the top!

Mmm......my 1st birthday Cake!

I'm not so sure about this whole cake thing....

Even if I don't like to eat it, I like to squish it in my hands.....

Now that I have demolished it, now what?.....

Oh, you mean it is not body lotion?...

Thank goodness, Mimi and Popi's laundry sink wasn't too far away! 

Mom and Dad's 1st Night Away

While we were home, Mom and Dad decided to have a couples only night in New Orleans. I approved of their side trip because number one: they haven't had an overnight alone in a year and number two: that meant that I had Mimi and Popi ALL to myself!  They went with Aunt Liz and Crazy Uncle Kyle and our neighbors from NY, Annie and Dave. 

The Boys: Dave, Daddy, and Kyle

Coop's had the WORLD's GREATEST fried chicken and the HUGEST bug that almost ate Annie for dinner. 

No trip to New Orleans would be complete without a trip to Bourbon Street!

The Girls: Mommy, Lizzy and Annie 

OK, so the night got just a tad bit more exciting once the bull riding started......

Although, it was a little hard leaving our precious baby, we had a great time. We knew he was in great hands at Mom and Dads house. It was nice to have some grown up play time and to get to enjoy New Orleans. Thanks to our tour guide and food connoisseur, Kyle!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I got to spend my very 1st birthday with friends and family down in Mobile, AL

The decorations look great!. I love how my invitation and cake match.  Thanks Aunt Liz and Titi for making the blue and green garland. Mommy, it's ok that the balloons deflated over night :)

Look at all of my fans! 

I got some GREAT gifts!  Some highlights were books, Big Al, a microphone, a zoo, and clothes! I liked all of the gifts, but I wasn't too interested in opening them. I left that up to Mommy. 

Enough with the hat already! Where's the cake???

Mother's Day Past and Present

Last Mother's Day 2007,  I had a surprise baby shower at our church and three days later Luke was born.  One year later........

What a difference a year makes! Here is our family on Mother's Day 2008.

Mommy and my sweet baby boy!

I loved Luke from the time I found out I was pregnant, but I didn't know how much I would grow to love him once he was born. Everyday is a new adventure and he is such a blessing to our family. He has grown and learned so much over this past year and as I reflect back to this time last year, I am amazed at how the time flies. I have known this to be true, but I had no idea how much time would really fly now that we have a little one around the house. 

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mothers out there!  :) 

Scenes from our town....

It has been such nice spring weather, that my mommy and daddy have been taking me on walks to enjoy the fresh air. Today they decided to take some pictures of our town.

Town Hall

The Rip Van Winkle Statue

The Irvington Hardware store that has EVERYthing! 

The Tappan Zee Bridge

The Irvington park on the Hudson River